Electro-Harmonix - Bass Big Muff Pi - Review
- Overview
- Initial thoughts
- Video Overview
- Samples
- Picture Gallery
- Construction and cosmetic concerns
- Conclusion
- View All
Initial thoughts:
The history, lineage, and impact of the EHX Big Muff can’t be understated in any conversation about fuzz. With it’s roots in the early 70’s it was the first big hit for the company and is at the core of many essential recordings over the years. Bass players have used the various permutations of this pedal over the decades and found plenty to like, but for many it has been surpassed in recent times by pedals with a more bass friendly low end and without the presence removing mid-scoop that can make even the loudest player disappear in a live setting.
EHX not to be left behind in the growing niche market that is bass pedals has been introducing a large line of bass specific pedals, a lineup that would have been incomplete with out Big Muff! I was a bit fearful of some of the design decisions when reading the initial documentation, and while not perfect, is indeed quite good.
Things to note upfront:
- NORM mode doesn’t sound exactly like a normal big muff, there I said it.
- The ‘Norm’ mode is significantly more compressed sounding than either ‘Bass Boost’ or ‘Dry’ and is at a lower volume when just flicking the switch.
- The ‘Dry Out’ and the ‘Dry’ setting are UNRELATED. ‘Dry Out’ is always a dry bass signal regardless of the switch setting, this could work great with either a biamp situation, sending both effected and un-effected signals to the board for live shows, or one take (multi-layer) recording. The ‘Dry’ setting on the switch introduces a fixed amount of dry signal to the effect.
- When the switch is in the ‘Dry’ position there is be a fixed amount of dry signal added in, this amount seems to be a percentage of total volume or something, because it maintains relationship as you tweak the volume knob. You can emphasize or de-emphasize this dry signal based on your use of the tone and sustain knobs.
Thanks for the review
Comment by Maibanez — July 14, 2008 @ 4:56 am
I’m wondering if maybe some of the features you found were missing here might be found in the EHX Bass Blogger?
I think it would be interesting to hear them in tandem. After seeing this site, I no longer have a problem with having more than one fuzz box!
Comment by Captain_Arrrg — July 17, 2008 @ 12:09 pm
Yo!
awsome review man! im am now looking for buying this pedal.
but as i said in youtube, i dont understand what is the use of the dry output…
Where should i plug in if my config would be like this:
Bass > Muff > tech 21 vt bass (ampeg emulation) > power amp
i mean, wich one of those outputs should i use?
Swe
Comment by Nils — July 22, 2008 @ 4:14 pm
The dry output is CLEAN (no fuzz). Only use it if you have a reason to, otherwise pretend it doesn’t exist.
Comment by grygrx — July 22, 2008 @ 5:52 pm
I was wondering how this pedal would compare to the standard Muff Pi combined with the Knock Out (with the Knock Out used to boost low freq.)
Comment by Hank — August 29, 2008 @ 12:10 am
I’ve not used the knockout, but it’s it an attack equalizer rather than an eq?
Either way, not sure it would work… the same way EQ pedals don’t really work in this scenario.
Muff - > EQ = Muff kills lows, eq tries to boost non-existent lows
EQ - > Muff = EQ Boosts lows, Muff kills them.
Comment by grygrx — August 29, 2008 @ 10:12 am
I have had some 2 months and is a great pedal, it not big fuzz or gain as the others but it has a lot of low end (not like the other), it was just what I was looking for …. I read somewhere that the bassist Muse uses two AMP , one clean and one Muffed, you can do the same with this pedal in the dry mode the difference is you can do that with a single AMP … I have mixed with everything I have been crossed on my way in this mode (Delay, BassBalls, octave, overdrive, phaser chorus) and sounds great whit all…
alone is not worth it
but whit something else it’s great
I have all the others muffs it’s not the best but work better whit bass
Comment by Maibanez — September 25, 2008 @ 1:14 pm
I agree that the Dry setting works really well; one thing I did find (opposite to some comments and the review), is that the volume does seem to effect the prominence of the Muff sound. Unless you are looking for serious gain and buzz-saw break-up, I think this pedal does a great job in Dry mode when you need some clarity or the detail of what you’re playing matters. I’m impressed with this pedal in Normal mode too, btw. Another thing, sustain and break-up are a lot different with almost all fuzz, overdrive, and bass distortion pedals depending on if you’re using a tube amp (or amp with a full tube pre-amp section) vs. a solid state amp. Gain and break-up, etc. (from a pedal) tends to come off “bad” with solid state and dynamic, organic, and “awesome” with tubes. All respect to solid state amp players!
Comment by mathrockspazz — October 19, 2008 @ 3:05 pm
I was just wondering how this works with active pickups. I have a schecter with emg’s and i was thinking about getting this. If this one doest work to well with active pickups do you have some advice on one that does possibly in the same price range?
Comment by CJ — November 1, 2008 @ 2:31 pm
I had no problems at all with my active J.
Comment by grygrx — November 1, 2008 @ 2:36 pm