EHX Big Muff

[skej21]

So I own a number of effects (around 100 😬) and in particular, a few of the EHX Big Muff variants; Triangle reissue, Rams Head reissue, Op Amp, Nano Bass, Bass Big Muff and the Green Russian reissue.

Due to masses of Covid boredom, I decided to try and put together some YouTube videos showing off the capabilities of each, ending in a video which will pit all six against each other.

There dont seem to be a lot of videos showing these types of pedals with bass specifically, so thought I’d share, as it might be helpful to someone thinking of purchasing?

Due to my slow/new video editing skills, I’m planning to do one a week until all are finished. Hope they’re useful!

 

[Thunderbird]

Looking forward to watching this when I get time 👍👍👍

[Salt on your Bass?]

Video looks great! I'll watch all of these I'm sure! Top work ✌️

[skej21]

1 hour ago, Salt on your Bass? said:

Video looks great! I'll watch all of these I'm sure! Top work ✌️

I’ll just post each link in here to make it easier for people!

[Thunderbird]

great stuff triangle muff sounded great I want one now lol looking forward to more

[skej21]

4 hours ago, Thunderbird said:

great stuff triangle muff sounded great I want one now lol looking forward to more

Rams Head is my favourite, closely followed by the Green Russian!

[skej21]

Hi all. Next video is up  Hope you enjoy it (the Ram’s Head Bug Muff reissue seems to divide opinion with bass but personally, I’m a big fan!)

 

[skej21]

Hi all

Next up: Green Russian Reissue! 
 

Setting Six on this is 🔥🔥🔥

 

[skej21]

It’ll be interesting to see what you all think of this one. The addition of the Op Amp really differentiates this from the other traditional Muff sounds!

 

[skej21]

Next up, the Bass Big Muff - pretty honky to my ears and plays nicely with octave pedals!

 

[skej21]

Last two in the series - I also added duplicate videos without the drum tracks for any one eager (sad?) as me to really hear the subtle differences. I still think Green Russian setting six with a pick from the shootout might be the holy grail?! 
 

 

 

[javi_bassist]

@skej21 these are some pretty cool videos. I've always been interested in the OP Amp Big Muff. I also had the Bass Big Muff and I liked it, but never found a place for it (and I love fuzzes). 

The one that I really love and that I regret selling was the big black one. It's the best muff I ever had. It sounded better IMO than the Green Russian. 

[Supernaut]

Great thread! Which Muff have you found has the most mids? All Muffs I use tend to just get buried in the mix when you engage them. 

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 12, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[dannybuoy]

Great comparison but the shootout vid doesn't do the BBM justice, having it set to clean mode with the volume so low. It would've been a fairer comparison having it set to normal mode.

It's a major flaw of the pedal though that dry mode always has 100% dry signal, so to use that mode effectively you have to pump up the volume to get a satisfactory wet/dry blend then somehow reduce the volume again after (which is why the master volume mod is popular on these!).

Edited March 8, 2021 by dannybuoy

[skej21]

2 hours ago, dannybuoy said:

Great comparison but the shootout vid doesn't do the BBM justice, having it set to clean mode with the volume so low. It would've been a fairer comparison having it set to normal mode.

It's a major flaw of the pedal though that dry mode always has 100% dry signal, so to use that mode effectively you have to pump up the volume to get a satisfactory wet/dry blend then somehow reduce the volume again after (which is why the master volume mod is popular on these!).

Yeah, to be fair I have a video dedicated to each (Nano and BBM) where the switch wasn’t engaged, so it’s there if you want it. Lesson learnt because a few people complained. I could redo it quite quickly with the switch off in the comparison, but I’d rather just learn the lesson and move on. Might redo it some time 🙂

[skej21]

11 hours ago, Jus Lukin said:

The Russians are known as the middiest.

Whenever it come to fuzz or distortion disappearing in the mix though the issue is usually volume. The heavy clipping and resultant emphasis of upper harmonics make fuzztones sound a lot louder than they are. A test for this is on anything with meters- set a fuzz to sound balanced in level by ear, and then compare the actual level on the meters. It's usually dramatically lower than bypass. Set it so that the levels match on the meters and the fuzz sounds immensly louder- however, this will translate much better when in the mix.

The real key is to set the fuzz to sound as you want in the mix, rather than beforehand in isolation.

Must agree though, the mix is the crucial bit. Obviously in a demo, it’s hard to translate the truth, whilst also not letting it throw off the mix. Personally, in terms of mixing generally it’s the Rams head and Green Russian I find are the easiest to manage. They’re the ones I’ll be keeping too. Rams Head in particular is really nice and easy to handle when mixing with other effects 🙂

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 12, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 12, 2022 by Jus Lukin