Op Muff

EHX has re-introduced the op-amp Big Muff rather late in the year, doubt if it'll be here before the year turns. Anyway, it's a re-intro because the op-amp circuit had been done before in the late 1970s & held in high regards for it's more amplified output, best heard in Smashing Pumpkin's Siamese Dream album. It's good to see the flick switch option here so you can have options along the way & thank you for keeping the footprint small.

Return of greenie

EHX is re-introducing the Russian Big Muff (green) & it's gonna be a little more compact than what it used to be- looking forward 👍🏾

Bass Fuzz

The EHX chaps have finally decided to rev things up in the fuzz zone for all you bassists... The guitar chaps hope that the DI out feature seen here would be incorporated into the guitar Big Muffs as well. Right?

The Muff family

Here's my (EHX) Muff family. Yes, yes... I'm not a pedal fan & such, but I find the Muff tone intriguing. The reason why I invest in the variations is that I hear something different from each of them despite being another Muff unit. 

I like the Russian BM (that big black box you see there) the best when it comes to the Muff tone, it has that little extra poke which makes it more defined. 

I don't use my Muffs as a booster unit except for the NANO as it's the least muffled.

Germ again

This is a first take on the Big Muff Germ 4 pedal, essentially a 2-in-1 entity which isn't too fuzzy for all you Muffers but the signature, grizzly overtone is still present.

As the label suggests, the pedal consists of 2 channels a mild overdrive side & the darker, meaner distortion side but both being Muff-sounding. Also, the control labels aren't typical Muff affair, the BIAS feature for instance, offers some manipulations for both tone & drive/ distortion intensity. Ditto the VOLTS feature while the TONE label is a familiar shaping feature to many of us with our other pedals. The labels here aren't really an upfront offering, they might influence other aspects of tone which aren't in their direct domain.

To be cont'd...

Germ

The real reason why I visited Davis was to acquire the above. More to come...

EHX: Germanium 4 Big Muff

Here's another fresh pedal from Electro Harmonix for this Summer NAMM; the Germanium 4 Big Muff. The principle subject matter is the pedal's germanium transistor which promises some golden tonal moments of yesterday but a little caution to those of us who aren't familiar with this offering- do hear the pedal in action first. Please do.

I was rather thrilled at the prospect of owning a germanium based overdrive unit to bolster my tube amps' on-board drive because acquiring anything germanium inclusive, would mean the obscene forking out of cash to secure time-capsuled gold. So I headed out to the local EHX distributor to have a go at the Germanium OD unit depicted above. It wasn't the typical, mild OD pedal like some of the more well-known green or yellow boxes we love to own; I was greeted by a box of very fuzzy overdrive gargle, lacking in much definition for lead work.

Nevertheless, I look forward to hear what the Germ 4 variant has in store knowing it is inherently a 2-in-1 offering of distortion & drive.

EHX Big Muff (Russian)

I'm not a fuzz fan despite owning a few pedals; I don't use them in isolation (on days when my drive is fuzzy) but boosting it with a distortion unit. Before Duncan's Lava Box came along, I always rely on my Russian Big Muff for more definition. Ironically, those of us who prefer a fuzz unit would be attracted to the ill-definition but not me...

A quick peek into the Russian's innard reveals a very simple circuit at work. It is then the component difference (from its American counterpart) which account for the tonal difference. And, em... maybe much of the void in there accounts for that as well...