Electro Harmonix Big Muff PI USA 4-stars Reviews

It's a big muff

It's a big pedal and it takes up a lot of real estate on your board. The circuit has a tendency to get noisy and be sensitive to "dirty" power coming from the power supply. Those are the downsides.

The upside is the absolutely iconic and unmistakeable sound of this legendary pedal. It's a wonderful and "brutal" fuzz sound!

And let's be honest, once the pedal is on and the amp is cranked - are you really gonna notice a bit of background hum?

Classic sound, difficult pedal

The sound you want.. but you must consider that is noisy and difficult to handle...also YOU MUST have one of sd-1,tubescreamer or eq to place it before the muff to tame it

Nearly 5 out of 5

Incredible sustain.

I was half expecting it to be noisy but it's not.

All in all it's a great sound.

I really like it.

I dropped one star because there's no English manual. Just German, even though the box has English writing on it.

When I opened the battery enclosure, I found a battery in there already fully connected. Also, there was no silica gel bag in the box. It did make me wonder if I had been sent out a used pedal, even though I paid for a brand new one.

Great budget fuzz pedal

The Big Muff Pi from EHX is a classic. You can make a great tone for your guitar only with this pedal and the controls you have on your guitar - Like Jack White did some times.

Been using it for years in my tone meant for solos, until I replaced it with JHS Muffuletta for more versatility. Also, if you are into Pink Floyd, you can get some tones reasonably close to some of Gilmour's with a single coil guitar.

The downside would be that it is quite a large pedal and it takes a lot of room out of your pedalboard. Also, the background noise is quite high. But you know.. it's a fuzz.

One of Big Muffs

Works for me in some cases (depends on a guitar I'm using) - I've never used it with a synthesizer tbh. It's definitely not for everyone.

There are many Big Muffs and it's probably not even the best of them, but it IS quite cheap. With little effort, it's possible to achieve interesting, somewhat unique sound, but you have to be careful - extreme setting are often just... too extreme.

I would recommend it for people searching for fatteness without breaking the bank.

Great classic sound

I really enjoy the sound on this pedal, my only negative point would be how big it is. it takes up 2 boss pedal spaces on a pedal board. I would guess the vintage design is being used.

FUZZZZ

Great fuzz! Works on both guitar and bass. Been using this one for years.

Sounds better than my amp distortion for sure

I didn't know much about fuzz pedals before I ordered this pedal.

I watched a couple of videos and its sound instantly reminded me of the black keys, a sound that I love. So I was instantly convinced that I needed this, although I was in the market for a distortion pedal.

Once I got it, I could dial in some heavy stoner fuzz tones, and I think I can pull off a pretty decent heavy sound now.

In my opinion this works very well for stoner rock, fuzzy psychedelic rock or almost hippie satanic metal... All of which I love, not good for metal though.

So I'm still in the market for a distortion pedal, cause I like to play metal every now and then.

I use this with a orange crush 20rt and it sounds good on the clean channel, but as soon as I put some overdriven gain from the dirty channel it just gets ruined.

Maybe it's not meant to be combined with a transistor amp. Hopefully one day I can test it with a proper valve amp.

Anyway, great pedal, it's inspiring me to come up with stoner songs, thank you electro harmonix.

very nice and classic fuzz pedal.thank you a lot.

EHX Big Muff

Great fuzz. Classic fuzz sound. What else needs to be said? Good, not so little, pedal!

A classic!

I love this pedal for its distinctive sound and its a great price for US manufacture.....!

It controls give a really wide sweep of the effect and it has that really great analogue feel that some newer types seem to lack..even though they are analogue!

I like that you can adjust those giant knobs on the fly with your foot!

Oddly,I prefer it through SS amps not tube..no idea why..!

Downside?..it doesn't actually feedback that easily though it sustains like crazy...

The switch went funny after about a years fairly heavy use...but as ,everything is so big and '70's and easy to take apart I found I was able to dismantle the switch and click the contacts back into place so its fizzing and fuzzing away nicely again...

Its no longer a fixture on my rig as I've started to use a Boss FZ3 instead but really its a pedal that's worth having around just to have fun and experiment with from time to time!

Great quality pedal

Really great quality fuzz pedal. Built like a tank. Maybe slightly too big in fact if you are short space on your pedal board. Great for that super gainy out of control fuzz sound, very different to a distortion pedal I found, you have less control as it is a fuzz pedal but this can suit different people's desired sound. Really great pedal all round.

Modern post-Gilmour sound

Honestly, I bought it hoping for classic Pink Floyd-like sound and was somehow disappointed after plugging it in.

It doesn't really sound that much Gilmourish as classic "Ram Head" version.

It however, delivers quite nicely aggressive, saturated tone.

Excellent for stoner/doom rock.

This pedal is a classic.

It is very good for a darker moody sound.

Very good for stoner/doom heavy rock stuff.

The size is very big and can be a problem if you don't have space on your board.

The power supply is 9v but with a small jack input. NOT the classic onespot supply type.

Not so many sounds, but great ones.

As stated in the title, in this big box you won't find many different nuances of distorsion, but I really love the few tones you can get out of it. it's a creamy and thick fuzz distorsion, probably the most famous sound of 90s rock. Think about Nirvana's legendary wall of sound. I had to buy separately an adapter as the 9V plug is different from standard pedals. Besides that and the large footprint in your pedalboard, I guess this is one of the best sounding distorsion pedals at this price, and if you're on the rock side, sooner or later you'll have to try one of these. Build quality is good, feels solid and stable. I tried it on a Marshall JCM900 and sounded really good. You can also blend it with a modulation pedal (mxr phase90 ie) and has creamy, tasty vibes. Works like charm with a fender stratocaster, and quite good on a gibson les paul as well. A one trick pony that deserves your attention, for sure.

One of my favs

Really good and solid construction, features the classic 3 knobs and the sound we all know, solid box with no fear of cracking or anything! thumbs up!

This pedal is just a super classic! Lovely tone, sustain and distortion. I get why it's considered a classic and a lot of bands use it.

I was looking for a better distortion in some of my musics. A better toned one. This was the solution and what a solution.

For those that don't know this pedal be careful, it has a low noise. The pedal isn't faulty it was just designed this way. The power input isn't the normal one (the one from the boss pedals and such) it is a mini-jack input power. Take that into account. In my case, I have cables for that so...

Amazing pedal. I won't be selling it in the near future!

Basic Big Muff

The basic Big Muff, current version. Smooth sound, not as much grit as some of the vintage ones or the russian ones, but does the job well. Great range of sounds from vintage Santana like tones to ugly Grungy noise. Good sturdy construction and great value for money.

The old reliable...

A very accessible stomp box with oversized controls that are easy to use.

Delivers that classic fuzz that you hear pretty much everywhere from Hendrix to Mudhoney to The White Stripes.

Have gigged it extensively and it has stood up to the road test.

Recommended.