Big Muff

The Big Muff is a famous fuzzbox/stompbox produced by the Electro-Harmonix company, along with their Russian sister company Sovtek, primarily for use with the electric guitar. It has also found a welcome home at the feet of bassists as well (the Russian model especially) due to the Big Muff's boomy low end. For example, former Metallica bassist Cliff Burton was known for playing bass solos and riffs through the Big Muff and a Morley Power Wah pedal. The Big Muff was first introduced in the early 1970s and was used by artists like David Gilmour and Carlos Santana. To dispel a common misconception, Jimi Hendrix never used the Big Muff. It was invented in 1971, a year after Hendrix's untimely death in 1970. Electro-Harmonix themselves are apparently not aware of this, as in the official description put out by the company as well as in the operating instructions included with the Big Muff it mentions that Jimi Hendrix used it. The sustained grind of the Big Muff later came to define the sound of many bands through the 1980s and 1990s, such as the Smashing Pumpkins, Dinosaur Jr and Mudhoney (who loved the pedal so much that they named an album after it -- their debut, Superfuzz Bigmuff). Jack White of the White Stripes has also made the Big Muff an integral part of his garage rock sound. Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth both use the Sovtek version of the Big Muff [1]. Though far from versatile, the Big Muff remains a favorite among guitarists and bassists for its distinctive sound.

Technology of the Big Muff

Most versions of the Big Muff use four transistor stages. Two of these act as input and output buffers, and two generate the distortion effect. Some late-70s/early-80s versions of the Big Muff used op amps, which at the time were not as highly regarded as the discrete transistor versions. However, the op-amp (or IC) Big Muffs have lately seen a revival among collectors and players alike.

Electro-Harmonix also released a large-box version of the Big Muff known as the Deluxe Big Muff Pi. This version included an onboard compressor in addition to the standard Big Muff features.

Many manufacturers produce clones of the original pedal, ranging from the highly-affordable Behringer VD-1 to higher-end products such as the Skreddy Mayo and the Euthymia ICBM Fuzz. One of the most highly-regarded Big Muff clones of all time is the Way Huge Swollen Pickle Jumbo Fuzz, which used a special chip and a "magic" tone stack to achieve a sound few have been able to replicate. Electro-Harmonix themselves have joined the fray with a reissue version of their original Big Muff Pi, which nowdays can be purchased new for usually around USD 80.

Songs in which the Big Muff is used

"Touch Me I'm Sick" - Mudhoney (as well as many other Mudhoney songs. It is often used by guitarist Steve Turner)
"Hummer" - Smashing Pumpkins
"Dead Leaves and The Dirty Ground", "Aluminum" - The White Stripes
"(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth" - Metallica
"Lithium" - Nirvana (difficult to hear, but was used according to Butch Vig who produced the album)
"Breed" - Nirvana (Very easy to hear, right after the guitar starts.)
"Bullet the Blue Sky" - U2
Guitar solo on "Comfortably Numb" and riff to "In The Flesh" - Pink Floyd. The sustain dial is turned down, but David Gilmour avers that it was used.
"Big Muff" - Depeche Mode (instrumental named after the device)
"Two Little Pigs" - The Cows (used on a bass guitar)
"Mieux: De Corrosion" - Sonic Youth (Russian Sovtek version, kicks in halfway through the song)
"Sacrifice" ("Sex Bomb Baby" version) - Flipper (The pedal is used on a bass guitar and routed through the auxiliary input instead of the regular input. This method will create a much rawer tone.)