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Hey guys I wanted to open a discussion on what people thought on the different types of muffs.
My first thing I was wondering was, which one is the best sounding for thick distorted heavy bass guitar. Some people say the triangle retains alot of low end, so that would be better for bass I would think. But I haven't tried a triangle muff yet so I can't say. Anyone have any actual experience with a triangle fuzz at all? Cheers

I like the Wren and Cuff The White Elk. Based on a Japanese copy of the original triangle. Haven't tried it yet on bass though.

For bass, I'd go russian-voiced. I've had the W&C Box of War, the EFE Dope Priest (russian version with orange lettering, most of them have white letters and are based on a ram head I think?) and the fredric green russian. Of those, the Dope Priest was probably best for bass, just a massive, thunderous low end, but all are good.

You should also look at a Fuzz War/Apocalypse for bass. Great bass fuzzes.

I always confuse the different types, but here's what I use and love on bass:

EFE Dope Priest is my favourite. So what he ^^ said: It's just hUUUge and massive! There are different types, you would want the #7, the blurp goes like this:

Particularity tailored upon several choice Black Russian 7D Big Muff's but generally speaking DP-01 #7 is a broad snap shot of certain choice features from the Sovtek era Big Muffs. #7 is the most ample of the DP-01 types in low frequency response and the most refined in gain structure. The lows are dark and stout with a very apparent midrange scoop. The high-end is healthy but not brittle or weak that still preserves an adequate backbone and musical artifacts even at higher treble settings. #7 is the only DP-01 to feature a logarithmic taper on the level control. This is an important feature for the Russian circuit as it adds a great deal of control over tuning tonal shapes and adds smoothness to the distortion at lower volume settings. #7 is an ideal fuzz tone for bass instruments and players requiring extended response in the lower registers. #7 features four gain selected BC547B silicon transistors and sports a high brightness red LED.'

Sanford and Sonny Bluebeard: GGG with extra sauce? Great bass fuzz for sure, more aggressive than the Dope Priest. Take out the tone stack and it cuts through anything.

Earthbound Audio BEAST: great, very versatile bass fuzz, a hint of oscillation adds quite some beef to an already heavy fuzz. Glorious!

D.o.s. fuzz or bust.

Green russian type really slays on Bass and offers a super thick sound on guitar. Something about that circuit lets the natural low end bleed through on top of the thick fuzz.

I believe the Rams head is what my 71 Supercollider is based on. I compared it with a buddies Rams head clone and it was damn close. Still sounds good on bass, and very smooth on guitar.

The Black Russian Muff I had was pretty cool. Never tried it on bass but for guitar it was pretty cool. It was so long ago I can't really put into words what I liked about it, but if I came across a cheap priced one I would snatch it up again.

NYC Big Muff is just instant buzz saw, just listen to Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground by The White Stripes and that about sums it up. It can accomplish other sounds but it really excels at being aggressive.

Those are my impressions anyway, I had a buddy who built muff cloes for fun one month and got to sample each and that helped me get the hang of what each is best at.

I think the only type I haven't tried is the Ram's head version. BAT Lstr, Sovtek, WH Swollen Pickle, early '70s EHX BMP, '70s Maxon D&S, Musket,...I think that about covers all non-Ram's head muff sounds, no?

Anyway, the LSTR and Sovtek are by far my least favorite, but they slay on bass. Out of the ones I had though, I'd pick the Musket for a versatile high gain that's good for bass, guitar, gilmour, stoner, pumpkins,...The Maxon would be a close second. Straight forward with three controls, a little bit extra gain and low end than a ehx muff (to my ears at least), and a much more useable sweep on the tone control (opposed to the classic BMP tone stack).

The Pharaoh and Supercollider get a lof love from muff affectionados, but they're supposedly not as gainy and as the Musketn which rules em out for me.

The one muff-like pedlol I might want to try one day: Dwarfcraft Baby Thundaa.

Civil War sounds the best on bass IMO. The Russians are a second close place.

That being said. The best muffs I've tried for bass were

Dan W Civil War
Wren and Cuff Box of War
Dwarfcraft Eau Claire Thunder or Baby Thunda


I've have tried a boat load and those are my favorites.

I want to try a Beast again, but haven't done so. Even though I've owned one like 4 times. LOL.

Muffs sound different based on amps, type of bass (active or passive) and what else you feed them.

I prefer simple ones that just start off with good tone versus the ones that have a hundred options to tweak.

the ones I've tried on bass are the Tomkat Violet Muffer, the Cog Rogue One and the Wren Tall Font Russian. By far the best was the Tall Font Russian. The Tomkat got obliterated in a mix, the Cog just sounded sterile and wrong even with the blend. The TFR has balls, heft, weight coupled with a very harmonically rich and juicy fuzz tone. The only thing I don't like about Muffs on bass in general is you lose note definition and attack, but I guess that's kind of what people want them for....a sludgy doom fest holding down the bottom.

You do definitely lose a ton of definition on bass with muffs for sure. That's why I dig the Civil Wars more. They are almost like a distortion versus a regular mud filled muff. You can dial in as much definition as you want. Wren and Cuff slays with muffs overall IMO. They just do it right.

bigbadbeach wrote:Hey guys I wanted to open a discussion on what people thought on the different types of muffs.
My first thing I was wondering was, which one is the best sounding for thick distorted heavy bass guitar. Some people say the triangle retains alot of low end, so that would be better for bass I would think. But I haven't tried a triangle muff yet so I can't say. Anyone have any actual experience with a triangle fuzz at all? Cheers

I own a later triangle (I wanna say '72), it is a FS3700 PNP version instead of the more usual NPN variant - which could very well indicate it is a poor example of a *common* character of the generation. It does not share temperament with other big muff pedals I've played...

Over all fuzz intensity is quite mild. It does not really get in the way of low frequencies, but mid range euphonics is really it's strong point.

Every other big muff I've used has a brute force behind the effect that my particular triangle lacks. Though again, I've read they're all over the map so I might have an odd-ball.

jwar wrote:I prefer simple ones that just start off with good tone versus the ones that have a hundred options to tweak.

I agree and I feel I must say, I can't stand mids knobs. Possibly the least helpful thing EQD ever did was convincing half the guitar-playing world that muffs need one.

http://www.ebay.com/usr/ralph-campbell
I liked this guys muff.

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.

I haven't tried anything on bass other than the Bass Muff, which is based in the green Russian. But for guitar, anything Rams Head, shit is..... yummy yummy yummy!