Electro Harmonix Ram's Head Big Muff Pi Distortion Fuzz Sustainer Pedal

Product Information

Even with the aforementioned tweaking possibilities, in the end, it's all different sides of the same exact thing. You need to make sure this is the sound you actually want - I would definitely recommend to test it and compare it to other EHX muffs to make sure this one will get you there. If it is what you're looking for, go for it, it's great. But don't believe all those forums that will tell you about how "versatile" it is, because it's not really, it can only be tweaked within its own very niche boundaries. I don't think there's a wrong choice here. They behave/sound so different with different amps, guitars, etc. that it's just impossible to decide which to get... Comparison of solos 1 - with Demeter Compulator (compressor), Boss CE-2 chorus (modulation), and Carbon Copy (delay echo) COMPONENT VALUES MAKE THE SOUND - There is a myth that the transistor type is responsible for the sound of a Big Muff being good or bad. Good and bad are subjective terms that will be different for different people depending on their musical or playing preferences, but is actually the mix of different values of all of the components in the circuit (capacitors, resistors, diodes), and how the transistors are biased from the surrounding component values that make one Big Muff sound different than another. The signature Big Muff sound comes from the two diode clipping sections in a row in the four stage transistor amplifier design combined with the unique tone control. Past that, the real tonal differences are from the mix of the individual component values. These differences are what give each Muff its own unique character. The older the Muff, the more those values seem to be different from one unit to another, and the newer the Muff, the more they are the same from unit to unit. I was seriously debating leaving all 5 muffs with me... They are all different, altought 4 & 5 very very similar with triangle having slightly more note definitions and more punch. Though 4 with super creamy solo/single string was super hard to forget about.

I think the majority of the tone signature is really determined by the key cap and resistor values, NOT by the transitor type. To a lesser extent, the diode types can also make a difference in the tone because they affect the frequncies clipped in the clipping stages. Poor quality transistors can also affect how noisy the pedal will be. ACE TONE FUZZ MASTER FM-3 - A rare early clone of the V1 Big Muff, circa 1971-73, and one of the first modified BMP circuits. This is a little known clone, often mistakenly thought to be a variant of the Roland Bee-Baa circuit. Ace Electronic Industries was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi, who later founded Roland in March 1972. Prior to that Ace made the FM-1 which was a Maestro FZ1-A clone, and the FM-2, which was a Univox Super Fuzz clone, and the FM-3, possibly the first Japanese Big Muff clone. It was a very unique version of the circuit, incorporating a switchable volume boost stage (shown in red), allowing switching between distortion and boost (sadly, not combinable), with separate volume and tone pots for each. The Pete Cornish 1980 mini front stage Wall board features a ram’s head Big Muff. The circuit was most likely modified to sound like David’s #1 ram’s head. CLIPPING DIODES - There were many different types of Silicon clipping diodes used. Although the effect is minor, different diode types do clip the sound frequencies in the clipping stages differently. Most modern Big Muffs and clones are made with general use 1N4148 or 1N914 diodes, which measure similar values to some of the diodes found in vintage Big Muffs, but not all. This is probably an overlooked aspect of the sound when creating clones of vintage circuits, but the problem is that many of those old diodes had non standard markings making it difficult to identify the actual type used, and many that were marked are no longer made. The forward voltage of the diodes used in Triangle and early Ram's Head Big Muffs varies from approximately 0.5 - 0.6.V. The diodes in an old perf board Triangle I own measure 0.481 - 0.487V, and diodes in a 1971 Big Muff measured 0.560 - 0.572. The diodes in a 1973 Ram's head Big Muff measured 0.586 - 0.626. Diodes from a Bubble Font Russian Big Muff measured 0.571- 0.580. V2 "BOX CAP" RAMS HEAD BIG MUFF PI - This is the most common V2 from the 1975-77 period, probably the 15th variant. This "Box Cap" Ram's Head version is easily identified by the large white box caps used. Quanitites made seem to be almost as many as the "White Can" Ram's Head version shown above (74#3). Identical to 76#1 below, but with 33k input resistor and low pass tone resistors at R2 and R8, instead of 39k, and 470pF filter caps instead of 560pF at C10, 11 and 12. The C1 input cap was almost always a 10µF polarized electro. Some production of this version changed between 1µF and 10µF at C2, C6, and C7, and a few used 10µF for all C1, C2, C6, and C7 caps.

VERSION 2 "RAMS HEAD" BIG MUFF PI - Approximately 20 circuit variants exist, each made in extended manufacturing runs.

resistors usually measure accurate to the printed value. Those appear to be metal film, not carbon.

EHX's much-anticipated Big Muff reissue will make you comfortably numb with its '70s fuzz mojo

V9 Big Muffs had varied pots, with some using all 100k linear pots, and some using 500k logarithmic volume pots.

Ram’s Head – This seems to have been David’s main touring pedal, not counting the circuits built into the Pete Cornish boards. The pedal can be recognised by custom fitted Fuzz Face-like knobs (due to new round potentiometers) and a screw on the front of the chassis, mounting a custom buffer inside the pedal. The pedal has possibly been modified by Pete Cornish to sound like David’s #1 Big Muff. The Pete Cornish Animals touring board. An Electric Mistress flanger and a ram’s head Big Muff was added for the tour and later featured in the board circuit after the tour. The Big Muff is David’s #2 used for most tours and recordings throughout the years. V1 Triangle Big Muff - Clipping cap values ranged from .05uF, .1uF, .12uF, and 1.0uF, giving a wide variety of bass response from unit to unit. You will find the same range on the Guild Foxey Lady version. Do they sound the same to you? They are different, but the differences are minor. There is a bit more fuzz in the bass notes with the SUF pedal, and a slightly different feel to the clarity of the fuzz. The original is slightly tighter in the bass. The differences are more noticable when using modulation, as these filters can bring up frequencies that are not as noticable without. There is also a slightly different feel between the two when playing. However, overall I feel these two pedals sound and play 90% the same. Is that extra 10% the vintage mojo? Perhaps. The slight difference in transistor and diode types could be a factor. We have no idea what type the original diodes were as they are unmarked. It could also be that the component values in the vintage Big Muff have slightly changed over time as the materials decayed, giving some parts a slightly different tolerance than what they are labeled. Capacitors lose capacitance with age. Those values marked on the vintage components may be unreliable as well, so the actual values of the older parts versus theb newer may account for the slight difference. I suspect that if each component value were individually removed from the circuit, measured, and exactly matched (they were not), these two pedals would sound even closer. But still, the similarity is incredibly close considering these two pedals were crafted with components made around 37 years apart! It is not documented whether David actually used the P1 or perhaps the #1 ram’s head for the recording sessions. Possibly both. It is also not known why David chose to have both the P1 and the #2 rams head (on top of the stage board) on the tour. He might have used both perhaps with different settings (one with high gain settings and one slight milder in a combo with the Colorsound Powerboost).Big Muffs are less sensitive to buffered pedals than vintage fuzz circuits but in my experience, they do sound better when there’s at least one true bypass pedal on each side in the chain.