Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi USA Reissue

simple... plug in, 3 knobs.

I'm running a Strat with single coil overwound pups, fully shielded and star point gounded so it's dead quiet in pos 2 and 4 and very quiet in all the others... The BMP (Big Muff Pi)

I have to agree with Kalaab. There is a very noticable difference between my Russian made and USA NYC model... both of course the reissue. The Russian one sounds much more like I expected a BMP to sound like; very very musical, very compressed when pushed, very creamy distortion and very 70's. The Russian one does King Crimson(ish) lead sounds very well. That said I do like the fact that the NYC has a true bypass switch and the ability to use a power adaptor. But the sound is different. I like it but less creamy and more edgy (which isn't THAT edgy), then the BMP-Russian.

These are nice, the metal case seems fine if a bit flimsy, certainly not as solid as a Boss hunk of metal. The battery is supposed to fit on this little metal bracket on the door at the bottom (where you remove it to change the battery). But when my BMP arrived from shipping the battery was swingin' around inside. Not as secure as Boss or George Dennis or others who have a small space for the battery to sit in securely. This is certainly a draw back and really is something these guys could improve... come on ya goofs it's not like you're working in a vaccum here, you have to see what others are doing.

There very little inside this thing. Tiny PCB board with a few components...

no idea...

You know what. I don't think you can get this sound from another pedal. If you can, I'm not aware of it. I've tried emulations, but they don't cut it. These things should be in everyone's signal chain, they are that good.

That said. I think I like the Russian one a bit better. It's the creamy sound. I will probably put a 3PDT True Bypass Switch in it so it's not a tone sucker, and find a good 9 volt power supply.

You are informed that you must remove your guitar cable when the BMP is not in use... because if you leave it plugged in it will drain your battery. Now that with both the older Russian model and this newer NYC ressiue. Ok... now there's no need for that. I hate using up batteries. I therefore think that these things need to be tweaked a bit.

I've included some links here for everyone to check out. You can easily wire your Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi USA Reissue so when you take the pedal out of the path (turn it off) it stop draining the battery, and/or when you plug in an adaptor/power supply it also stops draining the battery.


Here's a link for improving your pedals.
http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=172&Itemid=200


True Bypass?
http://www.banzaieffects.com/attic/tech2.htm

super easy. three controls, all responsive. two minutes and you are sorted.

i play either a gibson sg or a gordon smith gs1 (both guitars fitted with seymour duncan invaders) into a marshall non-master volume superlead head and hand built 2x12 cab with celestion vintage 30 speakers. the muff is noisy when it's on but i've turned down my guitar volume, otherwise it's fine. i leave it on all the time anyway so that's no problem. i play heavy stoner rock and this pedal is the industry standard, with good reason. NEVER sounds bad, it's just plain badass for heavy heavy rock. think kyuss/sabbath/melvins etc etc. perfect!!

totally. a real workhorse.

never had to call them

the big muff is a classic fuzz, and has a sound all of it's own. i own many fuzzes, and this is one of the best. for massive, wooly, thick fuzz there's none better. plus, it's cheaper than any boutique pedal, and looks so ridiculous it's great!!!

Very easy to use .Three knobs volume , tone and sustain .No real upgraded just resolder a dry joint.

This thing is noisy .But, it realy depends on your set up other box's,pickups ect...I like turning the volume up to 3'oclock and the sustain to 8'or 9' oclock and use it for a f@#%k up overdrive to drive my Bass player NUTS.I have just started useing pedals again I have a tele,strat,335>crybaby>JP volume pedal>Bg Muff>carven nomad. I use a OLD DOD FX90 delay and a Boss tremlo in the effects loop.I use effects sparingly if at all.I don't always set them up .

I had to resolder the 1/4" output jack.I think it's built cheap so don't stand on it.

N/A

I have been playing for 18 years and its always agood idea to have something heavy or obnoxious to your bag of tricks.My bass player hated this pedal when they first came out he is old ,real, real old,and said after thirty years it still sounds like shit . So its a keeper.Just to preach about learning to play with out pedals.you will play better and tone will sound so much better . You also have no power or battery worries.If you have a two channel amp try it for a change and use just your channel switch or turn that volume up on the amp with one channel try pickup switching play around with your volume and tone.Learn to use your amp and guitar befor adding more color to your sound.You may not need half your pedals after all.

Very Very easy to use. Can't go wrong!!

My setup(s) On stage i use a Gibson SG/Jazzstang-- Boss tuner -- Big Muff- Marshall JCM 800 120w twin reverb through an Orange 4X 12.

Home similar to above but a Vox AC 120.

Noisy is what it was born to do. This thing rules! I think someone said they almost crapped themsleves using it for a first time. I have to echo that everytime were are on stage and that kicks in anyone who was content on not wanting to listen have no choice. Its go the envy of a lot of band who for some reason are sacred of it.

I play mainly punk grunge hense the guitars but this thing can do most styles. I find fitting new guitars and other effects in with it hard some time but after some jigging it all comes together.

Couldn't live with out it. I just bought an MXR dist but am not holding to much hope for it. I alway use this without back up. I've been through one in the last 4-5 yrs i'm on my second which is bearing up nicely. Tip keep them in the boxes i know it bulkier then but they are fragile and do need some love.

Never used dunno

Well good effect i had the chance to get one with the compressor in it but stupidly bought MXR i will learn i guess but what an effect.

Well... Three knobs, Volume, Tone, and Sustain. You would have to be pretty stupid to not know how to work it. The only problem is that it doesnt connect to my power supply and i have to feed it 9 volts all the time.

My setup is a Strat(Seymour Hot-Rails) -> Boss Compressor -> [b]Big Muff Pi[/b] -> Boss Super Chorus -> Boss OS-2 -> Fender Stage 100 Dsp. This thing rules, i swear, the first time i plugged this baby in i almost crapped myself. I mean really, it is great for grunge, thick and raw but when you play the top three strings it is smooth and awesome for lead guitar. In my opinion, it is a cross between distortion and fuzz, its not really distinctivly one or the other. It can be noisy but once you play its not noticable. If your looking for Nirvana, Whitestripes, Smashing Pumpkins, this pedal is for you.

Its a little flimsy, just dont jump on it and your all set.

N/a

This thing rocks

Well it's not exactly rocket science - the level sets the volume, the tone sets whether it's trebly or bassy and the sustain sets the gain. However it does take a bit of a play around to find your sound (as with every pedal). 9 because if you don't know what to use it for, you will make an idiot out of yourself (I speak from experience). Do not expect chugging Marshall-style power chords from this. It's better suited to solos.

I play a Gibson Les Paul Studio---->Dunlop Crybaby wah----->Big Muff---->Marshall AVT100 (soon to be the proud owner of a tubescreamer as well). It is slightly noisy but only to be expected from that kind of gain. Also my home is kinda shitely wired, i cant c it being that bad in a properly wired stage environment. Apart from that this pedal is excellent. It really does give you screaming solos, although I found they were too thin on the treble side of the tone knob so I'm stuck with a kind of bassy sound in the middle. However it really does give you that Santana sound, and you will begin to recognise it in many other recordings (Clapton, U2, Hendrix but to name a few, even Slash once or twice!)...It really does rock

Umm I think it's very reliable, I can and do gig without a backup although I'm sure I'd get by with the OD channels on my Marshall...The casing and switch are very solid, they hurt my feet so I guess there's not much chance of me hurting them!

Never dealt with them, I'd probably take it to a tech rather than ring them if it broke.

I play mainly rock, from Santana and Zeppelin to U2 and Coldplay, and my band is so hard to describe I'm not even gonna try...This pedal is perfect, it really nails so many of those sounds and there's nothing like a wailing solo high up on the fretboard with this thing...Plus front-end your amp with this and your sound will be incredible (although take your hand off the guitar and it sounds like a jet plane taking off!). The other day I heard a recording of it when I was doing this slow spacy solo with some delay (with my band), and it sounded so professional and beautiful I actually thought "wow, I would buy this if it came out", which is rare for my playing!

Well, there's a million reviews on this pedal, so I don't think I'll be saying anything that hasn't already been said... Anyway, it's three knobs and a stomp switch, how much more do you need to know?

This pedal is simply exquisite. I hesitate to call it a fuzz because of its smooth, gain-like properties, but it is exceptionally thick and fuzzy. It's one of those pedals that could go either way; not quite gain, not quite fuzz. A very unique, dynamic, and usable sound. It's pretty much the best gain/fuzz pedal I've ever played, and I love how it sounds completely unique. Makes a good addition to any rig used for psychedelic rock, which is pretty much what I play.

From what I understand, this unit is true bypass, but that's not much of a concern for me, sinc I record mainly in the studio and I don't use pedalboards. For those that do, however, this would be quite a draw.

I've heard horror stories with EHX, but I've had nothing but good luck with them. I own the EHX Octave Multiplexer, Micro Synth, Small Stone USA, and Big Muff USA, and all of them have been totally reliable.

The housing for these effects are slightly questionable, but if you take the "stomp" out of "stompbox", everything should be fine. I find that to be the case with most pedals, everything from MXR to Arion. Just don't be retarded and take a flying leap onto them, and they'll probably last you.

*shrugs* No need for them. That's gotta say something...

This pedal is tops, bar none. I was looking for a pedal that was more versatle and smooth than my Maestro Fuzz tone, and I think I've got it here. While the Maestro is the king of fuzz pedals (get one while you can!!), this thing compliments its quacky, unsustained sound quite nicely. I've become quite the fuzz afficionado, and I've found the USA Muff to fit in nicely with my sound.

One thing I'd like to suggest to anyone who owns a USA Muff. If you have the cash, get a Russian Muff too. I know it sounds redundant, but the reviews on H-C.com should be proof-positive that there are real, substantial differences between the USA and the Russian Muff. Of course, both pedals sound extremely good to my ears, but I can discern a distinct difference between the two. It doesn't quite feel right having one but not the other, so if you have the USA, get the Russian as well. And, if you have the Russian, for heaven's sake don't hock it off to pay for your USA Muff!! They're both great pedals!

The manual for this pedal really wasn't much use, but to be honest, it is far more worthwhile to spend some time figuring out the right settings for yourself anyway.

With only three knobs, operation is nice and simple. I tend to keep the sustain knob permanently at the same position (all the way up!), and so it's just a case of tweaking the tone level until I find the right point. This level can be a little vague though so it's worth spending some time experimenting. For my sound, I have to be very particular about this setting.

This is a very 'fuzzy' fuzz pedal, so wont really suit those who are after a nice warm overdrive! The bottom end is there though if you set the tone just right.

I use this pedal with an Epiphone Les Paul Custom played through a Marshall DSL 50 head and a 1936 2x12. I like my distortion to sound really fat, lush and round, and I've found this pedal works great. The sustain is amazing when when playing lead, and the transition down to heavy low end is stunning. It does however sound a little too sludgy at times. The best sounds come out at high volume, though I have found there to be less range in the volume control than i'd like. It's probably worth keeping this level lower on the pedal and cranking up the amps volume (my amp lacks a master volume, so it's a case of trying to find the right balance!).

To get some idea of the sound of this thing, "X.Y.U." by The Smashing Pumpkins seems a good place to start. To me, this is the holy grail of distortion, so the Big Muff suits me fine, but the range of this pedal is pretty limited and if you're looking for a bit more, it's worth looking elsewhere.

I have found this pedal to be a little noisy when on, but as I only tend to switch the distortion on periodically in the middle of my songs this hasn't caused me any trouble. If you are intending to leave the pedal on though between songs it's worth finding yourself a decent noise gate!

The casing does seem a little flimsy in comparison to many pedals, but unless you are seriosly abusive of your pedals (!) there shouldn't be any problems. Electro Harmonix pedals all have that nice sense of style about them and the Big Muff is textbook! The paint seems to scratch easily, and most of the second hand EH units I've seen tend to look a little like they've undergone atmospheric re-entry at some stage in their lifetime! Some people seem to like this, but being a little fond of the pristine quality of my fx board, I find I have to be a little extra carefull with this pedal!

One point that's worth mentioning is that the LED on my unit has never really worked properly. Sometimes it decides to come on, sometimes it doesn't. This isn't a major problem, and could be fixed with a bit of soldering and a new wire, but it's somewhat annoying anyway.

I've never tried dealing with them.

I've been playing for nearly five years and have developed my own style of songwriting. This pedal suits my style of melodic playing beautifully, and provides just the right amount of heaviness that I need. At the same time, the sustain is stunning at the high end, especially when played with a les paul! However, the sound is quite limited in it's use and will only suit some people. It would perhaps be nice to have a little more overdrive in there but there are always other routes around this problem.

All in all, this pedal has its own sound, which you either like, or don't. It's perfect if this is the sound for you. For, only around #59 though, this is very good value. It is worth mentioning that I have tried the Russian version, which I thought didn't match up too well. For the difference in price it's certainly worth forking out for the USA version. If I were to lose this pedal, I would certainly replace it with another.

Very simple, but it takes it's time to fool around and find the sweet spot. My starting point was (as I usually do with every piece of Equip) every control at 12'o clock. This way I found my personal setting in about 2-3 hours playing. The one I bought came with the original AC Adaptor, you can buy it without that for about 70 EUR.

The sound of the Big Muff is something you love or you hate. I tried an old TS, MXR Distortion, Rat and a lot of other pedals to find a singing sound for soloing and something to push my preamps' input when I use the Strat with it's little output instead of my other axes. This is what I was searching for. Good for soloing, the longest sustain I've ever had, but forget about playing rhythm with this one (sounds very indifferent, but it's a fuzz so it somehow has to)
You can get some really awesome noises out of this unit (try a divebomb or a strong percussive playing).

Used it a few gigs, so far no problems. Big casing for what's inside the unit (maybe that's the reason for it's name ?), not very sturdy but okay. I gig without backup. It's the 5th channel for my Engl, I use it only for a few songs, so it wouldn't be a problem for me if it breaks.

Can't say anything about it, haven't dealt with the CS so far...

Playing cover and a lot of styles. This one's actually great for blues soloing, it really rocks if you use it for some old Santana or Hendrix. I tried it with a modified '71 Ibanez Les Paul (rewound ToneZones), an old Gibson Les Paul Custom (PAFs), '86 Strat (Lace-Sensor), '88 Yamaha RGX (rewound Duncan Custom Custom & Texas Special SC) and a Steinberger GM7TA (EMG85 & SA). The Ibanez is too hot, you get only crap out of the unit with that one. The Yamaha sounds okay on the SC's, the HB is also a little crappy but usable. The rest sounds really great. It really has it's own tone and takes over the whole signal but that's okay if you like the sound...
If it was stolen I would give the one a big kick and get myself the next Big Muff ;-)

Just like any other pedal, you have to find a sweet spot for it in a pedal chain, and adjust the knobs to your liking. It's not rocket science.

First of all, this is a FUZZ pedal, NOT a distortion. There's a difference kids.
I have a few nice Strats, a Tele with a SD Little '59 in the bridge, and a Music Man Sub-1. They go to either a Fender Bullet 150 (for practice) or an Ampeg tube amp. The pedals go guitar->modified CryBaby->BigMuff->Effector 13 Yellow Vintage Fuzz Maker->Voodoo Micro-Vibe->Amp. Sometimes I throw in a Effector 13 No-Fi or MXR Dist+.
Pedals are powered by Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2. I get no noise or hum from the BigMuff. It has lots of range that works with all of my guitars, both single-coils and humbuckers. I wanted this pedal because of my love for Mudhoney's Superfuzz-Bigmuff album, and this gets the sound. I can get mild fuzz that only kicks in when I pick hard or full-on thick fuzz. It's very adjustable.
The only complaint I have is the fuzz rolls off in the higher octaves, like during solos. But that's also a good thing if you're pounding away during the verse of a song with a wall of fuzz and want a cleaner sound when you play a solo to cut through nice and clean. If I want fuzz all the time I use the Effector 13, which is the best overall fuzz pedal in my opinion.
This pedal doesn't like a lot of other pedals before it, so put it in alone or ahead of your other stuff. Even with single-coils, I only get hum if I sit right in front of the pedal. Other than that, no squeals or noise.

I've had this for 6 months with no problems. I don't really beat my stuff up and rarely break anything. It does feel a little light and thin, but as long as the internals hold up I'll be happy.
I take it out without back-up. Although I have another fuzz pedal in my chain, I use it for different song treatment, not as a back-up.

Never dealt with CS, hope I never have to after hearing many horror stories.

I play 60's rock, blues, stoner rock, grunge, and I make up songs so I can make fun of my cat with insulting lyrics. This pedal fits the bill for everything, depending on how the dials are set. It's all in the knobs.
If this pedal was stolen, I might buy it again. If it broke, I would toss the carcass and buy a different fuzz pedal. There's lots of others out there that sound just as good as this or better (FullTone 69 or 70, Effector 13, T-Rex Mudhoney, PedalWorx).
It does inspire a certain way of playing for me. It makes my pick slow down and enjoy the sludge. I love the range of adjustability. I can roll off the tone and bump the volume so the slightest hint of fuzz comes through only when playing hard, or crank up the knobs for a wall like sound of thickness and sustain. It works well with many different guitars and amps, which is a plus when you get it home from the store and have to set it up.