Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi USA Reissue

Easy pedal to use. Three knobs to adjust. Volume, Sustain, and tone. Volume stays around 9 pm position while I vary the sustain and tone knobs. Big square metal box. No manual. Just one small slip of paper with brief explanation of the three knobs. That's fine. No need for lengthly manual.

I play my LP through a chain of pedals that include this box, a Keeley moded Boss BD2, a wah pedal, and a tube screamer into a Fender amp at times or else a Mesa Lonestar amp. I can dial in the sound I after. However IMO when you increase the sustain too much it sounds very solid state/artificial.

I think the pedal is quite solid and will hold up. Nince big knobs with a red indicator light. However I believe there is real potential to scratch and dent the bright aluminum surface stomping on the button. The battery compartment door is secured with a small screw. Nice feature unless the battery dies and you don't have a screwdriver to remove the screw. It does have an AC adapter jack that overrides battery use, but unlike other pedals, it uses a small mini jack instead of the more typical adapter jack.

Don't I'll ever need support on this pedal.

I've been building my pedal collection towards getting various sounds and tones. I do like this pedal because the three knobs provide a good variation/latitude of tone, sustain and fuss. It is not an expensive pedal and I recommend to anyone who is after the fuzzy sound.

this is one of the easiest pedals to get a good sound out of. there are three controls, and its simply a matter of fine tuning. i have yet to get a truly bad sound out of it!

So, I am playing either a Fender Strat 70's reissue, or a Schecter gryphon through usally just this pedal, into a Peavey Delta Blues 210, set to clean, with the EQ all at 12, reverb at 4, and tremelo set to 3, and 3.
I find that with the pedal switched off, it is very transparent, and dosen't affect the sound at all. when switched on, there is a little hum, but not obtrusive. I'm gonna give it a 9, only because you can hear the switch ever so slightly when you tap it with your foot.

there is no question that this pedal was built for use. its in a big metal box, with a rugged metal switch (Caveat... see above section)
I would be totally comfortable gigging with only one.

never dealt with them, so can't say.

there's a volume knob, tone knob, gain ("sustain") knob, and on/off switch. Pretty straightforward.

I'm using this with a Frankenstrat I put together, into an AVT20X Marshall combo amp. I've also used it in combination with an Ibanez TS-9 and chorus pedals like the Visual Sound H2O and the Analog Man chorus.

The sound is great; this kind of fuzz is one Hendrix made famous, so of course you're gonna get a Hendrixy solo sounds like that when running it through a Marshall. Put it through a Fender and you'll get a much shriller Eddie Hazel sound. Put it through a chorus and you have Instant Frusciante.

If you turn down the tone and gain knobs you can get much more subtle fuzz effects. With the tone all the way up it can be edgy for solos and with the tone knob down it sinks the sound into a very creamy warm fuzz.

There are four negative issues I've had with the pedal. The first is that it is such a high-gain pedal that it will inevitably be quite noisy. However this is to be expected and may not necessarily be a bad thing depending on how you look at it. In the EHX manual it says the guitar, amp, etc. should all be properly shielded.

The second negative issue is that the pedal tended to muddy some of the lower notes at high gains. however for the most part it's pretty clear as far as fuzzes go.

The third issue is that I experienced some sort of "clipping" or "shorting out," for lack of a better term, when bending high notes higher (like bending the 14th fret of the high E string up, or something). This especially happened when there was a drive pedal after the Big Muff Pi. The solution is to put the boost or drive pedal, in this case, the TS-9, BEFORE the Big Muff Pi in the chain as opposed to afterwords.

The fourth and final issue is that if you run the signal through a wah before the Big Muff Pi, unless you have an awesome wah like a Fulltone Clyde or something fitted with a FoxRox Retrofit, the sweep will become almost imperceptible. I guess this can be fixed by turning the gain down on the Big Muff, but still. I'd say it's better to just get a better wah and use it with the Big Muff Pi anyway ;D

Ahhhh, I don't know. The case is made of the same type of metal and style used in the 70s, so it's very flimsy for something you're repeatedly stomping on. Why not move it to a tougher case?

In general, I've found EHX to be an amazing and creative company, but nevertheless somewhat sketchy. (You know what I mean.)

Never had to deal with 'em.

I play funky rock, rocky funk, acid rock, earth and space or whatever. Lots of Hendrix, Chili Peppers, and the like. I love this pedal. If it was stolen, I'd [insert violent act of revenge here]. Seriously, though, I'd get another. It's such an amazing pedal and at $80 NEW it's dirt cheap and an amazing bargain for such a good pedal. You can get lots of different fuzz tones out of it, from subtle and creamy to loud and screaming. Before you buy it though, try it out on the model amp that you own. It sounds wildly different through different amps.

All in all - with a name like "Big Muff" how can you go wrong?

There's three knobs - the volume knob controls the output level of the pedal, the "sustain" knob basically controls the amount of fuzz, and the tone knob has the greatest impact on the overall sound of the pedal, going from a smooth bassy fuzz to a harsher, "buzzier" sound.

I'm giving this a 7 because even though the controls are fairly simple, it's going to take a lot of messing around with them and probably the controls on your amp to get the sound you're looking for out of it. The "manual" provides slightly less information about the pedals controls then the above paragraph.

First off, I've been reading the previous reviews and I have to say this - if you bought a big muff thinking it was going to be a super versatile distortion pedal, or worse yet, a "metal pedal", then you are an idiot and need to do a little more research before you buy things.

I didn't buy this pedal looking for my "favorite artist's tone". I bought it because I wanted to add some versatility to my sound. I design and build tube amps, and my usual setup is just Guitar-->Amp. I do play a little bit of "stoner rock" type stuff which is the reason I bought this pedal. For the blues and classic rock type stuff I usually play, this pedal doesn't really have a place.

To me, the Big Muff is a fuzz pedal, nothing more. You can get a couple pretty distinct different sounds out of it and tweak them a fair amount, but let's not kid ourselves, this pedal does one thing and it does it very well.

As I mentioned before, I usually run this pedal into amps of my own design, however it does sound pretty good into my '65 Gibson Hawk. That's another thing to consider. Just as the sound of this pedal is not for everyone, it sounds quite different through different amps. There's always a possibility that it just might not be compatible with your current setup. I mostly play a solid maple 1980 Gibson 335-S which is tuned down to C standard right now. The pedal really sounds good with humbuckers, and gets pretty much the exact sound I hear in my mind with this guitar. My other one is a heavily modified strat copy with GFS Boston Blues. I typically only liked that guitar playing clean but this pedal really brings it to life. Definitely a cool sound with this one too.

I would also like to add that I have not had a chance to A/B this with a Russian Big Muff yet.

Seems like a pretty sturdy pedal. It hasn't broken in the time I've had it, and I wouldn't mind gigging without a backup.

Never had to deal with EHX, hopefully never will.

I play everything from blues to classic rock to stoner rock. This pedal's good for the stoner rock, but I'm pretty much a straight into the amp guy for everything else.

If it were stolen I'd buy another. Nothing else really sounds like a Big Muff. I bought it knowing full well what the pedal can and can't do. I like it for what it does, and there's nothing else I really want from it. I do also like that it's true bypass.

I looked at a lot of other Muff clones and briefly considered one of the BYOC "Large Beaver" Muff clones, but I wasn't really after a vintage fuzz sound so I decided the USA Reissue was probably my best and most cost-effective option. If I wanted a good vintage style fuzz I'd be going for a germanium-based Fuzz Face clone.

It certainly helps "make music", you have to know how to use it though.

One other thing I'd like to add is lately I've been running an EHX LPB-1 in front of it. I can keep the "sustain" knob low for rhythm playing, and stepping on the LPB-1 (boost pedal, also highly reccomended) has pretty much the same effect as turning up the sustain knob for a bit of a solo boost. Makes this pedal a little more versatile for sure.

Overall, I highly reccomend this. However, it is not for everyone and my advice it make be 100% sure you know what this pedal sounds like, what it's capable of, and what it's not. If you want a more versatile "metal pedal" have a look at the Metal Muff.

Very easy.

The sound quality was a huge disappointment. I can appreciate differences in taste but I can't imagine a type of music that would benefit from this sound aside from maybe a noise band. I couldn't find any combination of settings that provided enough clarity to play anything. I realize that a fuzz pedal is supposed to be fuzzy but ultimately the notes still need to make it through or you're just left with an indistinguishable mess. I was sure that I had purchased a broken pedal until I found many online reviews describing the same problems I was having. I actually did research this before buying and don't know how I overlooked all of these reviews. This pedal sounds like an accident. I can't believe that any group of engineers intentionally designed and marketed this product.

I plan on taking this pedal back so will probably never find out if it is reliable or not.

I love a dusty, analog, vintage sound which is what I was hoping to get from the Big Muff but it just doesn't deliver. This pedal will not make it out of my practice studio except to go back to Guitar Center. I would absolutely never recommend this to anyone--unless I really didn't like them.

You can't fault it for ease of use, of course. 3 knobs, do exactly what they say. But getting a good sound out of it... Thats trickier, for me at least. Different equipment will yield very different results, no doubt, but with my setup, some fiddling around (not just with the Muff, but with my amp) is necessary.

I love the 'Muff' sound, which is a good thing, because otherwise I'd hate this pedal. I use it with an old 2x12 SS Marshall 30w, which gives a very trebly sound. The problem I have is that when I switch the muff on, all of that treble disappears. I need to find a solution to this problem, otherwise the sound is very unbalanced with it on and off. The guitar is a 60s Hollowbody 335 lookalike, with single coils... If I stop playing for 1/10000 of a second, feedback kicks in, but that's the guitar's fault; I'm gonna get the microphonic pickups potted soon to eliminate the problem.

I'm a White Stripes fan, so I thought I'd use this with the Digitech Whammy II pedal to get a similar sound. The combination works a treat, I must say. The Muff thickens out the thin octave-up sounds the Whammy produces quite nicely.

I also have a bone to pick with the tone control... I wish I could get the original tone clearly from this pedal, but the Muff completely destroys it. The 'tone' control just gives a treble boost that makes the sound sound more processed, and less like the original sound. But then it needs to be turned up in order for you to even be heard properly. It's very hard to find a balance.

But I do enjoy the sound it produces, when I've eventually set it up properly... It's thicker than the great wall of china, which suits me just fine.

It seems dependable enough, a knob is slightly loose, but I bought it second hand and it still works perfectly fine, with no signs of it falling off. Also, I enjoy the fact that if a battery runs out, it will still run the signal through, unlike many other pedals, where it kills the signal totally. But I've just bought a power supply anyway.

Never had to deal with them... yet.

I like playing with no bass; I'm in a 3 piece band with 2 guitars. I play a mixture of bluesy rock/garage rock/grunge I rely on this thing to really kick some when I need it to, and it duly does. I owned a cheapo Boss OS2 copy (OD/Dist.) but I will probably rely on my Digitech Bad Moneky for overdrive and step on this when I need some power behind my riffs. I would buy another one for sure, maybe see what the Russian one is like, but it's a good pedal to have in your chain for the price.
I wish I could shape the tone a bit more; no doubt I'll eventually find a way to get more out of it. Anyone know how much the late 70s (with the sam design, except for LED and tone switch) differs to the reissue? If it gives any more tone than the reissue, I may begin hunting one down...

Its very easy to get a good sound outta this thing! 3 knobs easy peazy!
fiddle about to se what tone you want.

i can get sounds from hendrix to muse. ITS A FUZZ PEDAL!!!!! FUZZY!!!
love it! all the people saying its noisy??? not on my guitar!!! silent until i want it to get dirty. i use a graphic eq with the muff cause i wanted the graphic fuzz but couldnt afford it.and the tones are unreal so i suggest gettin an eq pedal. im using a behringer eq and works great!! cheap as chips ??15.

never dealt with em! no need

??45 bargain!!! if you like hendrix,muse,nirvana,black keys and so on? get this pedal now!!! GREAT FUN

3 knobs and a footswitch aren't too intimidating. Turning the tone knob slowly will seem like it's doing nothing at first and then BAM! it'll be a totally different sound.

This is a straight up FUZZ pedal. No use trying to get a distortion or overdrive sound out of it. It's a no nonsense squarewave inducing beast. I loved it for the sustain and compression it added to my signal, but you're kidding yourself if you think and tonal characteristics from your guitar are going to come through. I love it save for one super-important thing: the tone has a bit of a mid-scoop to it, which sounds bad-ass by itself, but will NOT cut through while playing with bass and drums, let alone another guitarist. I know if I put an EQ after it, or I mod it somehow, it will sound killer, but I'm rating the stock, stand-alone unit here, so I feel I'm being generous giving it a 6.

I've had it less than a week.

Never dealt w/ them.

I play rock/black metal. I wanted a distortion w/ a flatter output than my Boss SD-2 or my amp distortion (Hughes & Kettner Attax 100, which I LOVE). Like I mentioned, I loved the sound of this thing until I tried playing with my bandmates and I just couldn't hear it, even with the volume knob on it cranked.

NYC Big Muff PI Reissue. Heavy duty metal case, great fuzz, basically a no brainer.

Three knobs: Volume, Tone, Distortion/Sustain. Seems simple enough.

I get so many good ounds out of this thing its amazing. It may take a bit of fiddling to get a certain sound, but i mean, there's so many good sounds. The controls are very interactive and really make a difference, so it takes patience.

This pedal sounds great. I play indie/ambient rock and spazzy indie/classic rock/experimental and I love it in all applications.

I play a fender tele with hot rails or an epiphone les paul through a peavey classic 50 2x12. I have the pedal on a pedalboard along with a bunch of other effects, including an electro harmonix pulsar tremolo and deluxe memory man.

The tonesa I get from this pedal are sweet. there are deff sweet spots, but I have found really great tones everywhere. Like I said, it does take some tweaking since the controls are really interactive, but ohter than that, it sounds great.

I use it for a dirty, raunchy boost for solos, and for cool freak out chord parts. My indie/experimantal band doesnt have a bassist right now, so it helps with the bottom end. this baby adds plenty of it in the right settings.

Its an electro harmonix product, and I love the cases they design. huge, but roadworthy. people complain about them not being sturdy or reliable, but so far, all my ehx pedals have been faithful and sturdy.

I dont think Electro Harmonix really exists. I think these pedals are just appearing out of nowhere.

This pedal is great. I love the tonality and it adds great character to my rig. I'm gonna hold on tho this for a long time. If I lost it or it got stolen, i would invest in another one for sure.

I wish it had a three band eq though, that would rule. it would help dail in spcific tones better. other than that, five stars.

many choices of tone - unlike many pedals the knobs make a difference. - so - it takes a while to find the right combo.

totally unique sound and it was a pleasure to hear these sounds come out of my strat - COMPLETELY colors the sound in a good way - made me smile. My set up is unique:

STRAT PLUGGED INTO A GAZILLION PEDALS THAT I CHANGE AROUND ALL THE TIME - THEN PLUGGED INTO A GUITAR AMPLIFIER.

the switch seems flimsy and the metal seems tinny but the reputation is good.

have played 40 yrs - cover band - lots of dance music in bars and parties.

other gear I own: everything you can imagine. Even my kitchen cabinets are stuffed with pedals which have been played for 10 minutes.

Seriously - If I was involved in recording projects, etc.. this would be very useful. But for cover pop music I need a fuzz that cuts through in big boomy rooms. The muff is actually too warm - it loses definition in a band setting. I get more use out of my black cat OD-1 - the black cat is not warm at low volume - actually it's nasty. But at gig volume it's perfect. ( hint - good fuzzes will sound aggressive and nasty at practice volumes )