Lets talk about muffs (again)

[Concretebadger]

Just, that. What are your experiences with boxes of fuzzy goodness that go 'grrr' and 'vroom'?

I've owned an NYC RI which was decent enough but lacking in character, and currently use an MBM '78 IC version with bass, which sounds grittier and a bit more versatile. I don't have a fuzz on my guitar board any more so I was wondering how to narrow my search down on Muff-style fuzzes since the market is pretty saturated. Aside from the official EHX designs, how do the clones vary? What are the reputable companies who do good 'uns without unobtainium transistors and silly price tags? I have a general idea of the differences between, say, a ram's head or a Russian, but I'm curious about what variants the Muff owners among you use, and why.

The bass Muff thread - and going to a Boris gig weekend before last - piqued my interest in all things pi-related. Different tone stacks, different trannies, whatever...what have you got and what do you love/hate about 'em?

[Thom]

I'm going to get in on this early as there are many on this board who know much more about Muffs than me, but this is what I know...
Had an EHX NY RI and it was pretty shit to be fair. Never got on with it, sold it.
I was given an EhX Micro Metal Muff as a leaving present from work and it has one useable setting (which is actually rather good) but the rest of it is utter fucking shit wank.
I have a '78 IC Muff with Mids control from Mike and it's ace.

[sholkham]

I saw Boris the other week too, insane sounds.

I love my NYC big muff but I understand it's not for everyone, as for clones I've heard good things about Stomp under foot pedals who do a whole load of vintage muff clones.

[Fran]

I've tried:

NYC RI Big Muff
Black Russian Big Muff
1980 Deluxe Big Muff
MBM Sovtek Muff
Double Muff

As a stand alone pedal none of them worked for me, too fizzy, I like more compressed high Mids sounds. I got the best results combining the Black Russian with a Tubescreamer, what one pedal lacked the other had plenty of, so between them they made one great pedal

[MrJamesBrown]

I've had:

EHX Tone Wicker Muff
Blackout Effectors Musket
Earthquaker Devices Hoof
Euthymia ICBM Fuzz


The Wicker muff was fantastic for the money. The wicker really takes a blanket off of the high end.
The Musket sounded massive, but wasn't as saturated as I would have liked.
The EQD Hoof was everything I liked about the Musket but a bit better.
The Euthymia was good, but by then I had realised that Big Muffs aren't really my fuzz style.

Muffs are more of a distortion than a fuzz. I use a Fuzz Factory now because it gives me that OTT tone that I wanted to coax ffrom the Big mUff but couldn't. I actually got a Zvex Distortron yesterday and it has a pretty huge, squishy bottom end that gives me what I would have wanted from the Muffs, but with more clarity.

[Ainm]

I picked up a Basic Audio Tri Ram Muff a few months ago, and I can't fault it. It's got a great vintage big muff sound, and is very versatile. I like Mike's IC Muff clone too, it's definitely the fuzziest muff I've tried.

[taylornutt]

I currently own:

EHX Black Russian Muff
Made By Mike Civil War Muff
Made By Mike Germanium Fuzzface

Both my Muffs sound very similar, though the Black Muff has more gritty mid range like a Green Muff and the Civil War is smoother on the mids.

[youtube][/youtube]

The Fuzzface is just fantastic and the germanium transistors have a warm sound.

[youtube][/youtube]

[lorez]

Take a look at Kit Rae website for some great info on muffs.

My favourite has been the one mike made, it's a rams head with a mids knob.

[Concretebadger]

Wow, thanks guys. NYC RIs are, to my ears, harsh and unmusical and palm muting sounds awful. It's put me off them altogether now, with the possible exception of the tone wicker version. I've seen one band, Caspian, use a metal muff live and it sounded great...but it wouldn't surprise me if the guy set it to that one usable setting Thom mentioned.

I find the range between 'loose' fuzz and the treacle-like sustain of a muff is a balancing act with the amp's gain control, but yeah...muffs aren't particularly fuzzy fuzzes next to tonebenders and fuzzfaces. I can get my '78 IC to sound almost RAT-like, just with harsher clipping. It's excellent.

But yeah...Boris. Fuck. Who says muffs can't cut it in a band mix? It looks like Wata has a custom 'Watafuzz' thing made by MASF, which is presumably some boutique outfit operating out of a basement in Tokyo somewhere. AFAIK it's a prototype but damn...that lady has a goddamn pedal named after her! There's a lot of other stuff going on there like humbucker pickups, two(!) half stacks and god knows what else, but it sounded huge! I don't want to fall into the trap of "I want to sound EXACTLY LIKE [insert musician name here]!" but yeah. It's a cool sound.

I've been wondering whether I'd have a use for a germanium fuzz, but quite frankly shuffling my pedalboard around to get it before my tuner in the chain is a bit of a hassle...and I'm not yet sure whether I want the splatty, glitchy 'character' type of fuzz like, say, a Fender Blender or Fuzz Factory. I really like the warm woolly mush and singing syrupy-ness of a muff, and asking for a pedal that does all that AND crazy octaves and velcro ripping rasps is too much to ask from one circuit I would've thought.

Listening to the MBM Fuzz Face and Civil War muff vids back to back, I still fall on the side of the muff. I recall someone describing it as being "hugged by a yeti". Listening to a germanium fuzz doesn't make me smile like a muff does.

[rps-10]

I really like the warm woolly mush and singing syrupy-ness of a muff, and asking for a pedal that does all that AND crazy octaves and velcro ripping rasps is too much to ask from one circuit I would've thought.

.

Ever tried a fOXX Tone Machine?



[youtube][/youtube]


Actually fOXX are up for sale at the mo... http://www.foxxpedals.com/