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I recently acquired this pretty sick double anniversary Big Muff, in celebration of 50 years of one thing and 55 years of something else. Honestly I don't remember and I'm not a big enough nerd to look it up. They were limited to 555 and for a while it looked like they only wound up in the hands of the chronically online (they sold out within an hour) or dweebs who were willing to spend crazy money to get one second hand. The market has settled down, so I was able to get one.
So what's the big deal about this one? It's a bit of a "greatest hits" Muff if you will. It comes with the Russian wooden box, NYC knobs, Ram's Head aesthetic, and a Violet Ram circuit. Apparently the triangle, civil war, and op amp Muffs weren't cool enough to get in on it. Also, in true EHX fashion, they messed up the Roman numerals for the date. Instead of 2023, they put 1073.
Fuzz is kind of the Bourbon of the guitar pedal world. It's nasty, expensive, and a lot of old guys would rather collect the stuff than use it. It's also subject to a lot of nuance and history and language that is so drenched in rhetoric that it undermines the point of describing the thing in the first place. I was going somewhere with this, but alas, I have forgotten. Comes with age.
Anyway, I'd like to set a few things to rest real quick about this unit. Firstly and most importantly, I'm 90% sure this is a Violet Ram circuit, I'm going to check the circuit board tommorow, but all the literature points to it. Whether it's an "ideal" Violet or they took a specific unit and tried to get as close as possible to its wild tolerance component drift parts I don't know just yet. Secondly, the build quality is exactly the same as a modern big box NYC Muff.
Now I realize I haven't said anything useful about the sound yet, but rest assured I will get there after I've run this thing through the paces, but with the little over 2 hours I've spent with it both alone and with a drum machine, I can say this is the nicest sounding BMP I've ever used, and every setting on the dials are useful. It's extremely balanced. The mid scoop is not as overbearing as the NYC and the treble is not as grating as the Hizumitas. It can still do some pretty gnarly fuzz, but it does smooth and controlled as well. As I mentioned earlier, the entire range of the tone control is usable, from dark rich fuzz to raspy synthetic sounds. The sustain knob of course goes hand in hand with it, but even at the higher gain settings it sounds very controlled.
I'll report back with more details as I discover them.
So what's the big deal about this one? It's a bit of a "greatest hits" Muff if you will. It comes with the Russian wooden box, NYC knobs, Ram's Head aesthetic, and a Violet Ram circuit. Apparently the triangle, civil war, and op amp Muffs weren't cool enough to get in on it. Also, in true EHX fashion, they messed up the Roman numerals for the date. Instead of 2023, they put 1073.
Fuzz is kind of the Bourbon of the guitar pedal world. It's nasty, expensive, and a lot of old guys would rather collect the stuff than use it. It's also subject to a lot of nuance and history and language that is so drenched in rhetoric that it undermines the point of describing the thing in the first place. I was going somewhere with this, but alas, I have forgotten. Comes with age.
Anyway, I'd like to set a few things to rest real quick about this unit. Firstly and most importantly, I'm 90% sure this is a Violet Ram circuit, I'm going to check the circuit board tommorow, but all the literature points to it. Whether it's an "ideal" Violet or they took a specific unit and tried to get as close as possible to its wild tolerance component drift parts I don't know just yet. Secondly, the build quality is exactly the same as a modern big box NYC Muff.
Now I realize I haven't said anything useful about the sound yet, but rest assured I will get there after I've run this thing through the paces, but with the little over 2 hours I've spent with it both alone and with a drum machine, I can say this is the nicest sounding BMP I've ever used, and every setting on the dials are useful. It's extremely balanced. The mid scoop is not as overbearing as the NYC and the treble is not as grating as the Hizumitas. It can still do some pretty gnarly fuzz, but it does smooth and controlled as well. As I mentioned earlier, the entire range of the tone control is usable, from dark rich fuzz to raspy synthetic sounds. The sustain knob of course goes hand in hand with it, but even at the higher gain settings it sounds very controlled.
I'll report back with more details as I discover them.
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