# Mini Big Muff type pedal shootout



## theelectic (Mar 11, 2006)

Since I'm selling a whole bunch of pedals, I decided to do one last shootout between all the Big Muff type pedals I have. Here are the contenders:





*Sovtek "green russian" Big Muff Pi

Sustainpunch Creamy Dreamer

Pete Cornish P-2

Tri Knob Fuzz on Eleven Rack*

I'm no Big Muff expert, and I'm not really comparing any of the four to an original - just playing what I like to play and the tone I like to hear.

For testing, I used the Twin Reverb emulation on the Eleven Rack with headphones, set to a barely breaking up tone, with a PRS SC245. No sound clips, sorry!

Starting with the idiot setting (all knobs at 12 o'clock) here are my thoughts on the four pedals:

*Green Russian:
*
Has a noticeable volume drop - need to increase volume control to 2 o'clock to equalize on/off volume. Has a BIG, chewy, growly tone, though not ridiculously distorted. Turn up the DIST control up full and WOW out comes this big explosive roar. However, not much sustain when all knobs at 12 o'clock, even with neck pickup. Best setting with all knobs at 2 o'clock, great sustainy neck pickup leads, massive full power chords from bridge. Complex chords (minor, maj7, etc.) somewhat mushy and indistinct.

*P-2*

Very slight volume drop - also need to increase volume control to 1-2 o'clock to equalize. Most noticeable difference from the green russian: the P-2 is very smooth and refined, the green russian is somewhat uncontrolled in comparison. Even with the SUSTAIN control cranked, it never gets unruly or really out of hand - this may be a good or bad thing, depending on the user. Amazing string to string response, good sustain with all knobs at 12 o'clock, complex chords come through. VERY quiet pedal, not much white or spitting type noise. Tone control range is slightly narrower, but better overall, it doesn't get as dark or needly sounding as the green russian - the entire range of the TONE control is usable. Fluid neck pickup lead tones are completely effortless at any setting. Best setting: VOLUME and TONE at 2 o'clock, SUSTAIN at 1 o'clock.

*Creamy Dreamer:*

No volume drop with all knobs at 12 o'clock, however this is likely due to different taper of volume control, since only about half of the volume control is usuable - turn it past 12 o'clock or so and there's not much more volume. Sounds BIG. Not as big as green russian. Tone control works backwards (treble to left). Somewhat noisy and spitty sounding - turn the sustain control all the way down and you get this crappy on/off breakup. Very much a FUZZ pedal - not much range on sustain control, it's basically on or off. Tone control is similar to green russian, some very bright hair metal tones in there, with some cool hollow sounds in the middle. Best setting: volume 12 o'clock, tone 1 o'clock, sustain 2 o'clock

*Tri Knob Fuzz*

Same volume drop as green russian and P-2, though less pronounced. Wide usable sustain range. Not as big sounding as any of the other three, or as unruly as Creamy Dreamer, and not as refined and smooth as P-2. Tone control also works backwards. Seems to love the volume control turned up. Lots more range on tone control, slight 0.1 tweaks often make a huge difference depending on sustain setting. Best setting: volume 6.8, sustain 5.8, tone 4.1

Soooo… which one wins this shootout? What it comes down to I think is which pedal did I play the most, which inspired me to play licks new and old, create new sounds and write some new songs - that would be the P-2. I found myself losing track of time playing it. The other thing with the P-2 is that it has a focus and cut that works really well in a band setting. The green russian, though it has a huge range, can tend to get lost - sounds great by yourself, bring in a bass and drums and then it's where did that grind go? If out there unruliness from a Big Muff is your thing, the P-2 probably wouldn't work - at all settings it never gets really crazy, though it does have a ton of gain inside it. The other obvious thing from the P-2, and this is not a knock against the other pedals, is that you can tell that a lot of time was spent tweaking and refining all the controls - every setting is usuable with the P-2. It also works very well with moderate amp distortion (think Marshall crunch). A close second would be the Eleven Rack Tri Knob Fuzz emulation - again being refined and having a nice cut in a band is something I really like, with a wide control range and very musical tone.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Excellent reviews, Thanks for posting this


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