4 Paths to Big Muff Pi Full-Range Nirvana!

Electro-Harmonix's series of reissues is of course highly compelling, and I fully expect there to be Civil War / Red Army Overdrive and Black Russian varieties too eventually. I totally understand EHX's approach in making these as authentic as possible - and delivering them with just the 3 standard controls of Volume, Tone and Sustain. While I've typically always liked more tone-shaping ability - typically courtesy of a 4th Mids Control / Knob.

I've long been a fan of JHS / Josh Scott's Modded pedals too - and have around a dozen of those - mostly for EHX varieties. Interestingly enough my favourite overall varieties are still Triangle and Ram's Head, but in terms of total execution here my favourites would be Violet Ram's Head and Opamp varieties - with indeed said mids control. It has to be added that the most recent acquisition here was the Alchemy Audio Modded Ram's Head - as it seem that with how else they've got going on nowadays - Legends of Fuzz, Series 3 etc. that hey have stopped delivering modded pedals now. I reached out to JHS and they said they had not given up on doing Modded pedals entirely, while the evidence seems to point in the other direction.

I actually also really like the Green Russian variety here - whose Mods aren't quite as useful as some of these others - but that slightly smoother variety is Bjorn Riis's favourite of the EHX reissues.

Mods summary is as follows :

Triangle Mod - 3-way Gain-structure toggle-switch on left, 'Intensity' knob on right

Violet Ram's Head Mod - Mids knob on left, Bright switch on right

Opamp Mod - 3-way Gate toggle-switch on left, Mids knob on right

Green Russian Mod - 2 x 3-way toggle-switch on left for Synth Fuzz Modes and Intensity, Gain Feedback knob on right

NYC Mod - Gain Level / Structure toggle-switch on left, Gating knob on right

Generally I feel that Electro-Harmonix have done an exceptional job here - while I would have preferred these pedals to be 4-knob / 4-controls varieties - with enhanced mids control. I'm not a big fan of EHX's overly smooth knob style (in fact not altogether dissimilar to Catalinbread). And the Modded varieties at the very least yield those slightly more ergonomic MXR-style heptagonal knobs.

I've seen some weird commentaries by misguided individuals who try to report that the Modded versions are some sort of abomination or watering down of the original. Fact is you can operate all those pedals at stock values - as if no Mods has been added. The Mods just give you more control and variety and help you be able to cut through in the band mix - by making the output slightly more cutting!

I really rate all of these - with the first 'NYC Pi' reissue being somewhat the runt of the litter for me. There's nothing wrong with it per se - I just much prefer the other 4!

As a Big Muff Pi range I consider it somewhat essential to own some version of the originals - and this is my fulfilling that charter. These are all very decent takes on those originals, while I have other favourites overall. My own favourite in this group is actually probably the more recent Ram's Head reissue - and it's particularly good in the Alchemy Audio Modded edition with the extra Mids control and Bright switch!

Electro-Harmonix Big Muff π compact reissues are generally widely available - while the JHS Mods are rather rare these days. Alchemy Audio has stepped in though with its own extended series of Mods - which are available on its Reverb.com Store.

The Vick Audio Tau Series has been something of a revelation for me and has been incredibly instrumental if forming my greater appreciation of the different nuances in each variety.

What you get here is the perfect scale of Gain/Saturation down to Smoothness and slightly less sustain. At the height of Gain, Saturation and Sustain - and aggression too really - we have the original V1 Triangle variety. This is followed by the Violet Ram's Head edition which almost matches the extremes of the Triangle and even has a slightly more cutting and wiry characteristic.

Right in the middle of the pile sits the majestic '73 Ram's Head variety which has to be the most perfect Goldilocks style centre-point along the Big Muff spectrum. The '73 Ram has that perfect balance of all the key characteristics - Gain, Sustain and Smoothness. It's most definitely Mike's masterpiece here - and the rare example of where I prefer the Ram's Head variety to the Triangle. This pedal has been Mike's best seller every year since launch, and all it's plaudits and favourable reviews are wholly deserved and fully understandable.

At the other side of the scale to the Triangle and Violet Ram's Head - we have the smoother flow of the Civil War and Black Russian varieties. For me the Black Russian can seem to have the most Bass on tap as such, while the Civil War seems to be slightly more leaning towards the mid-range.

I've had all these pedals in the chain at the same time - per the below photo, and their differences are pretty distinct when you switch from one to another. As I've said in the intro - I tend to favour these mostly in the Mids Boost Mode/Position, with the exception of the Black Russian - where the stock setting yields the maximum smoothness!

I was initially a little slow to come around to the Mike Vickery way of doing things - thinking that I would prefer the additional granularity of a 4-knobs approach - like say the Stomp Under Foot execution versus the 3-way Mids Boost / Stock / Flat toggle switch of the Tau Series.

While over time I've come to fully appreciate and recognise the merits of Mike's approach - which for these purposes I probably prefer overall nowadays.

The Tau Series of Vintage Big Muff Replicas is a really refined and elegant affair - with those 5 varieties perfectly spaced out on the Big Muff spectrum - and giving you the maximum versatility through the range as such. If you only buy one here it has to be the exceptional '73 Ram's Head edition, for two add the Black Russian, and 3 add the V1 Triangle to give you full-range coverage. That's not to say I don't like each and everyone here because I absolutely do - and for certain applications - the Violet Ram's Head and Civil War are the better choice.

These pedals look very unassuming and somewhat stealthy - which kind of conceals the richness of output that each contains. I can't say I'm anything but delighted with this full range and for its exceptional broad range coverage I'm not sure it can be beat!

These 5 BMP fuzzes are / were the most formative in my Big Muff education and overall understanding. If you're in America then buy direct from the Vick Audio Store, if in UK or Europe - then Atlantic Guitars has you covered. Note that Vick Audio Pedals are incredibly reasonably priced - especially considering their fully hand-made construction.

ø = discontinued!

I'm sorry to report that I haven't made more headway with Stomp Under Foot's BMP range - as Matt Pasquerella is definitely a master of the BMP craft and has had the widest range of BMP varieties out for the longest stretch. This has much to do with happenstance, opportunity and accessibility / availability. And while there is coverage from Joe's Pedals in the UK - the 4-knob editions seem to be generally less in circulation - and in particular the Red Menace variety which seems to be something of a limited edition.

Upon my completion of the EHX range - Stomp Under Foot was my most likely next port of call in my BMP journey, but instead I serendipitously connected with Mike Vickery first and went down that route - which has proven to my incredibly impactful for my more nuanced understanding of the different varieties. Note that SUF also does a Pumpkin Pie (Opamp) variety - but that is only BB-size medium enclosure format so far, no idea why it hasn't been included at the compact level.

Fact is though that Matt Pasquerella still had the widest BMP coverage - with the most different varieties and flavours overall. He presents a full-range spectrum here - including the not too long discontinued Black Russian and 'The Pi' varieties.

These are slightly less consistent in approach than the always 4-controls of the Vick Audio range - where my favourites - will always be those which include a 4th Mids control - as is the case here with Red Menace, Violet Menace and Civil Unrest varieties - which are all high on my wishlist - and the Red Menace in particular becuase of its inherent rarity and sort supply. One of these days - next year possible I will make a concerted effort in securing that trio. For now - and since I've stared already on Wren and Cuff varieties - I will possibly complete that exercise first - while I would really like to secure a Red Menace fairly soon.

All these pedals are very serviceable and highest quality / authentic vintage replicas - where as I say the Vick Audio range provides maximum coverage through fewer candidates which are all consistently executed.

With my owning the 5 EHX's and 5 Vick Audio varieties I don't really need duplicates in every position - but I will for sure acquire at least the 3 key ones mentioned. As stated at the beginning of this chapter Stomp Under Foot is available from Joe's Pedals in the UK - while Americans are probably best going direct to Matt Pasquerella's Stomp Under Foot site!

Matthew Holl is another Master of the BMP craft and is probably best known for his Caprid (Ram's Head) and The White Elk (Japanese Triangle Alternative) varieties - while he has 5 that fit on this spectrum - where I thus far own just the Custom Shop Small Foot Caprid to date.

The Wren and Cuff Custom Shop offers 4 varieties of Muff for your own colorway specification and Mods - Box of War, Caprid, Tall Font Russian and White Elk. Obviously 3 of those fit right on the spectrum and in their full-fat editions have additional toggle switches for 'Creamy' and 'Mid-Flat' options, as well as a Dry>Wet Blend knob on the side. I have one such as mentioned - courtesy of my Small Caprid.

I fully intend to get at least the other 2 on-the-curve Custom Shop varieties - and might even add the White Elk variety too. I also actually have Wren and Cuff's superb mid-box super-muff or multi-dip-switching De La Riva BM20-Ultra.

As is typically my way, I'm less interested in the more vanilla Tri-Pie and Eye-See '78. I can vouch from the Caprid and De La Riva that these are yet more magnificent sounding BMP types - and yet again I don't believe anyone would be disappointed with any of these - while I always like to be ale to exercise a little more tone-shaping control and particularly over the midf frequencies as I have mentioned several times over.

Wren and Cuff is still best acquired from that Webstore, while availability in the UK is rather more sparse. They used to be available from Andertons and Regen Sounds - where the former currently no loner seems to stock them, and at Regent Sounds they are mostly sold out.

For my own purposes I was luck to pick up my Caprid from a German seller on Reverb.com - that was my first awareness that Wren and Cuff did custom shop editions. The Custom Shop varieties turn up very rarely on Reverb.com - so I will likely be making my way to the Wren and Cuff Custom Shop sometime in the not-too distant future.