Electro-Harmonix English Muff'n

This pedal makes good sounds automatically. It is incapable of making a signal sound worse going out than when it went in. Probably a pair of these should be a part of every home theater setup.

I use this pedal for a very specific purpose, so this review should be read in that light. I use it essentially as a DI box to record synthesizers and drum machines direct to tape. I bought the thing specifically to provide smooth, continuous low-level distortion that simply cannot be emulated by solid-state effects. I use it especially to provide overdriven harmonics between high notes played simultaneously on the synths. When turned down low, the effect is basically added sweetness and more definition. As the gain goes up, the overdrive becomes completely aggressive. The high-string harmonics on some Pavement songs set me on the quest that led me to this pedal, and it delivers 100%. As opposed to every solid-state distortion-fuzz-overdrive effect I've ever used, this is way WAY more sensitive and precise and exact and smooth, etc.

This is surely as reliable a design as is possible given that it holds two tubes. I wouldn't dream of gigging with it; the very idea seems crazy. But as a piece of studio equipment, it is tough enough.

I asked them to point me in the direction of some primo high-gain 12AX7s and 12AY7s, and they hooked me up. The fact that they manufacture the 12AX7s I needed helped.

I play zombie hypnosis drone carols. This pedal does exactly what I need it to do. The other distortion pedals I've stuck with are: Boss MD-2, Ibanez FZ-5, and Danelectro DJ-1. They are all great pedals that provide me with basically the entire range of overdriven sounds that I need. I love them. They are cheap and effective, but they all fell short in the one area I needed most: subtle, low-level overdrive. Every one of them is great at mid-gain and high-gain distortion. The problem is that, at the lowest levels, they're either already breaking up (FZ-5 and MD-2) or going from zero to grain with no in-between (DJ-1). With the English Muff'n I can get the organic, living warmth and depth to perfectly suit the juicy globularity of my analog synths, while also getting into some serious overdrive. The dual-stage preamplification circuit in this pedal is a unique and living thing that can't be duplicated even by single-tube designs. When I need it to go over the top, I just chain one of my other pedals behind this one and turn it up. If these other pedals (or any other solid-state I've used) are buckets of rocks and dirt, this is a bag of ultra-fine cake flour. Expensive, but mandatory.

This is a follow up to my previous review.
I've used this pre-amp for about a year and a half now, and I love it just as much if not more than I did when I got it. It is so easy to get a great overdriven to light distorted tone out of this thing.

It really shines on the Vox AC30 or Marshall JTM tones. With higher gain tubes, you can almost hear a JCM800 hidden in there.

Since this is a pre-amp, don't forget to try it directly into your power amp in if you have an effects loop. This unit can take the place of your existing preamp.

Love it. It gets gritty, but stays smooth at the same time, very musical.

No problems so far - a year and a half and still going strong.

So far so good.

Electro Harmonix is a cool company. I hope they are always around.

It's like an amp: GAIN, HIGH, MID, BASS and OUTPUT. Easy.
You don't need to read the manual.

I'm using it with a Jazz Bass with EMG pickups. My amp is a Markbass SA450 with a Markbass Standard 106HR cabinet. My pedalboard has the following stomp boxes: EH bassballs, Boss OC2, Morley Pro Series II wah/vol,EH English Muff'n, EH Big Muff, MXR Phase 90 and Guyatone MD3 delay.

No noise issues. I think that's quiet for an overdrive/distortion box. If you crank the gain to the max you'll get a little noise, but this is normal in a distortion device.

This pedal really adds balls to my sound without sacrifying low end. If you turn up the LOW pot you'll add more air to the sound, the MID pot adds more muscle nicely and with the HIGH you controll the attack content. I think this box is one of the best overdrives for bass that you can buy (However it's designed for guitar). The sound can be warm and subtle or agressive and gritty if you want, it's very touch sensitive.

The box is made of aluminium and the tubes are protected by a special grill. Tubes are fragile and shock sensible... but the overall sensation it's well constructed.

Not needed

I'm playing stoner rock with a new band. I was playing funk before: www.myspace.com/politicalamitymusic

Fantastic value. A real tube preamp/overdrive under 200 bucks. Sounds rich and full.

I read almost all of the below reviews, and because they were overwhelmingly positive, I bought the EM. Then I promptly sent it back. It's better to tell you what the EM is not, first:

1) it's not a Marshall stack in a box. Nope, doesn't even come close. If you think it is, you need to go play through a stack at performance volumes, to establish a baseline for the Marshall tone. It's hard to divine such a thing from recordings of your favorite players. The recording process heavily alters the tone.
2) the tubes that come with the EM (12AYs) on their own will give you a very tame Vox AC30 tone, and really nothing else. They will also come close to Angus Young's ka-chunk, when he's playing with the guitar dialed back to five, in order to get under the vocals.
3) it won't make a good amp sound better. If you have a Marshall, Mesa, Soldano, etc. and like the tone, don't waste your time. It will not improve it, and will muddy it up, most likely.

Ok, in all fairness, here is what the EM is:
1) Noisey. Period. No way around it, and I like most EH products.
2) Brit sounding yes, but it will not supplant a good throaty amp. It won't even come close. Marshall it ain't.
3) the EH is really a tube preamp for "tubifying" a mid-to-low quality amp. Probably might help most cheap SS amps. However, why don't you save that $200 and just get a better amp?
4) Kind of wimpy, and not in a good vintage sense. There are tube boosts out there with roughly the same technology that will blow the doors off this box. It might sound better with 12AXs, but then, why don't they sell it with these tubes?

Oh, but it is easy to use...

See "ease of use".

Don't know.

Again, don't know.

See "ease of use" for the story. This box is probably not what you're thinking of, unless you want the "Vox" sound, but don't want to actually go buy a Vox (they're not that expensive, incidentally). But again, to dispell any rumors, this is not Marshall tone. It would require a retube with 12AXs and probably a boost up front to get anywhere near Marshall territory. Just being honest...

It's very simple to get a good sound and to change valves.
Eq controls are very reactive and interactive, you have to understand how they work.

This is a real preamp but it's a pedal. Tubes work, use it with a valve amp to get the best. I use it with a fender blues jr, they work so well together. Changing tubes (one or both) with 12ax7 you'll get more gain, in every way great tones. It has a lot of dynamic.

Eq is so sensitive and is interactive, will give many different shades of sound.

Great british tone, like the best marshall and vox tradition learns...

If you want a great distortion pedal, with true tube preamp stage (not hybrid like many others and not with tubes for marketing....)and with a great british tone, with a lot of dynamics, buy it.
It's very versatile, you can change tubes for different tones.

Easy to use, nicely laid out & visible. I wish the T-former was not a wall-wart but rather built in to the unit. Basically this is a full-function pre-amp with the british O.D. raspy tone dialed in. Changing the tubes requires a screwdriver for the shield. Better if it were thumbscrews perhaps. Comes well-boxed with instructions and EH literature.

Slightly noisy when engaged, but it nails the british Vox/Marshall tone to a tea. I've plugged it into a bunch of different amps and it turns them into redcoats every time. I actually A/B'd this with the Seymore Duncan Tube Classic overdrive i bought & used the SD but after a while went back to GC and exchanged for the English Muffin. I like the tone better. It can be harsh and raspy, but working with the knobs that have extreme tone ranges, one can clean it up well. If you like the Tom Petty sound (which i do), you'll appreciate this pedal. Gives a nice jangly overtone to the cruchiness regardless of amp/guitar/speaker combination, and fattens up the overall sound in a good way.

I'va had it for a year with no problems. I have several other overdrive pedals just in case.

Electro Harmonix is a great company!

This pedal has a very unique sound that no other pedal i have tried has. Although it nails the british sound, it also adds something different - it's hard to describe. I like pedals that inspire me to play differently than i normally do. The fun thing about this pedal is that it works great for country licks and chicken pickin'. I think this is due to the subtle compression it has similar to old british tube-rectified amps. I've become a bit of tele-spanker recently and this pedal really works well with it through any amp. I'm not a molten-metal fan - this pedal gets close to early metal, but it has enough grind for most styles of music. I wish it had an on/off switch so i wouldn't have to unplug the wart when leaving for any length of time.

Operation is pretty simple. There are 5 knobs basically just like a preamp on any amplifier, output, gain, hi, mid and low. The more gain you dial in the greater distortion you get, etc. It's very simple to use. EHX manuals are pretty simple and straightforward not a lot of fluff.

I use this pedal for bass and it sounds really good with little to no noise. I can get a nice smooth subtle overdrive that is responsive to picking dynamics. The harder the attack the more it breaks up. It just sounds real nice and natural without being a raging fuzz. I also like to use it to fatten up the Big Muff Pi I have for when I want a more concentrated fuzz tone. I have tried literally every overdrive available (both boutique and production models) for both bass and guitar and I truly like this one the best. I run this with a Stingray bass into a GK 1001 RB-II head and a 212 NEO cabinet. It adds some nice subtle dirt and a fat tube tone to the GK head. I like the clean sound of my GK but for certain songs it just needs a little dirt and that's where this comes in.

I think it should be OK. I have it housed on a pedal board that is transported in an ATA case that is pretty solid. The tubes are protected by a steel cover plate and the box itself is pretty solid. I am worried about the power adapter jack because it is a little jiggly. I would recommend buying a spare 12V adapter for it because I have heard they can be a little flaky. I keep a Analogman modified Tube Screamer with me as a backup but I don't think I would need it.

I have never dealt with them. I bought this at a Guitar Center store and I have never been real impressed with their level of service overall.

A great sounding overdrive pedal that uses real tubes for a natural overdrive sound. It can fatten up your existing tone and warm up a cold solid state amp if you are using one. It is, in my opinion, the best sounding overdrive pedal available and I have tried about 100 of them.

Simple - output knob, gain knob, and low, mid, high controls. and a foot bypass switch

use those controls with your guitar volume and tone and you can make a great variety of sounds, with just this unit. I'd imagine if I added a reverb or chorus, I wouldn't need anything else.

The dual A7Y tubes (pre and post) make for a very rich sound that sounds good through almost anything - my 9V Fender mini twin included. Whatever volume, you can get a good sound for lead, rhythm and anything in between. I play through this and the mini twin and am quite happy with the sound.

just got it, dunno. construction is fairly solid with a decent seeming shield over the exposed tubes

They responded fast and answered the basic questions. But this unit was designed for swapping different tubes: You can use 12AX7, 12AT7, 12AY7, 5751 (and most any tube in the 9A pinout/12 volt filament family) to customize your tone. And they were not very helpful in supplying info on what tube configurations produce what kinds of sound. I was given the "trial and error" brush off answer.

I am a jazz trained heavy rock guitarist. Been playing 10 years. Most of my good gear (gibson SG gothic, 67 fender twin with tremelo) was stolen - I'm down to a Dean Vendetta, and old 80's electra, a fender mini twin, and a peavy practice amp. Also have a yamaha mt50 cassette 4 track, ART SGE mach ii, and some software (guitar rig, guitar synth).

I do love the 60's British tube sound and this unit beats any amp simulator for richness of sound. I also found the concept of it being purposely designed for swapping tubes to be a big factor. Anything that can make a 9V battery powered mini amp sound that good is worth gold. I would definitely get another.

I had looked at the other muffs, but the tube swapping on this one sold me. Beats any digital amp modelling simulator easily. Simply - it has killer sound, which can be easily adjusted from lows to highs. What I dislike is tha it runs on 12V AC and uses an AC/AC adapter. So it's not very portable. It doesn't seem difficult to build a 12 DC to AC inverter that could run of any laptop battery or a 12V ;lantern. Yes it uses 1 amp, but if you could get 20 minutes of portable use I'd be happy. My other wish is that it had an integrated spring reverb system for the complete distortion plus reverb sound.

Regardless, I love this unit. Dual tube sound in a muff sized box just can't be beat.

I'm about to get some A7X tubes and try different configs for the pre and post tubes - different tube brands and age. I'm leaving my email address in case anyone else has tried swapping tubes and wishes to share notes.

It is a no-brainer to get a good sound of of this pedal. Nothing fancy. No patches to save. Just dial it in and go. The manual is exactly one page. Who needs firmware when you have replaceable tubes?

I can cop Hendrix, Page, and Blackmore with ease using this pedal. You can tweak all kinds of classic rock out of it. Put a little boost in front of it and enter Sabbath territory.

My typical jam setup:
Gibson SG Special (498T/490R)-> Boss Tuner -> Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster -> English Muffin -> Boss Chorus -> Boss Delay -> Holy Grail Reverb -> FRONT END OF CLASS A TUBE AMP.

I play rock and blues. This is a good pedal for what I do. I've been playing for many, many years. I own a small collection of Gibson guitars, a Vox AC30, A Crate V-16 Palomino, a V-Series VFX5212 (modified), a Vox ToneLab, and a closet full of stomp boxes including original EH products from the early 70's. If this pedal were lost or stolen, I'd replace it for sure. I love the look, the feel, and the tone. I hate the power supply plug.

Simple, if you know how to use an amp.

This thing sounds amazing, it turns any thing you have in to a "marshall stack" tube or solid state. It is like cheating the whole "tube amp" concept. I have a 12ax7C in the pre, and a 12ax7R in the post gain slot. Changing the tubes on it will give you a totally different distortion. I have mine set up so it is really heavy sounding. it's true bypass to.

no issues yet, EH has an awesome track record

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This is hands down the best distortion pedal I have every heard. If you like marshalls you'll love it. Go buy it. I've been playing for 12 years and play in a very contemporary worship band (I switch between playing lead guitar and spin' tables). I also play in a very heavy post hardcore band. Any way, it fits every thing. It's tube, truebypass, and "britsh sounding". What more do you want. STRONG 10!