Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi w. Tone Wicker Reviews

Not the best Big Muff

Very compressed sound. I find it hard to find a useable sound. Sold within 2 months, buy one of the few re-issue's of the original Big Muffs.

Classic Muff with extras!

This pedal brings all that Big Muff tone with extra features. As well as all the standard functions you get on a Big Muff (Volume, Tone and Sustain) you also get a Wicker and Tone switch. The Wicker switch gives the sound more clarity with a higher top end making the muff seem more controlled and less raw whilst the Tone switch completely bypasses the Tone knob (and also adds quite a bit of volume so be careful!) giving you more grit. This pedal has great build quality which is known from EHX as well as that great Big Muff tone we all know and love. At the moment I haven't really found the use for the extra two switches but with a bit more experimenting I think they will come in handy. Definitely a nice purchase!

Great if you want more versatility than the regular Big Muff Pi.

This is my first fuzz pedal.

So, I didn't quite know what to expect, when plugging my guitar in to it.

I had heard fuzz before on records and at concerts, so I was aware of what sounds a fuzz pedal should make.

After playing around with the knobs and switches I was surprised that a good tone is easily achieved.

The VOLUME knob, does exactly as you'd expect, it increases or decreases the overall output of the pedal.

The TONE knob, determine which frequencies are more prominent, anti-clockwise, more bass, clockwise, more treble.

The SUSTAIN knob, determines how much adjusts how much the pedal, sustains and how much it distorts, both increase by turning the know clockwise.

The TONE switch, in the off position, bypasses the tone circuit, this gives you a full bore sound, make sure your amp isn't cranked before flipping this switch, it gets loud. I personally prefer to have the tone circuit activated, I feel it gives me more control of my sound.

The WICKER switch, probably best described as a BRIGHT switch. This switch when activated, opens up the high frequencies. Allowing you to cut through the rest of your band, especially the bass player.

The tonal possibilities are vast with this pedal. Well worth the extra money, considering, it is the standard pedal with a couple very good extras.

Amazing pedal for great price!

While watching big muff comparison videos on youtube I wasn't really fascinated about the wicker switch, but I bought this big muff due to it's more universal than standard ones.

When I got it I was really surprised that wicker switch makes sound so much better, especially on those super clean amps (like clean channel on JCM2000). Wicker switch gives slight treble boost, but when big muff sounds really bossy on clean channel it sounds just perfect with wicker activated. Tone switch deactivates/activates the tone knob and when it's deactivated it gives big muff a brand new sound. And I like that sound really much - I almost always play now with tone switch deactivated and wicker switch in position on.

If you want to have original big muff sound, just simply turn tone switch on and wicker off.

If you don't have big muff yet and you are looking which one to get - without a doubt get this one and you won't regret. For almost the same price you get 2 pedals in one, and all modes sound amazingly good.

Speaking about it's quality there's nothing much to talk about - it is heavy-duty made, will last you for ages.

True bypass works great, does not change your original guitar tone at all.

I highly recommend this pedal - it's definitely one of those "Must have" pedals for an absolutely amazing price!

Beefy!

Real muff tone in a small package with additional flexibility! I have since moved on to a Big Muff nano, which is a little brighter and meets my needs well, but this is definitely the better pedal overall.

Bought as a gift

I bought this as a gift for a friend.

Having followed up with them they said it does exactly what they expected it to!

Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi with tone wicker

I like this pedal but it does take some time to dial in the right amount fuzz I'm looking for. It is quite easy to over do it and it ends up sounding a lot like an overdrive pedal. The tone wicker is a good feature and gives it a bit more bite if that's what you're looking for.

Unmistakable Muff with more flexibility

I chose this pedal as I love that classic Muff sound, but there are extras on this pedal for those who want a couple of different options in one pedal. Purists might not like the added features, but personally I see nothing wrong with having more options to choose from.

The "extra additions" on this pedal are the two micro-toggles, labelled "Tone" and "Wicker" respectively.

The "Tone" switch allows you to have the full, original Muff tone circuit in the On position, or bypass the tone circuit in the Off position. This switch radically changes the sound of the pedal, and you can use it to really shape the kind of fuzz you can get out of it. In my experience, switching the tone toggle to the Off position gives me a gnarlier, crunchier Fuzz. In the On position, you get that smoother, more original Big Muff sound.

*WARNING* One thing I wasn't completely prepared for when experimenting with the Tone switch the first time I plugged this pedal in, you may want to turn your amp volume down. I had the pedal's volume quite high when playing with the tone switch in the On position, but when I flicked it to the Off position, it seemed as thought I had let the beast off the leash. It absolutely ROARED at me, it was so raucous and untamed that had it been a wild animal, it would have torn my face off. So naturally I loved it! :)

The "Wicker" switch is quite a nice addition, it seems to keep some of the higher frequencies when you turn down the sustain knob, whereas if you turned the Wicker switch off and rolled back the sustain, you would lose some highs and get a muddier sound, as you would with the original Muff. It's a nice little switch that just adds a little more flexibility when shaping your ideal tone.

In conclusion, I would say that even if you were an original Big Muff purist, this pedal is worth looking into, especially if pedal board space is an issue and you do want more tone options in your signal chain. After all, you're pretty much getting the original Muff sound but with a few extras for those times when you just want to experiment... or maybe you will find something in the extra features that you actually prefer over the original. It's worth a go!

Good tone if played by itself, but it might get a bit lost in the mix

I like this Big Muff, and I really love the wicker switch. The pedal traditionally has a pretty muddy tone, and this high end boost really helps to get (in my personal opinion) a more usable tone. Nevertheless, I still struggle a bit to find my place in the mix when I rehearsal with my band (we play a heavy garage rock with a strong progressive implant). I definitely recommend it, also given the accessible price, but be prepared to tweak the pedal more than a bit to find the sweet spot if you play in a noisy band.

Nice fuzz if your into Big Muffs

Things I liked:

- Versatility, as you can play with all kinds of gain, from clean boosting to doom.

- The Wicker switch does work as intended.

- Construction, sturdy and durable.

Things I disliked:

- Size, if its not the big muff large version for old times sake, than such a simple circuit could have a miniscule footprint.

- Sound, Big Muff is not my cup of tea. Nothing wrong with the pedal itself.

Very tight Muff!

Nothing like a tight Muff! Smooth, fuzzy...

Difficult to get standard tones out of

I've found that this only does "obnoxious" sounds, I've struggled to get a nicer tone from it, tones that historically it should be able of replicating! Well built as usual.

Not what I expected

This pedal comes from a long line of famous fuzz pedals. This version has everything the original Big Muff has and then some. However, I am having difficulties getting good sounds out of this thing alone - I always have to couple it with an extra Overdrive pedal to get the sounds I expected to come from this thing only.

Don't get me wrong here - this is a good pedal, but if you're expecting a great pedal you might want to reconsider.

Tweaked, somewhat-inflexible classic

This is a classic-sounding distortion pedal used on many recordings. It *is* a great sound, and this version has a few tweaks on it, but at heart it is bit of a one-trick-pony. Huge, vintage, smothering fuzz with tons of sustain that removes much definition of what you're playing.

Personally, I like it on leads but have been disappointed on the rhythm side of things, but I think that has more to do my personal taste and metal-leaning playing style.

This version has a tone wicker switch that tightens it up a little and adds more edge and definition, but it's not a huge difference. A second switch bypasses all tone circuits leaving a massive open fuzzy boost sound, that is quite interesting.

Classic Pedal!

Nice pedal. Well worth the price. It gets some great quality Hendrix like tones. You should note though that it works best with more powerful amps, definitely not for use with a fifteen watt.