Russian Muff - Repair/upgrade.

[terr0rgasm]

Hey everyone. First time poster - Wont be my last.

I have a Russian Big Muff. Its currently in semi-working order; the input and output jacks had both been snapped at gigs and I sloppily glued then back in place years ago. Its only recently gotten to the point where a cable will work its way out during use, and thats unnacceptable. Also, the tone knob loosely spins 360 degrees, but somehow still works.
Initially, I was planning on just replacing it, but Ive noticed that Russian Muffs arent exactly as easy to come by as they were a few years ago when I bought mine at a local shop for 55 bucks. So I now must replace the Input and output jacks as well as the faulty tone pot.

My soldering skills are intermediate. Im no pro, but not a beginner either. However I am a bit curious on which components I should choose.

I think Ive sourced the in/out jacks here.
http://www.sourcingmap.com/65mm-stereo- ... 81218.html

I have yet to purchase them. Is there any recommendations for what to look for in the pots?

[Mike]

Hi,

Smallbear will have everything you need.

Jacks: http://www.smallbearelec.com/servlet/Detail?no=798

Pots: I think they have some designated for Muffs, but you will have to look: http://www.smallbearelec.com/servlet/Ca ... d+Trimpots

Post pictures of what you need to replace, and I can help you find them.

Mike

[terr0rgasm]

Thanks a lot! Thats a great resource!

[McSpunckle]

I put regular 16mm pots in a Russian muff once... I remember I had to modify it somehow, but I don't remember exactly how... The pots in Russian muffs are weeeeird. You'll have to change the knobs too, since the shafts are really thin.

This thread is destined to be nothing but unavoidable innuendo.

[benjuro]

This thread is destined to be nothing but unavoidable innuendo.

I'm SHOCKED it doesn't happen more, the way we throw the muff around up in here...

Anyhoo, if you really like the tone of the muff and plan on keeping it, I would highly recommend unsoldering the plastic jacks from the pcb and wiring real metal jacks in their place. It is not very difficult to determine how to wire them if you conceptualize which traces connect to which part of the plugs, and then you can switch the position if you want them to match all your other pedals (in goes on the right, and out goes on the left, sneaky russians.) I would bet you can find a diagram of this on the interwebz somewhere.
It does require suspending the pcb differently (I'm assuming we're taking about a later black russian muff, not a green one) which is actually a good thing b/c it takes any of the stress of plugging/unplugging plugs off of the board, but needs some creative and careful consideration. I widened some of the unused holes where the jacks are mounted and used pcb posts.

You will NOT find new pots to match with the D-shaped shaft and to top it off they used different length shafts across time. Again, the ideal move is to widen the holes in the shell and just replace all the pots (and your knobs) but again you're making it further and further from "all original." I found these two mods were entirely worth doing in a muff that I used regularly and needed to be reliable, but was okay with removing any resale value purists might be looking for in it.
I went so far as to rewire everything as well...be very careful when changing components, as the cheap wiring they use is very thin, gets dried out and very easily becomes disconnected from where it's supposed to be.

Easy for me to say, I'm comfortable with an iron and have used/fixed/modded/flipped more of these than I can count across the years. It's a great circuit to work on for peeps without a lot of experience b/c of the way everything is spread out and easy to get at. If you're not into any of these changes and are really interested in keeping it stock, PM me and I will delve into the parts bin and see if I have any spare original jacks and pots.

EDIT: I re-read your initial post. If the tone pot still works but spins, you've probably just got a loose pot/knob or both. If the pot itself is loose you're in danger of snapping wires off when it spins, but this is a way easier fix than replacing the pot, and it'll keep your muff more original.

[terr0rgasm]

The weird thing is... the Pot IS secure... but it does spin 360 and does still affect the tone correctly. its very odd.

[guitarslinger21]

get normal pots and normal knobs. Use a drill to make the holes bigger.

Russian pots are teh suck. They definitely aren't the secret mojo in the sound. LOL/

Also, you don't HAVE to use the jack listed here, http://www.smallbearelec.com/servlet/Detail?no=798

You can also use, http://www.smallbearelec.com/servlet/Detail?no=773

actually, buy both, and see which one you like more!

[terr0rgasm]

http://www.futurlec.com/Audio-65mm.shtml

I see a few at the bottom of this page that are a bit cheaper....

Does Switched or Unswitched matter to me in this instance?

[terr0rgasm]

Okay.... the jacks were fixed without incident! Now I want to get a few new knobs on there!

[terr0rgasm]

Any suggestions about what to look for in selecting pots for the russian muff?

[Gigahearts_FX]

Alpha b100k all positions. 16mm or 9mm

[moose23]

I'd recommend A100K/log for the sustain and volume.