Electro-Harmonix USA Big Muff USA Pi

Dolphin ID: 7677

Manufacturer SKU: BigMuff
Take It Away

Web Price: £49.00 GBP inc VAT

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The pedal that started it all The distortion countless musicians such as Hendrix, Santana and Jack White relied on for its rich, creamy, violin-like sustain. A timeless piece, the Big Muff has been defining the sound of rock guitar for the past 30 years.

Like the legendary Big Muff Pi of the '70s, the reissue Electro-Harmonix USA Big Muff Pi Distortion/Sustainer Pedal has 3 controls that let you dial in the finest harmonic distortion/sustain ever produced. The Volume control adjusts the output level. The Sustain control optimizes the long sustain with just the right amount of harmonic distortion. The Tone control provides a range of sounds, from warm bass to crisp treble.

Songs in which the Big Muff is used (source: Wikipedia)

  • 311 - Bassist P-Nut uses the Big Muff in Sick Tight and Solar Flare.
  • Ben Folds Five - Bassist Robert Sledge uses the Big Muff in nearly every song.
  • The Carpenters - "Goodbye to Love" - The guitar solo in this song is played by Tony Peluso using a Big Muff
  • The Black Keys- "10 A.M. Automatic," "Till I Get My Way"
  • Bush- "Glycerine"
  • The Cows - "Two Little Pigs" (used on a bass guitar)
  • Depeche Mode - "Big Muff"
  • Dinosaur Jr - "Mountain Man"
  • Flipper - "Sacrifice" ("Sex Bomb Baby" version). The pedal is used on a bass guitar and routed through the auxiliary input instead of the regular input. This method will create a much rawer tone.
  • Grand Funk Railroad-Mark Farner uses the Big Muff on multiple songs,most notably in songs like "Paranoid."
  • KoRn "Blind" - Guitarist Head used the Big Muff to get the grinding tone. He may have used it on other songs such as "Need To".
  • Metallica - "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth," "For Whom the Bell Tolls," "The Call Of Ktulu" and "Orion" all feature a bass run through a Big Muff pedal.
  • Misfits - used on the entire "Static Age" album
  • Mudhoney - "Touch Me I'm Sick", "Who You Drivin' Now", "Fuzzgun '91", "Check Out Time", "A Thousand Forms of Mind", "This Gift", "Here Comes Sickness", "Suck You Dry", "Beneath the Valley of The Underdog", as well as many other Mudhoney songs. It is often used by guitarist Steve Turner.
  • Muse - Bassist Chris Wolstenholme uses a Russian Big Muff Pi in most songs often in conjunction with an Akai Deep Impact SB1 pedal. Most notably heard in the song "Hysteria".
  • Nirvana - "Lithium" (difficult to hear, but was used according to Butch Vig who produced the album), "Breed" (very easy to hear, right when the guitar starts, also near the end) and "Stay Away" (heard during the last 15 seconds of the song)
  • Pink Floyd - Guitar solo on "Comfortably Numb" and riff to "In The Flesh". David Gilmour uses a Sovtek Big Muff live and as part of his signature tone. David Gilmour also uses it in the intro to the song "Sorrow" on the Momentary Lapse of Reason album. The Big Muff has been David's main distortion unit from 1977-present.
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers - Used on several songs from Stadium Arcadium for the guitar solos, notably "Strip My Mind" and "Wet Sand" by guitarist John Frusciante, also used on several other albums such as Californication and most of his guitar solos on live recordings.
  • Santana - "Hope You're Feeling Better"
  • Slint - "Nosferatu Man"
  • Sonic Youth - "Mieux: De Corrosion" (Russian Sovtek version, kicks in halfway through the song).
  • The Smashing Pumpkins - pretty much all distortion on Siamese Dream comes from the Big Muff. Many songs on Pisces Iscariot, and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
  • U2 - "Bullet the Blue Sky", Love is Blindness
  • Whirlwind Heat - Bassist Steve Damstra uses the Little Big Muff in nearly every song.
  • The White Stripes - "Dead Leaves and The Dirty Ground", "Aluminum", "Black Math", "Ball and Biscuit", "Little Acorns", "Hypnotize", "Red Rain", and countless others. Guitarist Jack White uses the NYC version of the Big Muff as part of his signature distorted sound.
  • Young and restless - Young and Restless guitarist Ash Pegram uses an Electro Harmonix Double Muff on the songs "Satan", "Police! Police!" and "Black" and prefers the Russian Sovtek version.
  • Wolfmother- "Dimension" (used during post-chorus), "Woman"
  • Vigilante- "Area 51" and "Living Lies"

The BIG MUFF

Joe Moon
April 13, 2009

Rating: 10/10

This is the dirtiest creamiest pedal ever! Its a Joy right down to those big old dials that you can tease with your boots on!
Superior build quality, legendary sound a big old fuzzy kick up the arse! For solos instant Clapton Cream magic. This with my Peavey Classic 30 sucked the air out of my friends lungs and at £50 what a steal.
By one and drink deep but fill your lungs first!
Joe

Legendary For A Reason

ThomMunster
February 25, 2009

Rating: 10/10

This is the ultimate fuzz pedal.

It\'s that simple.

This pedal gives you every type of fuzz that ou could ever need. From just on the edge funky fuzz or absolutely filthy Jack White fuzz.

If you need a fuzz pedal, buy this.

1 * Alesis M1 Active MkII - Pair

Michael Hutcheson
May 18, 2008

Rating: 10/10

I was delighted with the product I bought and the performance is top class, the speakers were easy to set up, as long as the user has the required xlr to 1/4" or xlr to xlr cables.

Packaging and delivery were first class too

Highly recommend this purchase to anyone looking to buy good monitor apeakers

Big Muff

Lincoln
May 5, 2008

Rating: 9/10

Using it on bass to get that Ben Folds Five sound - it really does the trick, nice and creamy. My only slight criticism would be that it is slightly muddy on the lower frequency range.

USA Big Muff Pi

SL
September 12, 2007

Rating: 8/10

I\'m going to let everyone in to a little secret... these pedals sound great used on bass guitars, but this NYC version doesn\'t sound as good as its Russian cousin. So if you\'re a bass player, get the Russian version.

The USA version does sound absolutely fantastic with guitars though. It\'s true what the 6 out of 10 guys says, it just distorts everything. There is no in between with this pedal. Rolling the sustain off helps to tame things a little, but the sound just stays the same throughout.

I will say a little about each of the controls:

Volume

Quite obvious what this control does, but you must make sure you balance it correctly with the volume of your guitar amp. If I\'m going from totally clean to the Muff, I tend to boost the volume of the Muff so it is slightly louder. This means that it is always clear when the Muff kicks in.

Tone

I use this control the most. Mostly I will have it set at around 2 o\'clock, but it totally depends on what kind of sound you are going for. I will roll off the highs if I need extra \'warmth\'. This control is basically an EQ.

Sustain

This is also pretty obvious. If rolled off completely, you get a kind of groggy, weedy sound in comparison to when the control is turned up. You only have to turn it up slightly for the sustain to kick in. That\'s another part of the \"let\'s be sensible\" thing. It\'s just a bit pointless really... yet it is completely necessary for this pedal to be itself. If you have the sustain up high, you\'d better be able to keep a hold on your playing, because if you\'re playing a lead part and you don\'t stop the surrounding strings from ringing you will have zero clarity. All you will get it overwhelming noise!

Now if I was going to ruin this pedal I would first add a gate function. Then I would make it more versatile with its sound.

The only reason I would do that is because I don\'t want to spend more money on different distortion pedals! So I don\'t think the Big Muff can be improved. It is what it is and does what it says on the tin.

If you need its sound it\'s there on your pedal board waiting for you to stomp on it. It delivers exactly the same every time and doesn\'t pretend or attempt to be anything else.

Do not get this pedal if you want: crunchy blues tones or tube type overdrive.

Do get this pedal if you want: completely overdriven, distorted, almost uncontrollable sounds.

We all know Jack White uses this pedal, so there are plenty of examples of it\'s sound on his records.

One of my favourite examples is Breed by Nirvana. I think the pedal is used on the guitar and the bass in that song.

Happy shopping.

Classic Rock!!

Andre Craford
July 11, 2007

Rating: 9/10

You buy a Big Muff for the Big Muff sound, you don't buy for any other reason or you're going to be disappointed.
There is no other pedal (apart from more expensive Big Muff clones) that give you this amount of liquid sustain.
Subtle it is not, but for single note riffs, or chords with huge balls, it ROCKS!
Don't buy this if you want to get every OD sound you require out of it, but do buy it if you want a piece of rock'n'roll history because no guitarist worth his/her salt does NOT have a Big Muff.

Big Muff Pi (US)

Joe Hopper
November 5, 2006

Rating: 6/10

Right, let's be sensible please - this pedal is ridiculous. It distorts everything to the point of complete mushy mayhem, makes every guitar sound exactly the same and on any setting other than the very lowest, makes chords an impracticality. But hang on a minute, let's not be sensible please - that's really not what this sexy big box is all about! It's massive, awkward, brutal and camp as Christmas. Metal players beware: the muff will drain your precious bass end to the point of girly glam. But if retro, trashy, lo-fi or firey farts sound like cliches from your band's bio, check out the Muff. The recent resurgence in Muff love is almost entirely down to Mr Jacky White. Try playing Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground through this thing - you'll be buying tighter trousers within the week.

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  • Inside Electro-Harmonix: How They Make Their Pedals!

    BoingBoing took a trip to Long Island and shot a video showing the Electro-Harmonix factory. Watch it here!

  • Coming Soon! The Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White Starring In A Guitar-Themed Film!

    The forthcoming documentary film, “It Might Get Loud,” is generating considerable buzz among music fans and guitar players. First screened in May at the Cannes Film Festival, the movie officially premieres this September at the Toronto International Film Festival.

  • How To Sound Like The Arctic Monkeys - The complete gear guide!

    Arguably the biggest rock band in Britain right now, the Arctic Monkeys have just played their biggest UK gig to date, at the Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester. Here's a look at what gear they've been using in their gigs.

  • Learn How To Sound Like...Jack White (The White Stripes)

    Last week the White Stripes' new album, "Icky Thumb", went straight to number One in the Charts, proving they are still one of the most popular acts in the world today. Since they first struck stardom with hit-single "7 Nation Army", one thing many guitarists would like to know is how to sound like Jack White. Here's how...

  • THE SOUND OF JIMI HENDRIX IS BACK!

    Limited Edition new releases from Gibson and Dunlop bring back the magic sound of Jimi Hendrix: find out more about the Gibson Custom Shop Jimi Hendrix Flying-V and Dunlop's three Jimi Hendrix signature pedals (Octavio, Wah and Fuzz Face)

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  • Electro Harmonix Video Demos

    Electro-Harmonix have provided the following web videos to demonstrate their product range. These video demos will help you make the most of your favorite EH gear with clear, thoughtful demonstrations by Peter Stroud, guitarist for Sheryl Crow and founder of legendary 65 Amp company.

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