NPD: Vintage Big Muff content!

Jaded · Post by **Jaded** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 9:15 pm

Whilst hunting down a V4/5 IC Muff, this turned up on ebay, couldn't let it pass. After a minor issue with getting the guy his money it arrived today:

It's a V3 thats been modded for true bypass switching and LED's for power and bypass.

Compared my Rams Head it's amazing, so much more aggressive and more of a fuzz than distortion (which other muffs usually sound like to me), ...and so much more Dinosaur Jr! Kind of sounds like it's got a flatter mid-range compared other Muff's i've used too, cannot wait to try it in a band context to see how well it cuts through!

timhulio · Post by **timhulio** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 9:40 pm

I got one. Dial back the gain and nothing happens. It's a cool pedal, but there is ONE sound. It's a good sound.

aWolfAppears · Post by **aWolfAppears** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 11:50 pm

I (along with 75% of people who play stringed instruments) have always loved Big Muffs' tone. I've also always wondered what justified the high prices on so many of the vintage ones. How much difference in sound and circuit is there? i.e. this one versus a new NYC model.

Jaded · Post by **Jaded** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 12:34 am

timhulio wrote:there is ONE sound. It's a good sound.

Well you can make it muddier or fizzier though

aWolfAppears wrote:I (along with 75% of people who play stringed instruments) have always loved Big Muffs' tone. I've also always wondered what justified the high prices on so many of the vintage ones. How much difference in sound and circuit is there? i.e. this one versus a new NYC model.

Old ones do sound quite different to my ear, maybe not worth the high prices they go for but i didn't pay those prices (for either of my vintage ones). The NYC Muffs don't really sound too "fuzzy" to me, more like a distortion thats hinting at being a fuzz pedal, far too "smooth" and scooped. This one in comparison sounds like a fuzz pedal, it gets spluttery with a neck pickup and lower notes and just nails those "classic" Muff tones to me. First thing i wanted to play when i heard it was Cherub Rock if that helps?

I guess it's all down to if you feel the price of vintage is worth it, they all sound like a Big Muff in the end and you could probably mod a current one to sound more or less the same ...or wait until a good deal on an old one crops up.

timhulio · Post by **timhulio** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 12:34 am

Yeah this one is 100% different to the current USA model. Coz of it's an IC (or op amp) rather than a transistor muff. Some people like this muff, some don't. If you have a PCB for all the other muffs (transistors, not ICs) you can built the lot no probs. There are a few parts substitutions that account for varying degrees of mid-scoop or tone control. It'd be cheaper to build kits of each than buy the lot rilly.

Jaded · Post by **Jaded** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 12:45 am

This ones transistor based too, it's basically a Rams Head in a different box according to the kitrae site. The op-amp one was what i was after, though i'll probably just get a clone made... the originals of them are going for silly money at the moment.

aWolfAppears · Post by **aWolfAppears** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 1:06 am

Wow thanks guys, good information. I'll have to read up on the old ones and keep a look out for some deals. Your description definitely sounds like a sound I would enjoy.

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 8:12 am

I've always found that muffs get lost when playing with a band. Are there any past models that this doesn't happen to?

Concretebadger · Post by **Concretebadger** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 9:43 am

johnnyseven wrote:I've always found that muffs get lost when playing with a band. Are there any past models that this doesn't happen to?

It used to annoy me as well, to the point where I stopped taking my BMP to pub jams and used my RAT instead. It's probably the nature of the beast, but a mids control or using tone bypass switch might help. The IC models had the tone bypass iirc, but the Tone Wicker model has that and an extra top boost switch for EQ shaping. I don't know why so many Muff models use the standard tone stack because it seems so limiting to me.

Jaded · Post by **Jaded** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 12:20 pm

If you run something before it with a big mid-hump like a TS or a RAT, that can really help to push a Muff into the mix... or you crank the volume, that usually works too. The other option is to make sure you're the only guitarist...

I guess it's just something you either learn to live with or you get another fuzz i suppose?

I think the reason they all keep the traditional tone stack is because it's a big part of the sound, using a Tone Bypass it just doesn't sound like a "classic" big muff any more (i personally like them though, still sounds huge). I would love a mid-range control on them though, you could find the point where you cut through but still have enough of that scoop to make it sound like a Big Muff.

Johno · Post by **Johno** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 12:39 pm

johnnyseven wrote:I've always found that muffs get lost when playing with a band. Are there any past models that this doesn't happen to?

I just bump up the mids on my amp or like other have said run a clean overdrive in front. Although the digitech distortion factory has a convincing muff setting with a full eq section.

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 7:04 pm

My Bassman hath no mids knob unfortunately. My Crate Powerblock does but the last Muff I had farted out spectacularly with the gain as low as 1/3 up, I couldn't play with it any lower to get any kind of volume. I'm now using a Magnetic Effects White Atom, it stands out in the mix like a sore thumb it just doesn't sound as good as a Muff but I guess you can't have everything.

Jaded · Post by **Jaded** » Sat Aug 11, 2012 4:30 pm

Saw this turn up on ebay, couldn't really afford it, but i had to make it happen.

J Mascis used a Deluxe Big Muff for the first two Dinosaur albums (until it was stolen, apparently the replacement didn't sound as nice and then he stumbled upon his Rams Head or something like that) so it's a kind of holy grail for me.

The Fuzz circuit is based on (or is exactly the same as) a V5 IC-Muff and the compressor is an old Soul Preacher or something like that. It sounds great, nails those early Dinosaur Jr songs... and unsurprisingly those Siamese Dream tones

The switch at the top lets you run the effects in parallel or series. In parallel the compressor volume lets you bring in your dry signal (albeit a compressed version of it), with it all the way down you just get the fuzz. In series it places the compressor before the fuzz giving you more sustain than god.

Not sure if it would make it to live use though, it just doesn't get loud enough, maxed out the volume is about about the same as my other Muff with the volume at around 10/11'oclock... but i think i can solve that by getting a Boss LS-2 and pushing the volume that way. It just sounds too good not to use!

Jaded · Post by **Jaded** » Sat Aug 11, 2012 4:32 pm

johnnyseven wrote:My Bassman hath no mids knob unfortunately. My Crate Powerblock does but the last Muff I had farted out spectacularly with the gain as low as 1/3 up, I couldn't play with it any lower to get any kind of volume. I'm now using a Magnetic Effects White Atom, it stands out in the mix like a sore thumb it just doesn't sound as good as a Muff but I guess you can't have everything.

EQ/Tube Screamer/RAT and Muff in a bypass loop, hell they're big enough you could probably just build it all into one box

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Sat Aug 11, 2012 4:33 pm

those are cool as fuck ^

nice find you jammy bastard

Jaded · Post by **Jaded** » Sun Aug 12, 2012 7:22 pm

My obsessive checking of ebay had to pay off eventually i suppose

I cannot stop playing Raisins and Cherub Rock with it...