Yearly Big Muff Round Up

[father of fires]

I'm about to go on another pedal bender. I have been G.A.S. free for about a year but I'm starting to get the itch.

I got my eyes on Muff fuzzes at the moment (either building or buying) and I though maybe we could all talk about our favorite Muff fuzzes.

Not your favorite overdrives. Not your favorite distortion. Not your favorite fuzzes. But only your favorite Muff.

Personally, I have both a Bluebeard and a EHX BMP Deluxe. Technically, I should be covered but I think there's more out there to discover.

So what's your favorite Muff?

Bonus points for a video that makes it sound awesome.

Any new ones on the market this year?

Who's your favorite Muff player?

Have you built one that your proud of?

 

[FretNoMore]

The usual suspects ...
* Wren & Cuff - Tall Font Russian
* Blackout Effectors - Musket

 

[father of fires]

Nothing new this year?

 

[Dark Barn]

Jwar is releasing a muff variant later this year. Called Aonys. Ask him about it.

My personal favorite is the Pickle Pie 'B' but then I've only tried 3 or 4 muff based fuzzes.

 

[Dave W]

The Blackout Musket is my favorite.

I had a whole ton of Muff's a while back and it's the only one that's left.

 

[giglawyer]

I built two Ram's Head Muffs this year that I love. It has a lot of mods that allow you to really control the mids as well as a switch to change the circuit to a tone-bender type fuzz.

Here is the link to the one I kept: http://www.talkbass.com/threads/rams-head-muff.1106111/

Here is the link to the one I sold to @gregmon79: http://www.talkbass.com/threads/rams-head-muff-by-the-giglawyer.1126908/. He has some great sound clips.

 

[skulletwhip]

Cloven Hoof
Musket
Bluebeard (never played one but want one bad example video of why below)
Grey Stache
The Green muff I made (favorite!)

Why I want a bluebeard:

 

[father of fires]

I'm planning a muff build myself. Something beastly like the Bluebeard but with a few tweaks to make it more usable for me.

 

[gregmon79]

My personal favorites now are the Rams head the giglawyer is referring to above, the EHX and vick Black Russian, and the megalith clone I recently got. Now, the megalith isn't really classified as a muff, but to me, it's a muff on steroids

 

[J Posega]

@gregmon7 's Rams Head demos just made me scowl at my Bass Big Muff.

 

[chaosmic]

In addition to the Musket, the Blunderbuss from Blackout Effectors is excellent on bass as well. Much lower noise floor than any Muff I've tried.

 

[blindrabbit]

Dwarftcraft Eau Claire Thunder
W&C TFR

 

[giglawyer]

@gregmon7 's Rams Head demos just made me scowl at my Bass Big Muff.

It really is a great pedal. If It weren't for my pedal building addiction, I might not need another fuzz. But I have about three in the works...LOL...including another Muff variant with even more bells and whistles...

 

[gregmon79]

It really is a great pedal. If It weren't for my pedal building addiction, I might not need another fuzz. But I have about three in the works...LOL...including another Muff variant with even more bells and whistles...

I may soon be as well. I have a v3 OCD kit at home just dying to be assembled. I plan to this weekend...

 

[giglawyer]

I may soon be as well. I have a v3 OCD kit at home just dying to be assembled. I plan to this weekend...

Its a sickness...LOL...

 

[bassmusic17]

Some of my favs.

Dwarfcraft Baby Thundaa
Earthbound Audio Supercollider
Fuzzrocious Grey Stache
Swollen Pickle

And of course I will be getting one of JWR Acid Splash fuzzes.

 

[gregmon79]

Its a sickness...LOL...

Come, get up and get down..... haha

 

[father of fires]

You all got details on that Acid Splash fuzz?

Also...I wanted to find out where people are coming from.

I have played a few Muffs that are all out nasty and some that are a little dull and muddy.

What I'm looking for (which probably isn't a Muff but...shhhh!!) is a Muff which can do that low gain growl without being muddy. I think the trick to that is to maintain a lot of high end (tone more towards the right) but not losing the low end at the same time.

I'm not a fan of clean blends because I generally hate my clean tone (with this band) but I'm looking for a Muff that has more flexibility in the EQ. Not just a muff that has more EQ knobs but a tone control that works intelligently instead of bluntly cutting highs or lows.

Simplicity is key for me too so I generally shy away from pedals with too many knobs (I hate tweaking all the time...it's a compulsion). That's why this search has gone on for so long and why I eventually had to start building my own.

What do you look for in a Muff?

 

[bassmusic17]

Pretty much the opposite of what you look for in a muff lol.

Yeah maybe a muff isn't your cup of tea. Maybe you want a good overdrive.

 

[father of fires]

I haven't met an overdrive I loved as much as a Muff.

Muff's are quite versatile.

Plus I love the grindy side too.