Electro-Harmonix/ Sovtek Green Russian Big Muff π -1994 Version 7C

SOVTEK “GREEN RUSSIAN” BIG MUFF π - VERSION 7C in mint condition with wooden Box.

A.K.A - Bubble Font and Tall Font Big Muffs

Circa 1994-2000
Circuit Board Numbers: BM-1-01.00.000 (first edition), BM-1-01.00.001(second and third editions)
Circuit Designer: Based on Bob Myer's original circuit 
Editions: 3. First edition with cast metal ridge-sided box, second edition with graphics change but same box, and third edition with six screw all sheet metal box and metal battery door 
True Bypass: No
Power: 9V battery only. To connect to a standard Boss type AC power supply, use a 9V 100mA battery adaptor like the 1 Spot CBAT. See POWER section below. 
Enclosure Size (first edition): 6 1/2" long x 5 1/16" wide x 2 3/4" tall / 165mm long x 128mm wide x 70mm tall (not including rubber feet) 
Enclosure Size (second and third editions): 6 1/2" long x 4 3/4" wide x 2 3/4" tall / 165mm long x 118mm wide x 70mm tall (not including rubber feet) 
Packaging: Wood crate box with Russian lettering. There were two version of the box graphics. Third editions Muffs had "BM" added to the graphics.
Place of Manufacture: St Petersburg, Russia

The Green Russian Big Muffs Pi's are the most common Sovtek BMPs to be found from the 1990s era. Also known as the Tall Font and Bubble Font Green Russians. The tank-like military appearance made these very mean looking pedals, and very desirable. They shipped in the same military style wood crate with Russian lettering as the Mike Matthews Red Army Overdrive, and previous Sovtek BMPs, though the box graphics changed sometime during the third edition run. These were made in St. Petersburg Russia.

Contrary to popular belief, these Russian BMPs 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 operated by two Russian colonels. Some of the circuit board components 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. It is interesting to note that there actually was a Russian tank called the BMP. No, not for Big Muff Pi, but for Bronevaya Maschina Piekhota. It was an armoured personnel carrier developed during the Cold War for transporting Infantry on the battlefield. It was heavy, reliable, but it had relatively thin armour (sound familiar?). It was first seen in public in November 1967 at the Soviet Red Square parade.

The Russian BMP tank and the Russian BMP pedal - which, contrary to popular belief, was not built built from old tank or military scrap parts

GRAPHICS AND COLORS - Produced in the late 1990s, the two-tone Civil War Sovtek Big Muff color scheme had already changed to an all green colored box with black graphics. Now the graphics changed to use simpler Big Muff letters. There were three editions. The first edition, nicknamed the Tall Font Green Russian, had tall, condensed, Big Muff letters. In addition to the English MADE IN RUSSIA markings like the previous Muff, this version also had the the same words in Russian letters silk screened on the front end. The Russian letters were last seen on the Red Army Overdrive but never appeared on another Russian Big Muff until now. They remained on every Russian Big Muff until E-H stopped making them in 2009. The second edition from around 1995, nicknamed the Bubble Font Green Russian, had rounded Big Muff letters. The third edition retained the bubble-font graphics, but the box changed to a six-screw, light weight all folded sheet metal box with a metal battery door cover. The letters CE were added to the box end graphics. The CE marking certified that a product has met EU (European Union of 27 member states with an economic and political standard) consumer safety, health or environmental requirements. The green color varied during the production as you can see by the photos below, though some of the variation in color is due to different lighting and white balance conditions of these photos. Most were an olive-drab military green, though some were a shade lighter or darker, and some were bright grass-green. I assume the St. Petersburg factory must have had problems with consistency from the paint suppliers in Russia. The paint on the first edition Tall Font green Big Muffs was very poor quality and literally flakes off. Most Tall Font Russians are like this, but later Bubble Font Russians have better paint.

CONTROLS / KNOBS - Some early examples have been seen with the same gray knobs that were used on the version 7B Green Civil War Big Muffs described above, but most have the common black dimple topped knobs with ridged sides. There were at least four different large foot switches used during the production, with varying sizes and shapes.

CIRCUIT - First and second editions had the same circuit as the transition Green Civil War Big Muffs. Some first edition Tall Fonts had the exact same pcb, parts, and clear/gray plastic jacks as the V7B green Civil War. Later first editions and the second editions used a new pcb trace (#BM-1-01.00.000) and new style jacks with black rings. A new pcb trace (#BM-1-01.00.001) was created for a third edition. Some third editions from 1995 had a different trace pattern on a "T" shaped PCB, with no PCB#.

• The NPN Russian Silicon transistors were usually unmarked, in black plastic T092 cases with white and green dots painted on top and sides. Some third editions had TO92 cased tranys marked 3102, marked EF, or marked EE1. Occasionally metal can TO18 cased transistors were used on the first editions, marked NPN KT3102E 9108.
• Second and third editions changed the dual 1n0K capacitors in each of the first three circuit stages to a single 470pF cap. This cut some of the bass from the tone and made them slightly grittier and less smooth sounding than the Civil War Muffs, but more like the first edition Red Army Overdrive with 430pF caps.
• Film capacitors were used, as well as flat, rectangular green or red ceramic caps, and occasionally round ceramic disk caps. No electrolytics were used, other than the polarized 20-22uF power supply filter cap.
• Resistors were a mix of carbon composition or metal film.

POWER - Power was from a 9V battery only. A red LED light shows when the circuit is on. To connect to a standard Boss type AC power supply, use a 9V 100mA battery adaptor like the 1 Spot CBAT. If you intend to add a standard 9V power jack that works with standard negative tip power supplies, you can find out where to wire the + and - wires by looking at the wiring diagram for your version, or simply follow the red (+) and black (-) wires from the battery snap.

As on the previous Civil War version, a hand drawn/painted serial number appears on some of the circuit boards, though this is rare. I believe these are actual sequential numbers of the units as they were made. It is unlikely the number is sequential for the entire production of this version. The numbering was more likely repeated monthly or annually, or possibly repeated with each color or graphics change. Apparently the practice was discontinued for the second edition Green Russian, and all Russian Muffs that followed.

ENCLOSURE BOX - The first editions had the same four-screw, die cast boxes with ridged-sides and sheet metal tops as the previous Green Civil War version, and the same plastic battery door cover. Some of the first editions had the ridges polished off like the Civil War Muffs, though this was rare. These boxes were finished rough with sloppy clean up of the mold flashing. The second edition had the same box, though the printed graphics changed. There were four rubber feet glued to the bottom of the box, prone to falling off, the same as previous editions. The third edition changed to a less expensive six-screw, light weight, all folded sheet metal box with a metal battery door cover. The rubber feet were screwed to the bottom of this edition.

For the third edition the pcb was mounted to the case top, rather than the bottom as on all previous Russian Big Muffs. For some reason, the pcb was mounted flipped over, causing the input and output jacks to be in the reverse of standard pedal jack positions. There appears to be no logical reason for this. The plastic jacks, which were previously soldered directly to the circuit board and poked through holes in the back of the enclosure, changed on all three Green Russian editions to be secured with a nut to the enclosure back. Unfortunately, this nut was also plastic and broke easily. All three enclosures were very tough “tank” like boxes, but the plastic jacks were of poor quality and the plastic battery doors were notoriously loose and prone to falling off. The battery door changed from plastic to a metal door for the third edition sheet metal box, but some of the metal doors were also very loose. Costs for New Sensor to have these made in Russia were increasing every six months or so and these changes were made strictly to keep the retail price low.