Big Muff

ICBM

meltedbuzzbox said:

My issue with the big muff (and EHX generally) is that there is one good sound on the pedal.

I generally find that's true of most pedals, especially dirt. You find the setting that works best and leave it there.

Actually the Big Muff is more versatile than most just because there are two main ranges on the tone control where it sounds good - which is why the old Little Big Muff has a switch, to choose from rhinoceros fart or shattering glass .

meltedbuzzbox said:

The muff is big fun and they have to be tried but I would take a fuzz factory over it every day of the week. 

Best of all is a Fuzz Factory *into* a Big Muff .

meltedbuzzbox said:

The rat is a great pedal, it has a lot of sounds in it and can be had for £35. Always worth a go 

The Rat is one of the very few which truly has many good sounds in it - at least three main ranges where it sounds great, but different… crunch/overdrive, hard distortion or near-fuzz.

p90fool

Danny1969 said:

I just don't get it, that big muff sounds hideous, why do people want their guitars to sound like that. I owned a tube screamer  up to the point I could afford a valve amp that distorted and then all the pedals I owned like that and the MXR distortion went and I don't miss em. 

One isn't a substitute for the other, they're different and complementary.

ThePrettyDamned

Not a huge fan of muff fuzz (oooer), the big muff pi and double muff didn't do much. I have never been excited by any expensive versions either. I did enjoy running a ds-2 into a big muff pi. Or the other way around... Instant frusciante the ds-2 gave that weird, middy sound while the big muff did the insane gain.

However, I love other fuzz pedals - the Bee baa is nuts, and the axis fuzz is so perfect with a strat and a ds-1 it hurts.

The rat is a great pedal, too. I just wish they'd do one with switching diodes at a fair price... And as great as it is, the amps I like tend to sound great with a drive channel (dual and triple recs, 6505, Marshall jcm, Laney gh etc).

Dave_Mc

ICBM said:
(a)

RaymondLin said:

I thought fuzz is fuzz, i only bought it because i like the sound !

That is not a bad thing.



It is possible to lose sight of the most important thing about all this.

(b) Not everyone wants their guitar to sound like an overdriven valve amp. I like that sound, but it's only one possibility and it can get a bit boring.

(a) Agreed.

That being said, totally ignoring what's inside pedals can lead to buying 15 almost identical tubescreamer derivatives in the search of some mythical holy grail tone- or worse, when you already know you hate tubescreamers )

I suspect, like with a lot of things, a happy medium is best.

(b) Agreed- well, apart from amp dirt being boring, it's my favourite/most used tone for the main stuff I play. But I like being able to get fuzz tones etc. too and amp dirt just doesn't (normally) really do that.

ICBM said:

I generally find that's true of most pedals, especially dirt. You find the setting that works best and leave it there.

The Rat is one of the very few which truly has many good sounds in it - at least three main ranges where it sounds great, but different… crunch/overdrive, hard distortion or near-fuzz.

+1

EDIT: I set my rat normally between the first two... is that a fourth good tone? )

ThePrettyDamned said:

The rat is a great pedal, too. I just wish they'd do one with switching diodes at a fair price... And as great as it is, the amps I like tend to sound great with a drive channel (dual and triple recs, 6505, Marshall jcm, Laney gh etc).

+1 on both points. While I'm not going to pretend I didn't get my Mooer because it was cheap, at the same time it was cheap *and* has switchable diodes. If the genuine rat had a few diode switchey things, it'd make the choice a lot harder.

midiglitch

Danny1969 said:

I just don't get it, that big muff sounds hideous, why do people want their guitars to sound like that. I owned a tube screamer  up to the point I could afford a valve amp that distorted and then all the pedals I owned like that and the MXR distortion went and I don't miss em. 

Just about every time I record a guitar solo I've tried every conceivable approach under the sun to get a tone I'm happy with: amp gain, amp gain pushed by clean boost, amp gain pushed by treble booster, stacked drive pedals, eq and wah pedals in front of amp gain, compressors into driven amps, compressors after 'amp-like' pedals...

Eventually, we go **** it, get the rat out, and there it is, within minutes the exact guitar tone needed!

I really really really didn't want to have one on my board but eventually, because so many guitar parts were recorded with one, I just caved in.  It does that horrible compressed nasally mid focused sound sooooo well.  It's perfect!

What I get from the rat is the ability to be articulate at high gain.  It emphasises the different harmonics present when I move my picking hand around - not exactly squealers per se, but the half way house between the fundamental and the pinch harmonic.  I can't get that from a fuzz or a big muff so well, so I tend to use those for riffing and power chords.

juansolo

ICBM said:

Johnnyseven said:

For me, Big Muffs sound great at home but get totally lost in a band mix if you want to use them for bar/power chords making them useless unless you only use them to solo - where they stand out really well. Also, some amps can't handle them and they end up sounding terrible, this is a particular issue if you rely on studio or borrowed amps to rehearse or gig.

If you think a Big Muff gets lost in a mix you just don't have an amp with the power and bottom end to handle the pedal being turned up loud enough - then it doesn't get lost at all, it becomes the biggest, heaviest full-barre/power chord wall of fuzz sound... that's exactly what I used mine for. For solos it works better with a more midrangy fuzz/distortion going into it as well.

I agree it can be a problem if the provided amp won't handle it though.

It's the mid scoop that does it. It can be quite prominent on some. Some not so much. Depends... Muffs with a mid knob or switch can help cut through. There are some with a Baxandall tonestack on them too (Manx Loaghtan) will be less of an issue also. There are LOTS of variations of muff, including ones wearing the same badge from the same manufacturer.