All user reviews of 3/5 for the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff PI

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UTILIZATION

I do not even remember if there was a manual.
At the same time there are 3 knobs: volume, tone and sustain (fuzz volume) so good it's not very complicated ... We seem to find a good sound easily.

SOUND QUALITY

Effective effect if one seeks the sound "Big Muff" (normal in this case to buy the pedal ^ ^), we will say scooped a distortion pulling the fuzz and dirty sound. I bought it because I was looking for a fuzz (and I'm pretty germanium but it was one of my first fuzz pedals so I apologize ^ ^). The store clerk had advised me ... Brief.
I use it with a Tele Deluxe and a Chubster 40.

OVERALL OPINION

Used less than 5 hours in all and for all. The sound may appeal, however this is not what I wanted. I should have at the time rather buy secondhand, history test and if you do not like me, to sell it without losing too much. The value for money is pretty good though. Warning pedal can generate breath if we push the maximum sustain. But these budgets (on occasion), hard to do as well. When this is compared to the old Muff, I do not comment because I've never tried it, and anyway it is not in the same budget either!
With the experience I do not have that choice because it is not a product for me.

I wanted a well rounded, raw yet creamy distortion in my rig. I read up on a lot of pedals, and I knew that Electro Harmonix was a great company to buy from. I decided to get the Big Muff Pi (which is the U.S.A. version). I bought it at a Guitar Center new for about $85.00.

I really liked how strong and sturdy it was. With a lot of other pedals I have they tend to break sometimes, or have their dials come off. The Big Muff never broke or had any chips in it. It was made w/ a die-hard heavy metal casing. I also loved the creamy overdrive that I could get out of it.

I expected more from the Muff. It is a great pedal, but the Pi is more of a fuzz pedal, not a distortion. I use it now for a little mix into my amp distortion, but its not a "stand alone" effect that I use much.

Like I had said before, this is a rugged unit. It is pretty light I guess for a pedal and how it looks. It also comes in a wooden box, the same ones that all Electro Harmonix pedals come in.

The bottom line is if you want a really, really great fuzz effect, there is no doubt that you should go w/ this pedal. If you want raw, heavy distortion, the Big Muff is NOT the answer.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Three buttons. Volume is not a gain or a Level: it alters the sound of the fuzz.
Tone filter the high frequencies not blame unless the changes are sinusoidal and non-linear, which is quite disconcerting. The problem is Sustain button: arch too much!
See Chapter Son.

UTILIZATION

Not easy to find the sound. This is the first time I have to battle with a) the amp (vol + EQ), 2) theft and EQ of the guitar, 3) the three buttons on the muff, and 4) other possible effects! .
So unless we play, we spent long minutes a set ..
I need a muff TS10 output by the amplifier to recover the frequencies lost. The galley.

SOUND QUALITY

Walk much better with single coils style Stat. Signals do not like active style Variax .. What is violence Gave Button Sustain: I am almost always a zero and ALREADY is hell, especially the agreements, and am forced to reduce the theft of the guitar for not a sound-rotten vomit. In fact solo ca is acceptable, but as soon as I play three chords, it pourrave. I may be across a wrong number, maybe is there a mod to reduce the roar. on the other hand and always with the Sustain to zero and after some adjustments required, there is usually an inimitable sound of slaughter. Weakness: very, very few possible shades. And not enough harmonics (which I like best). Strong point: we find that sound on billions of songs.

OVERALL OPINION

Cheap, but too cheap though. I much prefer a TS9 or better a TS10 or the BOSS DS-1 or MT-2. I've had three weeks. I give myself a month and I sell ...

- Controls for volume, tone, and sustain (gain/clipping)

- Top mounted jacks

- Buffered bypass

- Large classic enclosure

- Lightweight

- Powered by 9v battery or standard Boss style adapter

UTILIZATION

This one is pretty simple and straightforward to dial in. Tone knob gives a pretty wide range of tones, its worth taking the time to tweak. The sustain knob is really just a gain/clipping control, but yes that obviously adds sustain. '

I wasn't really a fan of the construction on this one. Yes its lightweight, but the enclosure is very thin and doesn't come off as sturdy at all.

The internal build quality is not great. The wiring job is very shabby and I've totally seen these start to fall apart with use.

The bypass is a pretty mediocre buffer, love it or hate it.

SOUND QUALITY

To be honest, it doesn't sound that great, especially for the amount that this pedal is hyped up. Yes some of the old ones could produce fantastic tones, but they were also built a lot less consistently. The reissues really just aren't that great. Harsh and gritty, yes its a fuzz, but muffs are a pretty mild fuzz variation and this one fails at creamy tone.

It can do the wall of sound thing pretty well, and as mentioned, the tone knob is pretty versatile. The gain knob will take you from very mild compression to a wall of sound type deal.

OVERALL OPINION

Not the best Muff type pedal I've come across. They sound decent, nothing more, nothing less. They go for quite cheap used, so if you are on a budget, its not a bad choice. But personally I would pass. The mediocre, bland sound, coupled with the shoddy build quality and flimsy enclosure just don't do it for me at all.

If you are after a serious nice sounding muff, take a look at Stomp Under Foot. Matt makes great pedals, and has a few modeled after good sounding vintage ones.

As far as I can tell, the hype about the reissue Pi is more about image and reputation than anything else. The sound just isn't there.

Fuzz pedal / analog ditortion

UTILIZATION

Configuration is very simple, 3 knobs, not difficult to settle, and not need the manual either

SOUND QUALITY

We find the grain of the big muff, there is no doubt about it, for or against the lower AC is on quality, the sound is not very well defined, AC sorely lacking precision not obvious to conclude agreements with clarity when you push the gain.
With this pedal is the big riff in octaves, with power chords or note to note ... you have to forget agreements (7th etc ...)

OVERALL OPINION

The sound is okay for a pedal of this price, I realized the mediocrity of this pedal when I got my first "big muff clones", as the UNDER FOOT STOMP ram's head, civil war, or hoof EARTHQUAKE DEVICES, BLACKOUT Effector or even the musket, since I have these models, I can finally use the "his big muff" while recording with the electro harmonix model, it was impossible ...
Basically a good pedal for the beginner who can become familiar with the sound of the big muff