THE BIG MUFF π - A HISTORY OF ALL VERSIONS
Click on any Big Muff in the image below to go directly to that section
RE-BRANDING FUZZRITES, the GUILD FOXEY LADY and the ELECTRO-HARMONIX AXIS
1967 to 1968
Utilizing his electrical engineering skills, Mike Matthews worked on several unique but unsuccessful inventions on the side during his time at IBM. His big break came when he was given a contract to make a new version of the Guild two-transistor pedal called the Foxey Lady. Guild, based in Rhode Island at the time, was primarily a large guitar maker but they also had other related products made under their brand name. It was Guild founder Al Drunge's idea to name the pedal the Foxey Lady, capitalizing on the popularity of Jimi Hendrix's fuzz tone, which had become hugely popular at the time. Mosrite, another guitar company, had been making the Foxey Lady pedals for Guild. This version of the Foxey Lady was actually the same fuzz pedal as Mosrite's own Ed Sanner designed FUZZrite pedal, re-branded and re-boxed. Mosrite made a small quantity of these until they went bankrupt, then at a NAMM show around 1967 Guild contracted Mike Matthews to produce a new version.
Matthew's version of the Foxey Lady was designed by a New York audio and amp repairman William (Bill) Berko in his shop, ABCO Sound, on 48th Street. Bill designed the pedal and partnered with Matthews to get it made, then left unexpectedly. Matthews continued solo, with $1000 of his own money, and had the pedal manufactured for him by Aul Instruments. This extremely rare version of the Foxey-Lady was housed in a simple, folded sheet metal box, with two control knobs. Everyone was still trying to capitalize on the fuzz tone craze at this time, and Guild had good success distributing the pedal. Soon Matthews founded his own New York company, Electro-Harmonix (E-H), in October 1968, and began making Foxey Lady pedals himself. This third version of the two-knob Foxey Lady was housed in a thinner box with more a more stylish Foxey Lady font. E-H also marketed this exact same Bill Berko designed pedal under the name Axis Fuzztone. It was the same pedal, just different graphics and knobs, and the box was the same size as the one that would later become the first Big Muff. The Axis name was inspired by Hendrix, taken from his 1967 Axis:Bold As Love album title. It is rumored that Jimi owned one of these in 1968, though it is unknown if he ever recorded with one. These pedals are very rare as I have been told under 3000 of both versions were made, with the Axis being the rarer of the two. They shipped in a white corrugated cardboard box.
All of these pedals operated with similar two transistor circuits. The E-H Axis/Foxey Lady FUZZ knob was actually a blend knob that allowed you to mix the fuzz tone from one transistor to the fuzz tone from the other. This is also similar to how the FUZZrite/Guild Foxey Lady operated.
Shown above, left to right - The Mosrite FUZZrite, which was re-branded as Foxey Lady for Guild around 1967, and the very rare Mike Matthews version made by Aul Instruments shortly thereafter
Shown above - The Electro-Harmonix made version of the Foxey Lady from 1968
Shown above (top row)- Two versions of the Electro-Harmonix made Axis fuzz pedal, a rebranding of the Foxey Lady pedal E-H made for Guild, with slightly different knobs and circuit board layout. Circa 1968.
Shown above - The Axis fuzz knobs, which were identical to the knobs used for the first Big Muffs, and the three knob Foxey Lady pedal that would come in 1969 and 1970
CONTINUE - BACK TO THE HISTORY OF THE BIG MUFF PART 1 (Vintage USA)
1970
The Electro-Harmonix Axis pedal was discontinued around 1969 with the introduction of the new four transistor V1 Big Muff. However, the Foxey Lady pedal, which was an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) version of the two knob Axis, was still being sold by the Guild Guitar Company. Electro-Harmonix simply changed the graphics of the new V1 Big Muff to the Foxey Lady graphics and continued production as a three-knob version for Guild. Essentially, as you can see in the photos below, this was the exact same pedal as the V1 Triangle Big Muff, only repackaged for the Guild OEM version. The component values changed from unit to unit just like the E-H version. Many of the same knob types used for the V1 Big Muff are also seen on the Foxey version.
Shown above - Foxey Lady pedals, circa 1970, showing the various knob types used, the same as the V1 Triangle Big Muff. Essentially these were rebranded V1 "triangle" Big Muffs.
Shown above - A mint Foxey Lady pedal (center knob has been replaced), the same as a first edition V1 Big Muff. Note the extreme knob height, due to extra long posts used on some production Foxey Ladys and V1 Triangle Big Muffs. A rubber skid pad covered the bottom.
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Shown above - The two pcb board colors commonly seen in Foxey Lady Triangle Big Muffs. Note that the trace pattern on the example in the middle differs slightly from the one to the right. Since these are the exact same pcb as the V1 Triangle Big Muff, both of these pcb versions are also found in that pedal
Circa 1971
A pedal with a circuit very similar to the Big Muff was also made around this time, the Jordan Creator. It was manufactured by Jordan, maker of the popular Boss Tone, a guitar pedal that plugged directly into the guitar input jack, similar to early E-H pedals. The Creator was a big die cast foot pedal that resembled a wah. It had a Big Muff four stage transistor circuit with different values for several of the components. The sound was more overdriven and heavier than a Triangle Big Muff. The creator was first manufactured around 1971, a year after the first V1 Triangle Big muff was manufactured, so it is likely the Creator was the first clone of the Big Muff. (Thanks to Chris Martin for photos and additional information)
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Shown above - A Jordan Creator with pots dated 1971 with a circuit that closely resembles the four stage Big Muff (Thanks to Chris for the photos)
THE SUPA TONEBENDER
Circa 1973
Around 1973 another four-transistor Muff-like pedal hit the market, the Colorsound Supa Tonebender, made by Sola Sound of Britain. The original Tonebender that preceeded the Supa was a three-transistor fuzz circuit. The Supa Tonebender changed to a familiar four stage, four-transistor circuit. This was the second clone of the Big Muff circuit, though sonically it sounds very different due to one minor change - the removal of the two clipping diodes in the first gain stage. This made for a very LOUD Muff. Brighter sounding and not as compressed as the Big Muff. The Supa was made famous by Steve Hackett of Genesis. The later Colorsound Jumbo Tonebender, produced around 1974, was also based on the Big Muff circuit.
Shown above - A Colorsound Supa Tonebender, made by Sola Sound circa 1973, with a very familiar four stage circuit board that closely resembles the V1 Triangle Big Muff
CONTINUE - BACK TO THE HISTORY OF THE BIG MUFF PART 1 (Vintage USA)
MARVELTONE, WABASH, LYLE, AND EVEN MORE FOXEY LADY OEM BIG MUFFS
Circa 1973-1975
The V1 triangle knob Big Muff was changed around 1973 to a larger version with the three knobs mounted in a row, the V2 "Ram's Head" version. Likewise, the triangle knob Foxey Lady OEM (original equipment manufacturer) version made by Electro-Harmonix for Guild was changed to the new V2 configuration. This would be, I beleive, the fifth incarnation of the Foxey Lady for Guild! Essentially, as you can see in the photos, this is the exact same pedal as the V2 Big Muff, only re-packaged for the OEM version. The Foxey Lady was produced alongside the V2 up until the middle of the 1970s.
In the mid 1970s Electro-Harmonix also made OEM versions of the V2 for the Marveltone,Wabash, and Lyle brands, pictured below. Marveltone was a brand owned by Targ & Dinner Music Company, a large wholesale distributor of music instruments based in Chicago in the 1970s. Targ & Dinner guitars and other instruments were made in the USA starting the 1920s, but around the time this version of the V2 was made, the Marveltone Distortion Sustainer, they were importing almost everything from Japan. Targ and Dinner's building was located on Wabash Avenue, a famous music street in Chicago. Another large music instrument retailer and distributor located on the same street was David Wexler & Co. They also had an OEM version V2 Big Muff made, the Wabash Distortion Sustainer, named after their street address. It is interesting that both versions were made for competing companies. Knobs on some of the Marveltone V2 Muffs match the knobs seen on some "violet" V2 Muffs, and the blue ink color used on the Wabash V2 also matches the blue ink color used on some V2 Big Muffs from around the same time.
The Lyle Distortion Sustainer version of the V2 is very rare. It was distributed by the L.D. Heater Music Company, the only American distributor of Lyle Guitars, based in Portland, Oregon USA in the 1970s. The Lyle brand was owned by the Japanese Aria company , who primarily made clones of Gibson and Fender USA guitar models. L.D. Heater was owned by Norlin, which also owned Gibson, Epiphone, Ampeg, and several other related companies. E-H made this version of the V2 for L.D. Heater to distribute under the Lyle name in the mid 1970s, model #L600. The knobs used and the violet ink color are the same seen on some V2 Big Muffs with violet/purple graphics that were made around the same time. The word OFF is also missing from the graphics, similar to many V2 Muffs made around this time. This OEM version is also unique in that the TONE and SUSTAIN knobs are swapped in opposite positions from the other OEM V2 Muffs.
Shown above - The Marveltone Distortion Sustainer, an OEM version of the V2 Big Muff made for Targ & Dinner of Chicago by Electro-Harmonix. Some of the V2 Big Muffs at the time were made with these same "reactor tower" knobs, as well as many other E-H pedals circa 1975.
Shown above (left to right) - The Foxey Lady OEM versions of the V2 Big muff made for Guild by Electro-Harmonix circa 1973, with rubber skid pad on bottom. The odd knobs on the Muff shown in the middle are likely after market replacements. Example in the right is from around 1974 or 1975, after the skid pad was changed to four rubber feet
Shown above - The Wabash Distortion Sustainer, an OEM version of the V2 Big muff made for David Wexler & Co of Chicago, Illinois by Electro-Harmonix. Some of the V2 Big Muffs at the time were made with this same ink color.
Shown above - The Lyle Distortion Sustainer, an OEM version of the V2 Big Muff made for L.D. Heater Music Co. of Portland, Oregon by Electro-Harmonix. Some of the V2 Big Muffs at the time were made with these same knobs and ink color. Note the word OFF is missing from the graphics, similar to some "violet" V2 Muffs.
Shown above - Another example of the Lyle Distortion Sustainer with one replacement knob and true bypass switch modification.
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Shown above (left to right) - Daka-Ware knobs Electro-Harmonix typically used on V2 and V3 Big Muffs, and the Foxey Lady OEM version, manufactured by Davies Molding of Chicago. "Reactor tower" shaped silver knobs were also used in the mid 70's on V2 Big Muffs, Marveltone and Lyle OEM versions, as well as many other E-H pedals. Some of these knobs had indicator lines on top (shown above), some with indicator dots, and some had blank tops
CONTINUE - BACK TO THE HISTORY OF THE BIG MUFF PART 1 (Vintage USA)
THE MOGWAI BIG MUFF
Circa 2001
The Scottish band Mogwai were big users of Electro Harmonix pedals. They contracted E-H to make a limited edition Big Muff for them with custom Mogwai graphics. All the info I have found on this pedal indicates it is simply a stock USA V9 reissue Big Muff with special graphics, but some sources on the web say it has a "slightly more extreme sound", indicating the circuit has been altered for this version. Info from the band indicates they always used the stock product however, so I don't know how much truth there is to that. The knobs used were the Davies Molding Daka-Ware style reissue knobs with white indicator line, used on the V9 Big Muff in 2000. The Mogwai shipped in the wood crate used for those early Big Muff reissues, with the same custom Mogwai graphics as used on the pedal. Supposedly only 100 of these were made for promotional purposes, making it extremely rare.
Shown above - The Mogwai Big Muff, a limited edition special order of the USA reissue Big Muff by the Scottish band Mogwai (thanks to Jorg for the left pic)
HISTORY OF THE BIG MUFF PART 2 (Russian)
HISTORY OF THE BIG MUFF PART 3 (modern USA)
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