Electro-Harmonix Green Big Muff

TOTAL GUITAR MARCH 2018
T
he Green Russian Big
Muff Pi, that was
produced in the early
1990s by EHX’s sister
company Sovtek, is widely
credited with turning around the
fortunes of the then-ailing
company. The legend goes that
the units were housed in
materials taken from scrapped
Russian tanks and they were
legendary for switch faults and
the lack of power jacks.
Nevertheless, the Green Russian
Big Muff Pi came to be highly
prized for a generation of players
who were looking for an
alternative to the thinner,
brighter NYC Muff fuzz sound.
In standard tuning, these
coveted fuzzes deliver robust
highs and fat bass, while in drop
tunings they’re instant stoner
and doom riff machines.
So do these modern reissues
deliver on that formula? Let’s
take a look and fi nd out...
RUSSIAN FUZZ ROUND-UP
104
A
lthough based on the Green Russian
circuit, the EarthQuaker Hoof eschews
the silicon transistors of the original for
a hybrid design using both germanium and
silicon transistors. This results in a woolier
tone with less treble content and no ability to
conjure squishy octave artifacts that you’d
normally associate with the Fuzz Face circuit.
The tone sweep is very usable, particularly
when paired with the shift control: a mids pot
in the style of the AMZ tone control, one of the
most famous DIY mods for the original. Being
able to tame the mid scoop, or add extra bite
brings a new dimension.
G
iven the number of modifi cations, clones
and evolutions of the original, you’d
expect to fi nd the reissue prosaic by
comparison, but though there are no bells and
whistles, diming the sustain control and then
sweeping the tone from left to right gives
immediate access to the fat stoner tones, thick
grunge and lo-fi , slacker-style treble scratch
that have ensured the legacy of the original.
The rock-solid build quality, added to its svelte
form factor and attractive price point, make
this pedal hard to resist.
EarthQuaker
Devices Hoof V2
STOMP ON THIS
Electro-Harmonix
Green Russian
Big Muff
MEAN AND GREEN
£75
TH
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FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
£185
BEST BUY
AWARD
TGR303.gear_pedals.indd 104 1/31/18 4:43 PM