Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi (Reissue)

A three knob stompbox. As simple as can be.

I got this pedal free from someone who doesn't even play guitar. I was just planning on playing around with it once and then I was going to trash it because i thought it was a useless Russian-built piece of garbage. I must admit I couldn't have been more wrong, and I still can't believe it. I'm playing an American Standard Strat into THD Univalve with a 1-12 cabinet loaded with a Vintage 30. I was expecting a muddy, useless sound and instead the damn thing screamed! I got total definition with growling lows and searing, singing highs. It shouldn't sound this good, but it does. I've been playing for 20 years and the tone this thing gets with my rig is a sound I've always wanted but have never attained previously.

It seems cheaply built but I tend to baby my gear so I don't expect it to break down on me.

Never dealt with them.

I play blues and classic rock. I could see using this pedal for both solos and some massive power chords. This pedal is now an integral part of my sound.

3 nobs turn em all way to right no more questions!

Godin hblg and mexican tele -maxon sd9-boss hyper fuzz-traynor valve 40. This little baby is te black russian model I a/bed it next to the green one and this had mojo. I love noise so this guy nails it in a musical way making things creamy when you don't want the string attack of overdrive. The fun is mixing the muff with other disortion and overdrive then putting a phaser in there for good measure. I'm taken by noise when used properly in music ie; Godspeed YOU!,sonic youth,Explosions in the sky, mogwai,mercury rev,a nothern chorus... I think this pedal does the job for those tone attention moments. I gig with a keyboard player and bass/drums this sound can really fill out a tone area that I can't explain just experience....FUZZ RULES!

hmmm... I recently gigged with it no problem. Have only had a couple of months so wait and see. The plastic inputs don't give me much confidence but for the price would'nt take a heart attack if it exploded tomorrow. It's not like I paid $300 on a zvex.

can't speak russian!

playing 25 years used to have a little big muff then the 80's came along and someone convinced me to trade it for a boss ds-1. My memory makes me think the little muff was dirtier than the fuzz's coming out now ,but my memory is more fuzzy now -funny how things work. If this thing got lost/stolen I'd pick it up again cheap. Open to try new things like the maxon sd9 I picked up 2nd hand 'it can get fuzz when turned to the right. I recently used these 2 pedals together live thru a blues deville at a christian music festival-what glorious looks I recieved Laughs.

Extremeley easy to use.
Set volume, tone and amount of didtortion - and away you go!

I use this with Jazzmasters and whatever amp. The amp doesn't matter as long as it is very loud and neutral - because the big muff will shape your sound.
The big muff sounds best with full volume and full sustain.
Works very well after my digitech whammy and MXR phase 90.
Personally I prefer the russian made big muff to the USA version. The russian one frankly has more balls.
For in your face loud fuzz/distortion there really is only one choice. Suits garage, punk rock, noise and post rock.
Okay it is a bit noisy ( a little bit of buzz etc.) - but who fucking cares? It rocks!

This pedal has been with me for a few years now and works 100%.
The casing is secure.
Had a small problem with one of the jack sockets - but was easily fixed. I must admit I do have a back up - just in case - but these things are so cheap it won't break the bank.

No idea

Don't spend all your hard earned cash on some 'boutique' pedal or over priced amp. You'll never find that 'perfect tone' if you have no soul.
These things are cheap and sound great! Buy one and just play. Play fucking loud! and then relax.

3 knobs to change tone distoriton and volume, one button to turn it on and off. it's labelled pretty self explanitory, but i guess if you were illiterate... but then again if you couldn't read this review wouldnt be worth anything to you anyway so, eh?

I play a Squire Strat Silver Series through a fender delux 85, and can get a resonably chunky distorto sound out of it, but when i play it through the Big Muff it makes anything else sound piss weak.

High screachy highs (obviously) if you want it, big chunky distortion (huge chunky distortion is a better description), great sustain.

THIS IS THE DISTORTION PEDAL!

This thing is a perfect example of soviet engineering. This thing is built like a tank. even the same colour as a tank. it is pretty simple to construct, so don't worry about the whole soviet thing they can't stuff it up, but it doesnt break. It chews batteries but don't they all.

i have only had one problem with this, the battery leads broke (it doesnt have a battery door cause mines a beat up peice of shit), i took it to an electrician, he fixed it, and he even told me it was built like a tank. "could run it over with a mack truck" i think were the words he used.

i havent tried, i don't think they make them anymore.

I play everything but metal (you don't count zeppelin as metal do you?). This thing is very versitile, but if you want a distoriton pedal you arnt going to be playin surf music. The strat really limits the sound, i'm sure a les paul'd sound awesome.

This thing is a old Big "green" Muff Pi. olive green, made by a company called sovtek, it even has russian writting on it, how cool is that.


This is the Distoriton pedal!

they don't make them anymore so if you see one you should buy one, if i had to get rid of it id definatley get a new one as soon as possible, if i could find on

easy to use, but not as easy as some might think. alot of people bash this pedal because they dont take the time to tweak it. you can get some REALLY great sounds from this pedal. you don't need some $175 boutique clone-muff. it did not come with a manual, and it did not come in the famous wooden box.

sounds great. first thing i did was open it up and to my surprise, EH is now making this pedal TRUE BYPASS! thats right folks, a black, russian, big muff reissue. it has the 9-lug true bypass switch, with one wire going to each of the lugs. i use my squier fat telecaster with a duncan 59 humbucker in the neck, and a duncan Jerry Donahue single coil in the bridge. i go from my guitar, to this fuzz, into my 50 watt Ampeg Reverberocket 1x12 combo. this pedal nails the Weezer blue album fuzz, as well as the Smashing Pumpkins siamese dream fuzz. best thing about the pedal is the true bypass, and the tone knob has a really wide range. that makes this a fairly versatile fuzz.

solid. built to last overall, but be carefull with those plastic jacks. plus you see alot of these pedals still around from the 70's, 80's and 90's.

incredible value. $54 from music123 w/free shipping. thats a great price for this classic fuzz pedal (w/true bypass). i play fuzzy sludgey riffy stoner rock mostly, while dabbling in classic rock/blues rock. i don't see any reason to pay the extra 20 for the US version. like fuzz? you should already own this pedal.

Oh come on! It's got three knobs/dials, volume (level of effect), sustain (distortion) and tone (anti-clockwise bottom end, clockwise top end). Easy as "Pi". Quite versatile and easy to find those "sweet spots". No manual, but if you need one for this, you probably can't read anyway.

I tried this pedal with my guitars, a Strat, a Firebird, a Tele, an unbranded 60's semi-acoustic and an early 70's Arbiter S.G. copy. Through humbuckers, with the sustain up and tone down, this pedal is creamy and syrupy, a la "Cream" era Clapton. With single coils and tone up, you can get a really dirty gritty garage/psyche fuzz, like any of your favourite "Nuggets" bands. However I found my grail when I played my semi-acoustic Soundmaster ES-335 copy bass and Audition amp with this pedal. Wow! Warm fuzzy, sustaining, earth shaking, fantastic! A bit like Macca's fuzz bass sound on "Rubber Soul" Sounds good with flange and echo.I would imagine if you used it with a compressor it would sound even better. I'd say this pedal was a fuzz, rather than a distortion, so probably not for your "Nu-Metal" sounds.

Built in a Russian munitions factory to what seems to be the same standards of a tank. Chassis seems very sturdy, but I would have prefered it if the input/output sockets were metal. I'd feel confident about gigging without a back-up.

Never dealt with them

I play mostly 60's/70's style psyche/garage/rock and this pedal is perfect for that. I'm sure if you were inclined to, you could get some grunge type sounds out of this. I used to use a Boss HM-2 pedal on my bass, but this blows it out of the water. I'd definately get another one if it broke or was nicked. I own a few other fuzz/distortion pedals, a Fulltone Soul-Bender, a Zoom Ultra-Fuzz, a Boss HM-2 and an Electro-Harmonix Graphic-Fuzz. The Big Muff can hold it's own against these and also has it's own unique flavour. It would be nice if it had an input for an external power supply, but no big deal, as batteries seem to last a long time. If you're looking for a good retro sounding fuzz, I'd reccomend this one. It would be nice if it had separate treble and bass controls, but it hasn't and I've learnt to live live with it.

if u play with the right nobs, my big muff will purr, if you play with the rong nobs, it will purr louder.

70's fender jaguar-my big muff-wahwah-old distortion feedbacky thing-500w peavy USA bass stack.
wow really noisy and amazing. setting vary kus song sounds vary.

my muff sounds great always, it always makes the right effects

peavy usa bass

from cobain-hendrix-thurston moore...
all effects are great, but distortion and chorus are the best

yes i never have not used it ata gig except when i didnt have a big muff.

yes but i prefer bakup becaus some people think my big muff is to loud

N/A
my big muff has never gone wrong

alternatie punk rock, it fits just fine
ive bin playing 5 years and is better than any other pedals i have used
if it wer stolen i would cry. then buy/steal another one
i love the name, say it with me, BIG MUFF
i hate nothing bout it
i compared it to a digitech grunge pedal and my muff won handsdown
i wish it had a wah attachd to the side

3 knobs, volume, tone, sustain (gain). turn up the volume, it get's louder, turn up the tone it gains more top end, turn down the tone you get lots of sludgy bottom end, turn up the sustain for the amount of fuzz you want. pretty damn easy to use, and its versatile enough to lend it self to both electric guitar and bass guitar (i have used it for both applications in rehearsal and gigging situations without any problems). to be fair it did take some fiddling before i found 'the sound' for me, but it was the first pedal i had purchased and i went through different amps and guitars plus other FX before coming to my sound.

my setup is:
fender '69 champion mustang reissue > Marshall ED-1 compressor > Jim Dunlop Cry Baby Wah > Nobels ODR-S overdrive special > Boss OS-2 overdrive/distortion > EHX BIG MUFF PI > Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble > Boss PH-4 Phase Shifter > Yamaha Digital Delay > Line 6 Delay Modeller > Into a Peavey Classic 30.... gasp, yes a large setup

When used correctly this pedal is meaty as hell, and really can leave my distortion pedal whimpering in the corner pleading for mercy. The best way to use this pedal at a high gain setting is to switch it on only when you're playing, otherwise there is an annoying 'shhh' humming noise, so pretty much switch on - rock - switch off.

I've found it easy to use with my Peavey amp, its an all valve amp and the vintage fuzz tones lend themselves perfectly to this vintage style valve combo.

the pedal can easily produce images of Josh Homme from QOTSA, but then with some twiddling, and a wah pedal you're pulling shapes like Hendrix in no time, with your original take on of purple haze.

When using it with a bass i found it lends itself more to passive basses after using it with my Musicman SUB bass, but when i plugged in my Fender J copy it sung, sweet tones were flowing from the amp, and it could really beef up the sound so all fears of dropping the bottom end out of your sound can be abolished. I used the pedal with my VP Jazz copy into the big muff pi, an older boss CE-2 chorus pedal, straight into my Peavey 1978 Century bass head, driven by a peavey 1x15 cabinet with Black Widow speakers.

this effect pedal is creeping its way into more and more of my playing now as i am playing more and more, the tone is awesome, lead lines almost fly off the fretboard (i'll note here that i'm no shred monster, and generally stay away from soloing, but interesting modes and lines sound so good with this pedal its hard not to play them...) and chords are given a sludgy makeover and erupt from the speaker.

the only reason i drop a point off the 10 is because of the annoying hum when not playing when the unit is at high gain levels, but this is quickly remedied by either switching off the unit, or using some form of volume pedal/kill switch in your effects circuit

this pedal is huge, and as a result sturdy as hell, the paint job is nice, but in the end that doesn't matter and so EHX agree, and as a result of this, after extensive use the paint does chip off, but in the end you just look more hardcore. i've played many gigs without backup, and i'm confident in saying that i doubt i'd need it. it something were to go wrong with this pedal, then i would definately get a replacement. also its easy to fall into this false feeling of security, but i can definately rely on the American maufacture. although saying that, i've never played on a russian unit so i'm on the lookout so i can make comparrisons.

Never had to get in touch, but the dealer i bought it from are distributors so i'm sure gettin in touch wouldn't be too much of a challenge.

i play a mix of music, but tend to write my own material (as sad as it sounds...) my favourite bands include: biffy clyro, radiohead, queens of the stone age, siKTh, interpol, and their sounds influence me alot, but not necessarily in this area (QOTSA being the only band who's sound resembles the Big Muff), but i have found my own voice through the pedal, and it really boosts the sound when it needs lifting.

i have been playing for about 3/4 years now having started on bass, and moving onto guitar, the pedal is great for both, and i use it alot on recording. a list of my current guitar set up is listed above.

if this pedal were to go missing/stolen/broke whatever, i would probably definately replace it, it is becoming more and more part of my sound.

as far as loves/hates are concerned i love the tone and ease of use, hate being such a strong word i lean towards diliking its size as its a bit big for a compact pedal board, but then size adds to the character of the pedal, and makes it look more interesting than just having a load of multi-coloured boxes all the same size... i'm so shallow...

i did not compare this product, as i was in a rush to a rehearsal, so i quickly nipped into the local guitar shop and tested it quickly and bought it, and to my dismay it sounded pretty awful at the rehearsal - a quick shift of volume, and a swap of bass to a passive model later and the problem was quickly abolished. i only wish i'd tried the double muff as well.....

i think it enhances my sound, and helps me make a better noise, as i don't see too many folks using these these days, so i enjoy it.

This review is for the Sovtek Green Muff. You know, the Russian version of the Big Muff Pi, that is very green. And ugly.

As far as usability, the Green Muff has three knobs. They are your basic idiot knobs, turn until you like the sound. You don't get much easier than that.

Son of a bitch! If I don't stick a fat stogie in my mouth after playing with this baby then I'm doing something wrong. The Green Muff is the redheaded stepchild of the American Big Muff Pi. She's a bit edgier, a bit more gnarly, and if you ever expect to tame her, you're an idiot.

You can get that fat, bassy thump for all of your rhythm work just as easily as you can get that searing lead that borderlines on feedback every time you back off. Robin Trower only wishes he had this much sustain.

She works just fine with my Hiwatt DR-103 and my Laney AOR Pro Tube 100. These are my main amplifiers, and boy does she ever sing with them. The Hiwatt is perhaps the best amp I have ever used for effects, and the muff sounds as natural as you could possibly hope for. With the Pro Tube 100, the phrase 'Marshall killer' comes to mind. If you aren't annihilating little children and small animals in your immediate vicinity when using this stomp box with either of these amps, you're doing something wrong. (sidenote: the Green muff works fine with Marshall amps too, d'uh). It is also worth noting that I use two Fender Showman 4x12 cabinets loaded with Celestion G12T-75s, and fuck me running, the Celestions take this sound like a champ. Never much enjoyed running this pedal through Vintage 30s or the likes, though.

The one amp that I have never enjoyed using her through is modern Fender equipment. She doesn't like any of the Blues or Hot Rod Deluxe amps, and any of the modern heads I have put her through seem to be gnashing their teeth at the very thought of it. Eh, whatever. The older Reverbs and Bassmans seem to react just fine, and they sound great.

To my ears, the Green Muff enjoys my Fender guitars more than my Gibson guitars. I chalk it up to the fact that I enjoy the sound of single-coils more than I do humbuckers, but the Texas Specials I run on my main axe seem to do the job just fine.

From Pink Floyd to Nirvana to Mark Knopfler, the Green Muff will do exactly what I want it to.

A guy I knew once said that his Green Muff would frequently malfunction through takes in the studio. He would be in the middle of a solo and it would cut out. The knobs were missing so it only had one setting. When she would cut out, he would throw her against the floor and walls to get her to work again, and voila, he would finish the take.

I am unsure as to what this says about Russian engineering, but the fact that it doesn't *completely* crap out like other pedals when it starts to malfunction says a lot. I, myself, have never had any reliability troubles, and my Green Muff is pretty damn old. She's got kick marks and metal on metal scuffing and everything. She still works like a charm.

For me, the Green Muff is one of the best purchases I have ever made. I've spent a long damn time trying to tame her, and have finally come to terms with her. I can get the sound I want and she can be as damned crazy as she wants, and it works just fine for me. For playing modern rock, she's got that crunch that I desire. For playing classic rock, she's got that fat bassy tone that makes for some of the best rhythm lines. For playing your blistering lead, well. You got it.

Call me a zealot, but for $80 used, this is the best beat-to-shit, ugly-as-sin, population-controlling aural weapon of mass destruction I've ever owned.

Three knobs. Tone, volume and distortion. duh.

Depending on what type of amp you run it thru., it can sound cool, or like ass. When I run it into the front end of an all tube amp, it can sound good. Either with the amp clean or distorted. Can sound good.
Running into the front end of a solid state amp, it sounds harsh, brittle and "ass-o-phonic". (Copywrite Eric 2004. Pat Pend. etc.)
The tone knob is very sensitive and has a ton of impact on the tone. It can go from rumble to brittle.

I bought it used. No problems. Build pretty stout. Battery cover sux. (as on all the EH pedals that I've owned.)

Don't know

Overall I think it's something that anyone with a tube amp could use to get some heavy distortion. Not "holy grail" or anything, but overall pretty useful for the $$.
It needs true bypass because it does seem to suck tone when it's in your chain. Use an A-B to bypass it.