The Big Muff tone tutorial . In this feature you’ll learn how to choose the right Big Muff model for your setup and how to achieve those killer tones. The Big Muff is a moody beast. Nothing sounds quite like it and it’s certainly not for everyone or every musical style. It’s actually quite limited in its use and having a Big Muff paired with the “wrong” guitar and amp can sound pretty horrible. Still, the pedal has put its familiar stamp on countless recordings, including perhaps the greatest solo of all time, – Comfortably Numb. A very short history lesson. The Big Muff was designed by Mike Matthews, who in the late 6. Electro Harmonix and went on to produce some of the most iconic pedals in the business. The initial goal was to create a sustain pedal, which would sound different from contemporary fuzz circuits. The Big Muff has gone through many changes since then, with the so- called “triangle” and “ram’s head” models as the most recognisable. After closing doors in the mid 8. Matthews moved to Russia and founded Sovtek, which produced tubes and a new version of the Big Muff housed in huge tank- like boxes.
Today, Electro Harmonix, with Matthews in charge, is as successful as ever and the Big Muff is surely one of the most popular pedals of all time. See the Big Muff Pi Page for a complete history on the Big Muff. Vintage, reissue or clone? Back in the digital era of the 1. ![]() Big Muff pedals were considered very uncool and was either thrown away or stashed away in an attic somewhere. When the grunge bands appeared in the early 9. Big Muff was back in favour and since then they’ve pretty much been some of the hottest items on the vintage market. Especially those pre 1. Sovtek models are also rising fast. Common for the pedals Electro Harmonix produced in the 1. Sight-creations.com! Visual Effects for Final Cut Pro X by F Twix 2016-03-22 0 point. New models would sometimes feature old parts and there were a lot of so- called transition models. They also used parts of varying quality, which often meant that the pedals often sounded different and couldn’t handle much abuse. Add 4. 0 years of ageing in different climates and you have a very fragile circuit. Any Colour You Like! An original early 7. Ram’s Head (left), the current US reissue (middle) and one of the many clones, the Caprid from Wren and Cuff (right). A clone is often the best buy. These have better parts and build than the vintage models and they sound much more authentic to the early 7. In most cases you never know what you get when buying a vintage Big Muff and you may end up being very disappointed and broke. Unless you’re very sure of what you’re doing, my best tip is to stay away from EBay and the whole vintage hype. Few pedals has been as much cloned as the Big Muff. Literally every brand has at least one clone in their portfolio. Some try to nail the classic design, while others are offering something new, with varying success. While owning an original early 7. Big Muff might be a dream come true I would say that it’s a much better investment tonewise to go for a clone. The size is smaller. The construction and parts much better. The noise is much lower. And the pedal is considerably more reliable. If you can’t find the exact specs you’re looking for you can even ask nicely and most builders will accommodate your needs. The current reissues from Electro Harmonix has little in common with the original models. It’s understandable, as Electro Harmonix has always been about evolving and coming up with new designs. They have a wast line of different models that may not be ideal for replicating David Gilmour’s tones but then again, the Big Muff appeals to many different guitarists. See the Buyer’s Gear Guide for recommended Big Muff models. Fuzz or Big Muff? It may be hard to tell the difference between a fuzz and Muff especially in terms of David’s tones because his fuzz tones on Live at Pompeii and Dark Side of the Moon are almost as smooth and sustained as a Muff. The difference, apart from the circuit, is that Big Muffs generally has a more saturated tone, more sustain and a tad more compression. Although most Muff models will cover David’s Pompeii and Dark Side tones, the “triangle” and “ram’s head” are closer to the silicon transistor fuzz, with much of the same edgy and raw fuzz tones. However a Muff is far too aggressive and saturated for the 1. See the Buyer’s Guide for recommended fuzz models. Volume. There are no rules on how you should operate or use a Big Muff. Obviously, it depends on what tones you want. It terms of David Gilmour’s tones, to achieve those silky smooth sustained notes, you need volume and lots of it. The secret to David’s huge tones are his loud Hiwatt amps. They can play incredibly loud, while maintaining a rich headroom. The hot tubes creates compression and the speakers gets pushed hard, which makes a Big Muff sound smooth and dynamic. Adjusting the volume on your Big Muff, will alter the pedal’s tone and character. Don’t over do it though. Too much either way can do more harm than good. Note that the actual position of unity level on the volume control may vary from model to model. It can be hard to achieve the same smoothness on smaller amps and typical bedroom volume levels and in many cases a Big Muff might not be the pedal you need or should choose. Still, as described in this feature, there are ways to compensate for the lower volume and the physics created by a loud tube amp. The volume control on the pedal it self also determine what sound you’ll get. Unity gain, meaning no raise or lowering of the volume when the pedal is on, is usually a good starting point and it will often be the truest tone in terms of the circuit design. The more you turn the volume up, the more you’re pushing the amp and the more compressed the tone will get. This can compensate for the lower amp volume on bedroom setups but it will also change the character of the pedal and roll off the harmonics and other characteristics you want to maintain. Rolling back the pedal’s volume will often reveal more harmonics in the tone and making the Muff sound more like a fuzz. Again, rolling back too much will make the Muff sound thin and you’ll also lose much of the sustain. Personally I prefer the volume just a hair below unity, to get a bit more of those harmonics but still maintain the characteristics of the pedal. Mid range. Like most of the vintage pedal circuits, the Big Muff has a so- called “scooped” tone, meaning that there’s very little mid range present but lots of bass and treble. This is the nature of the pedal but it can also result in your guitar drowning behind the bass and cymbals on stage or on a recording. Our ears are focusing on the mid range and the lack of it makes it harder to detect the sound. Hiwatt amps has a good portion of mid range, which is essential to David’s tones and the smooth character he gets from his Big Muff. Vox, Fenders and similar amps has very little mid range and are therefore not ideal for a Muff. At least not in terms of David’s tones. You can compensate for any lack of mid range with different pickups, like the EMG DG2. EQ pedal boosting the mids or using Big Muff models that either has more mid range in the tone, like the Sovtek models, or a clone with a mids boost. See the Buyer’s Gear Guide for recommended Big Muff models based on different setups. Bass. Most Big Muffs has a considerable amount of low end so adding too much bass into the setup, can often make the pedal sound both saggy and a bit spiky depending on the amp. Don’t be tempted to crank the bass on your bedroom amp but keep it at a moderate level or even roll it off a bit. This will make your cleans sound smoother and your Big Muff more open and tighter. Boosting the Muff. Boosting is nothing new. When the first pedals arrived, the treble boosters and fuzz pedals, guitarists used these to get more gain from their amps. EQ pedals can also be used to boost (and cut) certain frequencies like one does in a studio. Contrary to Hendrix, who cranked his Marshalls and kicked in a fuzz on top of that, David’s amps are always clean and he’s often using a combination of pedals to get his tones. Sometimes three gain pedals at once – compressor, distortion and overdrive. Here’s a clip showing an early 7. Big Muff being boosted by a Colorsound Powerbooster (9. V reissue with master volume). The Powerbooster is place AFTER the Big Muff. As you can hear, the effect is very subtle but that’s the point. The Powerbooster acts as an EQ adding a bit more presence and enhances the sustain and attack or click when picking the string. Big Muff: Volume set slightly below unity level, tone 4. Powerbooster: treble 3. During the 1. 97. Dark Side of the Moon tour David used a Colorsound Powerbooster for overdrive but for the solo on Time he would add a (silicon) Fuzz Face on top of the already overdriven Powerbooster that were used for the rhythms. Later, on the 1. 97. Animals tour, David’s new pedalboard featured both a Powerbooster and Big Muff. It is not documented whether he actually paired the two pedals. The ram’s head Big Muff that he used at the time could very well operate on its own and most of the time it probably did so. However, live recordings from the tour reveal that the combination was often used on Dogs, Pigs and also during the jam section on Shine On You Crazy Diamond 6- 9. For the 1. 99. 4 Division Bell tour, he would often combine a Sovtek Big Muff and a Tube Driver for the solos. David rarely boost the gain and volume but rather uses the overdrive/booster pedal much like an EQ, enhancing certain frequencies and adding character to the tone. It also rolls off any harsh overtones from the Muff, enhances the sustain and also adds a bit of compression and mid range. There are very few details from any of the Pink Floyd and solo recording sessions but it’s almost certain that the Muff would be used alone, without a booster. Too much gain would only cause noise and feedback and in a controlled environment, like a studio, you can crank the amps and set the gain on the Muff higher for the desired tones.
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