EHX English Muff'n - Help!

[Cosmo Valdemar]

I've just won one on eBay! Well, bought one Got it for £56 which makes me very happy indeed. The dirt quest is never ending.

Very excited to see what it can do! Will I like it? Watch this space...

Edited May 1, 2019 by Cosmo Valdemar

[thodrik]

I have one. It works great on bass or guitar. Also you can try it with different tubes to give it a different flavour and go for a higher gain/lower gain. 

I also have/had (it broke) an EBS Valvedrive and the English Muff'n was far better in terms of overdrive sounds.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

51 minutes ago, thodrik said:

I have one. It works great on bass or guitar. Also you can try it with different tubes to give it a different flavour and go for a higher gain/lower gain. 

I also have/had (it broke) an EBS Valvedrive and the English Muff'n was far better in terms of overdrive sounds.

That's good to hear!

[Cosmo Valdemar]

It's arrived! And it doesn't work.

I'm hoping it's the valves. The light comes on and it works fine bypassed, but when engaged I have to crank the input and gain to hear anything, and then it's just a really weak fuzz. Should the valves glow? There's a very weak light coming from them.

 

[thodrik]

It might be the valves. It might be the power supply. 

The valves should glow but they won’t be that bright.

Try changing the tubes or perhaps checking if they are microphonic.

When mine broke down it was just a case that a wire in the power supply plug had shorted. I just bought a new plug and the pedal worked as good as new.

[Jazzmaster62]

IIRC it's an 18V power supply. Valve may need changing also? Most common problem is normally a loose solder connection. 

[Cosmo Valdemar]

12 hours ago, thodrik said:

It might be the valves. It might be the power supply. 

The valves should glow but they won’t be that bright.

Try changing the tubes or perhaps checking if they are microphonic.

When mine broke down it was just a case that a wire in the power supply plug had shorted. I just bought a new plug and the pedal worked as good as new.

There is the tiniest little orange glow coming from the valves - hardly visible. How do I check if they are microphonic? This is all new to me.

I'm hoping it isn;t the power supply as the pedal lights up and works in bypass, but if it is, how easy is it to replace? I've not seen a power supply like it.

11 hours ago, Jazzmaster62 said:

IIRC it's an 18V power supply. Valve may need changing also? Most common problem is normally a loose solder connection. 

The seller on Ebay is being very apologetic about the whole thing and offered a refund or discount. I don't really want to send it back so we've agreed to go halves on new valves. I might try to find someone local who has some spare valves I can try before buying the new ones.

Any recommendations for new valves? I've heard mixed opinions on the stock ones.

[thodrik]

51 minutes ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

There is the tiniest little orange glow coming from the valves - hardly visible. How do I check if they are microphonic? This is all new to me.

I'm hoping it isn;t the power supply as the pedal lights up and works in bypass, but if it is, how easy is it to replace? I've not seen a power supply like it.

The seller on Ebay is being very apologetic about the whole thing and offered a refund or discount. I don't really want to send it back so we've agreed to go halves on new valves. I might try to find someone local who has some spare valves I can try before buying the new ones.

Any recommendations for new valves? I've heard mixed opinions on the stock ones.

It is a 12v AC power supply. The power supply model is called '12AC-1000'. https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Electro-Harmonix-12AC-1000-Power-Supply/F4Q. 

I am no valve expert, but this is what I do when checking valves:Turn the pedal off, open the pedal up, remove the valves. Raise the valve to your ear and gently tap the valve with your finger nail or a pen. If you hear a 'ping' or a ring then it is a sign that the valve might have gone. There are few good Youtube demonstrations on good techniques to practice. 

They English Muff'n uses 12AY7s as stock. You could change them to 12AX7 tubes if you want more gain. In terms of valves, Mesa valves are expensive but easy to source. I have actually just used some JJ tubes in my Mesa amp and they are great. 

As said above, the issue might be a loose solder connection. If the pedal is lighting up then it probably isn't the power supply which is at fault. 

Best of luck!
 

[Jazzmaster62]

4 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

Any recommendations for new valves? I've heard mixed opinions on the stock ones.

Sovtek 12AX7 I would say.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

Update - it's going back!

I initially took the valves out and popped them back in again, which seemed to help. I discovered an odd feature - if the mid and bass control are turned right down, the signal becomes very weak - that faint fuzzy sound I described in an earlier post. This surprised me as I had read that the pedal was based on an old Marshall, where the mid and bass are essentially 'flat' when turned right down.

But I persevered as the tone with the knobs dialled up was really quite splendid. Sadly the pedal was plagued with an intermittent background static-type sound that was starting to give me the hump. I decided against opening it up and tinkering with it's innards and it's now being returned. Hey ho!