Why on Earth would I ever buy a Fuzz pedal designed for bass guitars?

Because my current obsession with Muff pedals is just out of control and I can’t stop scheming to get the craziest sounds for my band’s gig in July.

The other day I read this huge webpage documenting the history of the ElectroHarmonix Big Muff Pi pedals, including the stretch of time in the 1990’s when the company was out of business but a new company based in Russia, called Sovtek replaced it.

Since then I’ve been listening to demos and perusing ebay and reverb.com checking out prices on old pedals. The first few versions of the pedals are selling for massive amounts online. There are some monstrously wonderful sounding clone pedals that are also incredibly expensive, but not as expensive, that not only are more attainable, but are actually more consistent. One beef with the old Muffs is that there are so many variations on the circuitry that two identical pedals might sound very different.

The Russian pedals though… that’s something I hadn’t been considering. The resale on those is much more manageable. They are expensive, but not bank breakingly so. There are also some really good sounding clones. Again, more reliable and less expensive. I guess the beef with the Russians had more to do with the quality of the hardware. The pedals themselves are built like tanks, but the input and output jacks are plastic crap and fall apart easily. I don’t really want to spend the money on a pedal just to have it crumble when I plug into it.

Then I started reading about the current pedals. ElectroHarmonix came back to life and started selling new versions of the old pedals. They never put out a reissue of the Russian models, but they did start selling a Bass Big Muff that is supposed to be really close to those Sovtek Muffs. I read some reviews and listened to some demos.

This one sort of sold it for me…

So the idea is this… on the band pedal board. Take off the NYC Muff pedal and bring in my Nano and one of these Nano bass Muffs. The two pedals next to each other on the board. The Communist with the volume knob matching the amp’s clean volume, the tone at about one or two o’clock, and the sustain at about 12:00. right next to it I’ll have the non-bass pedal. The volume up a little higher than unity, the tone a little higher than the commie, and the sustain cranked. The Rusky will be on for rhythm parts and the American will be on for leads. The two pedals are small enough and close enough together that I can switch them both with one foot.

Then, just when I get into the swing of awesomeness things I will replace them both with this:

Then eventually…

The ceremonial Memorial Day Weekend cookout (first edition) was a success.  Steak from McKinnons, corn on the cob, and baked potatoes.  A+.

My step son put this together.  If we can just get the damn boloes untangles we will have some epic ladder toss battles.

We are using the back yard!  Wooohoooo!

My step son used my Strat at his band rehearsal today.  

So, I’m losing my mind over Muff clones.

Triangles:

I like the first one better, but I think it’s probably more to do with the crappy amp on the second video.

Ram’s Head:

Not sure which I prefer, but I think the second one might be better.

Op Amp:

Not sure which I prefer, but I don’t think either of them sound as good as the transistor models.

Later on I might check on some other brands, or maybe some Russian model clones.

I am obsessed and there’s nothing I can do to stop this craziness.

Always tinkering…

I have two Big Muff Pi pedals. One on the board at the band’s rehearsal space. The other is at home with my stay at home set up.

This is the one on the band board:
//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

This is the stay at home:
//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

The first pedal is huge. The second pedal is tiny.

I love the first pedal to death. It’s AWESOME. But it doesn’t really play well with my Marshall amp. There is a ton of extraneous noise. A little research tells me that the reissue NYC pedals (which the big one is) are generally considered to be very noisy. The little pedals, including the Nano, which is the one I have, are supposed to be a little less noisy. I haven’t noticed any noise issues through my Fender amp, but I haven’t used it with a long signal chain, and I probably haven’t been as loud as I get with the band.

So the question is, should I swap them? Should I bring the Nano to practice and bring the full size guy home?

Or should I invest a couple of hundred dollars into a high end clone of the original “triangle” muff, or maybe the “rams head” version that came a few years later? Or should I try and get a Russian version?

I volunteered to cook dinner on the grill.  

It suddenly looks really thunderstormy out here.

Uh oh.

I bought my Gibson ES-335 Pro on eBay back in 2000.  It was in rough shape.  All discolored and grimy from cigarette smoke.  It played like a gift from guitar heaven, but it had seen better days.  It was even missing a knob.

16 years later, I finally replaced that missing knob.

It’s glorious, but I can’t very well leave the shiny black and white knob alone with the gross smoke yellowed old knobs, could I?

I’m hoping to bring this guy to a repair shop on Thursday to get some routine maintenance done.  There are spotty pots and loose connections.  I want it all cleaned up in time for Lizardfish’s gig on July 1st.  Hopefully I won’t chicken out.  Having some stranger put his hands on your baby… It’s tough to let that happen.

I missed a day yesterday. I was back on a really good roll of posting at least once a day. Then yesterday?

Oh crud.

Today the Bruins signed Kevan Miller to a four year deal because this is bizzarro world where players who suck to high heaven are rewarded with huge sums of money over a long term of years.

Oh crud.

The Sharks are up 3 games to 2 over the Blues and that is good.
The Lightning are up 3 games to 2 over the Penguins and that is good, except that I didn’t pick with my heart this round, I picked with my head and I picked the Penguins.

Oh crud.

My back is KILLING ME.

Oh crud.

The Red Sox are up 4-1 after two innings and I am about to have Doritos for dinner.

Life is good again.