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VINTAGE BIG MUFF CLONES AND BOUTIQUE BIG MUFF BASED PEDALS
PETE CORNISH G-2........PETE CORNISH P-1........PETE CORNISH P-2
SKREDDY PINK FLESH...........SKREDDY PIG MINE
STOMP UNDER FOOT CWM - Cival War Muff ...........STOMP UNDER FOOT VRH - Violet Ram's Head .......STOMP UNDER FOOT - Op-Amp Fuzz
B.Y.O.C. Large Beaver Vintage Big Muff Clones
Want to know how to create custom pedal graphics? Look here
BYOC Large Beaver- One of the most inexpensive vintage Big Muff clones. Comes as a kit from BYOC (Build Your Own Clone) Effects with all parts that you assemble yourself, or it can be bought pre-built. Includes parts to build both a Ram's Head or Traingle version. The Triangle Beaver has slightly more sustain and sounds smoother than the Ram's Head, and the Ram's Head has a slightly darker scooped mids tone, and slightly more bottom end and dirt. I like the Triangle spec version best, but in some settings the two pedals sound almost identical. The Beaver includes a four position knob that lets you use the stock scooped mids Big Muff setting, and two different mids boost settings. The mids boost is critical for some Muff users who cannot seem to get the stock mids scooped tone to work in their band mix. A fourth position lets you completely bypass the tone circuit, the same "tone bypass" feature found on some the the late 1970s Big Muffs and the Tone Wicker Muff. This EQ selection makes for a very usefull Big Muff. I wish more Muff clones had this feature.
Do these sound like clones of the real thing? That's very subjective since the real V1 and V2 Big Muffs varied in components values and types, and most importantly, varied in sound quite a lot from unit to unit. These have a similar sound to vintage Big Muffs, but they have a more modern sound when I compared them to examples of real vintage Big Muffs I own. This is due to the fact that they use modern components, which will not give quite the same sound as the older pedals. The capacitors and resistors used have more effect on the tone than transistors, but I have been asked what tranys BYOC used and how they compared. BYOC used 2n5088, then 2n5133 were used briefly around 2007, then BC239 were used as of the time of this review. Those won't have quite the same effect on the sound as the older FS36999, 2n5133, SPT87103, or FS3700 transistors used in the originals. Even though they do not sound quite like any vintage specimen I have ever played, they do sound good, and give a very different tone range than modern Electro-Harmonix Big Muffs.
I was asked how they compare to high end Pete Cornish Big Muff clones. In the standard scooped mids position (first position on the knob), with the sustain around 75% or over, the RH spec Beaver sounds very similar to a Pete Cornish P-1. In mids boost position 1 (second position on the knob), with the sustain around 75% or over, the RH spec Beaver sounds practically identical to a Pete Cornish P-2. There are other differences though. See my P-1 and P-2 reviews below.
The BYOC comes in an unfinished enclosure (pictured above are photos of each version that I have customized with Pink Floyd graphics). I highly recommend this pedal for anyone who wants something semi-vintage sounding without paying the price for a vintage pedal. These get very close to the sound of a many typical V1 or V2 vintage Big Muffs, but they do lack the richness in tone from some of the better vintage examples I have played. Still, these sound very nice considering they are made with common parts. I paid about $130 for one in 2006, pre-assembled.
Large Beaver Triangle sound clip - David Gilmour on an Island solo
Large Beaver Triangle sound clip - EQ position 1 - Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb solo. Fender Strat with Boss CE-2 chorus and TC Nova delay into a Twin Reverb.
Here are clips comparing the Beaver to some other similar Muff clones. Strat with Seymour Duncan SSL-5 bridge pickup into a clean Fender Twin Reverb. Pedal settings shown below.
Comparison Demo 1 - Stomp CWM, BYOC Large Beaver Ram's Head spec, AA Green Russian clone
Comparison Demo 2 - Stomp CWM, BYOC Large Beaver Ram;s Head spec, AA Green Russian clone
Review written in 2008. Updated in 2009 and 2010.
Pete Cornish G-2 - A modified version of the Big Muff circuit with germanium and silicon components, and a very good input and output buffer made by Pete Cornish. A very rare, very expensive, but very good distortion pedal. Built for hard use on the road. It has a very warm, Marshall-like distortion tone. Not chunky and fat like a Big Muff, but more tame and sweet sounding, with great harmonics. Sort of a mix between a Big Muff and a Fuzz Face. The gain level is slightly less than a Big Muff - not over the top, but just enough. Here is what Pete told me about the circuit.
"The G-2 was originally created for Lou Reed in the early 90s. Although similar to the generic muff type circuit, I spent some time developing a lower gain circuit and with a new tone circuit. 99% of all distortion effects are some kind of amplifier, with clipping diodes either in shunt mode or as a feedback element. My G-2 is of the latter type using germanium components in addition to the silicon parts used for their consistency." - Pete Cornish in 2010
In other words, a Big Muff with Silicon transistors and Germanium diodes, with an output buffer to boost the output lost by the diodes, and Petes unique tone circuit that makes it sound great at any setting. Pete has really done wonders to the Muff circuit with this, as it sounds nothing like a Big Muff. At low sustain settings it has fuzz face like quality to the tone. With the sustain on full the G-2 is very much like Marshall amp on full volume. With the sustain on very low- around 5-10% - and the tone knob completely clockwise, the G-2 turns into a nice light overdrive pedal. This setting can also be used to boost a Big Muff, adding the G-2's warmth to any Muff tone.
I find this an excellent pedal for most 1970s rock tones that I like, such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and great for the On an Island era David Gilmour tones. It is very quiet even with the gain maxed. Similar to a Tube Driver at full gain, but overall a more usable pedal.
G-2 Sound Clip #1 - Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb solo. Fender Strat with Boss CE-2 chorus and TC Nova delay into a Twin Reverb.
G-2 Sound Clip #4 - Blues melody with sustain at 50%
G-2_Sound Clip #5 - Increasing sustain. Shine on You Crazy Diamond.
G-2 Sound Clip #6 - Increasing sustain. Rhythm
G-2 Sound Clip #7 - Tone pot sweep
G-2 Sound Clip #8 - Lead tone. Sustain at 100% with delay
G-2 Sound Clip #9 - Power chords and rhythm. Sustain at 100%
Review written in 2010
Pete Cornish P-1
Pete Cornish P-1 - A modified clone of the Ram's Head Big Muff, made by Pete Cornish, though Pete does not call what he makes "clones". This is very much a V2 Ram's Head Big Muff however. This pedal is very rare and very expensive. Sort of the Ferrari of Big Muffs. It was originally made for David Gilmour of Pink Floyd around 1976, and called the Precision Fuzz, though Pete later renamed it P-1 to fit in with his subsequent pedal naming nomenclature. According to Pete, he was sent seven Big Muffs from David, of various ages and types, and asked to pick one he thought sounded best to reproduce the sound. Pete was also asked to make these improvements - add power supply de-coupling, input buffers, improve reliability and reduce pcb size, using the best components available at the time. Pete calls his later Muff pedal, the P-2, a superior pedal to this, but I actually like this one better. It all depends on what tone you are looking for. This was a very road worthy and reliable Big Muff that David could use for touring.
The Precision Fuzz/P-1 was built into David Gilmour's Cornish pedal board in 1976 for Pink Floyd's Animlas tour. Pete has been taking orders for the stand alone pedal version since 2006 or so, but since it uses original circuit components manufactured in the 1970s that are no longer made, runs have been very short. The only Muff components that are very hard to find these days are the NOS transistors, so I assume that is why Pete rarely makes these pedals.
The P-1 is a very sweet sounding Ram's Head. It is also very Pete Cornish sounding, in that it has a nice clarity, a thicker sound, but not as bassy as most Ram's Head's. Maybe a hint more mids than usual for a RH. It has some dirt and wildness too it, but it is actually a bit more tame than my favorite RH, though a bit wilder than most average Ram's Heads I have owned. Tone is scooped like a typical RH. Noise level is about average for a RH Muff or clone. Only a few RH Muffs I have played really stood out as exceptional in clarity and tone over the others, and I would put this in that category. Using my favorite and most Gilmourish sounding Ram's Head Muff as a benchmark, this is about 95% the same. For reference, a BYOC Beaver Ram's Head clone is about 85-90% the same with the standard EQ switch setting. The P-1 has a tad more mids and stays fairly bright and clear even when you go to the bass side of the tone knob. Most V2 Muffs go flat and muffled in this area.
The P-1 comes in Pete's standard heavy duty enclosure with pop out 9v battery tray on the side, AC jack, daylight LED, improved power supply, and Pete's buffering system.
Thanks go to Sage from the Gilmour Gear Forum for loaning me his P-1 to review!
P-1 Sound Clip 1 - Comfortably Numb solo #2. P-1, Boss CE-2 chorus and TC Nova delay
P-1 Sound Clip 5 - Tone pot sweep and chords / rhythm demos
P-1 Sound Clip 6 - Leads / solos
P-1 Sound Clip 9 - P-1 demos with CE-5 chorus and Deluxe Electric Mistress
P-1 TONE DEMOS BY FRÉDÉRIC PEYNET - Here are some excellent clips comparing the P-1 to the P-2 tone using an EMG Strat and a BadCat Mini amplifier by Frédérick Peynet (Deck from the Gilmour Gear Forum). Strat with Seymour Duncan SSL-5 bridge pickup, P-1, P-2, CE-2 and BK Butler Tube Driver when needed, and T-Rex Replica delay.
P-1 Sound Clip 10 - Frédérick Peynet P-1 vs. P-2 clips
Review written in 2010
Pete Cornish P-2
Pete Cornish P-2 - A modified clone of the Ram's Head Big Muff with a very good buffer, made by Pete Cornish. Very rare and very expensive pedal, built for hard use on the road. Includes a fifth transistor and other Pete Cornish mods. To my ears, the P-2 is a mix of the better parts of both a V2 Ram's Head Big Muff and a V9 Civil War Big Muff. Pete considers this superior to his P-1. Since this pedal is very similar to the sound of a BYOC Large Beaver Ram's Head Spec switched to mids position 1, I thought I would examine and compare the two.
Noise - Noise level is practically identical. The P-2 is a bit noisier but not by much. Crank the sustain to max and the Beaver is definitely the quietest. That is likely because the buffer in the P-2 adds some gain to an already noisy Muff circuit, which is just noisy by nature. No buffer in the Beaver = less noise. Not a lot of difference here though.
Sound - These pedals do not sound identical, but in the David Gilmour tone range they are pretty darn close when the Beaver is in mids position 1. Here are the differences.
a. The Beaver has a four position EQ knob - scooped, two mids settings, and a tone circuit bypass setting. Beaver wins in the versatility area by a long shot over the P-2.
b. The P-2 has more mids and a slight bit less bottom end than the Beaver when the Beaver is in stock EQ positon. Switch the Beaver to mids position 1 and they are almost identical, but the P-2 still sounds a bit sweeter.
c. In the extreme tone ranges (1 or 10 tone knob positions) the P-2 has more usable sounds than the Beaver does in EQ position 1 or 2.
d. Both clean up about the same at low guitar volumes.
e. When you go brighter on the P-2 tone and max the sustain it is more nasaly sounding than the Beaver , which I like. The Beaver is a bit fatter sounding, like a typical Ram's Head.
f. Clarity of notes and cut through in a band mix is very close, but the P-2 is slightly better in this area than the Beaver Ram's Head. Compared to my Beaver Triangle Muff spec it is about the same.
g. The P2 seems very uniform and consistant in its tone. The Beaver seems to have a bit more wildness to it, more organic.
Buffer - The P-2 has a class A buffer preamp that helps clean up and brighten anything else that comes after it in the signal chain but keeping your signal steady and driving it through other bypassed pedals that follow it in the signal chain. It also means you have to adjust all your gear settings if you don't want everything sounding brighter, but that's not a big deal if it stays on your pedal board. No buffer in the Beaver .
True Bypass - Beaver is, P-2 is not.
Both have a cast aluminum box. Foot switches are about the same. I like the jacks much better on the P-2, but I think both will hold up for a very long time. Pots and knobs are not any better on one or the other. The P-2 circuit is not accessible without going through some hoops to get it open and voiding your warranty, and it is covered in red goop to protect it from moisture damage. But Pete will fix it if it breaks. Beaver is user accessible with schematics online, and releatively easyv easy to replace components. I don't see any big difference in circuit board component quality. Both have standard DC jacks. You have to take the back off the Beaver to change the battery. P-2 has a cool little pop out tray on the side. You don't even have to plug it in. Just drop it in the tray and close it.
The P-2 takes up about 4x the space on a pedal board as the BYOC and costs 4 to 8 times as much as the BYOC. The P-2 is sort of the Ferrari of Big Muffs, so you are paying for the rugged enclosure, pcb build quality, better daylight LED, improved power supply, and buffering system. This pedal is expensive, but built for the touring musician and will last a very long time. If you are on an extreme budget, the BYOC is the way to go for a very similar tone.
See this page for more P-2 sound clips.
Here are clips comparing the P-2 to some other popular Muff clones. Strat with Seymour Duncan SSL-5 bridge pickup into a clean Fender Twin Reverb. Pedal settings shown below.
Review written in 2009
Skreddy Pink Flesh
Skreddy Pedals Pink Flesh - A modified Big Muff circuit by Marc Ahlfs of Skreddy Pedals that is based on the Triangle Big Muff, but tuned to give you something like David Gilmour's boosted Ram's Head Big Muff tone from Pink Floyd's The Wall era, with an input capacitor to give a more saturated sound like the "Ram's Head" Big Muff. Marc's Muffs have a unique sound you cannot get with a standard Big Muff. They work as stand alone units, where most Muffs used for Gilmour tones sound better when combined with a booster, compression, or EQ. The sound is thick, compressed, and creamy, like a Muff with some overdrive and compression added, with much more midrange than an old Triangle or Ram's Head Muff. The PM has less bottom end, so it does have that BIG sound you get from a vintage Muff by itself, but it works in a band mix really well because it won't get lost with the bass guitar. There is a Flat/Juicy switch that allows for the Pink Flesh to go from "flat mids " to "mid hump" as opposed to typical scooped Big Muff mids. Both settings are much less mids scooped than a vintage Ram's Head or Triangle Big Muff. It has more gain than a typical Muff, but also much more noise at high gain settings. Overall, this is a great pedal for Gilmour tones, but it is more of a mix of the mids heavy Pulse era Gilmour Big Muff tones and the Wall era. More of a modern sound to me, but very unique.
Made with NOS parts, including vintage 2N5033 transistors and one BC109c transistor. Sadly, this pedal is no longer made due to the scarcity of the out of production transistors. You can find them on ebay occasionally, but at rediculously inflated prices. They were selling at $600 and over on ebay at the time I wrote this review in 2006.
Pink Flesh sound clip 1 - David Gilmour on an Island solo
Pink Flesh sound clip - Pink Floyd On The Turning Away solo using the PF settings shown above
Review written in 2006
Skreddy Pig Mine
Skreddy Pedals Pig Mine - Another modified Big Muff circuit by Marc Ahlfs of Skreddy Pedals that was designed to fill the void left in his line when he discontinued the Pink Flesh. Marc says he tuned this one to have the sound of the solos in Dogs, from Pink Floyd's Animals album. It is made from all modern parts but Marc has made it sound amazingly close to the sound of his Pink Flesh. I don't know if it is any closer to David Gilmour's tone on Animals than a vintage Muff is. For the Animals recording sessions David had his BC108 Fuzz Face, a Pete Cornish custom fuzz, and a Colorsound PowerBoost overdrive. These solos were likely the Muff. Gilmour may or may not have used a real Big Muff in the studio for these solos at the time, but since the Cornish custom fuzz was almost an exact clone of a Big Muff circuit it would have been hard to tell them apart. The custom fuzz was later renamed the the P-1, reviewed above. David did use a Ram's Head Big Muff during the Animals tour, along with the Fuzz Face and Colorsound. A stock Big Muff will not give you exactly those same tones heard on the studio recording however. There was modulation from roataing speaker cabintes, artificial double tracking, and other things done in the studio to give those unique solo tones.
The Pig Mine is a great sounding pedal, very similar to the Pink Flesh described above, and very different from a stock Ram's Head Big Muff tone. It is muche brighter, with more mids. Compared to the Pink Flesh, it has more dirt in the tone, and sounds better at mid to low gain than the Pink flesh. Very smooth, articulate and versatile. Very much that unique Skreddy mids-heavy Big Muff sound. It cuts through in a band mix more easily than a vintage mids scooped Big Muff.
The PM is great for Pink Floyd's Animals/The Wall era tones, but also a very versatile pedal for other music. It has more gain than a typical Muff, but it abit noisier too. It does have less less noise at high gain than the Pink Flesh and some of Marc's earlier Muffs. Features a Lean/Fat switch for added mids similar to the Skreddy Pink Flesh, but this switch has more effect than the Pink Flesh switch. The cost was about $195 at the time I purchased mine in 2008.
Pig Mine sound clip 2 - Same as above but with fat switch on.
Pig Mine sound clip 4 - Raw Pig Mine tone at 50% sustain with Fender Strat and Twin reverb amp
Pig Mine sound clip 8 - Punk style chord jamming. Telecaster into a Fender Twin Reverb
Review written in 2008
Skullytone FX Russian Spi - This is a Sovtek based Big Muff with many of the popular Big Muff mods built in and switchable. It is made by Skullytone FX. Mark at Skullytone has been hand making a few of his boutique pedals each week for several years. I remember seeing a photo of the Russian Spi on the web a few years back, and though, what the heck is that thing? I went to look for it again and could not find it, then a few months ago one turned up and ebay, so I snagged it. Turns out it that is how mark sells his pedals. He did not not have a website at the time I wrote this review, but he does have a Myspace page. That's about the only way you can contact him (though if you are interested, email me and I will give you Marks email). His pedals are sold by word of mouth and ebay.
Anyway, the reason I wanted to try this pedal was due to all the switchable mods on this thing, and the fact that it had switchable Germanium and Silicon clipping modes. The goofy graphics and sheer number of toggle switches made me wary that this may just be some junky hack job pedal, but I went for it anyway. Here is a breakdown on the sounds.
STANDARD MODE - Lenin/volume, Marx/treble, Stalin/sustain - Theese are the standard Big Muff controls. It is definitely a Sovtek style big Muff circuit at it's core. I nailed the vintage smooth Civil War Sovtek and crunchy Green Russian Sovtek tones easily with the standard settings. For these tones alone, it is worth the $140 price paid just as an accurate sounding clone of a Sovtek 1990s era Big Muff.
VODKA and USSR toggle switches - These are the clipping mod controls. Up selects Germanium diodes for a warm tone, something you won't find in many of these Big Muff based pedals. In fact, the only other Muff clone I can think of that uses Germanium clippers is the Cornish G-2. Middle position removes the diodes from the circuit, like some of the old Tonebender circuits. Down selects standard Silicon diodes for the stock Big Muff sound. You can independantly switch the two clipping sections to mix and match these options, but I found that either both set on Germanium, or both set on Silicon were the two sounds I liked best. One big negative is the huge volume disparity between the Silicon and Germanium settings, something that is unavoidable due to the nature of these two diode types when using a simple switch setup like this. You have to adjust the pedal volume a lot when using one or the other. It's a huge difference. The Germanium setting is VERY loud. It would involve more components and a higher cost to fix this problem, but I have to point it out because if you are playing live and want to change from song to song, you have to do more than just flip the switches.
SOVIET toggle switch - This is an emitter lift mod, similar to the popular Creamy Dreamer mod. Up is standard Big Muff mode, and down is the emitter lift mode, which gives you a nice gain boost. This works especially well when using the Germanium diode selection. There is middle position that does nothing but kill the signal. Not sure why Mark did not use a two way switch here, as this is a bit annoying.
KGB - The is a tone bypass switch plus a volume boost. Similar to the tone bypass on the old V5 and V6 EHX Big Muff, and the bypass on the EHX Tone Wicker Big Muff, It completely bypasses the tone circuit, so no Big Muff mid hump. Just the full on clipped Big Muff gain section. This sounds absolutely killer when you use the Germanium diode settings and the gain boost from the SOVIET switch. It gives you some abolutely screaming old school, blissful overdriven fuzz! One negative with this switch is it is also a three way, so up or down positions do absolutely nothing. It woud have been better with a simple on off toggle or switch.
The noise level is abut average for a Big Muff. More gain equals more noise, but not bad for a Muff. I compared the Germanium setting to see how close it sounds to the Cornish G-2. Much more Fuzz Face type warmth and more bottom end to the sound than the G-2, but similar. Think a Fuzz Face/Big Muff mix. That's exactly what this setting on the Spi sounds like. Switching one set to Germanium, and one set to Silicon gets really close to the G-2 though, but with more bottom end.
Taking a look under the hood, at first glance it looks a bit messy compared to some other really clean boutique circuit guts on other pedals I own, but there is a lot crammed into this pedal too! The solders all appear to be quite solid and Mark has put heat shrink around all the solder joints that count. Components all appear to be high quality. mark uses Mallory, Sprague, and Wima caps, and metal film resistors. Transistors are 2n5088. True bypass switched. 3 3/4" x 4 3/4" enclosure, with jacks on the top end. The finish and graphics quality are about average. It's acceptable, but the pedal could have used another 3-4 coats of clear to hide the edges of the graphic transfers. The graphics themselves - I love the classic Russian Muff green color and the hammer/sickle/star, but honestly, I don't care for the Russian labels under the controls. I would have rather had proper labels for the individual functions. Looking at Marks other pedal graphics, this seems to be his style though. Some are pretty galring and out there. The pedal does not have space for a battery, but runs on a standard 9v Boss type adaptor. I'm not using it, but a nice feature Mark also included is an extra switch that controls a built in bypass loop, with in/out jacks on the bottom end. Not all the Russian Spis have this, and some of the Spis I have seen Mark selling on ebay have slightly different mod controls than mine.
Overall, I was very impressed with the sound quality and range of tones I was able to get out of this. Considering it was costs around $140, and many other boutique Big Muff pedals with less features are much higher, this is a bargain.
Review written July 2010
Stomp Under Foot CWM (Civil War Muff)
Stomp Under Foot CWM "Civil War" Big Muff clone - As this is the only clone of the CW version I have seen out there it hard to say it's the best, but I don't know how you could get much closer to the real thing. If you need a smaller and more road worthy CW Muff than your Sovtek, or if you don't have a CW yet, this is definitely the one to get. Matt's prices are probably the best out there for a Muff clone too. Right in line with the cost of a pre-assembled BYOC Large Beaver. Where the BYOC is THE budget Muff clone for the Animals/Wall/Final Cut tones, this is your Pulse era Muff clone. When I ordered this pedal Matt at Stomp Under Foot asked if I wanted his modded version or just the straight clone version. I wanted his standard unit, which had the mod. It's a tone section mod, with a resistor/capacitor combo for a better sweep of low to high - giving more range to the tone knob. This won't affect the tone in the Gilmour range, which is what I wanted to demo.
So how does it compare to the real Sovtek Civil War Big Muff? Pretty darn close! I have three slightly different CW Muffs. I picked the most Gilmourish sounding one to compare the Stomp version against in the clips below. In the noise area, the CWM is slightly quieter than the Sovteks. Mine are not particularly noisy though. The C.W.M. has that typical 1990s Sovtek dark Muff tone, with the big bottom end, and the brighter mids than a vintage USA Muff, but it also has the nice "smoothness" to the tone. This is what what makes the Civil War Muff unique and much more Gilmourish than a green or black Sovteks which have more dirt. The C.W.M. is not a dead on match to my favorite CW, but Sovteks are not dead on matches from unit to unit anyway. Most fall within about 95% of each other, as does the C.W.M. The C.W.M. is slightly less fat in the bottom end than my Sovteks, but not by much. That's close enough for me to highly recommend this.
The enclosure is a standard Boss size. DC jack and internal battery connector. Metal flake paint job. Graphics are simple - triangle, rams horns, and Russian symbol - referencing the various vintage Big Muff favorites. Matt used these same graphics on all his Muffs at the time of this review. A look under the hood revealed a nice clean board, decent top notch wiring job, and true bypass switch. Matt used 2N5089 transistors. Probably as close to the Russian transistors used in the original Civil War Muff as you can get. The cost was $130 when I purchased mine in 2008.
Here are the clips. Strat with Seymour Duncan SSL-5 bridge pickup into a clean Fender Twin Reverb.
SUF CWM sound clip - Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb solo. Fender Strat with Boss CE-2 chorus and TC Nova delay into a Twin Reverb.
Civil War Big Muff vs. C.W.M. Clip 1 - In the Flesh and strumming chords. Big Muff first then CWM
Civil War Big Muff vs. C.W.M. Clip 2 - Picking notes in chords. Big Muff first then CWM
Civil War Big Muff vs. C.W.M. Clip 3 - Solo noodling. Big Muff first then CWM
Here are clips comparing the CWM to some other similar Muff clones. Strat with Seymour Duncan SSL-5 bridge pickup into a clean Fender Twin Reverb. Pedal settings shown below.
Comparison Demo 1 - Stomp CWM, BYOC Large Beaver Ram's Head specs, AA Green Russian
Comparison Demo 2 - Stomp CWM, BYOC Large Beaver Ram;s Head specs, AA Green Russian
Review written in 2009
Stomp Under Foot VRH "Violet Ram's Head " Big Muff clone - This is the Stomp Under Foot clone of the "violet" spec V2 Ram's Head Big Muff from around 1975. I don't know if there ever was a real production version with these specs or not - all evidence I have found points against it, so it was likely just a tracing of one particular V2 circuit - but nevertheless it is a popular schematic for Muff DIYers. It makes for a V2 with more clarity and a bit less bottom end than a typical V2.
I compared it to two vintage V2 Ram's Head Muffs, two V1 Triangle Muffs, and a BYOC Large Beaver V2 clone. I set my favorite V2 to my favorite tone setting - tone at 10:30 (o'clock) and sustain at 3:00, then matched the tone and sustain of the other pedals so they sounded as close to that as possible.
The VRH holds its own pretty well. I thought it would sound closer to a V1 than a V2 with the violet's cap values, but it's more in the V2 territory. It is voiced a bit different than a typical V2, as the violet version should. Less bassy bottom end, but still a nice thick V2 sound and lots of clarity. It holds it's own against my V2s. Compared to a Beaver, it is also less bassy. I don't know if I would call the VRH a better pedal than the Beaver since the tones are different, but it definitely hits a sweet sound I can't get with the Beaver. The Beaver also does tones you can't get with the VRH simply due to the fact that it has an added two position mids selector.
The VRH had very usable sounds across the spectrum of the tone pot sweep. Even the full on treble end sounded pretty good. Matt at SUF gives these a tone section mod, with a resistor/capacitor combo for a better sweep of low to high - gives more range to the tone knob. The cleanup at low guitar volumes and crunch at max sustain is like a typical V2 Muff. No crazy screaming sustain with this one, just the normal amount for a V2 Muff. Noise level was about the same as a V2 and the Beaver. Muffs can be noisy when you stack them with other pedals. Sounds great playing leads and nice vintage Muff character. Rhythm and chords sounded super clean, more clean than my vintage Muffs. I play a lot of Floyd and this is perfect for that. It was right at home with my Boss CS2 compressor, CE2 chorus, and TC Nova delay. It sounded good playing some drier Smashing Pumpkins stuff too. Not the op-amp sounding crunched fuzz of Siamese dream, but more like the Pumkins live tones.
It did not beat any of my vintage Muffs for tone, but it holds it's ground, and rivals my BYOC. If you have never owned a vintage Muff though, this is amongst the best clones I have played. The enclosure and circuit board work look top notch. 2N5089 transistors, true bypass, 9v or standard AC jack.
SUF VRH sound clip 2 - Tone pot sweep, playing solo leads.
SUF VRH sound clip 3 - Tone pot sweep, playing arpeggios, chords, and a bit of Cherub Rock.
Review written in 2009
Blackout Effectors Musket V2
The Blackout Effectors Musket covers the Sovtek Russian Big Muff territory very well, but this is a very versatile pedal, with much more gain and tone control than a Sovtek. It also does light overdrive tones very well, which most Big Muffs do not. It has the standard volume, tone, and sustain knobs of a typical Big Muff, but there are three additional controls. One is a PRE knob that adds a boost of gain, sort of like what a compressor or Tube Driver does, but more clarity. This is a very nice feature to have in one pedal with the Muff. There is a mids knob, which is great for those of you that dislike the Muff tone scoop. The last control is a focus, which is supposed to be a note attack/bass limiter control. I have not gotten that control to do much in the range I use, but I suspect once I play around with more mids and the pre knob, I will see its use. Turn the fuzz knob way down and turn up the mids and pre and this easily gets into light boost Tube Driver range. It's NOT the Tube Driver sound, but a pretty good boost tone. It does some great fuzz overdrive sounds too with the fuzz low and the pre cranked.
Sound quality is excellent. About the same amount of noise as a BYOC Beaver muff clone, and slightly less than a Sovtek Muff at the same sustain setting. It nails the 1990s Sovtek Muff tones pretty well, even into the smoother Civil War Muff range. It cannot quite get close to vintage USA Muff tones as the BYOC Beaver, partly due it's heavier bottom end that is more like a Sovtek. It cleans up at low volumes pretty good. It can do modern White Stripes Muff tones with no problem, and gets into the over the top Smashing Pumpkins range, though I was actually less impressed with the Musket for Pumpkins tones.
Keep in mind, this does have SIX knobs, so if you don't like to tweak and prefer to just set the controls to what you want and go, the huge tone range this has may be useless to you. On the other hand, if you have had a hard time finding a Muff you like, I would be very surprised if you could not dial in the tone you were looking for with this.
The enclosure is the typical Boss pedal size. Power is external only, NO BATTERY. I prefer batteries for this circuit, but oh well. Took a quick look under the hood and found a typical four transistor (all 2N5089 tranys) Muff circuit, with some extra stuff for the added pot controls, and another transistor stage for the pre-boost. I paid $165 for mine used, but I think they sell for a bit higher than that. Still, not bad for what you get.
Here are the clips. Strat with Seymour Duncan SSL-5 bridge pickup into a clean Fender Twin Reverb.
Musket Sound Clip 2 - Pre set to 75%, Mids 100%, Gain 50%, then boosting mids to 100%
Musket Sound Clip 3 - Slightly dirty, low gain
TURN YOUR MUSKET INTO A CIVIL WAR MUFF - The settings shown above match the tone of a "Civil War" Sovtek Big Muff with the tone at 35=40% and sustain at 100%.
Here are clips comparing the Musket to some other popular Muff clones. Strat with Seymour Duncan SSL-5 bridge pickup into a clean Fender Twin Reverb. Pedal settings shown below.
Review written in 2009
This is a review of two replicas of the vintage op-amp Big Muff, the fourth version of the popular Electro-Harmonix pedal, discontinued in the late 1970s. The ICBM, first introduced in 2005, is from Euthymia/Erik Miller, and the Op-Amp Fuzz is from Stomp Under Foot made in 2010. For anyone not familiar, op-amp Big Muffs were only made for a few years in the late 1970s. They are a bit rare but can be found on ebay every now and then for around $150-250. Version 4 Muffs are rarer so they typically sell for more than the Version 5, which was practically the same circuit with a switch that allowed bypassing the tone section. Here is some more info and history of the op-amp Big Muffs. This particular sound was made popular by guitarist Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins in the 1990s, and from all of the information available, it appears he used the V4 op-amp Big Muff.
I had never played either op-amp replica, but I read some complaints from ICBM users who said their ICBM sounds different from a vintage op-amp, so I was interested to see how they compare. MuffinMan74 from The Gear Page offered to let me test drive his ICBM, and Matt at Stomp Under Foot offered up his Op-Amp Fuzz to check out (thanks guys!). I compared both to My Version 4 op-amp Big Muff. I have owned a few V4 Muffs and found they sound very similar from unit to unit. Slight treble and bass differences, but nothing as extreme as the transistor Big Muffs. The first thing I noticed is that setting the knobs on the replicas to match the knob positions on the V4 does NOT produce the same sounds. This is a common mistake people make when comparing vintage pedals to replicas. I set the V4 to the sound I like and then tweaked the knobs of the replicas to get as close to that sound as possible. The ICBM tone/sustain pots are very different from the V4 in the same positions. That may be why some people thought it sounded different from a V4 - They did not take the time to find the matching settings. The SUF was fairly close. Here are the settings to match my V4 used in the clips below.
Both pedals sound slightly different from each other, and both slightly different from the V4. Erik at Euthymia said his was based on an op-amp Little Big Muff and verified against a V5 Big Muff and Matt at SUF said his was based on a V4 Big Muff. If you look at each of those original circuits, they are slightly different. The ICBM uses NOS op-amps also, so that may account for some of the difference between it and the SUF. Both the ICBM and SUF seem to have a slight bit more gain than the V4. The ICBM had the most gain, but I had to back the gain way down to get into the tone range that matched my V4 (the tone and sustain pots are very interactive in this circuit) so it took some time to find the sweet spot on the ICBM. Found it quickly with the SUF. For the clips I used a Fender Strat with Seymour Duncan SSL-5, which is a bit hotter sounding than Fenders standard pups, into a Reeves Custom 50 EL-34 tubed Hiwatt clone. Very loud with lots of headroom - little amp breakup.
Most people looking to buy one of these are looking for those Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream grunge tones, so that's what I play in these clips. I first compared all three Muffs with a simple power chord in dropped D tuning. Some of the best SP songs are in dropped D, and the op-amp Muff was MADE for deep, octave buzzing, grungy dropped d.
Comparison Demo Clip #1 - Dropped D chords
Comparison Demo Clip #2 - Intro to Hummer
Comparison Demo Clip #3 - Cherub Rock
Comparison Demo Clip #4 - Silverf*ck
Comparison Demo Clip #5 - Tone pot sweep
Comparison Demo Clip #6 - Some White Stripes
The replicas both sound good, but are slightly different sounding from the V4. Overall, I think both come across as very good for playing SP tunes.
•The ICBM lacks some of the clarity of the V4 or SUF, and has a bit more bottom end playing some stuff, a bit brighter playing others. Still sounds good though. It seems to match more of what I hear on the SD albums when playing only the guitar, but play to a backing track with bass, and the clarity is not as evident. The SUF has a bit more clarity and crunch, which is better when playing with a backing track, or with a band against a bass guitar occupying the same scooped tone range. Maybe a bit less bottom end than the ICBM. Overall, I think the SUF sounds closest to the V4, but I actually liked it a bit more than my V4.
•ICBM had more gain than the SUF, but also tended to fuzz out more when playing chords at Max gain. Good for solos though.
•Both run off a standard boss adaptor, or 9v battery.
•The ICBM enclosure is the larger of the two and takes up more space than the SUF, and looking under the hood, more than half the ICBM enclosure is empty. Maybe Erik at Euthymia just likes big look the pedal has in that large box. I prefer the real estate a smaller pedal takes up on a board though. The solder jobs look top notch on both.
•Both are true bypass.
•Noise level at high gain is about the same for each, but it is very low for a Muff.
•The SUF includes a power LED, ICBM does not.
•The ICBM costs about $20 more than the SUF, but both are reasonably priced for a hand made pedal.
Review written in 2010