Big Muff vs Bass Big Muff

greekorican · #1 06-05-2009, 10:19 AM

I found some great deals on a big muff on craigslist, but none of them are the one designed specificially for a bass. Does it make that much of a difference? Will it work anyway, or will it sound ******?

Din Of Win · #2 06-05-2009, 10:20 AM

Depends on WHICH Big Muff it is. If it's the silver boxed american Big Muff... it doesn't sound that great on bass, it's still useable though. If it's the green russian styled big muff, i know plenty of bassists who use those.

Any idea which model it is?

CapnSev · #3 06-05-2009, 10:25 AM

The Bass Big Muff is worth owning over the others, simply because of the "dry" mode option IMO.

greekorican · #4 06-05-2009, 10:26 AM

The ad describes it as "old USA EH big muff pi, the big silver one." Its not a russian muff. I just want a fuzz pedal, and this ones only 30 bucks. There is a mod that lets you bypass tone control, so maybe I won't lose as much lows, unless my understanding of the tone control is wrong.

JMDT · #5 06-05-2009, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greekorican

The ad describes it as "old USA EH big muff pi, the big silver one." Its not a russian muff. I just want a fuzz pedal, and this ones only 30 bucks. There is a mod that lets you bypass tone control, so maybe I won't lose as much lows, unless my understanding of the tone control is wrong.

for 30 bucks you can't go wrong here. It could even be an early ram's head that you could sell for big $$ and get what you relly want.

**TheMutt** · #6 06-05-2009, 10:42 AM

I've got a big (well, small now... I rehoused it) silver box big muff. Works fine, but the mids rolloff can indeed make you lost in the mix. It's the characteristic of these pedals. Personally, if I were to be buying another muff pedal, I'd get one that had a mid boost switch. Now if only I could find a schematic to mod my existing pedal with this feature...

Valerus · #7 06-05-2009, 10:47 AM

I bought a Green Russian clone and it sounds fantastic, only a little low end loss. Then I just crank the bass up on my head a tad. Great sound for $71

rratajski · #8 06-05-2009, 10:51 AM

Mutt - Swap a couple of caps in there. It's as easy as that...Rcubed knows the tone sections better than I do. Ask himmmm.

OP - Unless you want to get a muff clone and pay a bit of $, get a Bass Big Muff @ an online retailer or @ your local music store. You'll cut through the mix in band setting better.

I feel like the GGG-tuned muff (General Guitar Gadgets) has the best mids settings that I've heard. The muffs, in general, are more useful with a blend pedal, hands down.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valerus

I bought a Green Russian clone and it sounds fantastic, only a little low end loss. Then I just crank the bass up on my head a tad. Great sound for $71

A green russian w/ bass loss? The green russians I've tried (original units and handbuilt) and/or built myself have added bassiness to my sound. Just my opinion!

Din Of Win · #9 06-05-2009, 10:54 AM

I agree that $30 isn't too bad for the US Muff. And shoot... if you're comfortable with re-wiring and moding things, by all means get it. it could turn into a fun project.

+1 for the Bass Big Muff though. I like it so much i sold my Bluebeard to a friend. The dry mode indeed is the sweetest thing about it. It allows me to use the pedal in WAY more settings than the BB did (which was pretty much just heavy bands). But yeah, the BBM lets me keep the clean and dial in awesome sounding subtle fuzz. love love love that pedal.

Valerus · #10 06-05-2009, 10:54 AM

I need to compare the GRBM, GGG-tuned, and the Violet ram's head..

**TheMutt** · #11 06-05-2009, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rratajski

Mutt - Swap a couple of caps in there. It's as easy as that...Rcubed knows the tone sections better than I do. Ask himmmm.

Sounds awesome! But is there a way to make it switchable from mid boosted to stock?

mattq · #12 06-05-2009, 03:38 PM

to the original poster, a new little big muff is about 60, and a used one is even cheaper. little to no low end loss and a way more interesting fuzz sound to my ears than the bass big muff

rratajski · #13 06-05-2009, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMutt

Sounds awesome! But is there a way to make it switchable from mid boosted to stock?

Yes, you hook the caps up to a toggle jawn.

Fullmetal · #14 06-05-2009, 06:32 PM

Can't go wrong with a Bass Muff. The dry mode on it is pretty swishy, I find it puts me just nicely in the mix no matter what setting I'm using.

TheHegemon · #15 06-05-2009, 07:24 PM

I have the silver NY reissue big muff and I like it quite a bit, but its a personal preference. If this one goes out I'll probably get a bass BM for the dry mode the other ppl mentioned. For $30 though I'd grab it, might get some cool fuzz you can play with.

kevteop · #16 06-05-2009, 08:50 PM

The NYC Big Muff sounds awesome on bass, but can get drowned out by distorted guitars. Great fun pedal though, and I'd personally recommend just turning up louder than the guitarists.

greekorican · #17 06-05-2009, 09:30 PM

I'm thinking I will get this anyway. If I don't like it, I may just rip everything out of there and make my own fuzz pedal. Where can I learn more about building my own fuzz pedal, how the circuits work, what parts i need, etc?

23travis · #18 08-30-2009, 10:06 AM

I love the BBM, but am drooling over the Bluebeard. Anyone know what the actual difference is between the standard and the GGG-tuned BBM? Since it's "Tuned", I'm assuming it has something to do with tone, but that's just a guess. Anyone know what the actual difference is in the schematics? I'm probably gonna re-box my BBM (when I get it!) anyway, so I'd like to maybe build in a switch to go from "normal" to "GGG" tuning.

This all while I wait for a Bluebeard...

rratajski · #19 08-30-2009, 01:55 PM

There is no GGG-tuned bass big muff, only a GGG-tuned big muff. You can't 're-box' your BBM to a GGG-tuned...or let me say that, yeah, maybe you could but it would take FOREVER to trace, double resistors/caps, do switches, etc.

A GGG-tuned muff differs from a Bass Big Muff in many ways.
1. BBM has a dry blend.
2. BBM is based on the Russian versions.
3. GGG has way more mids and is snarlier.
4. GGG can fit in a smaller box.
The list goes on...

23travis · #20 08-30-2009, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rratajski

There is no GGG-tuned bass big muff, only a GGG-tuned big muff. You can't 're-box' your BBM to a GGG-tuned...or let me say that, yeah, maybe you could but it would take FOREVER to trace, double resistors/caps, do switches, etc.

A GGG-tuned muff differs from a Bass Big Muff in many ways.
1. BBM has a dry blend.
2. BBM is based on the Russian versions.
3. GGG has way more mids and is snarlier.
4. GGG can fit in a smaller box.
The list goes on...

Guess I missed the fact that it wasn't a bass big muff mod. Anyway, what I was really asking was, what is the physical difference between a GGG tuned Big Muff and a Big Muff? What gives it way more mids and what makes it snarlier? Anyone know the mods that would need to be made to tune it so? I'm not concerned with fitting it an a case or anything -- it's going into a rack along with my Clone Theory, a la Peter Hook.

Maybe I should start a new thread, since this one is a bit off topic...