Why the Big Muff Pi remains popular with guitarists

After a year or so of wanting to buy a Big Muff Pi, I finally bought one. The fuzz pedal was and is still used by many famous musicians and idols, including some of the greatest guitarists that ever lived, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and Jack White, from the White Stripes.

Is it fuzz, or is it a distortion pedal?

Many people are confused about whether this pedal is a distortion or a fuzz pedal because it has both traits.

This pedal is perfect for playing grunge, indie and rock

Sound and Tone of the Big Muff Pi

Volume, Tone, and Sustain Controls: The controls are easy to use, allowing you to set your output, colour your sound, and crank up the saturation easily.

True-Bypass Footswitch: This lets you pull this beast out of your signal chain when disengaged for a pure, uncoloured guitar tone.

9-Volt Adapter or Battery Operated: You can Power up this timeless classic with an EHX battery or power adaptor.

This old school pedal was designed in 1970 by Mike Matthews and is popular for its rich and creamy violin-like sustain. 

Hendrix and Santana were among the first to get a piece of the Pi, and for over 40 years, the Big Muff Pi has been defining the sound of rock generation.

The Design is huge and takes up a lot of room on my pedalboard; however, it’s worth having the original NY Big Muff Pi instead of the smaller reissue or the Small Big Muff.

This popular distortion/Sustainer Pedal has three controls that let you dial in the finest harmonic distortion/sustain ever produced. 

The Volume control adjusts the output level. The Sustain control optimises the long sustain with just the right amount of harmonic distortion. 

The Tone control provides a range of sounds, from warm bass to crisp treble.

You need a Diago adaptor that plugs into the back of your Big Muff pedal, and you also need one if you have a ProCo Rat pedal, a DOD pedal and older Electro Harmonix pedals with a diago station.

These adaptors will set you back around £6.49 each, and you can purchase them online.

All you have to do is plug the diago adaptor into your daisy chain cable. Please don’t make the same mistake as me and buy the pedal without ordering the diago station.

Rating

I would give this popular Big Muff Pedal 4 stars out of 5. I purchased this pedal to play some of my favourite tunes by some of my favourite guitarists.

This musical box fits well on my pedalboard alongside my other pedals, and despite the pedal being large in size, it’s also big in sound and worth the money.