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Based on price data from 6 merchants for "Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi". Prices shown reflect NEW condition. Tracking began Apr 2, 2026.
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Description
The Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi is more than just a guitar pedal, it's a piece of music history. This classic fuzz effects pedal has been the secret weapon of legends like Jimi Hendrix and Santana, as well as contemporary artists from Jack White to Muse. Its rich, creamy distortion and violin-like sustain have been shaping the sound of rock music for the better part of 30 years.
Just like the original '70s Big Muff Pi, this reissue features three intuitive controls—Volume, Tone, and Sustain—that let you dial in a wide range of distortion styles. Crank the Volume for a boost to cut through the mix, increase the Sustain for endless sustain and harmonics, and sweep the Tone from a warm, bassy purr to a sharp, trebly bite. With just a few tweaks, you can achieve the signature Big Muff Pi sound or forge your own.
Despite its roots in rock's golden age, the Big Muff Pi is not just a relic. It's a workhorse pedal built for today's players. Its compact, rugged enclosure can withstand the rigors of the road, and it can be powered with a 9V battery or any standard 9V DC power adapter.
Key Features:
- Volume, Tone, and Sustain controls for a wide range of distortion styles
- Rich, creamy distortion and violin-like sustain
- Compact, rugged enclosure suitable for touring
- Can be powered with a 9V battery or any standard 9V DC power adapter
- Used by legendary and contemporary artists alike
- Made in the USA
Owner's manual
Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi User ManualProduct specs
| Pedal Type | Fuzz |
| Analog/Digital | Analog |
| Inputs | 1 x 1/4" |
| Outputs | 1 x 1/4" |
| Bypass Switching | True Bypass |
| EQ | Tone Control |
| Controls | Sustain, Volume |
| Power Source | 9V DC power supply (sold separately) |
| Batteries | 1 x 9V |
| Height | 2.95" |
| Width | 5.5" |
| Depth | 6.875" |
| Weight | 1.55 lbs. |
FAQs
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What kind of sound can I expect from the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi?
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The Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi delivers a classic fuzz tone characterized by its rich, creamy sustain and harmonic distortion, making it ideal for rock, alternative, and grunge music.
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Does the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi work well with both guitar and bass?
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Yes, the Big Muff Pi is versatile and works well with both electric guitars and bass guitars, providing a thick, powerful fuzz sound for both instruments.
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What type of power supply does the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi require?
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The Big Muff Pi requires a 9V DC power supply, which is sold separately, and can also be powered by a 9V battery.
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Is the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi suitable for beginners?
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Yes, the Big Muff Pi is beginner-friendly due to its simple control layout with sustain, tone, and volume knobs, allowing easy adjustment of your fuzz sound.
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Does the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi have true bypass switching?
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Yes, the Big Muff Pi features true bypass switching, ensuring your signal remains unaffected when the pedal is turned off.
Equipboard's Expert Review
Equipboard tested this
The Fuzz Legend Lives OnIconic tone, simple yet effective
In our tests, we found that the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi lives up to its legendary status. This classic fuzz pedal has been a staple in countless pedalboards for decades, and it's easy to see why.
Upon unboxing, we were immediately struck by its iconic design and sturdy construction. The large enclosure may not be ideal for cramped pedalboards, but it certainly feels built to last. The simple three-knob layout is intuitive and inviting, allowing us to dial in our desired tone quickly.
We were impressed by the Big Muff's versatility across different genres. From searing lead tones to thick, woolly rhythm sounds, this pedal delivers the goods. The sustain is phenomenal, and the distortion control offers a wide range of fuzz textures. We particularly enjoyed how well it paired with both clean and dirty amp channels.
However, it's not without its quirks. In our experience, the Big Muff can sometimes sound a bit too bassy or muddy, especially in a band mix. We found ourselves wishing for more midrange presence to help cut through. Additionally, we noticed some noise issues when using certain power supplies, so it's worth experimenting to find the right setup.
For us, the Big Muff Pi remains a must-have for any guitarist seeking that classic "wall of sound" fuzz tone. It's perfect for players who prioritize raw, powerful sound over intricate tweakability. However, those with limited pedalboard space or those seeking a more modern, precise fuzz might want to look elsewhere. Nonetheless, at its price point, it's hard to beat the Big Muff's combination of iconic tone and rugged reliability.
Videos
ProGuitarShopDemos
Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi USA
Reviews
PROS
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Iconic, unmistakable fuzz sound used by famous artists
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Offers incredible sustain for solos
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Versatile tone, from smooth distortion to intense fuzz
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Can cut through the mix well, even in dense arrangements
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Works well with various instruments, including synths
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Durable and reliable, even with regular use
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Provides a thick, creamy tone ideal for certain music genres
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Relatively affordable for its category and capabilities
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Easy to mod for those looking for a custom sound
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Some models come with a built-in buffer, enhancing compatibility with wah pedals
CONS
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Large size can take up significant pedalboard space
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Can be noisy, especially with "dirty" power supplies
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Some find it too bass-heavy, affecting clarity on lower strings
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The lack of mid-range control can make it hard to cut through in live settings
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Tone can be overly specific, not as versatile as other pedals
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Enclosure's square corners and bulky design can be cumbersome
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Circuit design sensitive, may not pair well with all amps
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May require modifications for optimal performance with certain setups
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AC adapter not standard, making power supply challenging
Owner Insights
We analyzed real musician discussions from forums and Reddit to find what players love, question, and tweak about Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi.
Use cases and applications
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The Big Muff Pi is praised for its sustain and melodic lead tones but isn't ideal for fast rhythm in metal genres like Megadeth or Metallica.
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Overdrives can enhance the Big Muff's EQ control, helping to refine the pedal's fuzz-heavy output for different musical genres.
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For those interested in clear chord articulation, the Violet Ram’s Head variant is suggested for its aggressive and clearer sound profile.
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Comparisons
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For achieving thrash metal tones on a budget, consider the Joyo "Pocket Metal," designed for a sharp, tight sound akin to "Rust in Peace."
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The Boss DS-2 is noted for having excessive fuzz for metal, whereas the DS-1 combined with an EQ provides better results.
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The OpAmp Nano Muff offers a more modern, scooped, and saturated sound compared to the standard Nano, which could appeal to those seeking a contemporary Muff tone.
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The Ram's Head is frequently recommended for achieving a Gilmour-like tone, while the Russian variant is noted for its uniquely bass-heavy, smooth sound.
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Features and functionality
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The Big Muff tends to get "flumpy" with speed picking, requiring careful manipulation of its sound settings.
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The Nano version tends to sound boxier with less top-end than the USA big box, making it less vibrant for some users.
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The Sovtek Deluxe Big Muff Pi includes a midrange footswitch, critical for enhancing mids that can be lacking in typical Muff pedals.
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The Way Huge Swollen Pickle Fuzz MkII, inspired by the Green Russian Muff, offers five external knobs and two hidden mini knobs for precise tonal control.
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Build quality
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The original Big Muff Pi's circuit occupies a small space in its large enclosure, allowing for a much more compact design in the Nano version.
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Setup and maintenance
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Older big-box Muffs require a 3.5mm adapter for power, but newer models come with a standard Boss power jack, simplifying integration into modern pedalboards.
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4.5 out of 5
Based on 119 Reviews and 852 Ratings
922
115
Nothing quite like it!
This is one of my favorite pedals and for good reason, this is the thickest mix cutting pedal I have heard. As someone who grew up listening to Smashing Pumpkins I always strived for that sound and when I found the Big Muff I couldn't go back. I use this in my recordings usually for when I need a thick wall of noise or a screaming guitar lead/solo. This thing is HARD to control but I love it for that, it has a niche but it fills it the best way possible I feel. Worth the money go get it!
194
145
classic, built like a tank
is that sound, everyone knows, the big muff, that ol´ mid scooped fuzz sound.
practically impossibe to break, a good pedal, does it well on so many genres, huge fuzz.
but being honest, the size dont make sense anymore, the circuit board is a half of the size of the box, not so practical for pedalboards and gigging (plus it is hard to have it cutting in the mix due to the lack of mids).
that was my first pedal but im getting rid of it because i dont like the lack of mids for live sound and the impossibility to generate it with the tone or sustain knob. plus it can get very fizzy if you crank some knobs. and i need more sonic destruction.
i love the pedal, probably muff styled fuzz´s are my favorite pedal ever, but they need mods to make it work.
Preferred Settings + Usage:
pretty low sustain and dark tone (about 10). for getting that doomy cracked up shoegaze sound. always neck pickup
903
Same for me on the 'sustain' setting, I keep mine dialed in pretty low as well. I wanted a "real fuzz" sound so I dumped the tone down pretty low, turned the 'volume' up, and run it through an Orange OR15 with a fair amount of gain dialed in. The sound is pretty much what I was looking for, and surprisingly it still plays really reactive and fast on the higher strings, but gives me that nice fuzzy, smooth sound on the lower strings. Especially with the neck pickup of a guitar engaged. Classic pedal, sustain for days.
147
Classic and fantastic
The basic NYC big muff its great because its original sounds can still sound incredible on todays music. I would recommend that every musician (and person if you ask me twice) try one out as it can be used on almost anything. Especially if you want to try new sounds in your productions, drums bus distortion is a must. There are thousands of muffs but the og is still one of the greatest
Preferred Settings + Usage:
Tone low its the stoner express
Artist usage
Add artist
Visble in this photo of Henricksen's board, as sourced from Kit Rae's Big Muff Pi Page.
and Tommy Henricksen of Alice Coopers band using a V9 Big Muff.
During the Busse Woods tour, Lori S. was seen using the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi fuzz effects pedal, as evidenced in the Imgur photo.
Used from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, as known from the following:
- Guitar Player, May 1975, "John Martyn: A fingerpicking Brityn" by Dan Hedges
When did you first hit on that whole echo effect?
I honestly don’t know when it started. Initially, I got into it because I sussed out that if you put enough repeat echo on the thing, and the signal went in strong enough, you had to get incredible sustain. I wanted as much sustain as possible, and that’s really how it started.
What kind of equipment do you use to get the effect?
Just the average stuff: Gibson Boomer pedal, an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, a fuzz box, Fender amp, Echoplex, and a phase-shifter. Nothing exotic, really.
Very few people seem to use it on stage.
Well, most of the people that do don’t use it right. On the other hand, Joe Zawinul doesn’t use it the same way I do, but what he does with it sounds fantastic! [Tenor sax player] Eddie Harris is another guy who really knows how to use it. The thing is, you've got to be so tight with it. I listen to things I recorded two years ago, which I thought were great, and they're just not there now. I wasn't precise enough.
Three of seven photos taken by Gus Stewart of Martyn performing with Steve Winwood at the Rainbow Theatre on November 21, 1977 (#1, #2, #3)
Melody Maker, December 24, 1977, "Martyn's Martin" by Anonymous
I SAW John Martyn on Sight And Sound In Concert and was amazed at the sounds he got from his acoustic guitar. What did he use to achieve these effects? If he used a special gadget, how does it work? – Neil Sutherland, Finchley, London N12.
◼ John plays a Martin guitar and, for electric music, he utilises a De Armond pick-up across the sound hole, which goes to a pedal board comprising (in this order) a Big Muff (a kind of fuzz box), boomerang pedal (swell pedal) and MXR Phase-Shifter Mutrone (a variable frequency booster). From there the signal goes to an Echoplex and on into an amplifier. He also uses a Korg rhythm box. For his acoustic sound, he uses the same guitar, but with a Barcus Berry transducer/ pick-up situated just behind the centre of the bridge on the flat of the body. Then the signal is fed into a Barcus Berry studio pre-amplifier and on into the sound-desk. – ISLAND RECORDS LTD, 22 St Peter's Square, London W6 9NW.
The Old Grey Whistle Test, January 10, 1978 performance at The Collegiate Theatre (visible) (shown up close @ 10:20 of the first third of the broadcast, 5:54 of the last third, and 8:50 of this compilation of the unbroadcasted second half)
The Man Upstairs - In Concert In Germany 1978, performance at Audimax Hamburg, Rockpalast, March 17, 1978) (visible) (clear views @ 12:00, 20:58, 22:07, 35:19, 35:45, 36:55, 44:19, []50:33](https://youtu.be/bLf0YsnDuS4?si=B0i6C27HmP_juvZn&t=3033), 1:03:50, 1:13:56
Rock Goes to College, performance at Reading University, October 20, 1978 (visible) (clear views at 20:05, 23:32, 31:03
The Old Grey Whistle Test (January 1981) (visible) (clear views at 0:09 and 0:18 of "Sweet Little Mystery" excerpt)
Rock Goes to College, performance at University of Sterling on March 2, 1981 (clear views at 4:25 of "Some People are Crazy" excerpt, 0:21, 0:25, 0:31, 2:05, and 5:45 of "Couldn't Love You More" excerpt, 1:42, 3:46, 3:51 and 5:27 of "Amsterdam" excerpt, and 0:45 of "Johnny Too Bad" excerpt)
A Little Night Music (August 12, 1981) (visible) (clear views @ 27:51 and 30:52 of In Vision ("Johnny Too Bad") and 6:13 of "Hurt in Your Heart" excerpt (48:21 of In Vision))
International Musician & Recording World, September 1981, "John Martyn" by Peter Murphy
P.M.: Was there any precedent for what you were doing with the Echoplex?
J.M.: I had heard someone play with the echo, yes, I cannot tell a lie, but not on guitar. Terry Riley, he used to give like five-hour concerts on Hammond organ and electric piano.
P.M.: Was the Echoplex sound something you set out to achieve?
J.M.: No, I bought the Echoplex actually to look for more sustain, I bought it and the fuzz box at the same time. I had the idea of playing one chord and letting it hang a very long time and improvising over it vocally, and I really discovered the rhythmic possibilities by accident, just stumbled across it. It's been done a lot since. I heard a side of a Pink Floyd album, it sounds very like 'Glistening Glyndebourne' to me. Echoplex and guitar have been used by a lot of people since, that's another reason for stopping actually.
- Music UK, No. 18 (June 1983), "John Martyn" by Max Kay
“Pete Cornish, the pedal board man, didn’t build this one, but he does repair it; each time he sees it his hands flap further in the air in horror because it’s extremely outmoded. It’s just very familiar and I like it and decided to bring it back into the fold.”
What’s in there?
“A Big Muff fuzz (to which John dedicated his song Big Muff) which I’m using less and less, and a Gibson Maestro Boomerang (should come in handy on the Australian tour) which is wonderful. It’s a volume/wah pedal and it’s a favourite. There’s a Roland Chorus CE2 and a Mutron Ill which I love. It has a touch of octivide to it and it started Iife as the automatic wah-wah for clarinet, I think. The Echoplex I’m in love with, it’s a wonderful machine, but it’s extremely noisy, I mean it is very much outdated now, and I would, if possible, reduce the noise level. The calibration on it is very accurate, all you have to do is memorise three or four figures and you’re there.”
- International Musician & Recording World, March 1985, "Sapphire and steel strings" by Chris Maillard
"I used to like Electro-Harmonix stuff, too. It was cheap and cheerful but it did the business. I even called a song of mine Big Muff after their fuzz box. And a few other things.
JOHN MARTYN
[https://www.kitrae.net/music/Images_Secret_Music_Page/John%20Martyn%20Big%20Muff%201978_2sm.jpg]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20221002105329im_/https://www.kitrae.net/music/Images_Secret_Music_Page/John%20Martyn%20Big%20Muff%201978_4sm.jpg] [https://web.archive.org/web/20221002105329im_/https://www.kitrae.net/music/Images_Secret_Music_Page/John%20Martyn%20Big%20Muff%201978_3.jpg]
Shown above, left to right: John Martyn's pedalboard from 1978 showing a V2 Ram;s Head Big Muff. There are a few television performances from the 1977-78 period that appear to show a V3 or V4 Big Muff on his pedalboard.
"I bought a 70’s Little Big Muff Pi [op-amp version] in a second hand guitar store; it just has a volume knob on it, which I set all the way up. There’s this little switch that toggles between bass and treble on the side too, I just set it to the bass side. So it’s like a Big Muff with the tone rolled all the way back. I used that up until just recently."
In a Getty Images photograph, Matt Bigland's pedalboard prominently features the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi, highlighting its role in his setup.
As stated in this Premier guitar article, she uses a Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi, saying, "It's hard to imagine using any other fuzz pedal."
"That was the distortion pedals, exactly the same ones I'm using now. There's a very old Schaller Wah-Wah, and a Big Muff distortion box. I've never used any special amplification, I think it is very important for a musician of quality to be able to play on whatever equipment is at hand. If you play with your ears any instrument will do." -Michael Karoli on the effects used on Tago Mago.
Album Usage
The Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi has been featured on the following albums:
party's over
Aziya (2024)
Weezer 30 (Anniversary Super Deluxe)
Weezer (2024)
STONE (Deluxe)
Baroness (2023)
Devoured
Kanadia (2021)
Samsara
Venom Prison & Venom Prison (2019)
Two Parts Together
Big Ups (2018)
Simulation Theory (Super Deluxe)
Muse (2018)
Horse Jumper of Love
Horse Jumper of Love (2017)
Chroma
Mt. Eddy (2017)
Drones
Muse (2015)
Subsume
Cloudkicker (2013)
Howl
Beware of Darkness (2012)
Kairos
Sepultura (2011)
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Arctic Monkeys (2006)
Here Comes The Fuzz
Mark Ronson (2003)
Strange Beautiful Music
Joe Satriani (2002)
The Fragile
Nine Inch Nails (1999)
Boggy Depot
Jerry Cantrell (1998)
Pinkerton - Deluxe Edition
Weezer (1996)
Pinkerton
Weezer (1996)
Black Love
The Afghan Whigs (1996)
Korn
Korn (1994)
Pork Soda
Primus (1993)
Nevermind
Nirvana (1991)
Dreaming #11
Joe Satriani (1988)
Kill 'Em All (Remastered)
Metallica (1983)
Garlands
Cocteau Twins (1982)
Rock Until You Drop
Raven (1981)
The North
R. Stevie Moore (1978)
Kiss: Ace Frehley
Ace Frehley (1978)
Montrose
Montrose (1973)
Tago Mago (40th Anniversary Edition)
Can & Can (1971)
Genre Usage
Based on how artists on Equipboard use this gear, it is most commonly found in the following genres.
Used With
Based on how musicians on Equipboard use Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi, it is most commonly used with the following gear.
Community setups
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