Electro-Harmonix Ram's Head Big Muff Pi / REDUX with REDEMPTION

[Zoltan]

How can less be more? More is more - Yngwie J. Malmsteen
I don't understand the idea of transparent pedals. Why whould you buy a pedal that does "nothing"? - J. Mascis / Dinosaur Jr.

I have a troubled past with Big Muff pedals. I've got the regular one. Sold it. I've got some fancier ones (like the Black Arts Pharaoh) which i also sold.
Or traded. Same difference. I don't gel with the soud of Muff. It can sound OK if everything else sounds even more "muffled". I don't like what it
does to the guitar signal, or how it makes the guitar feel.

Still it's so well loved by the masses. Hence i'm always open to the idea that just perhaps there's a one for me. The Pharaoh is so far the best i've tried, but it was too noisy (and i could get too much money from it so out it went).

The one i've eyed for the longest time is the Electro-Harmonix Ram's Head Big Muff Pi. What makes it special? The main thing. It's got the Ram's head logo on it!
I know it sounds a bit vain, but mans gotta know his limits. And this one likes the Ram's head logo. Also i like the fact that it was first issued in 1973 and then the production stopped in 1977. There's something magical in those numbers. And third. It can be had for a very cheap price. And perhaps fourth... It can run on batteries which can be a good thing when you don't want to commit. Commit to using power source when you're likely just go "nah" and change the pedal on the fly. Makes it easier to have several of these "nah" moments. Otherwise you might find yourself strangled by the cables.

So to continue the story. There i was. Enjoying the sun. Thinking of not buying anything, and out of the blue comes a bargain. A price that's too good to be true! (I'm slightly exaggerating for the purpose of the story). A price to which i made a counter proposal (It's not buying if i don't get it!) which went thru. I got the Ram's head. I mean the Muff pedal. Now i just had to break the news: "Honey... I just bought another pedal" and duck for cover. At least this time it WAS cheap. The stuff she threw at me probably cost more than the pedal so who is the big spender? I just ask.

Did i like it? Is it good? Is it the greatest Big Muff ever? Je l'aime, non je ne l'aime pas! It's good - it's bad. It cheap. It's got the Ram's head on it. It's still a Big Muff and i'm not a Big Muff guy. Fuzzface is more of my thing. Carcosa is more of my thing.

Is the review over now so i can stop pretending that i care to read this longwinded ramble? No. Unfortunately there's way more... So layback and think of England.

Why am i likely to keep it? It has that Ram's head on it. I can't sell it for 150 bucks, nor can i can trade it for a "boutique" pedal.  I like the number combination of 1973 - 1977. It has that Ram's head picture on it.

Why am i likely to sell it? Someone is crazy enough to trade it for a vintage/boutique pedal. Any takers? No? So i'm keeping it.

Does it make you sound like J. Mascis? Yes. You get that sound. It's SO easy. You could probably get the same sound with regular Muff, but we're talking about this here pedal right here.

Does it make you sound like Gilmour? Yes and no. Are you Gilmour? Then yes! Do you have the other pedals in the chain too (delay etc.) AND play like Gilmour? Perhaps. Truth be told. If you have those in check you should be close enough with a Fuzzface, or even a regular distortion pedal (heresy! I know).

Does it have anything particularly fancy? Yes. It has that Ram's head logo on it. It's small. It takes batteries if you want to use them. It's cheap.

Is it the best fuzz ever? No. Is it the second best? No. Is it useable? You can make it useable.

Does it do those things that Muff do? Yes. It takes away the attack and likes to make things mushy. It has a bit more mid-range, but not as much as those boutigue pedals that are playing around the formula. Can it be tamed? To some extent. It's still a very particular sound and you can't dial that away. Does it clean well. Some say yes, others say no. In my opinion not particularly well.

It can be pushed with other pedals (a thing that i'm not particularly fond of) and you can really up the mid-range by pushing it with say... Fuzzface. But if Muff is not your thang this combination will not make you change your mind.

Are these Muff pedals for me? Not really. Will i use it? I hope so. Would i recommend buying? Only if you're cheap and can't find Fuzzface, and especially if you think J. Mascis sounds great.

[dasilvasings]

Nice text! Lol.

Have you tried... On the bass?
Just asking...

[Blooby]

I dig the Ram's Head and triangle muffs. The pedals are good as well.

Wah wah wah

Blooby

[Zoltan]

I haven' tried it with bass. I'm quite lazy with trying anything with bass. I did use Carcosa for the bass in the punk recording i did a while back, but i ended up EQ'ing the bass and it made the distortion to disappear!

I dig the Ram's Head and triangle muffs.The pedals are good as well

Those two are the ones that have more mids. Less scoop. I know i must be the problem here and i'm open to fall in love with Ram's Head anyday now Even John Frusciante uses BM's with great results. Although i'm quite sure he's pushing it with Boss distortion.

[Ted]

My philosophy about pedals (and life) is that you miss out on a lot of magic if you try to hard to predetermine how things will work out. I have already elaborated on this vis-a-vis your dog.

Let this imperfect pedal become part of your voice – even if it doesn't match the ideal tone you hear in your head, or on your favorite songs.

[Blooby]

One of my go-to tricks is to add Big Muff power chords underneath my normal sound for choruses.  Beefs them up mightily. The Muffaletta is nice because you can quickly dial through various circuits to find the right one for the song.

Blooby

[bruno]

1. You can never have too many pedals. 2. There are no bad pedals, just missed opportunities.
B

[Zoltan]

I was dreading monday for no particular reason. I just felt i wasn't ready to greet the (mon)day. I don't believe magic, but i had to try! I "accidentally" bought an another fuzz pedal... And it worked! It was like magic, i wasn't dreading the monday anymore. So i just came to tell that yeah, that works!

Also yelling into the cosmos works. Or more like talking to myself on SC works. It took only a few days for my blashemous Big Muff rant to dry until i found myself on a Mexican stand off. Do i keep the Ram, or make it go bang? I was offered better things. I was being spoken with soothing voices.

What did i do? I kept the Ram! I came to the conclusion that if i'd traded it away i'm sure i would have bought another Muff at some point. So i dodget that bullet. Also i did manage to connect with it to some extent. Firstly i tried to get a Frusciante kind of vibe going and this time i got closer. Secondly i remember that Greeny once mentioned that Big Muff was the only fuzz that worked for him (and even when used direct into MBR). So i tried that and was somewhat happy. Then i had to play the devils advocate and compare it with the Fat Fuzz Factory and oh boy, oh girl oh oh! The FFF once again kicked the BM into the oblivion. What did i learn? Don't believe everything you read on the internet, Don't compare and last, but not least... Greeny hasn't tried FFF!

[Zoltan]

The man who speaks to himself is either mad, or a moron.
With this preface i'm showing that i, yours truly in fact have the gift of prophecy!

I shall quote my earlier words of "wisdom" so i'll save you some time.

>The main thing. It's got the Ram's head logo on it!
Yes, but it was also kinda small and poopy looking.

>Also i like the fact that it was first issued in 1973 and then the production stopped in 1977. There's >something magical in those numbers.
Fair point. But what if i tell you you can add a number "47" and some magical vintage transistors into the mix? Yeah, i'm all ears now...

>And third. It can be had for a very cheap price
Let's forget about the cheap for a while. Life itself is not cheap. So maybe "choose life"?

>Is it the best fuzz ever? No. Is it the second best? No.
Not even the third. But what if i tell you there's a one that can hang in the top-3? Bollocks you say? Just hear me out.


> I kept the Ram! I came to the conclusion that if i'd traded it away i'm sure i would have bought another Muff at some point. So i dodget that bullet.
And there it is! The voice of prophecy! The feeble voice of wisdom, muffled by the stronger voice of prophecy!

I dodget nothing. I gained a new friend. Let me introduce the Ram that out-Rammed the ram!

Meet the Wren and Cuff 47/73 Rams Head Big Muff w/ vintage BC 209 transistors.

Does it sound / feel like the EHX Rams Head? Call me crazy. It doesn't. It doesn't feel the same. The Ram is bigger. It's better.

Likely to keep? Yes!

What happened to the old Ram? Well, that little fella had to go to the greener pastures. I traded it away to something that i also traded away. It's the circle of life. *cue violins*

What else hangs in the top-3 you might ask? I got a new one holding the forth. Something with maybe Fuzz Face and Tone Bender going for it. Vintage with a room to play. I shall write about that at some other time.



Some info about the pedal for those who care:

In 1973 there was something magic that happened in the world of muff. A pedal that looked the same as all the big silver Ram's came out, but there was something unusual under the hood. What later became known as the "47" Ram, the name had nothing to do with the year 1947. The moniker was attached to the pedal because of a heavy array of components using the number "47". There were 470pf, 0.047uf, 0.47uf, and 0.0047uf, caps abound, and even a handful of 470k resistors fed into the numeric flow.

Why was this?

Are there messages hidden within? Can we find a prediction for the end of days hidden inside this numeric map?

Probably not. The most likely answer is that those were what EH had lying around at the time, so they put them to good use in one of the early circuits. Not the most exciting reason, but this happy accident did result in an amazing pedal that is one of the most sought after Muffs by collectors the world over. Adding to the mystique... The UFO style black-top, gold leg transistors, probably given this distinct look to indicate mil spec consistency. These could be partly responsible for the deep rich tone of the 47.

The tone?

Lots of fuzz, lots of scoop, tons of low end. This is not a quiet, refined, and focused muffer. It sounds, well.... Vintage as f#*k. I'd say it falls somewhere between our Tri-Pie and White Elk. Its got the rumbling lows that some crave, and the impolite gain of an old school pedal. Bass players that love a less tight, more blown out amp tone from a muff will love it, as will guitarists that want that Gilmouresque tone. Oddly, I have never heard that David used a 47 version of the original pedal, but for me, when I kick this on, I hear THE tone of many of those recordings.

The good and bad?

We gots 500pc of these. That sounds like quite a few, but with each pedal using 4 trannies, allowing for a few bad parts in the bunch, there most likely aren't going to be many more than 100 of these made by Wren and Cuff in the near future.

[Blooby]

You're mad...mad, I say...madder than Mad Jack McMad, winner of last year's madman competition.