Electro-Harmonix Green Russian Big Muff
Huge fuzz sounds.
The Electro-Harmonix Big Muff is arguably the most successful fuzz pedal of all time. Seen on the pedalboards of everyone from David Gilmour to Jack White, the secret to the Big Muff’s success is its approachability. If you’ve ever used a Fuzz Factory or a Tone Bender, you will know that they can be difficult to dial in and control. Not so with the Big Muff. It is very beginner-friendly and can produce a wide range of tones from fat overdrive to endless screaming feedback and sustain. EHX have made many different iterations of the Big Muff over its 50+ year lifespan, most of which are now available as reissues. So how does the Green Russian stack up against the rest?
If you have owned any other version of the Big Muff before, the Green Russian won’t surprise you. If you didn’t like it, odds are, you will hate all of them. If you are completely new to fuzz, the Big Muff is an excellent choice. Just pick the one you like the most visually. It will take you some time to learn to use it properly anyway. Then you can swap it for a different model, depending on your preferences.
Overall the Green Russian will have a bit more sustain and more bass than other models. If you play a lot of riff-heavy rock and metal, this is an excellent contender to build your sound around. The slightly more aggressive sound of the Green Russian also lends itself well to fast, articulate playing, although you will need to roll off the sustain a bit!
It cleans up nicely too. Turn down the guitar volume and chords will ring out with some light overdrive! This can sound a bit thin on a single-coil guitar, but works exceptionally well with a Les Paul. If you have a Stratocaster, however, don’t worry. Max out the sustain, put a delay pedal with lots of feedback at the end of your chain, and you’ve got a psychedelic solo machine. The Green Russian sounds incredible with delay and phaser effects. Bonus points if your Strat is black! The Big Muff works really well for boosting and tightening solos.
Oh, and don’t forget the bass. The Big Muff sounds great with a bass guitar, especially thanks to the Green Russian’s improved low-end.
In terms of how well it replicates the Russian-built pedal from the 90s… Well, Josh from JHS owns both the original and the reissue, in addition to basically every other pedal ever made, and here is what he has to say. Each pedal is a bit different, and, especially back in the 90s, they would have been all over the place with part variability. Overall though, it’s spot on!
The build quality is as you would expect from Electro-Harmonix. A solid metal enclosure, firm knobs and jack sockets. Nothing to complain about here. Compared to some of the other EHX pedals, it has a more utilitarian design, so it will not look out of place on any pedalboard, if that is important to you.
Bottom Line
If you want a fuzz, you cannot go wrong with a Big Muff. If you want a Big Muff, you cannot go wrong with the Green Russian! It is very easy to get a good sound with it. It will have a bit more low-end and sustain than other iterations. It comes in a pedalboard-friendly enclosure. The build quality is excellent, and at £70 you will struggle to find a better deal!