Big Muff Pi
I was originally going to start a review post about the Big Muff Pi, but I started thinking, which one should I review. There have been so many variations with the circuits over the years. This pedal is one of the most popular distortion pedals on the planet, now-a-days with the ‘heavier’ crowd.
I remember being introduced to this pedal when, I believe – and could be mistaken, the re-issue when it was the USSR Big Muff Pi Distortion / Sustainer back around 1998 or so. It was in a black chassis, 3 knobs and single switch. Knobs controlled volume, sustain and tone. I remember stepping on this box, and the distortion/gain was ferocious! The ability to crank massive amounts of gain causing unnatural ‘mean’ breakup was very appealing to me. But you don’t have to go fully in that direction and create a nice overdrive sound with it as well.
Now there are various versions of the Big Muff (Bass Big Muff Pi, Classic USA Big Muff Pi, XO Big Muff Pi w/Tone Wicker, Classic USSR Big Muff Pi, and the XO Little Big Muff Pi).
There are also collectors finding vintage Big Muffs and using them since the circuits changed throughout the years. I was able to find a interesting YouTube video showing some of the variations in tone. I thought it was very interesting to hear the changes and noise level
Some of the draw backs to the pedal. I think it’s pretty dang noisy (at least the USSR version is). The box is fairly large as well, but it’s nice to see the ‘Little Big Muff’ now. Same circuitry but small chassis. The prices for Big Muffs is nice. They usually range from $50 – $90 depending on what you get. Obviously this doesn’t include vintage pedals. At this cost, they’re worth having around.
If you have any thoughts about the other Big Muff models or have any experience with the vintage models, please comment!
Below are a few Big Muff Pi listings at Musician’s Friend.
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August 4th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
I love the way the 1973 model sounds. It sounds the warmest of them all to me. It sounds more bluesy while the others sounded more metal. I didn’t really like the Little Big Muff.
I don’t have any effects, but this could be my first. But, I guess I need to start looking for a 1973 version. But the video just makes me wonder how much difference there would be from a ’73 to ’74 and so on.
What year did they first come out?
NeverTooLateGuitar´s last blog ..What’s Going On Here?
August 4th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Hello NeverTooLateGuitar
I agree. I think that 1973 model is the best. I believe that is the first year. Funny how all things evolve.. for good or bad.
Thanks for commenting!
August 4th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
[...] on Effects Bay they’re talking about the Big Muff Pi (I can’t wait to see the kind of google visitors [...]
August 5th, 2009 at 3:08 am
Thanks to your post I’ve been watching videos of fuzz boxes all night (literally for the last 4 hours… notice the 2am pst time stamp). The three I really like are:
Keeley Fuzz Head
Big Muff Pie
Analogman Sun Face NKT275
Any opinions on the other two? I know the prices are quite a bit different though.
Jeff
NeverTooLateGuitar´s last blog ..1973 Big Muff Pi
August 5th, 2009 at 11:01 am
I’ve heard great things about Analogman, never played one personally. You might also want to check out the Fulltone 69. That’s a great fuzz pedal.
August 5th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
[...] After Effects Bay’s post yesterday I wrote about being inspired to check out the EHX Big Muff Pie fuzz box. Well, today I went down to Haight Ashbury Music Center to give it a try along with an Analogman Sun Face NKT 275. I did some research last night on various fuzz effects and after hours of watching YouTube videos, I narrowed my selection down to the EHX Big Muff Pie w/ Wicker switch, the Analogman Sun Face NKT 275, and the Keeley Fuzz Head. The only one I couldn’t test today was the Keeley Fuzz Head as they were out of stock. [...]
August 6th, 2009 at 10:22 am
So, last night I did something I probably shouldn’t have, I went ahead and bought a used Keeley Fuzz Head. The deal was just too good to pass up and I didn’t really want to spend $200+ anyway. However I’m not that worried because when I was trying to narrow down my fuzz choices, the Keeley was my favorite based on sound clips on YouTube.
If I end up not liking the Keeley, I got it at a good enough price that I could re-ebay it and get my money back (if not a little extra.)
NeverTooLateGuitar´s last blog ..EHX Big Muff Pi vs Analogman Sun Face NKT 275
August 6th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Yeah, I wouldn’t worry about that at all. Pedals are fun and it’s important to experiment. I’ve bought some pretty crappy pedals in my time, but I’ve also bought some pieces that are awesome, only one way to find out if it’s right for you.
Not to mention, even test driving it isn’t always the best. For me, I’ve had what I thought were great pedals, but when brought them into the band settings, I noticed they weren’t cutting the mustard, or I wasn’t using them for whatever reason.
I also don’t like to sell stuff either (but sometimes you have to). Nothing like recording and remembering you had that phaser or delay, etc. laying around, so you pull it out to see how it’ll work for that weird lead tone you’re looking for. Done that a lot.
January 7th, 2010 at 6:41 am
Nice Vid
After Effects´s last blog ..Countdown to Super Bowl XLIV