big muff's are temperamental beasts

exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
edited February 2004 in Musicians and Gearheads
ok. somewhat of a review of the EH NYC big muff.

logistics: 2
this thing's fucking huge. it's ridiculous. it's double the footprint of a small stone. maybe 2.5 times the footprint of a boss. on the flip side, you'd have to have a blood alcohol of about .5 to miss the stomp switch. pot spacing is good too. stupid 3.5mm DC jack. this pedal would easily fit in a 1590BB and many people do that rehousing to save board space. i didn't buy it to gig so i don't care too much. but it's still stupid big. i wish they put it in a stone/clone sized box.

fit and finish: 8
pointers were partially worn off the knobs. new out of the box. otherwise, it's a tank. pots' turning resistance is high (good) and all pots feel the same (even my keeley comps pots don't match). circuit board is solid etc. metal jacks not soldered to board etc. the only thing is the paint jobs on EH pedals don't hold up.

features: 7
true bypass. yay. really responsive tone and sustain controls. which is good b/c this thing is so bass heavy that it needs a good tone control. -2 for the damn goofy DC jack (but at least it has one) and -1 for the sheer size of this fucker. being physically big is not a good feature. but it's part of the gimmick.

sound: 8
eq is critical. end of story. basically, this thing needs an EQ pedal after it to really get a perfect sound out of it. which is why the EH graphic fuzz exists i guess. but it's even bigger and more expensive. right now, this thing sounds like gold through my deluxe reverb and like shit through my POD. but i'm still working on it.

it's bassy as hell. which is why they work so well for bass guitar.

gobs of sustain. the compression in muffs is insane. this really is a lead pedal. chords are mush. however, dial the sustain down and roll off your guitar's volume and you get a beautiful, liquid distortion on lightly strummed chords. this is my primary use for the muff and it does it perfectly once you get your EQ sorted out. i bought it for texture and it works.

at reasonable settings, there really isn't much more noise than any other gain pedal. definitely quieter than my old russian.

anyway, a good sound to have. still my favourite fuzz probably. but the idiosyncrasies of EH with their box sizes, adapters and just the way they build the things can be kinda of annoying. at the same time, it's part of their charm i guess.
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Comments

  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    Originally posted by exhausted
    ok. somewhat of a review of the EH NYC big muff.

    logistics: 2
    this thing's fucking huge. it's ridiculous. it's double the footprint of a small stone. maybe 2.5 times the footprint of a boss. on the flip side, you'd have to have a blood alcohol of about .5 to miss the stomp switch. pot spacing is good too. stupid 3.5mm DC jack. this pedal would easily fit in a 1590BB and many people do that rehousing to save board space. i didn't buy it to gig so i don't care too much. but it's still stupid big. i wish they put it in a stone/clone sized box.

    fit and finish: 8
    pointers were partially worn off the knobs. new out of the box. otherwise, it's a tank. pots' turning resistance is high (good) and all pots feel the same (even my keeley comps pots don't match). circuit board is solid etc. metal jacks not soldered to board etc. the only thing is the paint jobs on EH pedals don't hold up.

    features: 7
    true bypass. yay. really responsive tone and sustain controls. which is good b/c this thing is so bass heavy that it needs a good tone control. -2 for the damn goofy DC jack (but at least it has one) and -1 for the sheer size of this fucker. being physically big is not a good feature. but it's part of the gimmick.

    sound: 8
    eq is critical. end of story. basically, this thing needs an EQ pedal after it to really get a perfect sound out of it. which is why the EH graphic fuzz exists i guess. but it's even bigger and more expensive. right now, this thing sounds like gold through my deluxe reverb and like shit through my POD. but i'm still working on it.

    it's bassy as hell. which is why they work so well for bass guitar.

    gobs of sustain. the compression in muffs is insane. this really is a lead pedal. chords are mush. however, dial the sustain down and roll off your guitar's volume and you get a beautiful, liquid distortion on lightly strummed chords. this is my primary use for the muff and it does it perfectly once you get your EQ sorted out. i bought it for texture and it works.

    at reasonable settings, there really isn't much more noise than any other gain pedal. definitely quieter than my old russian.

    anyway, a good sound to have. still my favourite fuzz probably. but the idiosyncrasies of EH with their box sizes, adapters and just the way they build the things can be kinda of annoying. at the same time, it's part of their charm i guess.

    You'd really dig the superfuzz too I think same basic fuzz bomb sound. Thanks for the review kind of funny.

    Any chance you can mod the 3.5 mm to a boss jack?
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • pariahpariah Posts: 596
    You like saying "idiosyncrasy" don't you? ;)
    "Until you realize the importance of the banana king, you will know absolutely nothing about the human-interest things of the world."
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    yeah, it's easy to put the boss jack in there. i plan to do that to both the stone and the muff but i'm too lazy right now. i should have done the stone last night when i did the volume mod but i was too lazy to go get the drill.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    Originally posted by pariah
    You like saying "idiosyncrasy" don't you? ;)

    yes. yes i do. they should have that word in their damn name.

    seriously, the circuit board for the stone has a giant square hole in the middle of it for the stomp switch to pass through. it's crazy.
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    yeah, well I'm too lazy to try. I've decided to send the Dyna Comp off to Analogman. I think the problem is in a cap or resistor which they replace anyway. I'm getting it to Saphron Squeeze specs. I'm going to change the pots myself and I want to swap the LED for yellow or Orange just so it's pretty.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    one addition to the review.

    the case of the NYC muff is not as sturdy as the black russian version.

    the area around the stomp switch will indent slightly if you are an enthusiastic stomper.

    you could still beat someone to death with the pedal (a good sign) but it will dent etc.
  • This review is right up my alley. Will you post a picture of your pedal?

    When you say the NYC muf I assume this is the big muff Pi? LIke the silver one.
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  • I likes the look of it alot. It is really big. I had never seen it relative to another pedal. I always assumed it was small like your chorus pedal.
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