Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi – Russian

After a long absence, Electro-Harmonix jumped back into production with this army green Big Muff Russian-made re-issue in the 1990s. While this isn’t an exact sound-a-like of the classic Muffs of yesteryear, this one stands up fairly well. You’ll still get that warm singing sustain with a massive overdose of rich harmonics, but this one falls a little short in terms of overall musicality and dynamics. If you’ve had the pleasure of playing through an original, or the USA reissues, you’ll get the picture. The plastic input and output jacks on these Russian versions don’t exactly instill confidence, so be sure to baby this thing when on stage or in transit. The stomp switch is huge and easy to find on dark stages but may take some getting used to as it only engages the effect as you are lifting OFF of the switch. Even with those small gripes, this was still a fantastic deal at around $50.00 new. Prices on the used market these days range in the $75-$150 range. Due to the wide variety of sonics between the various Muff models, I would encourage you to do a little demo-ing before actually buying.