Boutique to EHX... NPD

SongsForTheDeaf

SongsForTheDeaf

New member
I have been through so many Big Muff variants and boutique clones... mostly Wren and Cuff. I was never really satisfied completely so I kept selling them... I picked up a Bass Big Muff today in a trade and I love it! It is like a beefier Russian Big Muff.. tons of midrange and the tone knob is usable throughout its range...

I really like how it sounds going into my Ampegs.. sounds a little muddy at lower volumes but with the amps cranked up a bit it is perfect, not too bright but not too dull.

Anyone else rocking a EHX Big Muff still ? seems like on TGP everyone goes for the boutique counterpart.


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Re: Boutique to EHX... NPD

I just picked up a Little Big Muff. It's a lot of fun so far. I have no muff experience so I don't know how it stacks up to others, but like I said, it's a lot of fun. It's forced me to change up my playing style a little bit. You're right about the tone knob. The slightest turn has a huge effect on the tone. The range is huge. I don't know if it will ever be a main source of distortion for me, but I'm still trying to decide how it fits in to my rig.
 
Re: Boutique to EHX... NPD

Yeah they are very fun pedals. I have always been a big muff fan but I also like those fuzzy ugly tones. I had a Little Big Muff too and it is a very cool pedal.
 
Re: Boutique to EHX... NPD

I think I've got about nine Big Muffs now. I usually gravitate toward a Skreddy, but I also have a 70's "IC" Big Muff that was modded by J Evermann. I really love EHx, but man those old enclosures are HUGE. :)
 
Re: Boutique to EHX... NPD

I've had well over a dozen Big Muffs since my first one but years ago I sold them all save for a green Russian version. The bass version is a lot like my green one.

If you're willing to try one more boutique version look at the Aries Fuzz from BMF. Really great take on a Muff with a very nicely voiced MID control.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: Boutique to EHX... NPD

the guy who invented fire said:
I've had well over a dozen Big Muffs since my first one but years ago I sold them all save for a green Russian version. The bass version is a lot like my green one.

If you're willing to try one more boutique version look at the Aries Fuzz from BMF. Really great take on a Muff with a very nicely voiced MID control.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I'm definitely not against trying boutique again. A MID control would be nice I admit but overall I'm happy (so far) with this Bass Big Muff... I know now that USA Big Muffs are not really my thing.. they scoop too much mids and sound too treble heavy to my ears which is a good sound when used by others but I don't really prefer it for my style.

Love the signature btw haha
 
Re: Boutique to EHX... NPD

The Aries held it's own and then some with my old green Russian Big Muff, great pedal and the mid control let me dial in a mid content that matched my green one but also allowed me to go deeper in a scoop more like the NYC reissue (but with a more pleasant top end!) as well as dial in a BIG mid hump if I wanted it.
 
Re: Boutique to EHX... NPD

Love my old USA Muff... But I use a Black Arts Toneworks Coven. It has the Black Forest overdrive and the Pharaoh in one big box and is awesome.
 
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Re: Boutique to EHX... NPD

the guy who invented fire said:
The Aries held it's own and then some with my old green Russian Big Muff, great pedal and the mid control let me dial in a mid content that matched my green one but also allowed me to go deeper in a scoop more like the NYC reissue (but with a more pleasant top end!) as well as dial in a BIG mid hump if I wanted it.
Click to expand...

Sounds cool!!

And to Empty Pockets, I keep hearing about the Pharaoh fuzz.... I feel like I should try it if I ever get the chance.
 
Re: Boutique to EHX... NPD

Demos can't be totally trusted, but I stumbled into this one today and it blew me away. Well ... not really. I drove to work and now I'm home, but this fuzz sounds good to me and I kinda like the fact that it doesn't have five knobs and two switches.

 
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Re: Boutique to EHX... NPD

Seems very cool... I too dislike having too much to tweak.. I find myself tweaking more than playing with those AHEM Scarab Deluxe ahem..

I like to set and forget. I'm so happy with the Bass Big Muff but I'm definitely not against trying others in the future.
 
Re: Boutique to EHX... NPD

I've owned a few Big Muffs over the years and sold them all except for a Green Russian. I'd really like to get my hands on a Wren & Cuff Pickle Pie B since I love the Green Russian for bass but would really like a dry blend.
 
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Re: Boutique to EHX... NPD

I have the black russian muff for my bass, and the nyc reissue on my guitar board. I had the 70's deluxe big muff, but I didn't like it too much. I also had a blackout effectors musket fuzz, which is based on the russian muff but with 3 added knobs.

I'm so tempted to purchase an ic big muff clone, but I'm thinking it will be similar to the nyc reissue I have already. The devi ever line looks good too, particularly the shoegazer pedal
 
Re: Boutique to EHX... NPD

built my own then tweaked it. In an A/B with a vintage tall font green russian muff, the genuine muff's owner said "you know what? i think i prefer yours".
 
Re: Boutique to EHX... NPD

Picked up an EHX Muff with Tone Wicker today at my friendly neighborhood Guitar Center.

Came home, put it in my signal chain thusly: Guitar>Dunlop Crybaby Classic>EHX BM w/ Tone Wicker>MXR Carbon Copy>TC Electronic Ditto Looper>first-gen Blues Jr. '97 Strat Plus was the weapon of choice.

You know what I like about the Big Muff? I'm glad you asked.

What I like about the Big Muff (and I like the same thing about a very different pedal, the mighty Fuzz Face) is that when you kick it on, then you ABSOLUTELY KNOW IT'S ON.

Know what I mean?

Anyway, all hail Mike Matthews, that non-boutique defeater of the Russian mafia, etc etc...
 
Re: Boutique to EHX... NPD

I have a Black Russian. Buddy of mine bought it, "broke" it, and it sat around for years. He mentioned it and I said I could probably fix it, so he said if I can fix it I can keep it.

Just needed to resolder the battery clip. Bam. Free pedal.
 
Re: Boutique to EHX... NPD

Inkstained said:
Picked up an EHX Muff with Tone Wicker today at my friendly neighborhood Guitar Center.
Click to expand...

Me too, just awhile ago. I had received the soul food this afternoon and, well, hated it. Just not for me. So I figured I'd try the muff, since I've never had a fuzz but always wanted one, and I really like it.

However, it's fairly noisy with the sustain anywhere past around 9:00, and the bass is too much for my tastes. I do have a decimator, and that helps up to some added sustain level, but eventually too much sustain creates too much noise to get a reasonable decimator setting that doesn't sound choppy.

But when I set its sustain to 9:00 and I run the mxr custom badass over drive in front of it, set to lower gain, it tightens the bass, adds some more harmonic content, and creates a tone just different enough from the standard muff to not sound so identifable as a muff. Still fuzzy and stringy, but just not quite as much, and with the same sustain. Very happy with this setup.

That mxr OD is doing wonders in front of three of my distortion pedals; the muff, the badass distortion, and the empress heavy I just got, which is awesome, sounds great with or without the mxr OD in front, and is a keeper.

Including my visual sound jeckyl/hyde and metal muff, I think my search for overdrive and distortion variety is over...at least for a long while.
 
Re: Boutique to EHX... NPD

I hear ya on the noise. It's giving me pause, too. And it's kind of boomy. Not sure whether Muffs should be 'boomy ...'

Here's mine:

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