History of all the Big Muff Variations

mattpas

mattpas

New member
For those of you interested, I have been collecting and cataloging all of the different variations of the Big Muff for years and I will be making one of every schematic of the Big Muff that I have from 1969-1984 plus the Russians.
There are over a 100 to do and I will be writing a blog about each one, what makes them special and what they sound like.
At the end there will be an online video comparing the best ones from each year.
You can find the blog here:
https://www.stompunderfoot.com/suf-blog.html
I hope you enjoy it.
 
Re: History of all the Big Muff Variations

Super cool (and incredibly wide ranging) project!

I hope to try a pedal or three of yours soon.
 
Re: History of all the Big Muff Variations

Good idea, there is another Big Muff history page that I long ago lost the link to. You might want to mention that the full name of the pedal is Big Muff Pi (the symbol after Big Muff on the pedals is the "Pi" mathematics symbol). Many people don't realize that, and the inherent joke in the title (Muff Pie....).
Al
 
Re: History of all the Big Muff Variations

It has been a while since I have come across a Big Muff that I haven’t seen before but I found a Triangle made with Germanium Diodes.
After careful examination, this is definitely all original.
I will be making one up and comparing it with the original and posting my findings.

If anyone out there has an original Triangle or Ram’s Head, I would appreciate some gut shots of it.
If it turns out your pedal is one I have never seen before, when I make one for my blog I will make you one as well at no cost.
 
Re: History of all the Big Muff Variations

mattpas said:
It has been a while since I have come across a Big Muff that I haven’t seen before but I found a Triangle made with Germanium Diodes.
After careful examination, this is definitely all original.
I will be making one up and comparing it with the original and posting my findings.

If anyone out there has an original Triangle or Ram’s Head, I would appreciate some gut shots of it.
If it turns out your pedal is one I have never seen before, when I make one for my blog I will make you one as well at no cost.
Click to expand...

Interesting. It's wild how the early pedals really were a grab bag of whatever components were available. Did the Big Muff line ever reach stability? By the OpAmp era were they more consistent or was it still the grab bag?
 
Re: History of all the Big Muff Variations

The 1977 Op-Amp was consistent but they changed in it 1978 by adding the bypass switch.
Some are close, sound-wise, but they still have inconsistencies in the builds.
 
Re: History of all the Big Muff Variations

I am constantly amazed how many variations there have been. Intuitively I know the major revisions but I can’t believe how many variants there are in each major revision. How many Big Muff pedals have gone though your hands over the years?
 
Re: History of all the Big Muff Variations

PFDarkside said:
I am constantly amazed how many variations there have been. Intuitively I know the major revisions but I can’t believe how many variants there are in each major revision. How many Big Muff pedals have gone though your hands over the years?
Click to expand...



It's been a lot from when I used to get them when I was a kid to repairs and to ones people have sent me to copy for them so they could retire their original.
 
Re: History of all the Big Muff Variations

I remember reading on the "other" Big Muff web page about how they would run out of transistors, or other parts, and just run to the electronics store and get some more. They weren't necessarily the same transistors.
 
Re: History of all the Big Muff Variations

so how much difference is there between a 75 and 76 for example, 10%? im much more knowledgeable about the fuzzface so muffs are a mystery to me
 
Re: History of all the Big Muff Variations

Have you done or could you do an overview or chart (or even comparison audio) of how the variations differ?

Really interested in Fuzz pedals, but I'm never sure which ones to get, especially if there are tons of variations (such as with the Big Muff) and next to no good comparison videos.
Just ordered myself a Violet Ram's Head Muff kit, hope it works out for me.
 
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