THE BIG MUFF π - A HISTORY OF ALL VERSIONS - Part 2
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MIKE MATTHEWS RED ARMY OVERDRIVE
NOTE: Version, Edition, and Revision numbers listed here are not actual Electro-Harmonix identifiers. They are my categorizations, for identification purposes only
THE SOVTEK RED ARMY OVERDRIVE - The First Russian Made Big Muff
Circa 1990
Editions: 2 - Graphics and component values changed for each edition
Circuit Board Numbers: 6n - 01.00.000 (6 and n are Russian letters), BM - 01.00.000
True Bypass: No
Power: 9V battery only. To connect to a standard Boss type AC power supply, use a 9V battery adaptor like the 1 Spot CBAT.
Packaging: Wood crate box with Russian lettering
Place of Manufacture: St Petersburg, Russia
After crashing twice in the US, Mike Matthews turned to the contacts and sources he had made in Russia back in 1979 to start up new business in the mid 1980s. After Perestroika the Soviet military industrial complex had collapsed in Russia. The former military factories, now out of work with the lack of military cotracts, were desparately looking for work to make any type of consumer goods. Matthews saw an opportunity to buy inexpensive integrated circuits (ICs) from them, and later vacuum tubes, to sell around the world. Selling ICs got Matthews back on his feet and he started a new company in 1988, New Sensor Corp, which included a distribution center in the USA.
In 1989 he created a new brand a amplifier vacuum tubes under the label Sovtek (name combines words Soviet and technology), contracting them to be made in the 53-year-old ExpoPul factory in Saratov, Russia. New Sensor supplied tubes to many of the top amplifier makers at the time, like Mesa Boogie, Marshall, Peavey, and practically all of the tubes used by Fender. In 1998 Matthew's New Sensor company purchased the entire ExpoPul vacuum tube factory, which was the largest tube maker in the world at that time, and Mike stopped selling ICs. They now make tubes for such brand names Tungsol, Svetlana, and Mullard, among others. By 2001 Matthews had reacquired the Electro-Harmonix name, and New Sensor brought a line of high quality E-H branded vacuum tubes to the market. His girlfriend, Irusha, who's father was co-inventor of Russia's hydrogen bomb, ran all of his operations in Russia.
Matthews had seen the collector value of his old 1970s Big Muffs and other E-H pedals soar over the years, and people back in the States were saying he should bring them back on the market. It was not long before he resurrected the line of E-H pedals, this time entirely made in Russia. I believe there are as many versions of these Russian Big Muffs as there are American made versions. Around 1990 Matthews was in St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad), a political and cultural center of russia for over 200 years. It was there that he hooked up with two colonels who operated a small factory that had made training equipment for the military. Since the equipment they made incorporated electronics, it was not a big stretch for them to jump over to pedal making. Matthews discussed with them the idea of having a Big Muff made in Russia, but he did not have a lot of money at the time to invest in new tooling to make one. The colonels liked the idea and agreed to pay for all of the set up costs and built them for New Sensor. They came up with a rugged, military looking pedal, with a reinforced top plate under the enclosure box cover, and large metal foot switch casing, making them very sturdy. They copied the Big Muff circuit, but it was not identical to any USA made version.
The first of the Russian made pedals from New Sensor was the Red Army Overdrive (RAO), produced around 1990. Matthews must have thought the riskae name would appeal to US customers who would find it very cool to own a pedal made in Russia, and the myth that these were made from scrap military parts did not hurt either. The military wood crate with Russian lettering that these were packed in just added to the mystique. Contrary to popular belief, these Russian made pedals were not made with spare tank parts, ammunition boxes, land mines (!), or any other junk-scrap military weapons. They were made in a former Russian military equipment factory. Some of the circuit board components and wire may have been stock that was made or purchased during the Cold War era, but that is as close to military parts as it gets.
Technically the RAO is not a Big Muff since it was not actually called a Big Muff, but I am including it here as a historical reference. It is a Big Muff circuit, and the later Russian Big Muffs were essentially this same pedal with different graphics and a capacitor change. This is probably the rarest of all the Russian made Muffs due to the ultra cool graphics on the top panel and the small number that were manufactured.
GRAPHICS AND COLORS - The bottom box panel of the RAO was painted gray and the top panel was painted, or possibly anodized, a silver-white color. The silk screen design was printed in dark green ink, though some have been seen with dark blue ink. It did not have the words Big Muff in the graphics, but it included Mike Matthews name, a Russian star, and the word Sovtek. Below that was marked "MADE IN RUSSIA" in Russian letters. Later production changed from a gray box to a green box, and from dark gray silk screen to dark green or dark blue. The graphics on the second edition Red Army were slightly different than the first. The RED ARMY letters were smaller, the words VOLUME and TONE were boxed, and the register mark on Sovtek was larger.
CONTROLS / KNOBS - There were the typical three Big Muff control knobs - VOLUME, DISTORTION, and TONE. USA Muffs were labeled SUSTAIN instead of DISTORTION. Early Red Army Overdrive pedals were made with cheap, tapered gray plastic knobs with circular indicator arrows molded into the tops. They were prone to breaking and poorly designed. Later "Civil War" and "Green Russian" Big Muffs would use similar "arrow-top" gray knob with a slightly different shape. Most Red Army Overdrive pedals were made with plain black plastic "hockey puck" shapes with indicator marks, similar to the USA Big Muff cylinder knobs but much smaller and with better tooling. These knobs are also found on the green boxed "Civil War" Big Muff.
CIRCUIT - The component values of the RAO circuit were different from the American made Big Muffs. It is unknown who designed the revised circuit, but I assume the engineers at the St. Petersburg factory used a USA Big Muff schematic as an example. Some circuit boards were marked 6n - 01.00.000. The 6 and n are Russian letters for B and P in English. Big Pie? Other boards were marked BM - 01.00.000. BM for Big Muff. The transistors were Silicon, Russian E type in a metal TO18 style “can” package. There were typically two NPN KT3102E (NPN 2N5089 or 2N5210 equivalent) and two KT9108 transistors, though they were often mixed. I assume two of these were low gain and two were high gain. Some circuits are seen with black plastic, half-cylinder TO92 packages with white or green dots on top.
For the second edition RAO the component values remained the same as the first edition, but where before there were two filter caps in series in each of first three stages of the circuit, there was now a single 430pF capacitor each stage. The value of those unmarked series caps on the first edition is unknown, but on later blue and gray boxed "Civil War" Big Muffs, green boxed Civil War Muffs, and first edition green Muffs, they are marked 1n0K. Two of those caps in series are equivalent to 500pF, which accounts for the smoother, bassier tone these have versus the less bassy, more crunchy tone the 430pF caps in the second edition RAO give. The 430pF circuit was almost identical to the second and third edition green Russian Big Muffs that came later, with the exception that the 430pF caps here were changed to 470pF on the greens. Some of the first Sovteks made with the Civil War graphics and green box bottoms also have 430pF caps.
ENCLOSURE BOX - The new heavy duty tank-like box had a cast aluminum bottom panel and a sheet metal top panel. The pots on the first editions typically had stamped metal cases, and changed to green potted cases for second edition production. The input and output jacks were plastic sleeved, and soldered directly to the circuit board, with nothing else holding them in place. They simply poked through two silver rimmed holes in the box. They were prone to coming loose or breaking. The wiring harness was made military style - very clean and organized - due to the fact that these were made in former military electonics factories. The battery door was plastic, fit loosely, and was prone to falling out.
For the first time the Big Muff included a red LED light to show when it was switched on. The LED remained on every Big Muff from this point forward. Power was from a 9V battery only.
CLONES OR SIMILAR PEDALS - The Stomp Under Foot CWM / Civil War is a clone of this type Big Muff circuit. See DiscoFreq's Effects Database for a thorough listing of all the Big Muff clones and variants throughout the years.
THE SOUND - Technically, this is the first Russian made Big Muff, though not marketed as a Big Muff. The tone, while still in the Big Muff family, was quite unique and different from the USA Big Muff tones, and I think the best of all the Russian made Big Muffs. Sort of a mix between the V1 and V3 Muffs, but with a fatter bottom end, brighter and less scooped mids, and less gain. The first edition RAO sounds very close to the blue and gray boxed Civil War (version 7A) Muffs that would come later, and had almost identical circuit component values. The second edition RAO sounds the same as some of the first Civil War (version 7) Russian Big Muffs with green box bottom made around the same time, similar to the 2nd and 3rd edition green Russian Muffs. First edition RAOs have very dark sound, thunderous lows, and a smooth and clear tone. Second editions have a much grittier tone, niticably less smooth. The bass and treble of the tone varies slightly from unit to unit.
Shown above (left to right) - Two gray box first edition RAOs, a green box with green graphics, green box with dark blue graphics, green with blue graphics, and an early green box RAO open
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Shown above - A first edition gray boxed Red Army Overdrive with tapered "arrow-top" knobs. The transistors are unmarked. V7 "Civil War" Big Muffs were made with this exact same circuit, with these same caps in series. Note the letters "BM" on the circuit board, for Big Muff. Also note the plastic jacks, soldered directly to the circuit board, and poking through two holes in the enclosure box. Nothing else held them in place.
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Shown above (left to right) - Early "arrow top" gray plastic knobs, and the later black plastic "hockey puck" knobs seen on most Red Army Overdrive pedals
Shown above - A pristine second edition green boxed Red Army Overdrive autographed by Mike Matthews, with black cylinder knobs, 430pF caps, two KT3102E and two KT9108 transisitors. The circuit board was identical to the first edition, but note the asingle 430pF cap in the first three stages has replaced the dual capacitors in the first edition. Also note that the graphics are slightly different from the first edition. Early green boced "Civil War" Big Muffs were identical to this pedal, only with different silk screen graphics.
CONTINUE - BACK TO THE HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN BIG MUFFS
HISTORY OF THE BIG MUFF PART 1 (vintage USA)
HISTORY OF THE BIG MUFF PART 3 (modern USA)
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