Tell me about Big Muffs

LionAquaLooper

I've always just been an OD/Distortion user and when I was younger I never really liked the sound of fuzzes.  Though admittedly I was a big fan of Pumpkins' Siamese Dream album, I was never a guy who chased that tone like others did.  It's too bassy and boomy.  I'm recently discovering that Big Muffs have a pretty big fanbase.  Some even collect every single EHX iteration.  To any Big Muff owners here, what's the appeal for you?  When and where would you use that big boomy tone of a Big Muff over a run of the mill distortion pedal?   

Jonathanthomas83

I'm firmly the "I got one because Gilmour used one" camp. And I expect some others, if they're honest, are too.

Now I've used a few, I quite like them and use them for my own compositions. I'm particularly attached to the tone of the EHX Green Russian reissue variant for that and if I fancy a (rare these days) rendition of a Gilmour classic, I like to use the Ram's Head reissue.

lustycourtier

They look great on a shelf.

punchesjudy

I love a Big Muff. If I could only have one pedal forever more it would be a muff. 

They can be bassy and boomy but they stack really well with an od or preamp pedal of some sort. I love them with a Broadcast. Can get to full on grind territory if you set stuff right or really want that. 

I tend to have an od always on at low gain edge of breakup and use the muff as my main big loud distortion sound.  I am admittedly into the more grunge, noise and punk side of things though and they work well for what I want. 

The big box boys also look really good on a shelf as @lustycourtier said. I have a Muff habit that I just can’t shake. See a big box muff for cheap enough and suddenly my wallet is out. 

dickieguitar

Massiveness. 

Revolutions

dickieguitar said:

Massiveness. 

This.

Although I mostly only like the smoothest versions as they are far more musical & usable imo. The ram’s head reissue is my favourite, but finding it’s got too much gain even on the lowest settings as I’m stacking drives these days (boost to take aml
to breakup, drive & then muff on top for explosions). I mostly use a low gain version of a muff by Balls Effects as that sounds loverly.

Gassage

Get a Sovtek Civil War,, Triangle or Ram's Head or don't bother.

They are different gravy. The rest- a bit meh, although the smaller new EHX is ok.

stickyfiddle

Most of them are dreadful, esp the big-box NY one, which is a shame because it looks great. If you must have EHX, then the Ram's Head is the only great one and needs a huge mid-boost in front of it to actually sounds good. 

Best actual option is the Thorpy Fallout Cloud. BC108 version for more vintage flavour, regular one for more modern heft.

JD50

The Big Muff Deluxe is a great pedal, the newer version. You get a mid sweep control plus other features.

ThePrettyDamned

I like juansolo's one, which was called the superdoom or something. It's even more mid-scooped, has three clipping types and loads of tweak ability. Gain goes from bananas to earth shattering.

It's brilliant. If you max the mids knob it's still a bit scooped. But that's not fun. Play simple 2 and 3 note chords and get your shoe gaze on. 

thecolourbox

I've had a few, not Gilmour or Pumpkins inspired, but White Stripes inspired. "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" and the slow down section of "Black Math" are good examples as to why. That was typically the supposedly slightly less good standard big box NYC version, no fancy version or whatever. I've had a Bass Big Muff, a Donner clone, a Nano Big Muff, but none of them sounded as nice as that big box NYC one. I did have the Behringer copy first which was almost as nice to be fair, certainly better than the others I listed there.

The models on the Helix Effects don't really do it for me, the Legacy one seems closer to the sound I like but it's still not quite it. I suspect again because they've modelled "better" versions of the Big Muff rather than the off-the-shelf normal one

ThePrettyDamned

Ultrastoner! That's what it was called. Proper nuts. He put it in a box with a sho boost and a different muff-type with much less fuzzy gain, a bit more distortion like, and is based on a vintage British made pedal. Can't remember which one. 

colourofsound

The Tone Wicker was my favourite one; probably the most versatile of the EHX ones.

My favourite 3rd party adaption is probably the Blackarts Toneworks Pharoah - although I have to say I've never played one in person. But its always the one that stood out to me in demos

merlin

Has anyone had experience with a Fig Fumb?

Jonathanthomas83

merlin said:

Has anyone had experience with a Fig Fumb?

I would love to know this too. That pedal looks great and sounds it.

Plenty of authorities on the subject in this very thread who I'm sure can offer up their invaluable insights. But it seems that anything other than a Ram's Head is not worth our time ;-)

fretmeister

The Fallout Cloud's 2 band EQ makes it so versatile compared to other options. I like that one.

Otherwise they always need hitting with something with a big mid peak to stop them just disappearing in the mix. 3 piece bands are ok, but for everything else it's a bit of a mess.

Revolutions

Rat into muff is a classic combo that works beautifully.

Flanging_Fred

Muffs are fantastic especially when                                                                      

in and then the audience just go nuts.

Flanging_Fred

^ Sorry, my post just got totally lost in the mix.

chris-mount

I bought my first Muff because of Mogwai. The standard big box NYC one. I love the 'massiveness' of the sound, but the massiveness of the box is a right faff to fit onto a board.

I have just downsized to the Nano. Which (to my ears) sounds pretty comparable. At least for what I use it for. I also have a clone Russian Big Muff in the form of Der Stompenboxen from Fredric Effects. It's good, but I'm just not as into the sound of it.

Revolutions said:

Rat into muff is a classic combo that works beautifully.

 I have them set up the other way round on my board, might try switching them.

theatreanchor

I used a Bubble font muff in the ‘90s with a tube screamer in front of it. Was monstrous. Not so much a fan of muffs on their own, but twinned with something to tighten the attack, they can be deadly.