ElectroHarmonix Bass Big Muff Pi

March 2009 Guitarist 127
ELECTRO-HARMONIX STEEL LEATHER, KNOCKOUT & BASS BIG MUFF PI
£49, £40 & £49
BASS
Electro-Harmonix
Knockout
PRICE: £40
ORIGIN: USA
TYPE: Bass attack equaliser
DIMENSIONS: 90mm (w) x 118mm
(d) x 60mm (h)
CONTROLS: Low, dry, high rotaries,
footswitch
ADDITIONAL FEATURES: Input &
output jack sockets, XO-series die-cast
box, true bypass, nine-volt battery
included, optional power supply
available
RANGE OPTIONS: Bass Micro
Synthesizer (£169); Octave Multiplexer
(£49); Q-Tron (£99)
Test results
Build quality
Features
Sound
Value for money
GUITARIST RATING
Electro-Harmonix
Steel Leather
PRICE: £49
ORIGIN: USA
TYPE: Bass expander for attack and
percussion
DIMENSIONS: 55 (w) x 110 (d)
x 57mm (h)
CONTROLS: Effect level, response,
footswitch
ADDITIONAL FEATURES: Input &
Output jack sockets, compact die-
cast chassis, true bypass, nine-volt
battery included, optional power
supply available
RANGE OPTIONS: Nano Bass Balls
(£49); Nano Soul Preacher (£69)
Music Ground 0113 243 8165
(Plus many other UK outlets)
www.ehx.com
Test results
Build quality
Features
Sound
Value for money
GUITARIST RATING
Bottom Line
We like: No nonsense
presentation; ease of use;
great inspirational sounds –
especially from the Bass Big
Muff Pi
We dislike: Nothing major at
these prices; Steel Leather a
bit unrefined
Guitarist says: A trio of
useful stompers to help
bassists stand out. Clearly
the Bass Big Muff Pi will be
the big seller, but do give the
others a try to see what
you’re missing
The Rivals
Behringer’s BLE100 Bass
Limiter Enhancer (£17) is
one of the cheapest effect
pedals available and offers
smoother tone and even
playing levels. Slightly more
sophisticated is the BOSS
LMB-3 Bass Limiter
Enhancer (£62), which also
eliminates nasty volume
peaks whatever your playing
technique may be. For
alternative enhancement
the Hartke Bass Attack
Pedal (£80) offers tonal
shaping in the form of a
preamp with a three band
EQ plus a Harmonic control
that emulates valve warmth
and drive. For a touch of
distortion try DigiTech’s
XBD Bass Driver (£58) that
will provide good overdriven
sounds with the added
ability to emulate some of
the classic examples.
Electro-Harmonix
Bass Big Muff Pi
PRICE: £49
ORIGIN: USA
TYPE: Bass distortion/fuzz/sustainer
DIMENSIONS: 90 (w) x 118 (d)
x 58mm (h)
CONTROLS: Volume, tone, sustain
rotaries, three-way micro switch,
footswitch
ADDITIONAL FEATURES: Input,
output & dry jack sockets, XO-series
die-cast box, true bypass, nine-volt
battery included, optional power
supply available
RANGE OPTIONS: Bass Blogger
(£47); Bass Metaphors Distortion
(£109)
Test results
Build quality
Features
Sound
Value for money
GUITARIST RATING
ends of the spectrum. The dry
control also has the ability to
tighten the sound and add some
extra note definition. As such it
can give your trusty old bass a
range of new sound
characteristics, including many
that are not usually associated
with a specific model.
The Knockout’s enhancement
capability is huge, however, we
do offer a word of warning to all
bass players: it also works well
with guitar, so take care that
you keep this pedal well away
from your lead guitarist! Take it
from us; you’ll like this pedal a
lot, and so will they.
Bass Big Muff Pi
This is the classic bass
distortion pedal that players of
a certain age all know and love,
now reborn and made even
better. The sounds are as
outrageous as ever but now it
has more scope for tweakery so
you can distort your sound
more cleanly (which sounds
like a paradox, but isn’t) and
sustain longer: pluses all round.
The reason the original Big
Muff was seen as such a
breakthrough was down to the
specialist, bass-friendly
circuitry where adding
distortion ceased to result in
the loss of bottom end. Used for
overdrive or full-on distortion,
shaping the sound is achieved
by tweaking the volume, tone
and sustain rotary controls.
While these are self-
explanatory, the additional
micro switch enables you to
re-introduce a boost to the
bottom end when you’re
attacking the upper
frequencies on the tone
control, hence no depletion in
the low frequency range. It’s
an essential ingredient to help
you to make those big solo
statements, or for boosting the
performance quality of a song
on stage. It’s also the perfect
excuse to watch guitarists
squirm in discomfort as you
totally out-fuzz them. Ahem…
This is a seriously effective
pedal that has the ability to
blow your socks off. Whether
you require a hint of overdrive
or downright dirty, white flag-
waving speaker flatulence, this
is the unit for you. It didn’t
become the distortion pedal for
a whole generation of hard-core
bass players for nothing. Try at
your peril – you’ll want one.
Verdict
Electro-Harmonix has an
enviable reputation to uphold
within the music industry so
you know these units are going
to be roadworthy and durable,
and at these prices they are still
very pocket friendly. Choosing
to build within standard die-
cast electric boxes is a sensible
move as it helps towards
keeping production costs down,
so don’t be fooled by the
relatively low-tech appearance
of these pedals: they are
seriously effective and each
offers its own brand of tonal
enhancement. But don’t just
take our word for it, look at the
excellent Electro-Harmonix
website or check out the
Guitarist CD to hear what these
pedals can do. All models come
battery equipped but
designated power transformers
are available at extra cost.
GIT313.rev_ehx 127 29/1/09 6:18:15 pm