Big Muff Types, Russian, Triangle, Rams

[Mosfed]

I've gone through a pretty wide range of muffs and muff clones over the years. I use them exclusively on bass so YMMV.

As far as originals, I have or have owned a Civil War, a Tall Font, a Black Russian, a Bubblefont, an OP-amp late 70s one (smashing pumpkins style) and a few of the modern crappy ones.

Clones wise I have Or have owned a Johnk Civil War, a couple COG Grand Tarkins V1 and V2, a Broughton Pi (clone of the bubblefont above with added features like a buffer buster and a mids dial), a SGFX Imperial and a few others over the years.

At home, my favorite was always the Bubble Font - it had the most crushing low end of any muff I had heard. But it was kinda scooped so it would completely disappear in the mix. You really need to have mids in a fuzz for it to be heard on bass in the mix.

So in the mix, I prefer the Civil War muffs as they have lots of mids.

If I were to buy a single muff today, I would either buy the COG Grand Tarkin or the Broughton Pi. THe Stomp Under Foot Civil Unrest would another great choice.

[dunbine]

Is the Earthbound Audio Beast no longer in production? I couldn't find one for sale. Supercollider with 2 oscillators sounds like a super happy fun time.

Maybe not retired, just sold out right now? There's one on reverb:

https://reverb.com/item/6306141-earthbo ... and-orange

[codetocontra]

I just saw that.

[Iommic Pope]

I just got a badascan
Get a badascan.

[Boxbie]

I've owned or own most of the Russians (tfr, civil war, bubble, black, and in multiples!) and lots of clones, and I need to point out that they all shelve off the true low bass.

I don't know how bass players put up with it.

So without further ado, the best option for bass in my experience, is the Bass Big Muff.

It has the dry through which is fantastic. They're cheap, they sound really close to the tfr.

Fuck yeah, get on it! Future classiks!

[chuckjaywalk]

Seriously, my favorites are IC variants: Little Big Muff and Deluxe Big Muff. The LBM is awesome and nasty.

[mathias]

I've got a Mr Wire Pumpkin Butter, which is an IC Muff with simple controls, and it is very different. It rips, in its own way.

[coupleonapkins]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCbzKsmTsEk[/youtube]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCbzKsmTsEk

[mathias]

Get you a Muff that can do both.

[systemofameow]

I've used the V8 Black Russians on bass before and they sound pretty great. It's a very bass heavy circuit in general, so it lets a good amount of your signal through.

Not really a fan of the NYC muffs for bass though, they kinda mess up that whole low end rumble thing and make you disappear in the mix, imo.

I would really like to try an Eau Claire Thunder and the Magick Fuzz, they seem like really nice muff variants.

[misterstomach]

My favorite actual muffs are the civil war/tall font. Same circuit with the normal individual variations among units. I always find for live use I stack some kind of booster in front that can help me get some more mids, although they're among the best muffs for mids already. I also would say a TB loop is needed if it's not on all the time. The bypass is atrocious. The bass big muff is actually pretty good for bass, but it doesn't cut it for guitar for me.

As far as muff based pedals, I love my badascan, and I'm a big fan of the pharaoh and the supercollider. I didn't find much use in the extra shit on the beast. And I'm baffled by comments about the supercollider being short on gain. It's massive and heavy as fuck.

[retinal orbita]

I’m currently bass muffing a W&C Tall Font Russian and flipping between my Pharoah and an Op Amp NYC. The op amp is my favourite but it’s somewhat unpredictable - the tone bypass switch needs to be replaced I think and I can’t trust it anymore as the last few jams I’ve been to I’ve had to take it off my board as it stopped passing signal. The Op Amp gets the exact bass tone I like so I’m debating taking it to someone to clean it up.

I like the Pharaoh but I don’t love it and I’m sort of debating on a Box of War or an Eye See Pi. Or maybe a Supercollider?

[benjuro]

And I'm baffled by comments about the supercollider being short on gain. It's massive and heavy as fuck.

It IS massive and heavy as fuck, but dudes looking for that silly high-gain sizzle might be disappointed. That being said, it is fantastic at what it does and excellent for bass.

[JereFuzz]

No love for the tone wicker muff? that thing is awesome!

[Lurker13]

No love for the tone wicker muff? that thing is awesome!

I have one, and I agree about its awesomeness.