Opinions on EH IC Big Muffs

[71Smallbox]

Hello all, I have a possible line on a very reasonably 1979/78 one of these and I want the general opinion of these. Are they that different sounding from the other transistor units to justify owning both?

[benecol]

Yep - I love mine.

[71Smallbox]

Does it fit in the band mix or does it get lost?

[benecol]

My band only exists in my head, I'm afraid. That said, it's a bit different from yer regular muff, in my opinion: less smooth, more raspy and synthetic sounding. Filthy. I love it.

[George]

is corgans stock or modded? he fits in a mix nicely

you could also tenure an ss pedal builder to add a mid control

i love the sound of them. best muff in my opinion but not exactly a normal muff

[71Smallbox]

you could also tenure an ss pedal builder to add a mid control

I am quite capable with an iron, so I could do this myself. I'll see if this happens and fill you guys in later on my impressions.

[Brandon W]

My band only exists in my head, I'm afraid. That said, it's a bit different from yer regular muff, in my opinion: less smooth, more raspy and synthetic sounding. Filthy. I love it.

[George]

you could also tenure an ss pedal builder to add a mid control

I am quite capable with an iron, so I could do this myself. I'll see if this happens and fill you guys in later on my impressions.

oh whoope i missed the detail that it was used. thought you were looking in general so a build or something

[Dave]

is corgans stock or modded? he fits in a mix nicely

you could also tenure an ss pedal builder to add a mid control

i love the sound of them. best muff in my opinion but not exactly a normal muff

His was coupled with an MXR Dist 2, but that might have just been for the lead lines, I'm sure someone else can verify. I saw them live just before Meloncollie came out and the guitars sounded incredible, if that supports anything.

[h8mtv]

His is stock. The IC is the nastiest, ballsiest of the muffs. My fav dirt ever.

[light rail coyote]

Yeah, just get it, they'll only become more valuable anyway, if you just dont like it, it will be a decent investment. My ic muff, my vintage small stone and my super early shiva are the only pedals I know I will never get rid of.

[Mike]

It's such a great pedal. It changed my life.

[Concretebadger]

It has a Muff sound but is noticeably different from the transistor versions. There's something sweet and grunge-y going on in the midrange - not that it isn't scooped, because it is, like all Muffs that lack a mids knob. There's this syrupy, three-dimensional crunch that's really thick and musical.

If your're after old-school Gilmour sounds or palm mutes that burst blood vessels, the IC won't do it. There's none of the crisp fizzle and 'randomness' of a transistor version. For a warm 'wall of sound' fuzz with the sustain up full, or something that does nice overdrive with the gain backed off a bit, it's great. It's my go-to rhythm sound, and is brilliant when you give it a kick from some other boost or dirt box in front of it. It really is different from the transistor Muffs but I LOVE mine.

It does depend on your amp though. I find that the IC Muff sounds better through my Boogie than it does through my Fender, and the transistor version is the opposite. It must be a frequency response thing (the Boogie is more scooped than the Fender).

[MrJamesBrown]

is corgans stock or modded? he fits in a mix nicely

you could also tenure an ss pedal builder to add a mid control

i love the sound of them. best muff in my opinion but not exactly a normal muff

No dude. Corgan never used the Big Muffs live. He even wrote a post about how, after Siamese Dream was recorded, they used the Muffs for a show and it sounded terrible. Sounding good on a record doesn't mean it sounds good in a band mix, c'mon.

[paul_]

Yeah, he and Iha ditched Muffs for live use after the first gig of Siamese tour due to the guitars being swallowed up in the mix. Definitely used Mesa preamp dirt live after that, certainly for most Dream/Mellon Collie era gigs.

Also one of the things Devi Ever said about him that really set him off was spawned by a convo where she showed him a fuzz and he said "can't use 'em live though, unfortunately" and she went down a "why, cause you ain't cool or adventurous anymore?" type of avenue in a blog post about the exchange.

[George]

is corgans stock or modded? he fits in a mix nicely

you could also tenure an ss pedal builder to add a mid control

i love the sound of them. best muff in my opinion but not exactly a normal muff

No dude. Corgan never used the Big Muffs live. He even wrote a post about how, after Siamese Dream was recorded, they used the Muffs for a show and it sounded terrible. Sounding good on a record doesn't mean it sounds good in a band mix, c'mon.

a lot of muffs do this. so add a mid control

[Johno]

or turn up the mids knob on your amp.

[George]

if that doesn't bog up your other settings

[Thom]

MBM IC Muff with mids control is awesome. Pretty much the only variation I have ever really liked.

[71Smallbox]

They guy sold it already, the jerk never had anytime that I could meet him. Oh well, other opportunities will happen.