Electro Harmonix Ram's Head Big Muff Fuzz

Marshall DSL1, 2x12 v30, emg81 (volume pot only) = bright and cutting tone.

Ultra gain channel with a little gain (9 o'clock)

All muffs @ 12 o'clock, except for big box muff, slightly more as it is quieter

1. Russian = the fattest mofo around but still clear enough to hear chords and different strings. It feels like the 3rd channel I wish I had in my amp. Absolutely massive sound but it doesn't loose too much definition/ A little muddier Dual Rectifier kind of thing



2. Ram's head = very similar to Russian but it has less definition and goes more towards OG triangle in terms of mud. Still very powerful and bassy

3. op amp = thin/cutting like a razor, weird sounding offspring. Loved it because it had its own character and was amazing for cutting. It chocks on chords and notes definition

4. triangle = OG, super loud. I liked it the best on clean channel as it was super powerful sounding, fizzy fuzzy but still very punchy

5. big box big muff USA (writing only) = the reason I have ordered other muffs... It was just chocking all over the place on ultra gain channel (dirty). There was basically no definition of notes nor chords but... I loved it the most of single strings/notes solo stuff. Super creamy, very pleasant and compressed. I liked it so much that I had big trouble to let it go... For solos it was amazing.


I was seriously debating leaving all 5 muffs with me... They are all different, altought 4 & 5 very very similar with triangle having slightly more note definitions and more punch. Though 4 with super creamy solo/single string was super hard to forget about.


I don't think there's a wrong choice here. They behave/sound so different with different amps, guitars, etc. that it's just impossible to decide which to get...


If you have a dark very fat sounding amp like Dual Rectifier/similar I would definitely pick op amp as it cuts the best.

Mind you, this is all on ULTRA GAIN channel on my amp which has tons of gain on tap already.

On clean channel they all sound very similar. Op amp has its own character which is super cool and I already miss it (both on dirt and clean channel)...

Triangle was the punchiest and most powerful on clean channel. Big box muff was almost exactly the same. Ram's head and Russian too but they were much better on dirt channel for my FAT MASSIVE tone needs.

On clean channel I would go TRIANGLE. Op amp is cool on either, it has its own character but it chokes on already dirty channel not as much as big box muff and triangle but still, similar to ram's head but ram's head sounds more pleasant overall


Ram's head is like the best of both worlds TRIANGLE <> Russian.

It sits in the middle. Big bassy but chockes a little, but still define. I had a hard time deciding between Russian and Ram's head as they were super similar. Ram's head was a little less defined so I went with Russian as I am using it as a fake 3rd MASSIVE channel on my DSL1.



You can't go wrong with either~!! I was for days thinking about leaving all of them for different scenarios... They are all super amazing pedal with their own character. There's no better/worse. All lovely./

Well, when ordering this pedal by electro harmonix I haven't expect it to be anything else but perfect.
I originally wanted to buy this pedal after I heard how well this reissue can replicate the tone of my favourite guitarists: David Gilmour and Robert Fripp.

Pros:
- Easy to use: the pedal only has three knobs. Volume, Tone and sustain. The sustain knob controls the amount of distortion and of course, as the name says sustain.
- Replicating sounds: Because Ram's Head Big Muff was used by so many iconic artists this reissue will give you the possibility to match their tones.

(Possible) Cons:
- I haven't recorded anything or played with a band with this pedal yet, but my only slight concern is that this pedal might not have enough mid frequencies. (This was a common issue with Big Muffs). But if this problem exists, you can still easily fix it with an EQ.

My main recommendation:
If possible use this pedal with a valve amp and not a solid state amp. Like any other fuzz it will sound the best with a valve amp. On a solid state amp, it can sound quite dirty (not in a good way).

Some settings for you to try out:
Fripp's Tone: Volume: 50% / Tone: 25-30% / Sustain 95%
Gilmour's Tone: Volume: 65-70% / Tone: 70%/ Sustain 90%

It's an insanely good pedal, that I would recommend to everyone!

This is the kind of pedals that does one job, and do it right.
Pros -
It's definitely a leads beast, you'll get some screaming leads out of there - for long sustained violin-like bend (for your inner Gilmour wanabe) or crazy roaring stuff (think J mascis)
- For the price, It's a great pedal with a very subtle relationship between the knobs to craft the sound you really want

Cons -
- Even with the aforementioned tweaking possibilities, in the end, it's all different sides of the same exact thing. You need to make sure this is the sound you actually want - I would definitely recommend to test it and compare it to other EHX muffs to make sure this one will get you there. If it is what you're looking for, go for it, it's great. But don't believe all those forums that will tell you about how "versatile" it is, because it's not really, it can only be tweaked within its own very niche boundaries.

In general, I wouldn't recommend this pedal if you are looking for a shoegaze wall-of-sound type of thing (it hosts 0 MVB vibe) or for this Jack White sound that a lot of people try to achieve. And it won't quite get you to the Black Keys tone either.

So overall, go buy a big muff, you absolutely need one, but trust your ears, or just take the one that your favorite artist has and don't try to find "the best one overall", there is none as they are all so different and so good at what they do :)

If you're into J Mascis or David Gilmour - get this one and stop looking for fuzz forever.