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Which Muff has the stuff ....

Discussion in 'Effects [BG]' started by Dark Horse, Jun 16, 2020.

  1. Dark Horse

    Dark Horse Supporting Member

    Jul 31, 2008
    Austin, TX
    .... that you prefer ?

    Which version and builder Muff works best for you personally ?

    I know there are a bunch of versions .... triangle, rams head, violet, Russian, sovtek black, civil war, creamy dreamer, op amp, NYC, etc etc .... and about a zillion builders....

    so which one ended up on your board ? Is there one you’d rather have if $$$ was no object ? If so, why ?

    What’s the best Muff bass tone you’ve ever heard ?


    Thanks ... I’m sure this has been asked probably 50x before, but a search for “best muff” gets you about 6288377368883999399393.848848848 threads to sort through :D



    3F502F8A-2D49-4463-B24B-B5158BB08627.jpeg
     
  2. ugly_bassplayer

    ugly_bassplayer

    Jan 21, 2009
    Québec
    For me....personally.

    After trying about....6 to 8 variations of muff circuits. In band and in the studio.

    Last one standing is the wren & cuff tall font Russian. Since then I haven't even looked at anything else (option paralysis anyone).....but something else out there is certainly cool no doubt.......about 757848393035994 variations of the cicuit.

    Imo....ime...ymmv...etc.....
     
  3. ugly_bassplayer

    ugly_bassplayer

    Jan 21, 2009
    Québec
    I aslo also really like the mxr m85 bass distortion.

    Not a muff circuit , it is a joint collab with Ryan from fuzzrocious of a rat circuit.

    I really dig it. Very good live and in the studio. Usually I hate dirt with blend knobs but this one for some weird reason sounds freakin great.

    I add some clean signal to add some difinition on the bottom on heavy fast parts in my band.
    (I play a dual rig bass/guitar)
    I can link the bandcamp if you are at all interested.

    All taped live in the studio, no punch ins, no edits...no "cheats".

    Catalepsy, by Sedmi
     
  4. Dark Horse

    Dark Horse Supporting Member

    Jul 31, 2008
    Austin, TX

    I’ll definitely look into that one. It’ll be used for studio stuff mainly, so I may end up with a few variations.... just trying to narrow the field. I’ve heard a lot of good things about the W&C pedals.

    thanks
     
    ugly_bassplayer likes this.
  5. Liko

    Liko

    Mar 30, 2007
    DFW Metro
    For me, can't beat the Deluxe Bass Big Muff Pi. It's in the Sovtek lineage like most Bass Big Muffs, but the Deluxe adds a fully-variable wet/dry blend, a noise gate and a switchable dry-wet crossover that low-passes your clean tone and hi-passes the fuzz. This allows your fuzzed signal to be even hairier without the low end clogging the gain stages, and of course the lows are cleaner, resulting in a more distortion-like tone than a true fuzz. And it has a 10dB pad for your hotter inputs. It's a lot of space on your board, but well worth it.

    deluxe-bass-big-muff-pi.jpg
     
  6. gh0st42

    gh0st42 Supporting Member

    Oct 25, 2019
    Colorado
    So far, it's been the Sanford & Sonny Bluebeard.

    I'm also putting a standard Black Arts Toneworks Son of Pharaoh through it's paces that is a contender, and have a custom "Fusion" Micro release version of the Son of Pharaoh oh the way, with a combination of different muff style gain stages, and tone controls, etc.
     
    Adienn7, DosiYanarchy and Dark Horse like this.
  7. Dark Horse

    Dark Horse Supporting Member

    Jul 31, 2008
    Austin, TX

    That one and the newer white Sovtek version looked pretty interesting... thanks
     
    vvvmmm likes this.
  8. Dark Horse

    Dark Horse Supporting Member

    Jul 31, 2008
    Austin, TX

    Cool, I’ll definitely check those out ! Thank you !
     
    gh0st42 likes this.
  9. shaggy45

    shaggy45 Gold Supporting Member

    Sep 27, 2009
    Georgia
    Bluebeard and the supercollider have been my favorite so far. I have only tried a handful of muff pedals though.
     
    Dark Horse and gh0st42 like this.
  10. Dark Horse

    Dark Horse Supporting Member

    Jul 31, 2008
    Austin, TX

    How do those two compare to each other sound-wise ?
     
  11. shaggy45

    shaggy45 Gold Supporting Member

    Sep 27, 2009
    Georgia
    I’ll have to get back to you on that. It’s been a few years since I played the supercollider. I’ll dig it out when I get home.

    I do feel like the Bluebeard has a better presence in the mix.
     
    gh0st42 and Dark Horse like this.
  12. Dark Horse

    Dark Horse Supporting Member

    Jul 31, 2008
    Austin, TX

    Thank you !
     
  13. GMC

    GMC

    Jan 1, 2006
    Wiltshire, UK
    I personally like the Way huge Swollen Pickle.
     
    kakulino, neuman, BrentSimons and 3 others like this.
  14. Jakeman

    Jakeman Swamp Thing Supporting Member

    Jun 26, 2006
    New Orleans, LA
    Tried a bunch of muffs over the years, but always come back to my original EHX ones. 1st edition Green and a 7th edition Black.
     
  15. 220_Hz

    220_Hz Supporting Member

    May 9, 2016
    San Diego
    I’ve tried every version of the big muff except the triangle. I think the best sounding non EHX muff is the Fuzzrocious Grey Stache, it has a really grindy character that I love and tons of bass & volume. The mids dial is also really nice compared to some other offerings that only include a switch

    The EHX made Black Russians are great. Make sure you get the 6 screw and not the 4 screw version though!
     
    Last edited: Jun 16, 2020
  16. I’ve had the EHX Green Russian reissue on my board for a few years now and haven’t had the urge to buy anything else.

    That being said I have been interested in testing out the wren and cuff Elephant skin and super Russian.
     
  17. EHX Green Russian reissue is the absolute best for bass.
     
    armybass, jw23mind, RodneyM and 4 others like this.
  18. Peteyboy

    Peteyboy

    Apr 2, 2018
    Los Angeles
    Here's a Bass Deluxe Big Muff demo video by Tony Levin. I found this to be useful:

     
  19. This is my Big Muff Nano Bass, I love this thing! image.jpg
     
  20. gh0st42

    gh0st42 Supporting Member

    Oct 25, 2019
    Colorado
    For bass, the Black Russian and Tall Front Russian based circuits seem to be what most bass players lean towards, due to the better low end retention compared to other Muff circuits.

    Hard to go wrong with anything from that lineage.

    I've personally been underwhelmed by the recent EHX releases, but haven't tried the Green Russian yet. I tried the Sovtek deluxe reissue, which is billed as being able to do any of the current EHX line tonewise, but didn't vibe with it.

    Seemed a little sterile and lacking the feel and nuance compared to some of the other versions from different builders.
     
    shaggy45 and Dark Horse like this.