First Big Muff

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 11:55 pm

Hmm, are the Tone Wickers that bad? I was considering one but might switch to a Bass Muff now. Although I already have a bass booster. Now I don't know.

lank81 · Post by **lank81** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:28 am

ekwatts wrote:Hmm, are the Tone Wickers that bad? I was considering one but might switch to a Bass Muff now. Although I already have a bass booster. Now I don't know.

The Early NYC Reissues to my ears, sound better than the Tonewickers with most things. That being said, when it came to my AC15 I didn't think the Big Muff sounded nearly as good. Having the extra tonal pallete let me dial in what could work best with the AC 15. Everything else, early NYC reissue won.

SGJarrod · Post by **SGJarrod** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 3:39 am

I am talking about a cone of the Vintage Muff's that cost way to much..... The Ram's Head and Triangle blow away the new NYC Muff....FACT!!!

For $35 buy that one and see what u think of it......YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY MUFF'S!!!!...and with that being siad I would buy that one for $35 to just have or build what I want in the enclosure as previously stated....

get it for $35, if u like it use it for comparision for what u actually want and have it built...... The Big Muff circuit is very tweakable....

Also as I think Benecol said.... the EQD Hoof is amazing.. It is the only store bought Muff I have and its worth it..

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 5:08 am

How do the IC Big Muff and the Rams head Muff compare? For the longest time, I was going to get Mike to build me a Green Big Muff, but then I saw Hurb demo the IC Big Muff and kinda have been wanting that. I don't have much experience with the Ram's Head to know how it compares.

SGJarrod · Post by **SGJarrod** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 6:04 am

taylornutt wrote:How do the IC Big Muff and the Rams head Muff compare? For the longest time, I was going to get Mike to build me a Green Big Muff, but then I saw Hurb demo the IC Big Muff and kinda have been wanting that. I don't have much experience with the Ram's Head to know how it compares.

I would put the Rams Head between the Green Russian and the Triangle..... It sounds like a Triangle with a bit more bottom and smoothness like the Russian..... J Masics is a huge fan of the Ram's Head

The IC is just another beast all together... it has more presence and has the IC more organized fuzz sound....

for a solid collection u should do both

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 3:42 pm

benecol wrote:. They have also never been used by the Jesus and Mary chain - that's a Companion Fuzz, which is a completely different beast.

I just meant they nail the sound not that they used one.

laterallateral wrote: The Black Russians sound great (they're my personal favourite) but you'll either want to tape the knobs down or change them cause you'll loose your settings just by looking at them wrong. Very frustrating in live and studio situations. This problem is compounded by the fact that the tone sweep on them goes from unusably dark to unusably bright. There's a sweet spot in the middle but it isn't very broad

.

true...

avj · Post by **avj** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:21 pm

The Bass Big Muff is extremely appealing to me on guitar because of the "Dry" toggle position. This is a feature that I don't think many guitarists would even think of as being useful, but it's my favorite thing about the BBM. Sure, the effect alone sounds great (and is supposedly based on the Green Sovtek as others have said), but the Dry position passes your uneffected signal through at unity gain and the Volume pot can be used to control the amount of fuzz blended into your signal. Putting something like an SD-1 or your favorite not-too-crazy OD before the Bass Big Muff while in Dry mode can get you a nice sort of bi-amped sound and help you retain some clarity when trying to use the fuzz in a full-band mix, where it often ends up getting lost.

It's next on my To-Buy list.

plaidbeer · Post by **plaidbeer** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 6:29 pm

Sorted. I have a Bass Big Muff on the way. From everything I've been reading here and elsewhere, it's the best Muff for me at the moment. I'm sure I'll be trying other Muffs out eventually. Thanks again to all of you for your advice and opinions. Much appreciated.

On a fuzz-related note, I have a friend who builds pedals as a hobby (I bought a boost he made a while back and it's been great). He's building a Shin-ei Companion clone and sending it my way as he's doing this mainly for the experience of doing it. I'm geeked.

Earth · Post by **Earth** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 9:06 pm

BMPTW, 3003-C (2008 RI), V4/V5 (IC), 3034 (V6 - AKA, The Mudhoney Muff) muffs are the only muffs you need to own! All others fail miserably.*

*There are exceptions from unit to unit in various versions but to generalize, this is so IMO.

In general, Sovtek muffs are boomy/muddy POS that can't handle chords in stock condition but can be made into any muff you like. I own 5 Sovteks, 3x 1st version green tanks, 2 black. None are stock as I have modified them all to to my own style. The main problem with Sovtek muffs is the 47nF clipping caps, this value is absolutely ridiculous (the triangle shares this problem) and it should be 220nF minimum, ideally 1uF IMO. Swap out these two caps and you can actually play heavily distorted chords. Although by swapping these caps you will then more than likely want to beef it up as opposed to boom it up by swapping the coupling caps to a higher value. Not randomly, but specific changes in specific places.

Most common complaint about sovtek muffs, including the famed 'green tank', is they are boomy and unusable if you play mainly chords. I couldn't agree more as every one I have owned suffered this problem. Its inherent to it, it can't be helped with the values it uses.

SGJarrod · Post by **SGJarrod** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 10:47 pm

Earth is the Muff'n-Man.... he knows his shit and has like 6400 muffs

plaidbeer · Post by **plaidbeer** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:41 pm

Got the Bass Muff in today. Just had a few minutes to spend with it. Sounds really good and has a decent bottom end. Thanks again for the suggestions.

I tried avj's suggestion of placing an overdrive (OD-3 in my case) in front of the Muff, but the noise level goes up significantly when using them together even though I can hear the potential of using them together.

sp3k · Post by **sp3k** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:46 pm

When people say in front of a pedal, does this mean closer to the amp? i don't really like anything after a muff, but a overdrive before it (closer to the guitar) it's one of my favorite guitar sounds ever.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:00 pm

sp3k wrote:When people say in front of a pedal, does this mean closer to the amp? i don't really like anything after a muff, but a overdrive before it (closer to the guitar) it's one of my favorite guitar sounds ever.

Closer to the instrument, just the way you like it. Chain goes guitar->pedal->amp, if another pedal is feeding the input of the muff it's "in front" of the muff in the chain.

sp3k · Post by **sp3k** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:13 pm

Makes sense

Thanks

btw, a muff in front of a muff sounds nice if you want a "broken amp/fart" sound