Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pedals

The Electro-Harmonix Big Muff is one of the most famous and iconic sounding guitar effects ever created – a fuzz pedal first designed by legendary stompbox designer Mike Matthews in 1970. Loved for its timeless rich, woolly tone and violin-like sustain the Big Muff in its many forms has made its way onto countless classic records.

Some of those to have used the Big Muff include Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkin’s Billy corgan, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, Jack White, Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park, Red Hot Chili Pepper duo Flea and John Fruiscante, Pantera’s late guitarist Dimebag Darrell, Trent Reznor and Frank Iero of My Chemical Romance – just to name a few.

Many iterations of the Big Muff have been released over the years. The most renowned are the original Triangle Big Muff and the warmer Ram’s Head Big Muff – both vintage fuzz best associated with David Gilmour thanks to its classic lead tones and singing sustain; the nineties Green Russian Big Muff with its filthy snarl with thick mids and a huge low end; the crunchy distortion-like Op-Amp Big Muff that Billy Corgan used all over Siamese Dream; and the refined modern Big Muff Pi, a scooped, thick high-gain pedal.

The Big Muff is also available in version designed specifically for bassists! There’s the original Bass Big Muff, which brings the same fat fuzz plus a switch to boost bass frequencies even further. Big Muff pedals are often large pedals, so there’s a version in a smaller chassis, which is more pedalboard friendly. The Big Muff Pi 2 Dual Op-Amp model brings its own flavour of saturated growl without scooping out all their low end.