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Is the Big Muff worth it?

C

Casperrobo

Apr 11, 2011
76
4
Gothenburg, Sweden
#1
I have an MXR M80 Bass DI that has distortion and it's good and I like the sound but when it's off it sounds like its sucking the tone a bit. So I was wondering if it would be worth getting a normal Big Muff Pi as a companion more than a replacement, or is it just pointless G.A.S? Do they just do the same or is there a noticeable difference? I know Jared Followill can make the Big Muff sound HUGE! But he also has a bass tech and a big ass pedal board, I just want one or 2.

Money is an issue, even the 40 quid it might be on Ebay being a student.
Thanks:)
 
#3
I might be off topic since you specifically mentionned a normal muff, but I have the Bass Big Muff and didn't like it much (bought it to do like others, ain't that a GAS...) until I discovered the dry position on the toggle switch. Blends the bass's natural sound (for me built around a SansAmp PBDDI) with the BBM's fuzz. Can't say I'm deeply in love with it, but I found something I can use and it's on the board for the upcoming gig.

If you're really set on a regular muff, then please disregard everything written above.

:)
 
#4
I can't solder but there's always time to learn, might come in useful for pickups and stuff :)

I know I should try them out but all the music shops near me closed thanks to the internet so it's a train ride to get to a good one. I heard a demo of the Bass muff and wasn't massively crazy on it. Thanks for the suggestion though :):)
 
#6
My 2 cents...the Bass Big Muff is not that great and I'm not that crazy about blended dirt (sounds like two instead of one IME). The bestest Big Muff I've tried was a GGG Big Muff clone with a 4 position switch that did the following: normal (scooped)tone, "flat" tone, "mid hump", and tone bypass. The tone bypass was the shiznit, essentially flat response with no appreciable low end loss and lots of juice.
I've never tried the MXR M80 but I haven't seen anyone compare it to a big muff so I assume they sound pretty different.
 
#11
The regular Big Muff is excellent at sounding like a Big Muff, but most bassists don't have a use for that sound.

Personally I think it sounds excellent on bass but - like almost everybody else - I need a fuzz with more bottom end. If I had a spare board for toys I would have a NYC Muff on it though.
 
#12
If patience is not a virtue in your case, all I can do is advise you to save your pennies and get something locally.

Regarding he Bass Big Muff- all pedal tone outcome is heavily reliant upon what you put into it. If you only have 40 quid (however much that is, I have no idea but I will assume it is not a lot) then you are not going to get my Sovtek CW Muff. As far as bang for the buck goes (and it appears your bucks need a heavy bang) The MXR M-80 and the Bass Big Muff are high on the list. I played the MXR for two years and it was a good pedal.
 
#14
I'm running a MXR M-80 for a pre eq, and for the color option. I use the dirty side to do the same with a boost in volume, say a set up for solo parts or louder bass, but that's it. Love it for that, I've tried other pedals and the M-80 keeps winning out.

The M-80's dirty side distortion sucks, sucks bad, and as you noticed sucks tone.

My band wants a huge nasty fuzz for a couple songs, but I'm not forking out $$$ for a couple tunes a night.

So the guitar player has a Big Muff gathering dust over on his side of the studio, and he says "here. Try this."

They love it. It's growing on me.

Bass to Big Muff to M-80, to amp. With and with out the m-80 you get a bunch of nasty ass fuzz tones. Ditty wah ditty to Metallica. And it doesn't suck tone. At least not as bad as most fuzz boxes.
 
#18
Another spin on the Muff, I've got the Germanium Muffpi that's got separate OD and distortion controls and they're stackable. I dig the tones I can get. All sorts of combinations.

Both my guitar and bass use the same signal as they both leave at the jack, all the way to my bass amp. Since I play both equally and don't have a big budget, I generally try'n get stuff that they'll both appreciate. Seems to be working.

It's probably engineered for guitars specifically, but hey...
germanium-4-big-muff.jpg
 
#19
I think it's worth it. I have it and used to use it a lot. For about 80 dollars it sure worth it's price. But i did buy another pedal (The iron ether oxide) because i just felt that it wasn't enough for me anymore. I'd recommned to save a little more and buy a better fuzz.
 
#20
I'd highly recommend searching youtube for all the fuzz variants and overdrive variants. Bassfuzz is a good channel to start on. The Big Muff is a fair fuzz, but there are so many pedals out there for the same price, or slightly more, that are far superior in qaulity and tone.

Also, keep an eye out in the classifieds here. TBer's will throw up some good fuzz or overdrives for a fair price. Also, modded pedals can also give more low end retention and an over all more massive tone. There are plenty of small pedal builders on this site that can easily mod a pedal for a bigger sound and most will do it for a more then fair price.
 

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