Big Muff

[tom1946]

Having just heard a bass guitar demo using a big muff I've decided I want one.

Question is which one?

The bass PI

The guitar big muff (used by the man doing the bass demo)

What's wicker tone?

HELP!

[cheddatom]

I think the "with tone wicker" has a switch to bypass the tone stack, which could help with bass response. The bass big muff is pretty good. There's also the black russian big muff.

However, the big muff is a very old simple circuit and there must be 100s of different big muffs around with different names. I have a "blue beaver", which is quite nice, but I think I prefer the EH bass big muff (which is fairly new).

[BottomEndian]

[quote name='tom1946' post='882073' date='Jun 30 2010, 03:47 PM']Question is which one?[/quote]
If you can, try them. They can be very different. Even two of the same model can be quite different, because of the tolerance ranges of the relatively cheap components.

My Muff of choice is the Bass Big Muff, but my fuzz of choice overall is the Wren & Cuff Pickle Pie B. It's Muff-like, but with much more mid-range content. The Big Muff is pretty scooped, which works well in some situations but not others.

[dumelow]

if you should decide you want a russian big muff (same as what chris woltenholme from muse uses to achieve his fuzz sound), i have one on ebay, a link can be found in the appropriate forum

oh and to help you decide, i should add... i wouldnt recomend a NYC silver big muff, too wishy washy, whereas the russian big muff is a lot more defined, i like the sound but i dont use fuzz whatsoever anymore. I would like to try a bass big muff though to see if it lives up to all the hype

Edited June 30, 2010 by dumelow

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='dumelow' post='882309' date='Jun 30 2010, 07:25 PM']oh and to help you decide, i should add... i wouldnt recomend a NYC silver big muff, too wishy washy, whereas the russian big muff is a lot more defined, i like the sound but i dont use fuzz whatsoever anymore. I would like to try a bass big muff though to see if it lives up to all the hype[/quote]

I think the silver NYC Muff sounds ace on bass personally, but it will get swamped by distorted guitars - you need to be the only musician who's using fuzz and/or have plenty of volume to make it work, but yeah, it's a great! sound on bass IMO.

More practically: I loved my old Pickle Pie B, I think it's the best-sounding and most versatile bass-friendly Muff I've heard, it was also very pretty and well constructed. Heinously pricey though compared to an EHX production line model.

[EskimoBassist]

The relatively new EHX Bass Big Muff is a great place to start. I bought one to replace my NYC Muff and my Ultra Fuzz. Fantastic pedal!

[fraff]

[quote name='EskimoBassist' post='882542' date='Jun 30 2010, 10:39 PM']The relatively new EHX Bass Big Muff is a great place to start. I bought one to replace my NYC Muff and my Ultra Fuzz. Fantastic pedal![/quote]
Have to agree. Recently replaced my NYC Muff with the Bass one and it stands up far better in a fuzz-heavy, two-guitar band set up.

[tom1946]

Thanks for all the input. I just wanted something subtle and different, you don't find many guitarists in a church band using pedals, my wife is one of 2 women players and she plays 12 string through an acoustic amp. The other one plays 6 string electro/acoustic. We also have keyboards and drums.

I'm liking the sound of the bass muff so may go with that.

[BottomEndian]

[quote name='tom1946' post='882655' date='Jul 1 2010, 06:44 AM']I just wanted something [b]subtle[/b] and different...[/quote]
I could use many words to describe the Big Muff range... but "subtle" is not one of them.

[Mr. Foxen]

The big silver one is great if you like tinkering. Space for all sorts of mods and more knobs.

[fraff]

If anyone has a hankering for a silver NYC Muff, give me a shout. Mine's being a bit unused at the moment. Looks a bit road weary, but works a treat!!

[Stag]

The new Bass BM is utterly lovely in every respect. Well built and lots of fun fuzz tones to be had, at a cheapy cheap price.