Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi

I just bought this pedal today and i fucking love it! Its the Russian edition of the EHX Big Muff. If u r thinking of buying a Big Muff, do what i did and try all the variations out in one go. This is because they all sound different (duh!). You have 2 understand that no opinion is 'correct' on this website and all my answers are based on my own personal taste. ANYHOO, i found this version of the big muff to be the best sounding for me. Little Big Muff coming in at a close 2nd. In terms of ease of use, its quite difficult to dial in a bad sound, which is good 4 me! Reversed Input/Output jacks r a pain in the arse because who the fuck wires their pedals that way?!?!? Also to power my pedal board, I use a daisychain cable with an adapter. Luckily the daisychain came with a 9V battery adapter so i can now power my muff from the mains. This may be a concern to u if ur thinking of buying one.

As i was trying all the big muffs out i noticed that the USA made ones sounded a little boxey and unsuprisingly exactly like Kurt Cobain. When I tryed the Russian, it cud also do all the grungy stuff but i found i could coax out other sounds resembling Kaiser Cheifs, Arctic Monkeys, Strokes n recent Chillis (Dani California)! Ive played through some other pedals like EMMA reetafratzitz ( i think thats how u spell it?) and a Visual Sound Route 66, and im telling u this pedal is just as versitile, sounds just as good and costs less than half the price.

If u want to use this pedal max gain i suggest u use a noise suppressor. I use the Boss NS-2 and it removes the hum very well.

To be honest im not in a band. Im much more interested in music production in a studio. Here, I dont really need all my pedals to be bombproof. My russian muff is made from fairly thin metal. I own a NYC Small Clone and these american EHX pedals are much tougher than the russian ones. However, if u do gig this pedal, i reckon if u look after it, it shud b ok. If i did hav 2 gig this pedal, i dont think i wud need a backup, but they r cheap enuf so why not!?

Never dealt with EHX before, but i do own a few of their pedals, each one is fucking brilliant. I guess the 1st step in good customer support is building quality gear. U cannot beat analog fx for things like chorus n distortion. Delay n reverb best kept to digital i think.

Amazing pedal. My rig at the mo is:

Fender Telecaster->Boss TU-2->Boss NS-2, then loop for NS-2 goes Crybaby Wah->EHX Russian Big Muff->Small Clone. Output from NS-2 goes to Line 6 HD147.

I am going 2 change amp to Fender Blues Junior v soon. I only use blackface model on amp and then big muff for distortion. Sounds so good but with this pedal driving a set of tubes it wud sound phenomenal!

Ive been playing for 11 years. If it were lost or stolen i wud replace it immediately. I love the fact that i can shape the sound any way i want and nothing seems to sound bad or unuseable. I hate the fact that it looks like crap...come on lets be honest. It works for me and my sound and i think i will always use it now. i compared it to all the other 'muffs', some high end boutique distortions and overdrives and some tube pedals like soldano n damage control. This doesnt hav the tone of the tube pedals but for the price and sound quality on offer from the muff, i had to go for it. I bought this because its a useful tool in a studio and its extremely versitile. I knew this before i bought the pedal but hearing the thing just made me want 2 buy it. The Big Muff shud b part of every guitarists staple sonic diet.

see most above, easy controls for any mind.......mine is the "real"(?) 70's or earlier...thrashed when i got it but everything works as should (and does have dc adapter)finding your specific sound may take a little work, but generally with this beast 11 works best on all 3 knobs ;)

ive owned this for over 25 years, played it with everything from cheapo practice amps, old tube silvertones and fenders, through friend's marshalls and slick traynors....currently resides on top of my old crate 1 (brilliant old amp....) also have probably owned 30 guitars that ive used this with...sounds best with heavier guitars with humbuckers (i loved it with my us ibanez iceman i owned years ago, but crap les paul copies, epiphones, etc kill through this pedal)
yep it still has a buzz when yr not playing, or lotsa feedback (in a good way) sure sure the mudhoney album title....sure sure the fuzzy sound...but with a decent neck pickup it'll chime and sing, and sustain like no other....ive had a couple fancier "distortion" pedals dod, etc for "heavy metal" sound, but they make everything sound the same...if you like overproduced sound, hire satriani or his producer, if you like RAWK this is for you

currently held together with duct tape as ive lost the screws to open it...9v battery snap piece twisted on, and the nut on the input jack once was replaced with a pop top from ma beer can to hold it in place....25 yrs of abuse, and she still keeps going. pots still turn without much discernable noise.

other than the tiny circuit board this is an easy piece to fix yourself (even if mcguyvered) clueless on e/h service...mine made in brooklyn (i think theyre gone) surely even later versions simple to fix

ive played guitar since before my nuts dropped (and still stink)..this is absolutely the coolest pedal for any metal/punk/noise/alienate yr friends, neighbors, etc. this beast is prob 30 yrs old and keeps going, even makes my crappy old ampeg practice amp scream (but prefer the crate) currently i play a mutilated jap strat knockoff, and my turser 335 copy through it...humbuckers sound a little better.....for the ultimate in obnoxious run a wha before the muff and peel the paint off the walls! enjoy!!

It is pretty easy to use step on the switch fuzz out. I will say that getting a decent tone out of this is some what time consumming. It was a constent tug of war between my amp and this unit. I have an original one so I don't have a manual but I have been playing over 20 years and this is the second go around for me with this unit.

The set up I use mostly with this is a G&L Comanche with the Z pickups, Diamond Pedal J drive with the drive pretty clean and the boost on, Big Muff, Keely modded DD-3 and to my THD Univalve. Once I got it set it screams now. I can use it for 60's stuff and some heavier tones as well. I have the Volume at 9:00 the tone at 10:00 and the sustain at 3:00. I can get whatever sound after that by using the volume knob on my guitar. I also use a Voodo Lab Micro Vibe in front of it sometimes to get that Jimi and Trower tone. It does make a lot of noise but it is a fuzz and once you start playing you don't notice it. The J drive helps tighten up the sound without compressing it but I do wish I could tighten it up some more.

Like I said this is an original one and it has lasted this long. It stays in mounted on a rack shelf with all my other pedals and goes though a switching unit. It should last another 20 years or so as long as the rack doesn't fall off the truck.

never delt with them

I play all types of Rock and Roll and have been for over 20 years. I also have a Gibson Class 5 Les Paul and a Heritage 555 for electrics. I also have a Martin J1 jumbo acoustic and a all nickel Dobro. I mostly play for fun now and for personal studio work. If it were lost stolen or broke I would try to find an old one again if not I would try a reissue. I had a Diamond Firebust but it just didn't give me the deep tone I was looking for and the distortion side was also lacking in depth.

First off, let me say that this pedal is not designed to be an extreme metal distortion pedal. I've read a lot of reviews from kids who are mad when they find out that this box won't make them sound like [insert crappy nu-metal band here].

This pedal is designed for a more creamy, softer tone and to add sustain. That is not to say that you cannot get that thin, hollow, scooped-mids crap-tone (Metallica's new stuff) out of it. You can, but you will ned to fiddle with your amp too.

I have no problems getting a number of great tones out of this pedal. Three knobs, pretty easy to mess around with and find your sound.

My main guitar is a Gibson LP Standard, but I also use a Jackson Dinky, an Agile 335 copy, and a homemade telecaster. All of them sound good, but the 335-style and the LP seem to be more suited to bring the best out of this pedal. The Jackson and Fender clone are thinner and would probably work better with a colder pedal, like a Boss DS1. However the Jackson does get into that thrash terrirory if you keep the gain down a little.

I play through a solid state Kustom combo but have a tube Laney head on the way. I'm looking forward to trying that one out.

The pedal is not too noisy, I believe it has true bypass. However, I haven't recorded with it yet, so I can't speak to that.

I play a lot of bluesy doom rock (Pentagram, Place of Skulls, Witchcraft, etc.) and this pedal is perfect for that sound. It has a real vintage, warm, full tone...almost analog sounding.

The box seems solid, but i don't like the way it chews through batteries. There seems to be a jack for a power cord, but I haven't found one that fits yet. I will probably modify it so I can plug it into a standard 9 volt cable.

I've found that if I pull the cables out of the pedal when it's not in use, I get longer battery life.

No issues yet.

As I said, this pedal is a good fit for my style. It's full and warm and versatile.

I like that it is big and sturdy, it's easy to stomp on the switch and the LED light is bright and visible.

I had long heard the legend of the Big Muff and I was eager to get my own. Now that I have one, I'm a little disappointed. It's a great pedal, but not a whole lot better than my old Danelectro Fab Tone that I paid $15.00 for. You may want to look for an alternative if you can find a good one.

3 knobs
one bipass switch
no adaptor, only takes 9v

Very bass heavy distortion. I found for guitar it was a little too bassy and saturated for chunky rhythm parts. Alright, for lead tone. It kind of just sounded like an out of control indecipherable fuzz mess if you played too hard (unless you like that). I found it more useful as a bass distortion pedal, which was a staple on my pedal board until the thing fell apart.

Can you depend on it? For about 1 year.

I bought this pedal about 3 years ago and it gradually deteriorated over that 3 year period. It worked well for about a year. After that the wiring connecting the 9v battery became loose and came apart. I had to soder it back on. Then shortly after the bipass switch became faulty. Sometimes it wouldn't work, or only work and give you half the volume for the pedal. It was a very strange idiosyncrasy that you could stomp on it and it would give you very soft volume (and minimize your guitar signal) or give you half volume, full or another variable inbetween any of these. Very frustrating. After a while the bipass switch stopped working altogether and you could not turn the pedal on or off. The sustain knob also broke off, so I could no longer adjust the sustain. All in all, it was your basic piece of shit. I strongly don't reccommend this pedal to anyone. Although i hear the other Big Muff models perform much better.

Never called customer support.

There's a better distortion pedal out there for you.

Very Easy to use

VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!!

I bought this pedal to get a vintage sound, and at first I thought this pedal was a rip off, but then I ran it through the FX loop on the amp and it sounds awsome!!!

FX LOOP!!!!!!

don't know, but seems very easy to break.

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9

Hendrix, Zeppelin, Floyd

Fender Eric Clapton Strat
Marshall AVT 50

Since this a one-effect device...it was really easy to figure out and get a great sound out of this. Three knobs- Volume is of course the effect volume, Sustain and Tone are also obvious. No manual either- not needed. Some tweaking needed though.

M'kay my setup is straightfoward. Just my amp (a Marshall) an Alesis Faze- also awesome, my Big Muff, and my Epiphone Dot or SG. There's some feedback, but not in bypass mode (of course). Overall...THE BEST FUZZ/DISTORTION I'VE EVER TRIED!!!!!!!!!!! I easily get a good sound for most of my favorite artists- PINK FLOYD, NIRVANA, ALICE IN CHAINS, and LED ZEPPELIN. From warm blues-like to Black Sabbath and everything in between, the Muff cannot be beaten.

From everything I heard before I bought my Muff it seemed some Muffs were built like tanks while others were flimsy and poorly built. I have to say my Muff is very reliable. I'm not rich so I can't afford a Backup. Have gigged with it and it proved itself as reliable.

Never had to deal with Electro-Harmonix.

I've been playing about 2 years in 2 bands and for the Grunge and Alternative stuff I'm into, the Muff is great. It also works for some of my Classic Rock stuff (oddly enough I use it for some Folk Rock too). If it were stolen I'd kill whoever took it!
Compared to other stompboxes like the Rat or a Tubescreamer, the Muff is more warm and more versatile. Its simplicity is one of the best things about it. Also it's not some digital s***box, it's all analog. Quite Frankly, the Muff kicks A**!! Buy it!

Bought it used about 4 years ago so no manual, but very easy to use. Straightforward - 3 knobs; Volume, Distortion, Tone. I love the big fat round footswitch, with a huge LED that's very easy to see.

This is not the best distortion/fuzz pedal for basic hard rock/metal or blues, and I never use it for my blues soloing or hard rock. However, for that modern rock, psychadelic sound, this is awesome, in a catagory of its own. I say that because it's not just a fuzz or distortion/overdrive pedal, it sounds like some sort of combo of the two. A bit noisy, but keep the master volume knob below 12 0'clock and it's fine.

Being a huge Floyd fan(David Gilmour) I got this because I know he used it in his setup on their last 2 world tours. (Really old Floyd stuff I have no idea what he used) It's got an imposing, huge, fat overdrive with practically endless sustain. Play this into any tube amp(I use a Strat) and you've pretty much got Pink Floyd's 'Sorrow' from the 'Momentary Lapse of Reason' album. Add on a flanger, and you've got the distortion from 'The Wall' and a lot of Nirvana's stuff. Very imposing, loud and "angry"(my personal take on its unique tone) sound.

My Setup:
Fender Strat w/active EMG pickups -->Boss CS-2 Compression/Sustain-->Chandler Tube Driver-->Big Muff Pi-->Pro Co Rat-->Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress Flanger-->Boss CS-2 Chorus-->Boss RV-3 Digital Reverb/Delay--->(All Tube) 40W Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 401 combo amp.

Never played through solid state, so this is only based on an all-tube setup.

Brand new, I assume this thing is completely reliable, but this is the original Big Muff Pi(very old - late 70's early 80's) and mine, only on very rare occasions, has a problem at the input/output jacks - they are not the usual sturdy metal type, with the guitar input securely locking in and holding. The input and output are metal but the actual input/output is a sort of hard plastic in inside the exterior metal ring, so the connection feels weird and its hard to know that its completely in there.

It does cut out once in a great while, but 98% of the time its completely fine.

N/A, never had to deal with them

Its not a univeral overdrive pedal that can be used for just anything. But add it to just one of your overdrive, distortion, flange or chorus effects and it will give you the fullest, fattest psychadelic/modern rock sound. What I love about this pedal is the tone knob - you can change the high end/low end to change the overall sound very precisely.

A must for my setup, I'd definitely get another if anything happened to it.

Picked it up at a pawn shop out of curiosity and the price was right.
I spent some time tweeking due to the variety of sounds available. I usually use OD pedals in front of a dirty amp. boogie heartbreaker, JCM800 & ampeg (deluxe reverb type). I'm a tinkerer, and I modify everything. I'm anxious to get at this with a soldering iron and some good quality caps.
Turning down the sustain all the way with the tone at low levels shows the affect on the tone (transparency). Some of the tone suffers with this pedal. I'm thinking changing coupling caps will get back some of the good tone and enhance this pedals performance. Now if this pedal was crap I wouldn't even bother. But when you crank the sustain with the volume up over half way this pedal gets down right rude. I like the tone all the way down for some really cool mid boost. However set like this the bass is a bit loose. Smaller coupling caps may solve this. But the distortion is great. The fuzz creeps in as you turn the tone up. Above 2:00 gets real fuzzy and trebly. This pedal also enhances some amps more than others. I wasn't real impressed when i plugged it into my heartbreaker. I plugged it into the JCM800 into the 4x12 and was blown away. Ranges from ACDC crunch through Iron Maiden distortion up to Metalica (Master of Puppets) distortions. The fullness of this rig was impressive. I then plugged it into my Ampeg that I just modified with 6v6s. This sounded like SRV's Tightrope fuzz face lead.
It's a good pedal compared to others you can buy, and may be a great pedal when modified - I'll find out.
I've modified my TS9 and DS1 with great results. I also like the MXR ZW44 just plain stock. In front of a clean amp for rythm or a dirty amp for sustained lead all sound good with their own characteristics. The muff pi will do the metal sounds that I don't get with the others.

good match for metal, or fuzz face Hendrix/ SRV stuff

Volume, Sustain, and Tone. I don't think it's that hard.

Best distortion pedal i've ever used, hands down. One of the great things about EHX is that they push their pedals to the extreme, which I likes.

It seems pretty sturdy. The Big Muff ? USA is much sturdier though. I think you could probably depend on it on a gig as long as you're not gonna expect Boss-level reliability on it (eg, don't jump on it from high heights. if you're planning on doing that, get the Big Muff USA).

I play anything I like. I've used many distortion pedals, and here lies the one I am finally and truly satisfied with. If it got stolen, however, I wouldn't care much because then I could go and buy a Big Muff ? USA (it's definately worth the few extra dollars).