NYC Reissue - Woofy, glorious, cheap, humongous, even more humongous pine box. Worked the best with an overdrive (TS or otherwise) in front of it - cut through that way, despite the horrendous feedback that would ensue. Not a heck of a lot of volume on tap, pretty much fuzz or no fuzz (as in, no middle ground). Couldn't figure out why the goddamn thing had a tone knob as most of its settings didn't seem usable to me. All that aside, loved this thick woolly box.
Tone Wicker - Didn't much care for this one. Shrill, with little girth IMO. Had high hopes, as it has a following on Harmony Central, but alas - not my thing. I think I remember the tone-bypass setting sounding better, but still not something I was into.
Bass Big Muff - Apparently based on the Sovtek greenies, this one I liked quite a bit, though I only used it on guitar. It's not...all that muff-like, to my ears - kind of a smooth-ish distortion. The "dry" and "bass boost" options were cool, I always had it on "bass boost" mode. For $50 used, I thought this was a great distortion.
Sovtek Green Russian, bubble font - Man, this thing sounded sweet, definitely the sound of my youth - you know, GRUNGE. Big and boomy, but less woolly than the NYC ri - this is more a distortion than a fuzz as well (which explains the BBM's sound, supposedly being based on this). This one didn't need ANY knobs - none of them were particularly effective. Bypass was fucking awful, as is well-documented, had it in a TB-loop. Sweet switch aesthetically, though. Also weighed a ton. GREAT distortion pedal that I've yet to hear convincingly replicated, though again - when I think Big Muff, I don't really think this sound, could've been named something else entirely.
Creepy Fingers Custom Triangle - I kind of thought this was "the one" for a bit, but it was just wild honeymoon-sex, I guess. Struck me as a cross between my Mayo and the better Ernie I had - volume, two interactive tone controls (think a split between frequency ranges - one low, one high) and sustain knobs. Usually maxed everything out then attenuated to taste. Had the 2n5133 transistors, but not in all positions (I don't think). Sound and build quality were exceptional as with all Creepy Fingers pedals, but in the end, its character wasn't my taste. Great classic muff tones in there with added tweakability.
Ronsound Hairpie Classic - I'm a big fan of the Hairpies, especially for the money. I hear Ron's kind of MIA at the moment, which sucks, but he makes some neat muffs. The Classic was the smoothest of the bunch, rich harmonics, little punch - I had two, they sounded the same. One had the mid-switch, which gives you traditional scooped, flat or boosted mids. When you get into flat/boosted territory, the pedal takes on a bit more distortion character (which is more apparent in the other Hairpies than the Classic). I would have liked to have a liiiittle more volume on tap, but I chocked that up to vintage specs.
Ronsound Hairpie 75 - This is the Hairpie I like the best - killer balance of fuzz and distortion elements, punchier and less laid-back than the classic, but not anywhere near as straight distortion-y as something like the Sovtek. Think J. Mascis. Same minor quip about the output volume, but the sound was awesome. This one used the 2n5133 transistors all around.
Ronsound Hairpie 81 - Rather similar to the 75, but with some of the familiar NYC ri WOOF mixed in for good measure. I guess that makes sense, as it's the same circuit that the NYC ri is based on, I think (third generation). This was the sort of thing that I would have liked more if I hadn't heard the 75, to which this kind of paled, IMO. Still pretty good.
Skreddy Zero (?) - Pretty sure this is muff-based, though I don't remember anything on the Skreddy site saying that explicitly. I really like this thing - tons of volume on tap, tons of low-end (I mean TONS, more than any muff I've used aside from the Swollen Pickle types), the ability to PALM MUTE (I KNOW RITE?!?), etc. etc. I was playing with the ? Lady a bunch, then plugged the Zero back in - the character of the fuzz IS kind of harsh (someone on HC described it as sounding similar to a Rat with the filter control minimized), but I do like it. Most "metal" muff I've used, for sure. If it's a muff.
Skreddy ? Lady - Got this fairly recently, very impressed. I read someone describe this as similar to the Ernie, but with more hair (or they might have said same as the Ernie, with different transistors, can't remember). I think that's fair, though the frequency response seems a tad different from a couple of the Ernies I had. Great Ram's Head-style tone, thick low-end, definitely still a "fuzz," rather than a "distortion." I haven't spent enough time with it to get really in-depth, but I do think very highly of it.
Skreddy Ernie - I've had three of these.
Every time I thought I didn't need one and sold it, I immediately wished I had it, only to let it collect dust when I replaced it. Ughhh. The first one I had, I didn't like very much - felt...disappointing, difficult to articulate how. The second two were an improvement. Smooth, thick (though not quite as thick as the ? Lady) with tons of personality and usable ranges in the tone and sustain knobs. I like the muffs I use to have a bit more hair on 'em, but this thing definitely has its applications.Skreddy Mayo - So far, this is "the one." Vintage vibe, great balance (like a fine longsword....
), and, coincidentally, it sounds kind of like the fuzztones on Smashing Pumpkins records. Sounds REALLY good with an overdrive in front of it to give it that "cutting" quality, has a bit of that that vaccuum cleaner quality to it, if you know what I mean. Probably the best muff I've come across thusfar.Skreddy Cognitive Dissonance Mk II - Bleh, did not like. Don't even know where to begin. Just like...way more feeble than I was expecting - in terms of output, fuzz character, etc. Yeah. Don't know.
Skreddy Top Fuel - This one was interesting. LOTS of mids, aggressive fuzzy distortion. Wasn't for me, but I could see why people would be really into it. Another muff variant that's sort of been turned into something completely different. Kind of a specific flavor.
Euthymia ICBM - "Integrated circuit big muff," a clone of the fourth (?) generation that used an IC chip. This is the most Smashing Pumpkins-esque muff I've used - sounds like "Quiet" in a box, or very close to it with my gear (I usually use clean Fender amps). More vaccuum cleaner-y than the Mayo. Very loud, kind of unforgiving and stiff compared to other muffs. Less harmonic content than is typical, I'd say. Still, decent flavor, stands on its own.
Way Huge Swollen Pickle MkII - Big scoop! Huge lows, grating highs, and lots of negative space in-between unless you dial some mids in. I didn't really care for the clipping - it was harsh, couldn't really dial all the harshness out using the internal trimmers, though I came close a couple times. This one was TOO tweakable for me - five knobs on the face, two internal trimmers that altered the sound pretty drastically - had trouble replicating sounds I liked when I found them. Kind of a cool box, but the appeal didn't last too long for me.
Black Pearl Distortion I'll do this later.
Musket side of a Blackout Dual Fuzz - ultra-modern high-ish gain muff. I hear it's Civil War-like..? I liked it alright. Controls like the mids knob, pre-gain knob, and focus knob could have existed as switches for me; I would turn it up or down until I heard a difference, then there wasn't much change between that point and the maximum or minimum. I liked the way it would sound with a clean boost after it, wasn't really my thing otherwise - I think mostly because it was so modern-sounding.
Foxrox Brown Muff Zimcard - Whoa, what an awesome surprise! This thing is RAUNCHY - internal trimpot for treble response, cool voicing switch when you stick it in the B slot - voicings 1 and 2 are the most usable, but the rest of them offer cool cocked-wah filter kinds of sounds. There's an IC on the board, don't really know what kind of muff it is, but man - it sounds REALLY GOOD. FWIW, I also got the T+ (distortion) card, and it's best RAT-ish circuit I've ever heard, hands down.
I may have had more, but they're escaping me at the moment. Enjoy!
I vote for more of these..
