Electro-Harmonix Double Muff

Super easy to use, just cascading distortion.

This thing sounds fat, heavy and thick. I use a Sunn Model T or a Sound City Mark 4 & a Matao (les paul imitation) with Seymore Duncan pickups. You can get a nice soft fuzzy feel or a bundle of hiss out of this pedel, it sounds great! It has a little thicker and heavier sound that the original big muff.

I sent this thing back to Electro-Harmonix twice and it still doesn't work right... The first time I was picking up Japanese radio!?! They fixed that problem but then the LED light would not work, so I sent it back again! They fixed that problem but now there's trouble with the switch, on the double setting... So needless to say I kicked that piece a shit across the room... Funny thing was the next day I pluged it in and it worked great for a couple weeks and then it starting acting up again... So now when it starts acting up I just stomp on it a dozen or so times until it works... Can't depend on it at all and would not ever use it for a gig.
Reliability? NONE!

Great customer support, they even paid for shipping the second time I had it shipped to them for repairs. But the people who do the repairs have got to be retarded one armed monkeys! They fix one problem, and another arises. The last time I had it shipped to them I asked if they would just send me a differant one, they said yes! But when I recieved it, it was the same one! LIARS!

OK this pedel sounds great, I mean really great! But it also is the biggest piece of shit ever made! I have other pedels and amps that are 30+ years old and give me no trouble but this thing really pisses me off! I play really crappy punk or stoner rock for 15 years now. I love a clean amp with a distortion pedel; Rat, Big Muff, Blue Box and Fuzz Face. And this Double Muff sounds just as good as any of those but it only works part of the time.
So if you go and buy one be careful and keep your receipt! Just be warned that this pedel isn't gonna last 30 years let alone 30 days so you might need to but two.
I've been thinking about buying another myself, hopefully I have better luck.

two knobs and step,you get the idea

WITHOUT A DOUBT GREAT PEDAL.I play a Les Paul Classic into 535 dunlop wah,EH dbl muff,Korg tuner infront of a vl-502 ampeg head/marshall 412 cab through ch.1 clean.Through my efx loop I have a boss dd-5,tr-2,dan echo,and a boss super chorus,small stone phase and an ibanez fl9.For a few months now I have been very unhappy with my vl-502 particularly on the dirty side(clean is descent) so I tried this pedal out and was shocked on how great it replaced my ch. 2.You can 70s saturated fuzz on up to thick distortion offers tons more bottom than my Ampeg.For all those that were dissappointed in that it didn't sound like your old Big Muff NEWS FLASH ITS NOT,hence the name double muff, if you want the classic Big Muff sound then uhhhhh.....well play a Big Muff not to hard to figure out.Nice thick rythms and super lead tones......SOLD!

It's Electro-Harmonix no worries here.

Can't say no issues yet

For what I play(emo-core) sounds great and very inexpensive.

The only thing easier than two knobs is one knob. This pedal is cake to use, but wold be more controlable with more knobs. All in al it's simple and yet versitle.

Sound quality is ok. The pedal actually is not very fuzy. In single muff mode it sounds like a slight overdrive - which is really cool. I own a full drive II, and so I am a big fan of slightly gritty sounds. Unfortunately the FDII has the double muff's number - and then some in that department.

Sadly, the double muff never gets very fuzy. I am surprised at some of the reviews here that claim that the double muff can get insane or what ever. Perhaps they have never used a fuzz pedal before...
I have a big muff - which I love - and was hoping the double muff would be even crazier - it's not. Not in the least. It's like a little fragile brother of the Big muff (and perhaps could be renamed "little muff"). I was disapointed. The big muff has fuzz, and sustain and all tat, and has tone and volume controls. The double muff is not as tweakable as the big muff, nor is it as fuzzy. Basically it's a col pedal for doing slightly overdriven sounds all the vay to mildly fuzz distorted sounds. The good thing about this pedal is that it's clear sounding (unlike the big muff which is very muddy)and can produce many interesting (though not realy fuzzy) sounds. I give i a five - it's cool, but certainly no "Double Muff"

Actually the unit seems flimsy and fragile to me. The input jack on mine stopped working and I had to have it replaced as soon as I got it. EH is a funny company. Many of their pedals are built like tanks and many of their pedals are not. Go figure.

Here's the skinny - cool sounds, little fuzz - moderately dependable physicaly. Proceed with caution and don't expect too much fuzz. For big fuzz hit the Big Muff, or a ZVEX fuzz factory.

2 knobs, 1 switch very easy.

Sounds great. It's the tone I've been looking for, and it beats my boutique pedals such as the Zvex FF.
Though it's very different from the FF and doesn't have the variations of fuzz, the tone you do get is excellent and the pedals dead quiet.
I'm running a Tele into an early 60's Silvertone tube amp.
The tone really cuts through and fills out the souind. I compared it with a bunch of my other pedals and it has the best tone. It's not as fuzzy as the Big Muff it's more like OD/fuzz. Sounds more authentic than most modern Fuzz and Dist pedals.

Seems fine so far.

Never needed it.

Very cheap pedal and definately worth having. Easily one of my favourite pedals. I like it so much I might buy 2.

Simple but subtle...

I'm a bass player but I play guitar too... It sound great why my 1969's Gibson EB3 and my Epiphone Firebird (awesome with the MXR Dynacomp before in the effect chain).

I had before a US Big Muff reissue, I think the double Muff works better with a bass.

Not sure, I've had bad surprises with EHX gear...

Style of music : independant rock, dark blues (Morphine, Tom Waits, Mark Lanegan, Primus....). I tried many fuzz and overdrive, it's not easy to get a good distorted sound on bass, this one sounds good for me... great with guitar too, I don't want to spend a lot of money in effetcs so like those which work good both on bass and guitar (other gear : EHX Pulsar, Sansamp Bass Di, EHX Holy Grail, MXR Dynacomp, Morley PWV II custom for bass, RMC1 wah and Boss Tu2)

There is no manual, but it is not needed. Two dials, one switch. Just f*ck around until you find what you want. It's fun!

I have used it with both my two guitars, a Squier fat strat and an old Kasuga hollowbody. It sounds really nice and organic, and not tinny like some overdrive pedals. I always use it with everything to full, you get moderate distortion, a lot of sustain and a lot of volume. I have noticed that muff 1 is more trebly and muff 2 more bassy, so if you turn muff 1 down you get a nice bassy Black Sabbath-esque grind (and vice versa-or it may be the other way round). On single muff, the harder you play the louder and the more drive. It's very versatile. A bit of white noise, but this will always be with distortion pedals.

Extremely reliable, has never failed. The one battery has lasted me 3 months so far, and it doesn't look like it's about to stop now.

Never needed, never used

I play rock/blues and am getting into surf, and this can do everything you throw at it. On single mode it can act as a valve simulator, which is useful as I have a Marshall solid state amp.

Pretty simple but not perfect. The Double Muff is deceptively flexible.

In "Single" mode the amount of fuzz is constant. You use the "Level" control to get your desired volume.

In "Double" mode it can be tricky to balance the two fuzz circuits. You may find it hard to get the distortion sound you want at your desired volume. Can be difficult to maintain a consistent output level when tweaking in a live situation - don't want to drown out the band! However, having the two circuits set up like this is all part of the mojo here! A master volume control would make dialling in high gain settings much easier.

You pretty much have to plug your guitar straight into the Double Muff to get a good sound out of it. This can make it difficult to use with a long effects chain. This is a problem shared by many fuzz units.

Battery compartment must be accessed with a screwdriver :(

I use a Fender Telecaster with a Fender BF Bassman combo. There is a lot of treble in this setup, and I find the Double Muff considerably warms and fattens the sound of my guitar while letting its natural tone through. It also works nicely as a signal boost to give the old amp a kick in the teeth. You can go from a light overdriven sound to very heavy fuzz.

The unit responds extremely well to the dynamics of your playing. In "Double" mode especially you can use this responsiveness to great rhythmic effect. Reducing the volume control on your guitar a small amount will dramatically reduce the amount of fuzz.

Also sounds nice through my solid state practice amp.

True Bypass!

Pretty solid on the outside but I haven't bothered to check out the insides.

Should last a long time if kept in the wooden box provided. No problems so far, but its only been 4 months.

Battery lasts for ages like most effects of this type.

Would get it fixed locally, rather than send to the States. Did come with a warranty card, but its still in the box.

I play all sorts of rhythm guitar and do a bit of noodling, but no major lead work. I have been playing for 8 years. The Double Muff is great for rhythm playing because it is so responsive. It has a warmth about it that I find well suited to the Telecaster.

Lead players will bemoan the lack of sustain.

It has replaced my Vintage Rat mk1, which creates too much treble for my rig.

One obvious improvement would be a master volume control, which would vastly expand its flexibility on high gain settings. The simplicity of this unit lends to the mojo, however.

Would definately replace.

Oh, and it has the word "Muff" written on it THREE times!

seems easy but it's not!
got to be aware of some rules before play with this baby!

see after why I put a 5

Great great great!
but! BUT YOU GOT TO PUT THIS PEDAL AT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR FX CHAIN.
If you don't do that it will sound tinny and crappy.
Put it in the fist position even if you own a wah wah...

You can use it with oither distortion and it's sound gtreat!

The very medium/treble distortion is great to deal with drum and bass. You can hear you through the mess of the band!

electro harmonix pedal are great.

Great good sound. Somewhere bertween ds2 and big muff.

Features: On/off switch, slider for single/double muff mode, two rotary controls for the two Muff Fuzz Circuits. No manual supplied.

N.B. This pedal does not have two Big Muff circuits in series, as I think some people are assuming. It's two Muff Fuzz circuits... The Muff Fuzz was a little gizmo that E-H produced back in the day (it wasn't even a stompbox, just something with an on-off switch!)

With a set-up like that, things should be simple. The two fuzz controls react in a more complicated way than is obvious to begin with, though, and so this pedal can seem a little confusing.

I don't gig, so I don't play through an Amp any more. Usual guitar is a DeArmond Jetstar, played through an assortment of effects boxes, into a Behringer V-Amp, which is frequently hooked up in to my PC for recording purposes.

The Muff is quite a quiet pedal, noise-wise: only with both fuzz controls cranked do I hear buzzes and hums (usually monitor related!).

This is quite a versatile pedal. It's capable of some quite mellow crunch/overdrive sounds, but also of incredibly loud volume and gain boosts. Don't expect to be able to turn the controls randomly and always find a useable sound!

Single muff mode: The Muff 1 pedal acts as a gain control. There's a fixed amount of distortion to be had, but you can dial up unity gain (which gives a really nice crunch sound) or, with the control over halfway, use it as a volume boost that also adds some sustain to solos. It's very responsive to volume and tone changes from the guitar, which is a pleasant surprise!

Double muff mode: Ye Gods. Both Muff controls are now active and interact with each other, giving a huge number of gain and fuzz options.

Turning both up to full will add a huge amount of sustain and far, far too much volume. I can't see any circumstances in which you'd ever want so much of a boost, but it's there if you want to blow the heads off the audience!

A much better idea is to use one control as a gain control, and the other to control the amount of distortion. If you use Muff 1 as the distortion control and max that out, you get a more open, overdrive type sound. Use Muff 2, and you get a much more strongly saturated, Big Muff type sound. Both sounds are as responsive to your guitar's controls as the Single Muff Mode, and they're both really pleasant, useable styles, for most rock applications short of Death Metal.

You can, of course, make fine adjustments to the controls to get a suprisingly wide range of distortions. I find it very easy to dial up a good sound, indeed I would rate this as one of my favourite distortion pedals.

As others have noticed, it does like to be first in the pedal chain. I have put a compressor behind it successfully (an old 80's Vesta Fire), but if you put it after most buffered pedals, your tone will suffer.

Very dependable, seems very well fixed together, with quality parts and workmanship. I'm not one to jump on my pedal board, so maybe I don't give pedals the hardest workout!

Bought from Music Ground in Denmark Street, London, who are by far the most helpful shop in that area. Never tried to deal with E-H - if there were any problems I would go back to the dealer first.

I'm very happy with this pedal. It's not a Big Muff (that's next on the shopping list) but what you lose in sustain and fuzz you gain in verstility. The Big Muff is one of the most "effect-y" pedals, in that it dominates the sound when it's on, but the Double Muff is a lot more transparent, and allows your guitar and amp to shine. It's versatile but distinctive, and I can find lots of inspiring sounds when I'm using it. It's quirky (it's E-H, what do you expect!) but effective, and at #50 there's nothing to beat it for the price.

gain 1 & 2, very easy, but requires some balancing as gain 1 can have a large effect on your volume, just has to be finessed.

I use this primarily with a couple mid & high gain settings with a mesa amp. It gives enough gain to push the amp over the edge of insanity into pure face melting, if you like that sort of thing. I also really really like the way it sounds in front of an EH micro synth; dirtys everything up a little. I haven't found a use for it through clean channel yet, but I will. It is a little noisy and in conjunction with a high gain amp it can feed back like mad, an MXR smart gate goes most of the way to making this dealable.

The first one I got had a bum switch, the dealer replaced and it's been humming along ever since.

haven't dealt with them

Overall, I love the sound, it's organic and throaty. Compared to the only other distortion pedal I know well, the mxr ditortion+, it's less containable, but you're paid back with tone.