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moosers
Published on 10/17/10 at 18:47
The Electro-Harmonix Bass Big Muff is a version of the classic distortion pedal that is specifically designed for bass guitar. There are plenty of versions of the Big Muff, but I believe that this is the only model that is for bass rather than guitar. I don't know how long ago they started making these, but when compared to how long the regular Big Muff for guitar has been around, I believe this is a fairly new creation. The pedal has 1/4" connections for input as well as both a dry and effected output. The pedal can be powered by either a nine volt battery or power supply. It also has true bypass, but isn't rack mountable in any way since it's a stomp box.
UTILIZATION
There's not much at all to using the Electro-Harmonix Bass Big Muff. It's a really simple pedal as you'll be able to see just from looking at it, as it's just got parameters for volume, tone, and sustain, just like original Big Muff and most of it's subsequent releases. It also has a bass boost switch, which is of course unique to this version of the pedal. I haven't had a look at the manual for this pedal, nor do I think I ever will.
SOUND QUALITY
The Electro-Harmonix Bass Big Muff has an absolutely creamy distortion sound. It's not unlike the Big Muff for guitar in that you'll get a very rich and full sound with a ton of sustain (and certainly some noise mixed in there!). In general I'm not the biggest fan of bass distortion, but a client brought this pedal in and I have to say that it did sound pretty incredible. I was really impressed with the overall thickness of the distortion and also with the seemingly endless sustain possible with this pedal.
OVERALL OPINION
If I were looking to buy a distortion pedal for bass, the Electro-Harmonix Bass Big Muff would most likely be my first choice for a few years. The first reason has to be the absolutely killer tone, but coming in a close second is the price, as this is very reasonable and will probably be affordable to all players. Electro-Harmonix makes some of the best pedals in the game, and the Bass Big Muff is a great example of their versatility in quality.
UTILIZATION
There's not much at all to using the Electro-Harmonix Bass Big Muff. It's a really simple pedal as you'll be able to see just from looking at it, as it's just got parameters for volume, tone, and sustain, just like original Big Muff and most of it's subsequent releases. It also has a bass boost switch, which is of course unique to this version of the pedal. I haven't had a look at the manual for this pedal, nor do I think I ever will.
SOUND QUALITY
The Electro-Harmonix Bass Big Muff has an absolutely creamy distortion sound. It's not unlike the Big Muff for guitar in that you'll get a very rich and full sound with a ton of sustain (and certainly some noise mixed in there!). In general I'm not the biggest fan of bass distortion, but a client brought this pedal in and I have to say that it did sound pretty incredible. I was really impressed with the overall thickness of the distortion and also with the seemingly endless sustain possible with this pedal.
OVERALL OPINION
If I were looking to buy a distortion pedal for bass, the Electro-Harmonix Bass Big Muff would most likely be my first choice for a few years. The first reason has to be the absolutely killer tone, but coming in a close second is the price, as this is very reasonable and will probably be affordable to all players. Electro-Harmonix makes some of the best pedals in the game, and the Bass Big Muff is a great example of their versatility in quality.