Kit’s Secret Guitar, Gear, and Music Page
Guitar stuff, guitar effects stuff, soundclips, videos, David Gilmour / Pink Floyd stuff, photos and more.
nasnandos@kitrae.net
Copyright 2011 Kit Rae.

I am a fantasy artist and sporting/tactical knife designer by trade, but my hobby is guitar playing and guitar and gear collecting. Hearing Pink Floyd's 1979 album, The Wall, made me want to learn to play the guitar. Specifically David Gilmour's two incredible guitar solos on Comfortably Numb were the catalyst, although the entire album is full of a range of great guitar sounds. There is something magical about Gilmour's beautiful tones and playing style that is like heaven to my ears. The Wall led me to all of the other Floyd albums, each full of different and wonderful guitar tones. I have tried to find those tones with my guitars and gear over the years. That gear seach led me to Gilmour's Electro-Harmonix Big Muff sound, which ignited my passion for all things Big Muff, spawning my huge Big Muff Page website, and an interest in the history of vintage fuzz pedals.

This website was made to showcase my passion for David Gilmour / Pink Floyd guitar tones and effects, various effect pedals I have demoed, and guitars and gear I have owned in the past. There are audio and video clips for reference and learning, as well as some of my own music. It's kind of a messy scrap book, with things somewhat haphazardly placed here and there, but there may be some interesting sections for anyone into these same subjects. Enjoy!

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO
•J MASCIS Several Shades of Why - J is the front man of Dinosaur Jr, but this is J's softer, acoustic side. Some really beautiful songs, some of J's best vocals, lyrics, and J's incredible, subtle, yet complex acoustic guitar work. J intersperces bits of this side of his song writing on his other albums, so it is really great to have an entire album of this work. Very soulful and heartfelt music, with the occasional electric guitar solo adding a bit of J's edginess where needed. Perfect. One of my favorite albums. I can't pick a song I like most on this record because they are all so good, but check out Is it Done.
•FOO FIGHTERS Wasting Light - If you like the Foo, you will like this one. It's pop rock, but I can't resist this band's work. Dave and the crew always put out some great, anthemic rockers. Walk is my favorite, but I like the whole album. I Should Have Known, These Days are great too. A good mix of really hard rockers, Foo pop songs, and a couple of anthemic rock Dave Grohl masterpieces. It won't disappoint if you are into these guys. The new doc on the band, Back and Forth, is well worth checking out too.
•EDDIE VEDDER Ukele Songs - If you like Ed's Into The Wild album, you will like this. Anytime I hear Ed sing along with a uke it reminds me of Pete Townshend Blue, Red, and Gray form The Who By Numbers. Minimalist songs with mostly just Ed's voice and a uke, but some wonderful songs. Vedder is one of my favorite song writers. PJ fans who like Ed's softer stuff may dig this too. You're True, Light Today, Longing to Belong, Without You are a few of my favorites, but this is an album you should listen to as a whole.
•THE BLACK KEYS - Brothers - Another great one by the Keys. They continue to stretch the musical range away from their earlier, harder, guitar-and-drums only blues rock, but they get better and better. Great guitar sounds and singing from Dan, but no rough Big Muff riffs here. It's a weird mix of different musical eras and styles. Everlasting Light, Howlin' For You, The Only One, Never Gonna Give You Up, and These Days are favs. Heck, the whole album is good.

August 2011 • The J Mascis interview arrives. I have been wanting to interview the Dinosaur jr frontman and Big Muff collector for many years, and J was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule recently to talk to The Big Muff Page. Here is the full article on J, his Big Muff collection, Dinosaur Jr. gear, and the new Fuzz Munchkin pedal from Tym Guitars, a replica of his favorite Ram's Head Big Muff. There are also pix of some of J's rare Big Muff pedals from his huge collection.

July 2011 •I expanded the Big Muff Clones section to include the Ibanez/Maxon modified Big Muffs and the Hohner Tri Dirty Booster.

April 2011 • Updated my review of the Skreddy Lunar Module to include the fantastic Lunar Module Deluxe, with new sound clips.

April 2011 • The David Gilmour Ram's Head Big Muff section has been updated and expanded with additional information from Pete Cornish and some Gilmour sound clips. Thanks to Bjorn Riis and John Roscoe for assistance and thoughts.

February 2011 • Clips were scattered around my website, but I never had full reviews posted of my Stomp Under Foot '73 Ram's Head (the Brick Muff) or the Skreddy Lunar Module. Reviews and clips have now been posted. • Due to numerous emails asking "which Big Muff should I buy, for such and such Gilmour tone", I added my recomendations for different Big Muff choices HERE.

January 2011 • Sound clips have been added to the Comfortably Numb page, in another attempt at breaking down the elements of the elusive second solotone. They show the effect artificial double tracking and room reverb has on the modulation and final tone. Clips are under My Comfortably Numb clips. I also demo the Fender and Hiwatt tones mixed together, as it appears david did in the studio. • Info on the parallel mixed delays has been added to the On and Island tone section. • The Delay section has been expanded to include tips for the Run Like Hell delay sound, including sound clips.

• a V1 Triangle Big Muff circuit guide has been added to the Big Muff Circuit section. • In an effort to reduce email questions about the subject, I have expanded the article on the Sustain Punch Creamy Dreamer and moved it into the Russian Big Muff section. • New circuit pix have been added to the V1, V2, and V3 section. Pix include a photo from ebay of one of the last V1 BMPs with "reactor tower" knobs seen on the early V2 BMPs, and a few photos of V3 circuits with "tropical fish" tone capacitors taken by my friends on the UK Stompboxes forum. There are also a few new pix of second edition V1s with unmarked green caps, electrolytic caps, and other non standard components, previously thought to be after market replacements. It now appears these are actual production V1s.

Check out my YouTube page HERE

A great David Gilmour resource is Gilmourish.Com, hosted by Bjorn Riis. A site for all things Gilmour and some great gear reviews as well. Album by album gear breakdowns are the most complete here. I gained much knowledge from this site. Some good backing tracks too. Most of the backing tracks used in my audio clips came from this site.

Another excellent David Gilmour resource is The Tone from Heaven. A great site for Gilmour's Division Bell -Pulse era tones and gear, as well as info on Gilmour's custom Pete Cornish effects and pedal boards.

And don't forget the Gilmour Gear Forum, a fun discussion board about David Gilmour's gear, guitars, amps, and music.

A good Italian Gilmour gear website is Giampolo Noto Blog, though a lot of it appears to have come from Gilmourish.com. There is a translator to view in English on the page.

Want to know how to create custom pedal graphics? I created a page showing how I do it HERE

Pink Floyd Bootlegs - Pink Floyd is one of the most bootlegged bands in history. A wonderfully comprehensive source for Pink Floyd live bootlegs is Yeeshkul.com. You need a bit torrent downloader and a player to play the boots, which are usually in .flac and .shn formats, much better than a lossy format like mp3 which reduces sound quality in compression. Utorrent, Vuze, and Limewire are some good downloaders. VLC media player and MacAmp Lite X are two good players. VLC is one of the best all around audio and video players out there. All of these are free on the web. NEVER PAY FOR BOOTLEGS! Bootleg concerts should be shared freely and openly. NEVER DOWNLOAD OFFICIAL RELEASES! That is stealing from the band and it's record company and we do not condone that.

Visit Ralf Metzger's Mistress Mystery Page for information on all versions of the Electric Mistress and Deluxe Electric Mistress

My first guitar was a crappy G&L SC3 strat, purchased in 1984, which I still own. I moved on to collect a wide variety of guitars - Gibsons, Gretsch, Fenders, Rickenbackers - but the Fender Strat was always my favorite one to play. My main guitars now are my crimson 2004 customized American Deluxe Strat with EMG-SA pickups, a 2008 American Standard customized “Black Strat”, an American Deluxe Telecaster, and a Gretch Duo Jet reissue. Below are pix of some of the other guitars I have owned in the past.

Fender '04 American Deluxe Mahogany Strat SSS w/SCN pups (50th anniversary), Fender American Standard '08 Strat with custom mods, Fender '91 American Strat Plus w/Lace Sensor pups, Fender '03 American Deluxe Telecaster w/ash body

Guitars I have owned in the past: Fender '04 American Deluxe Strat SSS w/SCN pups(50th anniversary), Fender American Standard '08 Strat with custom mods, Fender '91 American Strat Plus w/Lace Sensor pups, Burns Brian May Red Special, Fender '03 American Telecaster w/ash body, Gibson SG Standard, 1957 Gibson Les Paul Gold Top Re-Issue, '99 Les Paul Custom Black Beauty, Gibson Les Paul Studio Plus, Gibson '89 Howard Roberts Fusion Lite, Gibson 1972 ES325, '82 Gibson Custom Shop ES335 Dot, G&L '83 SC-3, Paul Reed Smith Custom 24, Peavey EVH Wolfgang Quilt Top Special, '96 Rickenbacker 340

More guitars I have owned in the past: Gretch Nashville Jr. Model 6122JR, Gretsch Nashville Brian Setzer Model G6120 SSU, Gretsch White Falcon 1/ Model G7593, '57 Duo Jet re-issue with Bigsby Tremolo, '90s Ovation Celebrity Acoustic, Sigma DM 12 String Acoustic, early '80s Dobro Resonator Slide Guitar, '05 Martin DM Mahogany Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar

In 2004 BC Rich asked to use some of my artwork for their Body Art series. Above is my art on their "V" model guitar.

Reeves Custom 50PS amp head and cabinet, and a Fender '65 Twin Reverb re-issue amp. Two of the best tube amps ever made. Fender Cyber Twin Version 1 amp (a great amp modeling practice amp that sounds good with a wide variety of guitars), Marshall MG solid state practice amp, Vox Brian May Special VBM1 amp

MY PINK FLOYD / DAVID GILMOUR PEDAL BOARD AND EFFECTS

This is my pedal board and various pedals I own or have owned in the past, mostly set up to get David Gilmour/Pink Floyd tones. I find a lot of things on ebay, test them, and keep them if I like them or throw them back on ebay. My board is always changing and hopefully improving as I learn more about effects.

2010 PEDALBOARD - A lot of changes since my last board pix. I removed most of my vintage effects pedals and replaced them with high quality replicas. I have a smaller vintage effects board for that stuff now. Added a Mojo Vibe pedal, Demeter Compulator for it's clean gain boost function, and Cornish G-2 germanium Big Muff. The Hartman Flanger replaced my Deluxe Electric Mistress. It is a replica of the old 18v green Electric Mistress. The Stomp Under Foot CWM replaced my Sovtek Muffs, and the SUF '73 Ram's Head replaced, or rather is a replica of, one of my real Ram's Head Big Muffs. I had two Tube Drivers, but I use the G-2 for all high gain overdrive tones now, so I kicked one off the board. Some of the pedals below my board are being tested: The new Germanium 4 Big Muff, SkullyToneFX Russian Spi (Russian Big Muff hybrid), and TopTone DG-2 (Cornish G-2 replica).

Signal Chain - in chain order

Guitar -> Evidence Audio Lyric cable -> Demeter Compulator set for gain boost -> Skreddy Lunar Module fuzz -> Digitech Brian May Red Special Distortion -> Boss CS-2 Compressor ->

SEND - using Barge VB Jr. mixer = Pete cornish G-2 -> Brick Muff (1973 Ram's Head replica by Stomp Under Foot) -> Chandler /BK Butler Tube Driver (for light boost) -> S.U.F. CWM (Sovtek "Civil War" Big Muff replica) - RETURN

SEND - Digitech Whammy Wh-1 - RETURN

Boss GE7 EQ -> Boss FV300L Volume Pedal with Boss TU12H tuner attached

SEND - using Barge VB Jr. mixer = Mojo Vibe -> Hartman Flanger (green 18v Electric Mistress clone) -> Boss CE-2 Chorus - RETURN

ND-1 Nova Delay

RIGHT CHANNEL FROM DELAY INTO -> Fender '65 Twin Reverb Reissue.

LEFT CHANNEL FROM DELAY INTO -> Reeves Custom 50 (Hiwatt Custom 50 replica)

2009 PEDALBOARD - I added a Red Army Overdrive and my old Boss HM-2 pedal to the board. Also swapped out one of the BK Butler Tube Drivers I had for an older Chandler BK Butler TD I acquired in a trade. I removed the Colorsound Overdriver. Great pedal but it did not get along with my compressors very well. Saving it for my "vintage" sound board. I removed the P-2, Pink Flesh, and BYOC Large Beaver Muffs. I had too many on the board anyway, and I frequently trade out Muffs from my collection. I have the whammy WH-1 in a bypass loop.

•Red Army Overdrive - This is the very first Russian Made Big Muff. Similar sound to a Civil war Big Muff. I use it for the later 1980s and 1990s Gilmour tones. I also own a second edition Red Army Overdrive that is exactly the same as a Civil War Big Muff circuit.

•Boss HM-2 - This is an old discontinued Boss pedal. Gilmour used it on his second solo album and tour, About Face. It was the first distortion pedal I ever bought and I thought I would put it on the board again. Very good distortion tone.

Signal Chain

Guitar -> Evidence Audio Lyric cable -> MXR Dynacomp -> (SEND) Digitech Whammy Wh-1 (RETURN) -> Skreddy Lunar Module fuzz -> Digitech Brian May Red Special Distortion -> Boss CS-2 Compressor -> Boss HM-2 -> Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi (Ram's Head) -> Mike Matthews Red Army Overdrive -> Chandler BK Butler Tube Driver #1 (for light boost) -> BK Butler Tube Driver #2 (overdrive) -> Boss BD-2 Blues Driver with Keeley Phat mod -> Boss GE7 EQ -> Boss FV300L Volume Pedal -> ND-1 Nova Delay ->

RIGHT CHANNEL FROM DELAY INTO -> (SEND) EH Deluxe Electic Mistress Flanger -> MXR Phase 90 (RETURN) -> Fender '65 Twin Reissue.

LEFT CHANNEL FROM DELAY INTO -> Boss CE-2 Chorus -> Fender Cyber Twin version # 1 with Fender '65 Twin setting.

2008 PEDALBOARD Revision 2 - Trying out a second Tube Driver, the three knob Tube Works Tube Driver with a 12AU7 tube, and swapped the Sunface fuzz for a Skreddy Lunar Module fuzz. Still comparing the Lunar Module fuzz to the Sunface, but I like the LM better for Floyd Stuff. Also, comparing and original Digitech Whammy to the newer Whammy 4 for pitch shifting.

•The three Knob Tube Works Tube Driver turned out to be too harsh sounding. Not as good as the more expensive four knob BKB TD or Chandler/BKB TD.

•Skreddy Pedals Lunar Module vs Analogman Sunface BC108 (silicon Fuzz Face clone) - The Sunface sounds great, but it must be first in the signal chain or it sounds like crap, and it does not sound as good with the Boss buffered pedals on my board as it does all alone. Also, it must run on carbon batteries to sound best (IMO). They act as part of the circuit. Alkalines do not sound as good. The LM pedal can go anywhere in the signal chain and sounds good with all my other pedals. It does not produce exactly the same vintage fuzz tone as the Sunface, but it has a wider range and produces the tones I want, which are classic Pink Floyd/Dark Side of the Moon fuzz tones.

•Original Digitech Whammy WH-1 vs the newer WH-4 for pitch shifting - The WH-1 wins it, but barely. The tones are not that different. The WH-1 is just a bit smoother on pitching up and down and the foot pad treadle is a better. The WH-4 has a dead zone on the treadle so when you pitch up it does not do anything until you get past that. A rubber pencil eraser under the foot pad solved that problem, keeping the pad from touching bottom. For sound quality, the WH-4 has a slight bit more digital pinginess too the sound, but they are 95% the same pedal. Both suck tone from your board, so I'm putting mine in a bypass loop. The WH-1 is the smaller of the two units.

Signal Chain

Guitar -> Evidence Audio Lyric cable -> Skreddy Lunar Module fuzz -> Keeley Compressor -> Digitech Brian May Red Special Distortion -> Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi (green Sovtek version) -> Skreddy Pink Flesh ('73 Ram's Head Muff clone with a bit of Colorsound warmth thrown in) -> B.Y.O.C Large Beaver ('71 Triangle Muff clone) -> Colorsound Overdriver (always on) -> Butler Tube Driver with 12AX7 tube replaced with 12AU7 -> Tone Works Tube Driver with 12AU7 -> Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer -> Boss GE7 EQ -> Boss FV300L Volume Pedal -> TC Electronic ND1 Nova Delay -> EH Deluxe Electic Mistress Flanger -> MXR Phase 90 -> Electro Harmonix Small Stone EH4800 Phaser -> Boss DD20 Giga Delay -> Boss CE-5 Chorus ->

Fender '65 Twin Reissue.

2008 PEDALBOARD Revision 1 - Increased the size of my baord to add an Analogman Sunface BC108 silicon Fuzz Face clone, swapped the Boss DD-20 delay for a TC Elctronic Nova delay, swapped the MXR Dynacomp for a Keeley compressor, added a BYOC Large Beaver Triangle Big Muff clone, and swapped the AA Green Russian for my real green Sovtek Big Muff now that I have room for it. Also pulled out an old Electro-Harmonix Small Stone phaser, debating trading it out for my MXR Phase 90.

•Analogman Sunface BC108 silicon Fuzz Face clone - hands down, this is the best vintage Fuzz Face I have heard, but it does not play well with my buffered pedals.

•B.Y.O.C (Build Your Own Clone) Large Beaver - This is a vintage Big Muff clone, probably the best one out ther for the money, $100- 150. I have the Triangle and Ram's Head Big Muff versions. Very good vintage Muff tones.

•Keeley Compressor vs MXR Dynacomp - The Keeley sounds good, but is a bit too harsh to work with other effects on my board.

•Absolutlery Analog Green Russian vs real Sovtek green Big muff - The AA Green Russian sounded really good, but I prefered my real Sovtek Big Muff, so the AA got the boot.

•Boss DD-20 Giga Delay vs TC Electonic ND-1 Nova delay - The DD-20 sounds good for modern delay sounds and the interface is good, but four delay presets is not enough for me. The Nova sounds great and has nine presets. User interface is not as easy, but you get used to it.

•MXR Phase 90 vs Electro-Harmonix Small Stone Phaser - Both are really good phasers. The MXR is a bit smoother, and takes up less room, so it will stay on my board.

Signal Chain

Guitar -> Evidence Audio Lyric cable -> Analogman Sunface fuzz with BC108 silicon transistor -> Keeley Compressor -> Digitech Brian May Red Special Distortion -> Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi (green Sovtek version) -> Skreddy Pink Flesh ('73 Ram's Head Muff clone with a bit of Colorsound warmth thrown in) -> B.Y.O.C Large Beaver ('71 Triangle Muff clone) -> Colorsound Overdriver (always on) -> Butler Tube Driver with 12AX7 tube replaced with 12AU7 -> Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer -> Boss GE7 EQ -> Boss FV300L Volume Pedal -> TC Electronic ND1 Nova Delay -> EH Deluxe Electic Mistress Flanger -> MXR Phase 90 -> Electro Harmonix Small Stone EH4800 Phaser -> Boss CE-5 Chorus ->

Fender '65 Twin Reissue

2007 PEDALBOARD - Added a Colorsound Overdriver, Skreddy Pink Flesh Ram's Head Big Muff clone and Absolutely Analog Green Russian Big Muff clone. They fit in my cramped pedalboard much better than the real Muffs. Trying modern NYC reissue Big Muff with the revision B circuit.

•Colorsound Overdriver - Great vintage 1970s overdrive for pre-Animals Pink floyd. I'm using it as a booster for the Big Muff and as a light overdrive.

•Skreddy Pedals Pink Flesh - This is a boutique Big Muff replica with some good mid tones. Very smooth David Gilmourish sounding Muff.

•Absolutlery Analog Green Russian - Sovtek green Big Muff clone. Sounds OK. Very similar to my green Sovtek and takes up less space on the board, but I'm not sure I like the sound as much.

Signal Chain

Guitar -> MXR DynaComp Compressor -> Digitech Brian May Red Special -> ProCo RAT distortion -> Boss DS1 -> Skreddy Pink Flesh Muff clone -> Absolutely Analog Green Russian Muff clone -> Colorsound Overdriver -> BK Tube Driver with 12AU7 tube -> Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer -> Boss GE7 EQ -> Boss FV300L Volume Pedal -> Boss DD-20 Giga Delay -> EH Electic Mistress -> MXR Phase 90 -> Boss CE-5 Chorus -> Boss DD3 Digital Delay ->

Fender '65 Twin Reissue

1. COMPRESSION

MXR Dynacomp - Original script preferably, but the new ones are OK too.

Boss CS-2 Compressor

2. BOOSTS/RHYTHM

Colorsound Overdriver - Current ones are the same as the vintage Colorsound Power Boosts.

Chandler/BK Butler Tube Driver or current BK Butler Tube Driver

3. DISTORTION/FUZZ

Vintage Fuzzface or good clone like the Analogman Sunface (at head of chain) or Skreddy Lunar Module.

Ram's Head Big Muff or good clone like the BYOC Large Beaver - Triangle or Ram's version, for The Wall/Animals/Final Cut tones, or go with a Russian Big Muff like the Civil War or Green Russian models for the late 1980s and 1990s tones.

4. OVERDRIVES

Chandler/BK Butler Tube Driver or current BK Butler Tube Driver (12ax7 tubes)

Boss BD-2 Blues driver - preferably with Phat mod.

5. MODULATION

MXR Phase 90

Current Deluxe Electric Mistress or vintage green Electric Mistress

Boss CE-2 Chorus or CE-5 (not in this part of the chain. See 7)

6. VOLUME

Pretty much any volume pedal. I use a Boss FV 300-L. Always put before the delay in the chain so the delay naturally decays when doing volume swells.

7. DELAY - preferably stereo, and programmable for presets.

TC Nova Delay or Boss DD-20 - R channel goes to Right amp.

Boss DD-2 - from L delay channel to Boss Chorus, then DD-2, to Left amp.

ADDITIONAL PEDALS ON A LOOP IN CHAIN AFTER BOOSTS

Vox Wah

Digitech WH-1 or WH-4

Sovtek Big Muff - Civil War, Green Russian, or Black Russian (large box)

Boss HM-2

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