School me on Muff-based fuzzes

Stomp Under Foot Civil War
Wren & Cuff Box Of War

Either one of those and you're done. You won't find better Muff pedals. Oddly enough, the EHX Big Bass Muff is one of the worst sounding fuzz pedals you can get....and they are the ones who make the classic Muff that everyone is cloning! The Bass Big Muff sounds nothing like a classic Muff...mind boggling, isn't it?

Anyway, both Stomp Under Foot and Wren & Cuff almost to a point of obsession went to great lengths to make their pedals sound like the classic Russian Muff's. I currently use the Civil War and I've had a Box Of War in the past. I'd be happy with either, but the BOW costs a little more and takes up more board space.

 

Also can't just take one opinion as absolution. They are great muffs and there are a lot more great ones out there too.

 

This is true!

Earthquaker Hoof
MojoHand BMP-1
Fuzzrocious Grey Stache
Blackout Musket
DMB Bumble
Wren & Cuff Tall Font Russian
Blackarts LSTR & Pharoh

And tons of others. All great pedals worth checking out. Heck do like I did..buy them all and keep the one that nails the tone you're looking for.

 

a few more muff based pedals:

Earthbound Audio SuperCollider
Way Huge Swollen Pickle
BlackArts Pharaoh
Catalinbread Manx Loagthan
MojoHand Iron Bell
Cornish G2
Frantone The Sweet
Skreddy P19

 

Also, if you want a relatively cheap modern clone of a muff, Vick audio in the US and North Effects in the UK make a few variants. Those are cheaper than the Stomp Under Foot pedals if you are on a tight budget.

 

I did not know the DMB Bumble was a Muff clone! So another thing to consider is the differences between these pedals. I just picked up a DMB and it is quite different from my Swollen Pickle. Both are good pedals. I think the DMB is a bit more versatile, but the SP can really bring the house down if used at the right spot.

 

I love my Blackout Musket. It's essentially a modded Civil War Muff.

 

Couple more muffs:

Dwarfcraft Eau Claire Thunder
Actual older EHX Russian Muffs
Tym Big Mudd
SS/BS TAFM (not exactly a muff but still a good fuzz that can do muffy)

 

This is one reason why the Stomp Under Foot Civil War won out for me...it's like a Tall Font Russian but not 'muffled' sounding for lack of a better description
Basically it's got the low end creaminess, but much clearer and open sounding in the mids.

 

I don't know the particulars of the circuit on the Bumble, but it can do the Muff thing for sure. It's a great pedal.

Here's where I did a head to head on the W&C Box of War vs. the DMB Bumble..good luck telling them apart
http://chuckamuck.com/sounds/boxofbumble2.mp3

 

+1 on TAFM. It's not a muff, but it is extremely versatile and can cover a lot of the same ground. It's one of those pedals that's hard to dial in a bad sound in my experience. For instance, I will reach down and tweak my TAFM live, which I would never do with my Swollen Pickle, except for the volume. The SP is just too twitchy, too many "wall of fuzz but the punch & definition are gone" settings in it.

 

For the band setting I like the Musket the best. I owned a Wren and Cuff Tall Font and loved it but found it harder to deal with live. Many people on here have the same thought given the inherent scoop to the muff sound. Musket allows you to sculpt a bit more to make it work live. I also have a Mojohand Colussus which is much the same idea. There's also something like 9 million other clones, some mentioned above. You may have to flip through a few to find one you truly like. Thankfully the classifieds are great for that.

 

I've tried several different fuzz boxes (including TAFM, Mammoth, Bass Big Muff Pi, etc) and sold them all off. The one that survived: Mooer Triangle Buff (based on triangle big muff of old). The price is right, it keeps a huge bottom end, and it sounds great. There's a lot of rather pricey/harder to find suggestions on here and they're great pedals. But this little $70 micro might surprise you.

 

...and your favourite is...?

 

I really like the Catalinbread Manx Loagthan as well! But the Amptweaker Bass Tight Fuzz Pedal has been getting a lot of my attention recently. I got a discount code for Rogue Guitar shop and couldn't resist. So far, I'm loving it!

 

Give the ol' Black Russian a try. Can sometimes be found used on the cheap, and you'll dig it

 

My favorite muff-based fuzz is the Skreddy Supa Tone, with the Musket coming in a close second. I'm typically drawn to Ram's Head and Civil War based muffs.

 

I've had a Sanford and Sonny Bluebeard since '05, grabbed the newer version with tone bypass last fall, can't say enough good things about them. MAYBE would like a wet/dry mix, but thats not even close to necessary.