The dual op-amp fuzz pedal brings to life a circuit initially passed over for the Op-Amp Big Muff, offering a slightly rawer take on the classic Big Muff tone.
Some of the best gear never makes it past the prototype stage. Electro-Harmonix has plenty of those stories buried in its archives, and the Big Muff Pi 2 is one of them—a circuit designed by original Big Muff creator Bob Myer in the late 1970s that got shelved in favour of what became the Op-Amp Big Muff Pi.
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EHX enthusiasts Josh Scott and Daniel Danger uncovered the hand-drawn schematics at Myer’s home while digging through the company’s history. Rather than leaving it as a historical footnote, Scott worked with Electro-Harmonix to build the circuit exactly as Myer had designed it, bringing a forgotten piece of fuzz history into production nearly 50 years later.
The Big Muff Pi 2 is a dual op-amp design that sits slightly left of the standard Big Muff sound. It runs at lower gain than its more famous siblings and keeps its edges a bit rougher, less refined and more raw. That said, it still delivers the signature Big Muff sustain and full-bodied tone that’s defined countless recordings since the early ’70s. It’s basically the Big Muff’s scrappier cousin.
Controls follow the familiar Big Muff layout: Sustain, Tone, and Volume. Sustain adjusts the amount of distortion, ranging from heavy crunch to full saturation. The Tone knob works like any classic Big Muff. Boosting treble and cutting bass as you turn it up will take you from woolly low-end thump to searing high-end bite. Volume handles overall output, giving you plenty of headroom to match or exceed unity gain.
Housed in EHX’s compact Nano chassis, the pedal features vibrant graphics by Daniel Danger that set it apart visually from the rest of the Big Muff family. It’s a nice touch for a circuit that might have remained forgotten if not for some dedicated archival digging.
For players who’ve spent years tracking down different Big Muff variants, from the Ram’s Head to the Triangle to the Russian reissue, the Pi 2 offers something different. It’s a circuit from the same designer, from the same era, but with a character that never made it to market until now. It’s not trying to be the “better” Big Muff, but simply offering an alternate take on a sound that’s been foundational to rock, doom, and psych for five decades.
The Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi 2 is available now. It ships with a 9-volt battery and accepts standard power supplies.
Visit EHX for more information.
