ivanrichards

The Big Muff is a timeless classic in the fuzz-pedal world. It’s been heard on numerous recordings and been offered by countless boutique pedal manufacturers in one form or another over the years. There are a bewildering number of different versions of this pedal, which for convenience can be broadly grouped into four categories: vintage USA Big Muff, vintage USA (op-amp) Big Muff, Russian Big Muff, modern USA (NYC) Big Muff.

Many Big Muff users and collectors will tell you that pretty much every Big Muff sounds different, even comparing examples from the same version and/or year of manufacture. We tend to agree with this, based on our experiences servicing these pedals. Apart from normal component variations over time, different component values were often substituted, whether this was intentional or simply a case of running out of certain components, we do not know. We have also noticed different pots fitted to otherwise identical models, which would result in a different sweep altogether !

When considering the reasons for such wide variations in tone & performance with the Big Muff & other E-H pedals, one factor cannot be overlooked. At different times over the four decades of production of E-H pedals, the quality of assembly and in fact quality control in general was pretty poor ! The pedals often looked like they were wired up by someone in a hurry, with soldering that wasn’t going to hold up on the road. This applies to both USA & Russian manufacture.

To give credit where it’s due, however, E-H have come up with some of the most extraordinary pedals over the years. Our personal favourite has to be the Electric Mistress (flanger), for those classic early 80′s guitar sounds, a la The Police, The Pretenders, etc. Once again, there are several versions of the Electric Mistress, and restoring this pedal to full operation can sometimes create challenges for the service tech, depending on the problem.

Recently, a pair of barely functional Big Muff (IC/op-amp) pedals from the late 70′s arrived in our workshop for attention. The two pedals had quite different printed circuit boards, different pots, but almost exactly the same circuit (which we reverse-engineered as the schematics available on the internet often have errors). Even if working properly, these two apparently exactly the same pedals would have sounded very different to each other. You can see from the photo above that the older pedal of the two has been the subject of numerous attempts at rewiring & modification. We ended up correcting & rewiring much of this in order to get the performance on par with the newer of the two pedals.

Amazingly, the pots in both of these pedals work OK, just requiring a squirt of Faderlube to clean & lubricate. The main issues tend to be jacks & switches. The original jacks are cheapo – the best solution is to replace them with Switchcraft jacks. The EQ bypass slide switches are particularly prone to causing loss of signal and should automatically be replaced. Luckily there is an exact size replacement out there. In one of the pedals there was a blown IC and very cheapo IC sockets which just weren’t doing the job, so they were all replaced. Tidy up the wiring & rework any dodgy soldering and we have a pair of working Muff’s, still not quite the same as each other, but much closer than before.

Please contact us by email re any service enquiries for E-H pedals in general, and the Big Muff in particular. In most cases we will be able to assist. We can also supply custom linear power supplies for pedals that require different voltages from the usual 9V DC, ie 18V & 24V DC are sometimes specified by E-H (see previous blog re Rich Split & 18V PSU for example).

Sydney-based guitarist & recording/mixing engineer Tye Pennington contacted us in November of 2011 regarding the availability of a customised version of the Rich Split active buffer/splitter pedal. Tye and his band KTR, ie Killing the Ritual, were in the studio working on their debut album, with Tye performing both engineering and guitar playing duties. At this stage, Tye had already attempted splitting the guitar signal to record with multiple amps, experiencing terrible noise problems with “ground loops”.

For a more detailed appraisal of the issues arising from recording &/or performing with multiple amps &/or signal paths please read our previous blogs on the subject: Rich Switch A/B/Y, Bob’s Rich Split & More About Signal Splitting. These can be found in the Pedals archive.

Here is what Tye had to say:  Hi Ivan, just wanted to quickly say how much I love your pedals, I am the proud owner of the Rich Fuzz & the Class-A Distortion, and they have a permanent home on my pedalboard. Anyway, I was interested in the Rich Split for a studio project where we will be splitting to at least four guitar amplifiers simultaneously. I think the Rich Split will be perfect for the task, but I am also interested in using the pedal at live gigs. My question is would it be possible to have the pedal modified with fooswitches to engage/disengage the sends (outputs) ? Cheers !

So, we set about designing a 4-way Rich Split, with three transformer isolated splits, one direct split, plus four individual mute switches and LED status indicators. An external regulated +18V DC power supply is required, although the pedal will run off +9V DC at reduced headroom. Power consumption is quite low, even with all LEDs illuminated. The electronics, footswitches & Harbuch broadcast quality line transfromers all fit neatly inside a Hammond die-cast aluminium enclosure, which also provides superior shielding from external noise sources. The Rich Split pedal is currently available with up to five splits, although the majority of customer orders have been for the 2-way & 3-way splitters.

A high-quality regulated power supply is a critical component for an active splitter & other similar gear. Although this pedal will happily run off +9V DC, +18V DC is the recommended supply voltage to achieve reasonable headroom. Some commercial pedalboard power supplies will provide regulated +18V DC. We have experimented with some of the switch-mode power suplies (SMPSU) on the market, and have found them to be unsatisfactory for powering the Rich Split & Rich Switch  pedals, ie under some circumstances they have introduced noise into the signal chain. The best solution is still the linear (ie, analogue) power supply.

For customers like Tye, who require an external +18V DC regulated power supply, we can supply the model FX-18 Rich Power pedal at reasonable cost. We are not a commercial manufacturer of power supplies, but have always offered individually custom-built pedalboard power supplies for guitarists in a variety of configurations. These units are relatively indestructable, housed in a robust Hammond die-cast aluminium enclosure, and protected from normal guitarist type abuses & incidents.

Thanks agin to Tye, for his enthusiasm for our products and we hope to hear soon the results of his recording project. Future blogs now being prepared will include the extremely rare Marshall JMP 10 watt Lead/Tremolo combo, and other major overhauls of vintage amps.

Hello ! In this week’s blog we’ll draw attention to a pair of problem solving pedals hand-wired by Ivan Richards Audio fx right here in Gosford, New South Wales. These pedals don’t have the glamour and appeal of distortion and/or modulation models, that’s for sure, and we don’t build them in large numbers either, but for a number of performing musicians out there this type of pedal can make life a lot easier.

Our first example, in the photo above, is called the Double A/B Pedal, and is one of our ongoing Rich Switch series of signal routing pedals. This design is a passive, bi-directional, 100% hand-wired selector intended to switch two pairs of instruments. Four LED status indicators alert the player as to which instruments have been selected. The true hard-wired bypass design prevents signal loss or colouration, plus prevents phase problems being introduced. 9V battery or pedalboard power supply operation is required for the LED status indication only. This pedal is not intended to be used on powered speaker connections.

This unique pedal was originally created a few years back when we were contacted by Australia’s Mark Lizotte, who was at the time preparing to go on tour with two pairs of instruments, one pair of electrics and one pair of acoustic guitars. The intention was to use wireless transmitter/receivers for mobility, so this would have resulted in four wireless packs. By introducing the Double A/B Pedal, the number of wireless packs could be halved, and the whole rig streamlined. This is why the two pairs of A/B are labelled electric and acoustic, however customers can label the top panel in any way they find appropriate to their individual circumstances. Dymo labelling works fine in this situation, and can be removed without damage.

To prevent an earth loop being introduced (a.k.a. ground loop in the USA), the signal earths for the electric instruments selector and the acoustic instruments selector are isolated from each other. The Hammond die-cast aluminium enclosure is earthed via the electric instruments circuit. The electric instruments output jack also switches on the internal 9V battery, when installed.

Our second example, pictured to the right, is called (as you might expect) the FX Looper pedal. Guitarists who use stompboxes (and who doesn’t ?) often have to resort to costly loop-switching systems to solve signal-degradation problems introduced when bypassed fx are not switched completely out of the signal chain. The reason for this is that most fx devices do not provide a true, hard-wired bypass when the effect is switched out (even in some cases where the manufacturer implies the device is true bypass). When this happens, your clean guitar signal can lose definition and clarity due to the bypassed device’s tone-sucking circuitry. The more pedals/devices you string together, the worse the problem becomes.

The FX Looper pedal allows you to place a preset combination of fx pedals or devices in each of its two loops, and switch the chain in or out of the signal path with the loop bypass footswitch. Because it’s a true hard-wired bypass, your clean signal remains obsolutely free of stompbox interaction and/or signal degradation. In other words, the FX Looper gives you the purest possible connection between your guitar and your amp when in bypass mode of operation.

Our V1.3 Looper offers two independent loops which are wired for series operation (ie, loop #1 output feeds loop #2 input), and each loop has its own dedicated LED status indicator. The input jack is placed on the right-hand side of the enclosure, as per accepted tradition, but the output jack is parallel-wired to both the left hand and right hand side of the enclosure, facilitating placement in different positions on a pedalboard, for example. 9V battery or pedalboard power supply operation is required for LED status indication only.

So, to summarise, there are many advantages to using an FX Looper in your setup. There is no additional active circuitry in the signal path, ie the Looper adds no noise. There is no load on the guitar pickups when in bypass mode, ie no tone-sucking. The high-impedance send to fx pedals provides correct interaction with vintage stompbox input circuitry. To some extent the Looper is able to mute switching pops and clicks – this minimises a typical vintage fx pedal design problem.

Please join us again next week for another (hopefully) informative and entertaining blog. In coming blogs we will look at a new tone cabinet in stunning red tolex for Aussie slide-guitar specialist Phil B Colson. Philby played that delicious little slide solo on the last Men At Work single, back in the 80′s. We will also conduct a speaker comparison with some older guys from the Sydney Shadows club. We also hope to check in with Ilya, the guitarist with Continental Robert Susz, and Marcus from NSW band Sparrows.

Hello readers ! This testimonial was supplied by Peter Stojkovic, a bass player from Sydney, Australia, who also has an interest in audio engineering.

HI Ivan, my band mates purchased me one of your Rich Drive pedals for a birthday gift a few years ago. I have used the pedal constantly and love everything about it. I run a Warwick Thumb Bass (4-string) through it, and it sounds like pure evil ! (We’ll take that as a compliment – IR).

I should mention that I have A/B’d the Rich Drive against a few others and there’s no comparison – for example it was put up against a Big Muff, a Rat, a Sansamp, a Boss DS1 and a crappy digital thingey I don’t recall the name of, and the Rich Drive achieves a very distinct flavour. I find that while a lot of distortion pedals destroy the detail of my bass, the Rich Drive gives it another dimension altogether.

Another trick is to turn the drive control to zero, but keep the pedal on – it begins to sound like a preamp that gives an extra warmth that’s more than just a minor tonal change (I would liken the tone to that of an old SSL channel strip). I must thank you for creating such a great pedal.

Many thanks to Peter for contributing to our blog. The Rich Drive pedal was originally created for guitarists (like me) who were fed up with overdrivers that destroyed their tone and dynamics, but has been adopted by many Aussie bass players for similar reasons. Since 1997, the Rich Drive has been purchased by the creme de la creme of Aussie music talent, including Bob Spencer, Dave Leslie, Mark Lizotte, Thirsty Merc and many more, plus sales to individual guitarists in the USofA and Japan.

Head Gap is a purpose-built recording studio located in Preston (Melbourne), Victoria. Head Gap was designed by renowned Australian acoustician, the late Richard Priddle. The principal producers/engineers are owners Neil Thomason and Brent Punshon.

We were recently contacted by Neil Thomason regarding one of our problem solving product offerings, the Rich Switch (Active) A/B/Y pedal.

Far from being just another passive A/B box, the Rich Switch pedal utilises low-noise active (buffer) circuitry and a Harbuch broadcast/studio quality line transformer. The size of this transformer can be judged from the photos – it is definitely not a cheapo component sourced from the far east, but manufactured over a period of many years here in Sydney, Australia, by the fine Harbuch transformer company.

The pedal offers a pair of low impedance outputs to drive long guitar cables without degrading your tone. A pair of 3PDT metal footswitches changes the mode of operation between ‘A or B’ and ‘A + B’. Status is indicated by a blue LED for channel A, a green LED for channel B, and a red LED for A + B. The non-signal-inverting design ensures against phase problems. The Tuner jack provides a direct output enabling permanent connection of a tuner, regardless of whether ouput A or B is selected.

The transformer isolated channel A makes it possible to perform and/or record through two amplifiers simultaneously, without having to lift the earth on either amp. This potentially lethal ‘earth-lifting’ was the usual solution (back in the bad old days !) for eliminating the hum introduced by earth (ground) loops that occur when connecting two amplifiers in parallel (definitely not recommended, in fact it’s illegal !). With the isolation provided by output A, all earth (ground) loop problems are eliminated. Obviously, the transformer-coupled output A can also be used as a DI for recording.

**From June 2011, this pedal is shipped optimised for operation from a +18V DC regulated power supply, which can be supplied by us at our cost price. This provides greater headroom for professional situations. All pedals are still shipped loaded with a fresh 9V battery, for immediate use. All pedals are play-tested/functionality-tested by the builder before shipping.

Here is some feedback we received from Neil Thomason after delivery of the Rich Switch to Head Gap recording studio……..

Hi Ivan – package received at this end, great packaging and presentation, appreciate the supplied documentation. The unit is bigger and heavier than your website picture implies, it really feels great, and seems built to last. Look forward to giving it a run over the weekend. Thanks so much for putting it together for me in the time frame I requested, your service and communication has been excellent and it’s really appreciated. All the best, Neil.

and…….. Thanks again for the Rich Switch, it went straight into sessions over the weekend, and also this week, and has delivered on all accounts. Cheers, Neil.

www.ivanrichards.com

www.headgap.com.au

Yes, we undertake service, repairs and MODS on most (but not all) wah-wah pedals which are based more or less on the original designs. The obvious exceptions would be the Morley pedals which are nothing remotely like the original wah designs, and some of the newer/updated Dunlop wah’s, which employ surface-mount-technology (SMT), making conventional servicing extremely difficult – also there is very little room in such models for additional circuitry, etc.

Pictured here is the VOX V847 wah pedal, which already sounds better than average, but the customer wanted to take it to the next level ! I had previously implemented my true-bypass MOD, including a pull-down resistor on the input side to the board, to minimise pops & clicks. Just this one MOD alone made a big difference for the customer.

We had already auditioned a wah upgraded with kits from Area 51, and done an A/B comparison with the stock VOX wah, and decided that yes - most wah’s upgraded with an Area 51 kit will definitely have more of that highly desirable vocal quality to their sweep.

The customer placed an order with Area 51 for their Vintage Italian Wah kit, plus the DC Power Jack  kit. He did not include the Buffer kit, intended for applications where the wah directly drives a vintage style fuzz (eg Fuzz Face), this is because the relatively low input impedance of such fuzz pedals prevents the wah circuit from performing correctly. Perhaps this buffer should have been included in the project, as this customer loves fuzz pedals.

The DC jack required a neat 1/2″ hole to be created next to the output jack – I have a hydraulic hole punch tool that makes this job easy. The Area 51 board mounts in the same place, but is slightly larger, so this required careful positioning of the IN and OUT jacks to clear the board. Unlike the Vox and Dunlop boards, the Area 51 board requires all hard-wired connections, rather than cheapo push-on connectors. In my opinion this is a big improvement. The DC Power kit also required some additional components to be mounted on the board, for filtering and protection. At the end of the job, the cheapo output jack started playing up, so I threw it in the bin and installed a new Switchcraft jack.

While this BLOG is not intended to be an advertisement or endorsement for Area 51 kits – there are other alternatives out there for you to explore - the standard of the Area 51 kit/board/components is very high. The final and most important test is when we hook up a guitar and amp to the wah pedal and confirm that yes ! – this wah does now have a much improved sweep and a very vocal quality. Anyone know how to play Burning of the Midnight Lamp ??  IR.