Electro-Harmonix USA Big Muff Pi Distortion/Sustainer Pedal

Average customer rating: 5.0

What it lacks in versatility, it makes up for in quality of tone
Vintage sound
Mommy please!
Electro-Harmonix USA Big Muff Pi Distortion/Sustainer Pedal
single most important pedal ever

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Electro-Harmonix USA Big Muff Pi Distortion/Sustainer Pedal

Manufacturer: Electro-Harmonix
Product Group: Musical Instruments
Binding:
ASIN: B0002D0JUQ

Related Categories:

Distortion & Overdrive

Distortion & Overdrive

Product Description

The distortion countless musicians such as Hendrix and Santana relied on for its rich, creamy, violin-like sustain. A timeless piece, the Big Muff has been defining the sound of rock guitar for the past 30 years. From Pink Floyd to the Chemical Brothers to Korn, everyone wants a piece of the 'Pi!

Customer Reviews:

What it lacks in versatility, it makes up for in quality of tone.......2007-06-12

If your a tone junkie like myself, this pedal is not very versatile. Nevertheless, it is one of the best at what it does, and what it does is hard to find in another pedal.

What it does: Easy to adjust and blend with any set-up. I agree with other reviewers in that it will give you perfect tone for white stripes, and sustain that is necessary for solos from Gilmour (note that this is only one of many pedals used by gilmour, so this alone will not provide the floyd sound). The tone also matches 60's and 70's hard rock like black sabbath (iron man), some deep purple (smoke on the water), some early rush (working man), and of course the smashing pumpkins sound all the way (this was one of their primary pedals, cherub rock sounds awesome). Adjust the tone on the pedal to find perfect AC/DC. Basically, the tone allows you to adjust the harmonics to include some of the high end notes in chords. Thus it is a great pedal to provide fuzz without losing the higher end notes, so great for chording. The sustain knob in incredible. I will never need any more sustain than this pedal provides as I couldn't imagine writing or playing a solo where a note rings for more than 3 or 4 measures. As always though, good tone is subjective so I would highly recommend playing through one before buying. Finally, from what I understand and hear myself, this pedal has a true bypass...meaning it will not affect the guitar's natural tone when pedal is turned off.

What it does not do: Just about everything else you would want your guitar to do, especially if your a tone junkie. and some people may differ on me with this, but I wouldn't recommend super-heavy metal through this...maybe could handle some on the lighter end of this genre.

PS- I play fender strat, ibanez, and les paul through fender deluxe tube amp.

Vintage sound.......2007-03-16

This is thy real fuzz ever, thick (this is very unsual in fuzz devices) and noisy (nothing's free), sounds great. A little noisy for a Fender Stratocaster, maybe would work much better in a humbucker-type guitar, but definitely sounds like it suppose to sound like.
I wouldn't recommend it as a main unit, but is great for coloring another device like a tube screamer or another overdrive.
This is one of the principal devices used by David Gilmour, from Pink Floyd.

Mommy please!.......2004-11-18

I acquired one of these in 1975 as a Christmas present, when as a young lad at the music store, I pointed to it and asked my mom, "Please! Will you give me that Big Muff Pi!"

Hey, I was just a kid. I was naive. I didn't know the big wigs at Electro-Harmonix were a bunch of passive-agressive perverts.

I think this thing costs as much now as it did then. They went out of production for awhile. But I think the new ones hold up against the older models. I've heard the same can't be said for the re-issued Fuzzface pedal.

I don't know how this version stacks up against the military looking Russian version. They've the same controls and all, just a different box. I think some Russian stuff is okay. My amp is full of Sovtek valves that've lasted a number of years.

Well, this thing kicks booty.

Electro-Harmonix USA Big Muff Pi Distortion/Sustainer Pedal.......2004-09-20

One of the best pedals I have. They have a few other pedals of the same sort that aren't nearly as good. I play a lot of White Stripes. For an example, in the part in Black Math when it becomes harder; this is what he uses. I can actually make it sound almost just like the song. If you've never used a pedal before, you need 2 cords. You have to plug your amp into the input and your guitar into the output. For all pedal, you should unplug your input for a much longer battery life (9 Volt). If you leave it plugged in, your battery will last 2 days; unplugged, about 2-3 months, depending how long you play. If you want distortion with a much clearer sound, I would also buy a "A Boss CS-3"
(Compression / Sustainer).

single most important pedal ever.......2004-08-15

everyone likes something different, but to me, this is the best and most important stomp box i've ever owned. i have others, for sure, and over the years i've owned an embarassing array of various effects, but this is the one i would never want to be without.

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