Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi
The finest harmonic distortion/sustain ever! Made in NYC!
Like the legendary Big Muff Pi of the '70s, the reissue Electro-Harmonix USA Big Muff Pi Distortion/Sustainer Pedal has 3 controls that let you dial in the finest harmonic distortion/sus... read more
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> All I used in the White Stripes for seven years was an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff and the Whammy. So you might be hearing me building up... more

An Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi can be seen in this picture of John Frusciante's pedalboard. [Electro-Harmonix](https://www.ehx.com/blog/... more

This effects pedal was used at the recording sessions for "Nevermind". In the [Guitar World interview with Butch Vig](https://www.guitarw... more

In Guitar World's “100 Greatest Classic Rock Guitar Songs of All Time!” article, Big Muff distortion is credited for Gilmour's distinctiv... more
Reviews
Trusted musician and artist reviews for Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi
Based on 116 Reviews

edited about 5 years ago
EHX Big Muff...if you buy do the tone bypass mod!
Really love all the ehx & russian big muffs I wanted to review the usa pi version because I think it has a great sound if you do a tone bypass mod ,I did and found I got instant queens of the stone age type sounds, as well as a coll white stripes stuttering solo tone due to the extra 7db the tone pot sucks usually when in stock mode
Really cant recommen buying one and doing the mod enough if your after the tones I mentioned. I will be going to make a green russian clone next for all the black keys tones, really love all carnations of the big muff!

amazing!
this thing is freaking awesome!!! its hands down the most versatile fuzz pedal ive ever used and if your looking for a good black keys-jack white sound then this is what your looking for........................... however it sounds like crap on most solid state amps so i highly recommend getting a good tube amp, thats what this pedal was designed to work on

Incontroleable awesome fuzz
If you like fuzz, this is the one. Difficult to control cause it always wants to scream louder... makes it very specific and not to use in every song.

One of the best
I bought this pedal half off at guitar center and it's been one of my top favorite fuzz pedals to this day. For someone like me who likes a lot of volume and bottom end to their fuzz when playing Doom metal, this pedal is perfect and never lets me down. this pedal is also great for blues tones as well as grunge. I would highly recommend getting this beast and adding it to your pedalboard.

the big muff is not actually a fuzz pedal... the DOD grunge owes a lot to it actually
AMAZING!
This is the best distortion pedal i have gotten. It sounds great when playing grungy or very hard rock gigs. I would recommend it to anyone.

Does everything I need but...
The Big Muff is my go to pedal for lead sounds. I stack it with my always on (modified) Hudson Electronics Broadcast on the lo-gain stage. The muff sounds beautiful and does everything I need, but the 9v adaptor socket needs modification if you want to power the pedal with your standard power supply, and the enclosure is HUGE... For those of you who are trying to invest on pedalboard real estate, I suggest either trying to find the smaller enclosure versions EHX makes (there are quite a few iterations as far as I know), or a clone. I'm on the verge of doing a rehousing project for my unit because it's just too impractically sized for my board. Other than the above mentioned factors, the Big Muff really does live up to it's legendary status, in terms of tonal versatility.
The Best Fuzz Pedal In The World!
This was the first guitar pedal I ever owned. A Greek friend of mine was clearing out a space and came across a vintage 1970's Big Muff Pi and so I happily bought it from him for £30. This pedal started everything for me, it changed the way my guitar sounded and compelled me to really carry on playing rock and roll music. This pedal is super easy to use and needs no instructions to operate. This pedal gives me the deepest, thickest, singing tone I have ever heard on record or live, anywhere. I am keeping this stomp-box for life and I am sure that it will prove to be a rock upon my board and the go to pedal to really pump up the jam!

Do you want to start smashing pumpkins? Because this is how you start smashing pumpkins.
I never understood fuzz pedals until I played this thing. The boost you get to the lower end, and the neat things you can do to get that odd overtone on certain notes is so cool. I have what I believe is a V6, a reissue from the early 2000s, but it sounds great. I can get pretty much any Smashing Pumpkins or White Stripes song out with this paired with a Boss SD-1. This would definitely be in a list of my top 5 pedals I suggest you own.

I love the thickness of this pedal
Problems being its charging port, its not the standard Boss 9v Its casing is easily scratched and its awkward square corners are annoying even though I appreciate the classic styling, but I cant deny its awesome versatile controls and tone. Seriously so many artists have used this pedal it speaks for itself.
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The finest harmonic distortion/sustain ever! Made in NYC!
Like the legendary Big Muff Pi of the '70s, the reissue Electro-Harmonix USA Big Muff Pi Distortion/Sustainer Pedal has 3 controls that let you dial in the finest harmonic distortion/sustain ever produced. The Volume control adjusts the output level. The Sustain control optimizes the long sustain with just the right amount of harmonic distortion. The Tone control provides a range of sounds, from warm bass to crisp treble.
One big classic.
Simply awesome. I like the big box format because I'm modding mine. At this time, I added the Tone Stack bypass switch, two DPDT switches to take off the diodes of the two saturation stages and a 3PDT to add a LPB-1 before the big muff to increase the gain at this first stage.