Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi USA Reissue

Really, really easy. Out of the box, playable and durable. Even comes with a 9V battery. However, I use a pedal board with a built-in power supply, so I found a converter from One-Spot that adapts the typical 9V barrel plug into the bizzare 1/8" plug for the Big Muff. Works like a charm.

Holy god does the Big Muff Pi have G A I N!!! Lots of it, so if you are pluggin this into a basic practice amp watch your levels before you stomp the peadal button. I think I aged my Crate 15W 12" speaker by 10 years in 6 seconds. Once the levels are set though, the Big Muff Pi has amazing, droning sound and a crunchy snarl that is beautiful. Run this thorugh a reverb and chorus pedal for the distortion sounds of Smashing Pumpkins and Bush, or play it through a compressor and Whammy for that Jack White sound (or as close as humanly possible)

I will have this as the foundation of my pedal board forever. The pedal is metal and the switch seems durable. We'll see how long it lasts.

I registered the pedal with Electro-Harmonix, and they are right here in NYC, so we'll see if they come thorugh if it dies.

I think this pedal is great but make sure that you check your levels and setting before setting the sustain at the 3'o-clock position and laying down a metal riff. Almost killed my practice amp.

This thing is about as easy as you get. Here's what the knobs will really make it sound like.

Volume - This is pretty much a 'presence' dial. Anything below full will sound like it's really far away. Kind of pointless, really. Just leave it at max and it'll be fine.

Tone - This is the only thing I really mess with on mine. It does kind of adjust between bass (turn to the left) and treble (to the right). The bass is about 75% of the knob though. Turn all the way to the right and you get a super crisp almost twangy sound. Turn all the way to the left and it sounds like there's a wall in front of your amp. It gets really muffled past half way. To get a really good tone, make the little white line on the dial be straight pointing to the right, 3 o'clock.

Sustain - This is the fun one. Turn it all the way up and be completely blown away. Even turning it all the way down still has more distortion than some amps I've heard. Most people probably don't like it all the way up cause it has huuuuge insanely powerful distortion. Keep this one all the way to the right if you want a truly monster tone.

The point of a distortion pedal is the sound, and this one totally delivers. I really don't understand all the negative reviews on the sound. People probably just don't play the style that this thing makes. Anyway, I'm using it on a Washburn Maverick BT-4 or an Epiphone Les Paul Jr and a Behringer GMX212 amp, 100 watts.

It doesn't really have any noise, everybody is complaining about the noise. It actually amazed me at how it has no noise. I if you just put your hand over the strings and don't play it sounds like it's on clean!! To hear how much noise it has actually, listen to the beginning of "Touch Me I'm Sick" by Mudhoney, who named their first album after this pedal ('Superfuzz Bigmuff'). Then the riff kicks in using the Big Muff. Another song that has the Big Muff on it is "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth" by Metallica off of Kill 'Em All. Cliff Burton, who loved the Big Muff, uses is heavily on his best bass solo.

Anyway, it sounds like a total monster. I always idolized the fuzz sound of "Life of Pain" by Black Flag, and now I can finally get that tone with even MORE distortion!!! This thing is INSANELY powerful. The tone is beyond description. When it gets going, man, there's nothing that can touch it. It's the best tone I've ever heard, and I'm playing it!!!

However, even with the tone dial all the way up, it sounds like you have the tone dial down on your guitar. You know that kind of low machine sound, especially on the highs. A little annoying. Also, with the Sustain dial all the way up, the distortion is heavily on the lows and not much on the highs, no matter how you adjust the tone. My highs, especially on the high E, sound almost the same as they did before I got the Muff. For these two things I give it a 9 instead of a 10. But I tell ya, that low tone it gets on heavy riffs is a beast.

It's pretty durable, but sometimes when I step on it the metal kind of depresses. I tested out the Sovtek one and it was a bit sturdier. This thing should be able to handle anything though. Don't slam your foot on it, it might not be the sturdiest thing ever but it's pretty good.

Inside the box is a little slip for the 1 year limited warranty. It says in very small print that you have to fill out the form and mail it in within 10 days, which I find kind of dumb. Most people will probably just take out the Muff and put the box in their closet or something and maybe take it out a few months later.

I play mostly old school hardcore punk, sludge metal (The Melvins), grunge, and some Primus type stuff. This thing suits me very very well. If you like some lighter music you probably won't like this. I'd say it has improved my playing as it's got a really great tone and makes me feel very confident. This is the exact same thing that many great musicians play. It has everything you need for great distortion right there. Three simple dials, doesn't need anything more. If it were stolen or lost I'd definitely get a new one. The tone cannot be replicated by anything else.

I'd just like to say that the Big Muff was NOT used by Jimi Hendrix. "It's the same legendary sound used by Jimi Hendrix" they even brag about. WRONG! The Big Muff was introduced the year after Hendrix passed away. He couldn't have possibly used it. However, artists such as Metallica, Dinosaur Jr., NIRVANA, Mudhoney, The White Stripes, Pink Floyd, Chemical Brothers, Dandy Warhols, Steely Dan and many more have used it.

Get the Big Muff Pi. It's made right here in the USA. Electro-Harmonix refers to it on the instructions as "the finest harmonic distortion-sustain device developed to date" and you'd better believe it. If you like your music loud then this will be manna from heaven. Real guitar guys out there will tell you that this is probably the greatest distortion pedal ever, hands down.

It's very easy to get a good sound out of it, but perhaps a little hard to get the sound you want.

Only three knobs: volume, tone and sustain. Volume is pretty obvious, but tone and sustain is were you get the Big Muff's near infinite tweakability. The tone knob controls bass vs. treble and the sustain knob controls sustain and fuzz. The more sustain you want, the more fuzz you get.

Sounds awesome, though obviously some tones can be inappropriate for what you want. Since I use it for bass, I generally keep the tone knob a around eleven o'clock and the sustain at nine. Boosting both gets me a great super-fuzzed out guitar sound, but drops the lows (obviously). Sustains forever on high notes and I definately suggest using this with an Ebow.

My setup requires that pedals sound good with each other and the Big Muff Pi is definately a team player:

Bass >> Digitech Bass Synth Wah >> Big Muff Pi >> Boss Digital Delay >> Boss Bass Graphic EQ >> E-H Pulsar >> Boss Loop station >> amp


I originally purchased it under the impression that it was an overdrive and was greatly surprised to have a fuzzbox. After the initial shock wore off, I got around to loving it for what it was, but don't confuse the two: if you want a 'screaming' or 'sharp' distortion, this isn't the place. Think more of 'blunt' sound, like David Gilmour's "Time" solo.

Extremely reliable. I stomp and I stomp, but this pedal can take it and keep working.

I've had some prodlems involving power supply, namely that E-H tends to use an oddly-sized jack for the power (1/8" I think?) and my voodoo power supply only came with one (which I use for the pulsar), so I had to use the 9v battery clip to the power supply.

N/A

Great for almost anything. I play just about anything (rock, prog, jazz, ambient, etc) and the only thing that I've ever found it completely inappropriate for was pop. Surprisingly good on funk.

It definately aids to songwriting (especially as a bassist) because it gives you a better idea of a lead or rhythm guitar part. I also like using it to have guitar-like leads, but don't worry, it doesn't drop the low end if you don't want it to.

only 3 knobs but the big muff demands to be tweaked to get the best sounds,so experiment with it.

the big muff is sort of a fuzz mixed with a touch of distortion but on its own it has quite a soft attack.i put a boss overdrive before it with quite a subtle drive setting and the attack on notes hardens up nicely+adds loadz of harmonics.it sustains for millenia on high notes which have a lovely creamy quality to them.
there are so many sounds you can get out of this pedal,from thin fuzz ,classic rock,white stripes wall of fuzz to full on,thick sabbath.
the key with the muff is experiment with the way the controls interact with your other drive pedals and your amps pre amp.the tone control is very varied and fully anti clockwise dosnt get all muffled but sort of adds bass and other harmonics to produce a super thick sound.i just love this thing so much!!!!!!

well built and it works!

over all a very versatile pedal.just dont expect it to sound amazing as soon as you plug it in.fiddle with the controls of the pedal,amp and other pedals and youll get what your after.

three knobs. the tone is a little weird though. I usually set it first two strait up and the sustain depending on my amp volume.

I play this with an SG Standard with a SD-1, MXR Dist. +, Big Muff, and DL-4 into a 25 watt '90s Fender Champ Hybrid (1 preamp tube and 2 6L6s). Sounds really good with the midshift button depressed on my amp. Looking to add a warm analog phaze shift in the mix in a few weeks. The pedal is noisy but I only really use it for lead stuff. I like Fugazi/Shellac/Oxes but never try to copy any sound and this pedal really don't apply to those bands. When I play it I think of '70s rock or Smashing Pumpkins also but not as studiofied. It's good played overtop my Dist + or SD-1 for leads but never for rhythm. The only thing that bothers me it that I LOVE the way the pedal sounds with the volume all the way up but then I can't match my clean sounds in volume comparison. Sounds great when my amp is cranked and dirty with this pedal. It has this Part Chimp or octivated muddy fuzz that is great.

I bought it used and it's held up. I wish the battery was easier to get too.

Good pedal for the money but not great. I'm thinking of getting rid of it and buying a Voodoo Lab Proctavia.

play with it and it's perfect. i had to play around also with the place of the big muff pi in my effect chain. i find that it is best at the first pedal. i love this thing. try it with bass, trust me.

i play mostly thru an epiphone dot and sometimes thru a 1967 silvertone hornet. the only noise i get is from the guitars. especially the silvertone. my set up is the muff pi> dunlop wah> eh q zone> dano delay> fender tuner> marshall avt50 (i got it b/c a friend had one and he was a much better player playing with an 80's strat. i like the amp, but i pine for a vintage vibrolux.)

once, someone stepped on one of the patch cables right at like 2 inches from where it plugs into the pedal. bent it all to hell. after we played when i was packing up i noticed how much damage had been done. i saw it happen... someone was too high and wasn't watching where they walked. it happens. the point is that i was able to bend everything back in place. i can plug and unplug just fine. and it has lasted regular use over almost 2 years of having it. people rag on EH for quality. every EH pedal ive had has stood up well.

wouldnt know.

i play mostly jammy type stuff... classic rock, blues, jazz, folk. i dont know if i have any "style". i try to learn. i grew up on hendrix, cream, beatles, velvet underground, bruce springsteen, allmans, dylan, etc. i try to emulate that stuff and make it my own. been playing 7 years. find the right place and setting and the muff is a great distortion/ sustain. worth the money, and the quality is there.

Very simple:


VOLUME - how loud do you want your crap?
TONE - how muffled or how trebly do you want your crap?
SUSTAIN - how much crap do you want?

I have used it with a Gibson Les Paul and a Fender USA Tele, through a Laney VC30 (class A tubeamp).
It's incredibly noisy - whatever settings you dial in, there's always an annoying buzz. When you mute your strings (for short pauzes between riffs or whatever) there's a hollow, very middy noise... like if you play with an acoustic guitar through your overdrive channel.

As for the effect: it's not very good. To say the least. I HATE it.
It effectuates my playing style for the worse. It kills ALL dynamics. Its distortion clips in a very unpleasant way.
My RAT is much much better - sounds much more tubelike and open, has nicer upper harmonics, doesn't sound muffled and doesn't suck tone when not engaged.
I can't believe I bought this crappy Big Muff... Yeah, I wanted that Smashing Pumpkins sound. Indeed, it resembles that sound, but than that's the only thing this pedal's good for.

I'm sorry. I really love Electro-Harmonix, but I think their flagship pedal is utter CRAP.

I've been playing for 15 years. Our music is influenced by indie rock (Pixies, Breeders, Hole) and 80s new wave (The Cure, The Chameleons).

Pretty simple, pug it in.... set the 3 controls, go.
To be honest, it does require a bit of messing. The amp control is the overall output, i set this just below 50%, the tone control is a bit odd, hard to explain, it has an odd range, i leave it on 50%. Finally the drive is pretty responsive, though once again, sounds best around 50%, i have mine set about 60%, though i adjust slightly depending on the venue.

Ok, i use this primarily with my 1996 Fender anniversary Strat Plus with EMG pickups (DG20 Dave Gilmour signature series) and GHS Boomers.
My effects Boss NS2 - MXR Dynacomp - Danelectro FAB overdrive - Big Muff - Boss GE7 - Electric Mistress - MXR Phase 90 - Danelectro Cool Cat chorus - Boss DD3. The whole lot goes into the clean chanell of my Peavey Classic 50.

The Muff is very characteristic, big and gigantic sounding. It's a bit fuzzy, and noisy, but between the Dynacomp and the NS2, i've managed to tame it to the level that it now sounds great.

It gives me that Dave Gilmour sound i want, once you've got used to it you can hear it all over Dave's live sound.

I cannot notice the difference between this and the other issues to any great extent, but i find that to be the case with most "classic" pedals, i think people always think the original sounds better. In this case the original is a bit duller i think, but it's hard to tell really.

It is very noisy - you need a noise gate with this, and a good compressor.

Looks pretty solid, feels pretty solid.
Time will tell...............

No idea

I play in a Pink Floyd tribute band.
I've been using multi effects units for 15 years, starting with the Boss ME6, going through a load of different Boss and Zoom units before getting the last one (GT6). Somehow i could never get the tone i wanted, I always got close, but found that live on stage my sound lacked guts, or sounded too thin or watery, or got lost in the mix. I got rid of the multi-effects and went back to pedals, including the Muff. At my first full band practice with my new pedal setup the difference was amazing....POWER.....I had to turn my amp down loads, and i kept dominating the sound, i had to adjust my pedals to fit back into the mix, but WOW, what a difference. GO BACK TO PEDALS. honestly, it's worth it, you lose a bit of flexibility, and it is more messing around, but the sound difference makes it all worthwhile.
Anyway.... the Muff..... it's a great pedal, it's not for the thrashers out there, and it's not for fast metal soloing either, but for big, power rock solo's it's great :)

This is deceptively too easy to use. I've talked with some owners who claimed they couldn't get a sound out of it. Personally, I find the pots to be more than adequate in tone adjustment. There shouldn't be any problems finding what you want if you know what you're looking for. There is no manual for it, which is apropos. With only 3 knobs, it's a no-brainer if you ask me! With 20 minutes of patience, you should be able to tweak it to your liking.

Through a Fender Twin-Reverb, I have the Big Muff as an external effect routed to my Boss GT-6. I created a patch called the "Crimson Lead" because the Muff coupled with the GT-6's "Clean Twin" preamp setting totally nailed Fripp's classic lead sound. I use the Big Muff for lead sounds only. I use the Boss GT-6 for rhythm due to the fact that I like the response I get when I mute my palm, and I get chunkier rhythms. With the Big Muff, I really let fly and the sound is diabolical & merciless when playing leads, but undynamic when doing rhythm. That might just be due to my playing style. The Big Muff also reacts to the modulation effects of the GT-6 very nicely without sucking any tone. The sustain is creamy & very powerful (especially at higher volumes). The Muff & the Boss GT-6 proved to be a winning combination for a tube amp. However, I'm not sure what it sounds like through solid-state amps. If I could get better rhythm sounds from it, I would give it a 10.

The housing seems a little flimsy, but it's not like I'm tap dancing on the damn thing. I use the Boss GT-6 as a backup, the Big Muff is really just an external effect that I've added (but it's now my MAIN lead sound). I've used it for about a year & haven't had a problem yet. I just keep feeding it 9-volt batteries & the Muff is happy. I baby the pedal, but I'm sure it could easily get crushed in the right (or wrong) circumstances. Spilled beer would probably fry it.

I never needed them yet! Hopefully the Muff pulls through.

I've played in metal bands early on, then switched to psychedelic/stoner rock, and curerntly in a jazz-fusion band. I wouldn't have too much use too the Muff in my metal days, but from 1992 on I wish I would've had this pedal. I've been playing since 1983 & its a shame I've been only using the Big Muff for a year. I have many demos that I wished I had used this pedal on. Better late than never I suppose. If it were lost or stolen I would quickly replace it, because I need my "Crimson Lead". The versatility of the tone is what surprises me about it, given its simplicity. I hate the fact that I haven't found an agreeable rhythm tone for it...YET! My favorite feature is its near eternal sustain & consistently powerful tone. Plus, I can pretend I'm Robert Fripp back in '73 when my band is banging out "Red". I wish the Muff had an internal compressor (but I already have one). The Big Muff is a must, but you have to know what you're looking for. You have to know how to tweak it & have a grasp of how it reacts in your effect- chain & how to effectively EQ your overall guitar sound. Otherwise, any pedal will sound like shit if its in the worng part of your chain. Big Muff RULES!!!!

This pedal is pretty easy to use - volume, tone, sustain.

I use an epiphone sheraton II through a pignose g40v. The effect does not seem to really be too noisy when off. It is a pretty loud pedal though which I like - I tend to use pedals as a boost and I try and go for extremes. Different sounds for different parts of songs. I keep the volume up all the way and the sustain up all the way with the tone at about eleven o'clock. I like the big muff because there seems to be a sort of halo of jagged overtones around every note. The guitarists I like most are J Mascis, Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix, Trey Anastasio, Jerry Garcia, John Scofield and Sonny Sherock. The big muff is good for getting tones like the ones used by the first three guys. For tones like the later four I would use a tubescreamer. On a side note, the amp I use is all tube and it only has one channel. You can overdrive it by turning the master louder than the volume. My main tone is pretty dirty and the big muff makes it pretty huge. The guitar I play feeds back very easily so I can get a lot of sustain and noise at relativetly low volumes (the acoustic volume of a drum kit). The big muff fits right in with that.

The big muff seems reliable. I have different pedals in my rig so I don't really worry about any one all that much.

I have not dealt with the company

I pretty much play vintage indie rock. The big muff is very good for that. I have been playing since I was about 14 and I'm 29 now. I think I would buy a new one if someone stole it. I love the fact that you can get such a huge sound with just this one pedal and of course since it's a pedal you can turn it off to create contrast. There is nothing I really hate about this pedal and it only has one feature - very fuzzy loud distortion. I always try out new stuff when I get a chance. I liked the American big muff better than the Russian version. The big muff is a classic sound so there is nothing to really compare it with I don't think. Most other distortion/fuzz/overdrive pedals are just different in there sound quality. The big muff has a sort of attractive murkiness to it.