There are those that can work great on their own, especially if they are that good. But sometimes, even the greatest people need the help of others to create even a more spectacular job. The same goes with musical instruments.

So if you happen to play guitars, you most certainly have encountered a fuzz pedal. Now, if you are looking for an incredibly flexible, powerful and rich sound processor, you do not need to look too far. That is because the Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Big Muff Fuzz Pedal will provide you with all the sounds you want and need!

Features

Produces all of the classic sounds from the original Big Muff Pi together with additional features

Has a foot-switchable MIDS Section to help cut through when recording or playing live

MIDS Section contains four controls to fine tune the midrange boost or cut

Comes with a noise gate as well as an adjustable gate control to remove noise and hum while preserving your original tone and attack

Its adjustable attack control adds punch to single notes and chords

Pros

For over 40 years, the classic three-knob Big Muff Pi has helped define the rock guitar sound through its sweet singing tone and violin-like sustain. And now, the brand has put in additional features for players who crave for more sound shaping control.

Thus, the Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Big Muff Fuzz Pedal! It offers classic sounds of the original NYC Big Muff Pi with more features, so it sure does promise amazing guitar playing sessions for you.

One of its features is the volume knob that acts as a master volume control for the whole fuzz pedal. There is also a tone knob that provides an array of sounds from high treble to deep bass. When you turn this knob clockwise, the treble increases while the bass decreases.

The sustain knob is for adjusting the amount of sustain and distortion, just like in the original Big Muff Pi. It comes with an attack knob too, which is a volume control for the attack effect.

Then, turning the attack knob clockwise results in the attach volume increasing. To turn the attack off, just go all the way down or fully counterclockwise.

In addition, this fuzz pedal has a gate knob wherein if you turn it clockwise, the gate threshold rises, requiring greater input amplitude to be able to open the noise gate. This then allows your notes to be heard as well as your instruments to pass through.

If you turn the gate knob all the way down or in a fully counterclockwise direction, it will disable the noise gate. Another knob is the MIDS frequency knob that sets the center frequency of the MIDS EQ circuit stretching from 310Hz to 5.0kHz.

You can turn the MIDS level knob up past 3 o’clock to hear the range of the MIDS frequency knob. Just make sure you enable the MIDS, which you can verify once the LED near the MIDS foot switch is lit, then play your instrument while turning the MIDS frequency knob.

Cons

The only negative comment that this product got is that it did not work even after two tries, and that’s it. Perhaps such customer got a defective one. But really, no other disadvantage has been pointed out by anyone who bought this fuzz pedal.

Verdict

With no cons reported, it is pretty obvious that the Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Big Muff Fuzz Pedal is a much-acclaimed product! Aside from all the knobs mentioned, it has a MIDS level knob that either boosts or cuts up to +/-10Db, at the frequency set by the frequency knob found below it, once the MIDS is engaged.

To boost the center frequency, turn the MIDS level knob clockwise from its center (or 12 o’clock) position. To do a cut, turn the said knob in a counterclockwise direction. Also, this knob’s got a notch found near the 12 o’clock position to help in identifying the center of the knob’s travel. Then, in the center position, there is the flat MIDS EQ that does not cut nor boost.

What’s more is that the product comes with a bass boost or normal switch. When you set it to normal, the circuit is similar to the NYC Big Muff. But when you flip the switch up to the bass boost, the volume level of bass frequencies through the Big Muff circuit rises.

And although the bass boost function is kind of subtle, you can use it the most when the tone is set at the center position. The MIDS Q switch is a thumbs-up feature too since this sets the resonance or bandwidth of the MIDS EQ.

Meaning, the EQ sounds broader or rounder when it is in low mode, affecting a bigger range of frequencies. When it is in high mode, the EQ sounds peakier or sharper, affecting a narrow range of frequencies.