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Published on 03/20/11 at 06:17The BYOC Large Beaver is a clone of the famous Big Muff fuzz. Those that are familiar with Big Muff fuzz pedals know that there are actually certain eras that have different components. The most notable ones are the Triangle era and Ram Head's era. BYOC sampled many different Big Muffs to find out what the major differences between the two pedals are and made this kit. It contains everything you need to build either era.
UTILIZATION
As always, BYOC is a master at laying out easy to understand instructions. Their downloadable instruction manual shows you where every component goes and in what order. This particular pedal allows you to build both the Triangle and Ram's Head era circuits, and it even includes the BC239C transistors. Because the stock circuit can be a bit scooped, to make this pedal even more versatile, BYOC added a four way switch that adjusts how the tone knob interacts with the circuit.
SOUND QUALITY
The sound of the Large Beaver mainly depends on what specs you build it to. Given that you can choose between the Triangle or Ram Head's era, the sound can vary. However, both are wonderful circuits. The coolest thing about this pedal is the four way rotary switch that BYOC added. This adjusts how the tone circuit interacts with the pedal. The first position is the standard scooped stock sound. The second is a flatter sound which is found on some of the more boutique clones out there. The third position is actually a mid hump similar to an overdrive pedal like the tubescreamer. The final position removes the circuit completely; this was seen in some of the very late models of the Big Muff Pi.
OVERALL OPINION
Those wanting to customize their own Big Muff should definitely give this a go. If you have decent soldering skills, assembling this pedal should be no problem at all. Just be sure to always use a clean tip and to take your time. There's no need to rush these builds.
UTILIZATION
As always, BYOC is a master at laying out easy to understand instructions. Their downloadable instruction manual shows you where every component goes and in what order. This particular pedal allows you to build both the Triangle and Ram's Head era circuits, and it even includes the BC239C transistors. Because the stock circuit can be a bit scooped, to make this pedal even more versatile, BYOC added a four way switch that adjusts how the tone knob interacts with the circuit.
SOUND QUALITY
The sound of the Large Beaver mainly depends on what specs you build it to. Given that you can choose between the Triangle or Ram Head's era, the sound can vary. However, both are wonderful circuits. The coolest thing about this pedal is the four way rotary switch that BYOC added. This adjusts how the tone circuit interacts with the pedal. The first position is the standard scooped stock sound. The second is a flatter sound which is found on some of the more boutique clones out there. The third position is actually a mid hump similar to an overdrive pedal like the tubescreamer. The final position removes the circuit completely; this was seen in some of the very late models of the Big Muff Pi.
OVERALL OPINION
Those wanting to customize their own Big Muff should definitely give this a go. If you have decent soldering skills, assembling this pedal should be no problem at all. Just be sure to always use a clean tip and to take your time. There's no need to rush these builds.