Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Bug Muff

Ease of use: nothin' to it.
Editing patches: '70s pedal. No patches.
Manual: a single sheet of paper which I laminated to keep it fresh.
Upgrade: yeah. See below.

I play a '69 Paul Gold Top /'57 Strat Custom Shop Reissue/MusicMan Silhouette through a Boogie Mark IIB with pedals or a Marshall JMP-1 through a Roland RSP-550.
The Muff Deluxe is noisy...but so what? Not as noisy if you keep your hand on the strings not picked. Then you can get more of a singing sustain than shred.
The pedal was great when I got it in the 70s. But I didn't like the effect bleed through when it was off. Then it broke. I was told it would break again even if I fixed it (Electro Harmonix wasn't too helpful back then). So I put it in a box in the basement.
20 some odd years later I found it again and emailed analogman.com (great site) about having it fixed. They gave me the phone of the original designer (Mick). Turns out he lives 10 minutes away from me. He fixed it, expanded the tonal range (I kept the original part he replaced...probably won't put it back in again, though), and put in a new bypass switch. No bleed whatsoever. Clean tone when I want it.
It's a fantastic pedal now. Kicks ass. Couldn't ask more from a distortion stomp box. Nice complement to the Boogie overdrive. Fun to use separate and together. Don't use it with the Marshall.

I don't know whether I can depend on it or not. I don't bang my equipment very hard...but I've been using it a lot for 3 years now, and haven't had a problem.
I'd never go to a gig without some kind of backup on a distortion or overdrive pedal. So..."NO", I wouldn't use it on a gig without a backup.

Don't know about Electro-Harmonix now. But analogman.com and Mick are the best. Very much into the sound and cut the bull$%^&.

I play a lot of styles. Electric and acoustic. The Big Muff Deluxe works best with the obvious (Acid Rock), standard rock, and some Metal. Wasn't that way before the mod...but now I can dial it up to a much fatter sound. Great, controllable feedback possibilities. Really nice. Very verstatile. It's also got that really thick, sweet, singing tone now. Just great for melody lines with all kinds of music. Electric and acoustic. I don't use it for straight blues. The Boogie or a Real Tube pedal work great for that. But if it's Red House...yeah, I'll definitely throw it in there.
I just really love this pedal. Real happy to have it back and kickin'.

It took me some time to "get to know" this pedal, but once you do...........Whoah! Everything is interactive like a valve amp, each control effects the other.
Did'nt get a manual, it's old, late 1970's.

I got a Marshall valve combo, Gibbo Les Paul Junior and vintage Fender Musicmaster.
It's a mains powered pedal and it is noisy (it's a Big Muff...noise annoys). The sounds are ripping on this, i can kill small mammals at 100 yards going through the Marshall, it is a MOMNSTER! The compression effect is good but i choose not to use it, it's optional. My fave artists are JAMC, Mudhoney, Husker Du/Sugar...anyway this pedal can do them all, it's a distortion/extreme fuzz and never sounds synthetic like a certain Dod pedal i've got. It's good for feedback merchants as well.

Well the fucker's 25 year old and solid.

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I'm into playing noise pop/Fuzz drenched mayhem and if this went missing i'd be well pissed-off. I've been playing 15 years and have owned a shitload of pedals and this is one of the best, incidently i've had 3 Big Muffs and this one is far superior!! I love how everything interacts, loads of sounds available if you experiment with it, but they're always "usable" sounds unlike the unpredictable silly Fuzz Factory.
I currently own 9 Fuzz pedals, this one is constantly on my board, it's the one that stuns the audience, they know alright when i kick this in !!

Mine is from the 70's. Pretty good shape still. 5 knobs and a couple switches.

Not noisy at all.
Very big sounding.
The compressor is very cool.
The overdrive is very Smashing Pumpkins but is just a little on the tinny side. My other 9 volt Big Muffs are better for capturing the Pumpkins tone. So I am a little disappointed with the overdrive as it is very intense and not so dynamic. Maybe good for blasting out a wild solo but it still lacks any kind of real warmth or dynamics. A horrible choice for an all around overdrive. Still the sound is huge. Tons of bottom and top. Makes almost any other overdrive sound over processed and thin.
I find the Electro Harmonix Hot Tubes of the 70's to be the best overdrive for all around use....which leads me to this part of the review......

The compressor is very very cool! It is quiet, clean, big, fat, dynamic, full, huge, etc... plus the volume is LOUD if cranked.
I used the compressor to boost the Hot Tubes for soloing and was blown away! FAT FAT FAT! Very exciting!

Also, for appeggios, the compressor is just the ticket for smoothing things out a little while adding a very dynamic sound.

One thing all the old Electro Harmonix overdrives have going for them is that they don't squash your tone. In fact, I'm sure they actually enhance fullness. They add a lively rawness that you usually only find by playing through an old tube amp.

Too bad about the overdrive. I just couldn't find a setting that was supremely pleasing to my ear. No matter if set to very mellow to over th top and beyond the overdrive was just really making it in any catagory. However, compared to the over rated Fender Blender the overdrive is excellent!

I've been playing since 1969. I play blues, rock, metal and grunge. I have a music stores worth of gear, mostly vintage. I play in a church band and do a show every Sunday night.

If I use the Deluxe Big Muff in the shows it will be for the compressor but for right now I'm not doing any wild solos in our shows and so will be using the Hot Tubes only.

It is not too easy, actually. It has 5 nobs and 2 swiches. The big muff is just a simple big muff... The soul preacher compressor output side is kind of weird... It stays on all the time
Mine is a blend nob version, which is the earlier one. It is the 1300a circuit, which is (trust me, I am an effect freak) the much better one. It has a very similar board to the triangle knob Big Muff MK1. They sound vertually the same.

I use a Les Paul Custom, junior, 52 Telecaster, Ibanez RGs with dimarzios trough this. I use a Marshall JCM 800. I am a effect collector so I DO know what I am on about.
Well, OF COURSE it is noisey! It is one of the most extreem fuzz around. But if the setting is low, it is pretty quiet, actually. It is very aggressive and bites. It is a ctually dam warm too. Very wolly and crunchy. The sustain, specially trough humbuckers, are GIGANTIC!! It just stays on and on......... When the setting is low, it has a vintage heavy metal type sound, if you set the gain high. BANG!!, SMASHING PUMPKINS!
I have many fuzz effects. Tonebenders, fuzz factory, Roger mayer Mongoose, Frantone Cream Puff, B&M... I use tonebenders and B#M for bluesy solos. The roger mayer is a more treble fuzz. I use the deluxe muff and the Mongoose for power cordes and sometimes just nice rifts. The fuzz factory is just dangerous!!

I haven't said much about the Compresser. It is the same as a soul preacher. It has a very good sound, I must say, but not too usable at all. When in the comp output, the comp ALWAYS stays on, It can't be turned off by footswich!! How strange?? In blend mode(blend with the fuzz), it sound fucking, I repeat fucking useless!! It is not usable at all. If you want a compresser that just stays on, it could be quite good. It is very warm too. Good for slow rhthem picking. To be honest, I hardly ever use that mode. I prefer a Dyna comp, Ross compresser or a simple vintage Boss CS-2. I would give 10 but the Blend mode is just Too crap.

DAM well made. lt is all metal. Mine is nearly 30 years old and still going. No back up for me. It runs on a AC power cord that is connected to the unit, So no running out of batteries or any crap like that!

Not made anymore, No reissue either, only vintage!

I play Mostly Classic rock. It works for Led Zep type stuff but the Tonebender is better for that. I have lots of effects, as mentioned above. This is, after the fuzz factory, the most fuzzy fuzz. Lots of sustain and super warm. If It was stolen, I will hunt the guy done and beat gim to death with a chair. If I don't find him, I will probably be mentally unstable for 2 months then get over it slowly. I will pay godd price again for another one. What I hate though is the blend mode, it is so pointless! I also wished the compresser could be swiched on and off with the footswitch. I compared with a series/parallel version This was a later one and sounds like poo. It has cheap ass componants... Also, a reissue Big Muff which , I must say, is not too bad.

If you spot one, Don't hesitate, buy it! If you don't like it, Just sell it, Vintage effects like this only goes up in value!

Hey, even though it has five knobs, you can't really go wrong with it...two of them are for the compressor - useless for bass, at least in my opinion. The fuzz department has three (yes!) knobs: tone, drive and volume. Well, it also has power on/off and a blend switch for combining the compressor and fuzz, but I just turn it off.

I'm using Big Muff with my EBS Concert Rig (EBS 4x10" cabs, EBS 2x400W power amp and EBS pre-amp) with Rat distortion box and EBS Octabass - great combination of some truly horrible (read: beautiful) monster tones! Total sonic diarrhea! If you turn the Muff all the way up, it gurgles and howls like mad, but that's what I was after anyway! It can create thick dark cloud of "heavy metal thunder" or thin "mosquito-in-a-waterglass"... depends what you're after. Controls respond quickly and are very sensitive. All this means: LO-FIDELITY in all it's splendor! Of course, you can't use it in EVERYTHING (unless you're in some garage/industrial band), I'm using it as a special "sonic boom", every now and then. Mind you, it eats away your sound, when it's on bypass!! It steals your bottoms AND your highs! That's why I've come up with a switching system, that removes it from the signal chain, when it's not in use... and the switching system isn't expensive, if you're willing to tinker up one by yourself. It's worth it, really! And about the compressor... it really doesn't work with a bass - just squashes sound and creates lots of hiss... Otherwise,I recommend Big Muff Deluxe to everyone, who wants to get some instant smudge and farting to their sound. Unearthly tones, when combined with an octaver.

My Muff is obviously relatively old, so it sometimes craps out with the footswitch and has TWO old DC-adapters for power... they still work though and the pots don't scratch 'n' bop yet so I'm hopeful.

No idea whatsoever.

Since I play groove/acid jazz/funk/instrumental/blaxploitation smudge, it fits in really well. But, I haven't had it for long yet, so time tells is it irreplaceable or not... I bought it for for sheer brutality and ugliness and within those parameters it performs well - quite different from the Rat that I have. I just wih it had option for battery, but it works just as well like it is.

The biggest missconception of this pedal is how it used. Most people would just turn everthing up to 10 and be happy that is squealing. I would strongly suggest easing back to minimal settings, you will get the rich violin sustain and distortion. What manual ? I am looking for schmatics for it, hint hint.

Fender american telecaster, telecaster elite and robin artisan. Of course it is, it's a big muff. This is the best distortion pedal ever made, you just have to know how to use it. Marshall tube what else? I do not care to get the sound of my favorite artist.

Allways. Yes.

All customer service sucks.

It is plenty easy to use, 5 big knobs- fuzz vol, tone, sustain, comp vol., and threshold. Its got a knob for "blend" on/off and power switch, this ain't too complicated.

Ok this is the deal, the Deluxe isn't that good. It sounds like garbage thru a solid state amp, it sounds a little bit better thru a nice tube amp, still not too good, it just lacks in fuzz, no matter how much you tweak it. It sounds way to muddy and doesn't have any legendary sustain either. Trust me, stay away from it (or get a regular Big Muff).

For the one week I owned it, it worked fine, I had no problems what so ever.

Didn't own it long enough to contact any customer support.

Basically, if you want good fuzz, don't buy this, a regular big muff is much better. If you don't like big muff's there are plenty of fuzz boxes to try, don't limit yourself. But never buy this, it sucks, I owned it for a week and sold it for $75. No one will pay more than $75 for this thing, I really got ripped off.

Geez, it's simple. 5 big knobs & a footswitch for on/off. Also a toggle for running the fuzz/compressor in series/parallel.

Noisy as a squealing pig. When everything's cranked all the way up (the only way to play it), this thing hums, howls and shrieks in between notes. I don't know if it's just cause it's old or if something's wrong with mine. I've only had it two days and haven't taken it apart yet. :)

Only had it two days. Id' venture to say it's reliable since I've heard that Sovtek/EH are brick shithouses.

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I *LOVE* the distortion sounds. And the compressor makes the damned thing sing!!! I play a reissue Tele (very thin sound) and this little silver marvel fattens up my tone and makes the neck pickup work overtime. I just need to figure out where all the noise is coming from and modify as necessary :)