Electro-Harmonix Nano Metal Muff Distortion Pedal Reviews

I got this pedal because it was the only one I could find that had a noise gate and three knob treble, Mid, and Bass Eq.
I don't play metal so I use only 1.5 to 2 out 10 on the distortion knob. Having so much EQ control really helps me shape the sound I want and the noise gate works perfectly. Plus when I had to borrow a clean sounding amp I just turned the distortion up to 3 or 4 and got a full distorted sound. So while the distortion is off the charts intense and would work perfectly for metal, you can turn it down and use it for other styles.

Very happy with the product has a killer sound I love

It is fantastic. The built in gate eliminates ALL noise if below threshold noise level. Knobs are nice, lights are bright, but not blinding, and button is clicky. I am not a fan of electro-harmonix pedal in general, but this one I stand by day and night.

I like running my metal tones with more highs. Metal muff has a good and punchy treble boost.

This baby sounds amazing, and the fact is has a built-in noise gate at this price point is just crazy. The EQ points are just right for shaping heavy distortions. I played it side by side with a Boss Metal Zone and it's kind of a refined version of that pedal.. I was getting basically the same sounds out of it but the EHX pedal sounded better IMO. Also the frequency ranges are more refined (or maybe just at slightly different Hz) making it easier to tune than the Boss. I really like the sound of this pedal.

This pedal seems to be fascinatingly controversial. I don't intend to offer criticisms on other reviews, but a question I saw posed below required me to make this review : "why would you ever want fuzz in metal?"

Well, why not? And if you didn't want that, why did you buy this pedal?!

If you're looking for a pedal that sits at the intersection of high-gain fuzz, and high-gain metal, with an extraordinarily responsive EQ that lets you shape some really unique sounds, and also can play around in traditional "Big Muff" / slightly lower gain territory, then I highly suggest you consider this pedal. If you're looking for a high-gain metal pedal, that sounds like Metallica, then this will work, but there are other pedals (or amps) that will get you closer to that sound. If you are looking for a Big Muff, get a Big Muff.

But if you want something unique, that walks the windy tightrope between "fuzz" and "distortion" (to the absolute dismay of sound purists across the world), then I highly suggest giving the nano metal muff a shot. It's an awesome pedal.

I really like the in between old and new distortion sound. It's very simple to dial in your sound with the controls. My favorite feature I think is the noise gate. I can run low gain with p-90's and get rid of the noise.

I love it . Sounds great simple to use and cheap .

This is the best iteration of EHX's Metal Muff range. Why? Simply the gate. Sure you could buy the Silencer from the same company and get the full sized MM, but the you lose about 3 pedals worth of board space. The gate on this works really well. Try using it on a drum machine or sampler to get some interesting threshold distortion.

While this does not have a top boost switch, it feels as if the EQ section has enough boost and cut to achieve similar territory. It will push your signal into a nice warm saturated territory.

One last note is how well this little guy stacks with other dirt boxes. It gives them a lot more go.

For the comments about the noise gate, being all or nothing, I'm not sure what they meant, but I think the gate is great! It is very sensitive. Your not gonna want to turn it up much. But it definitely makes a huge difference on feed back noise. And overall gives you a cleaner punch sound. As far as the actual sound of the pedal. I am a strict heavy metal shredder! Can you get a better distortion pedal then this one? Yes. Can you get a better one, for under several hundred? NO! It especially shines on high notes in solos, and sweeps. It's also incredible for mid range riffing! The only negative thing I will say, it's not gonna be great for a rhythm metal guitarist. Especially if you play a lot of the metal core break down stuff. Unless you are looking for that fuzz distortion sound. For me it's perfect. I hardly ever play breakdown type riffs. Hardest part, is fine tuning a good rich clean channel to play over. I'll have the pedal set up the same, sounds perfect on one clean channel, then sound horrible on the next. Requires a lot of tweaking around with both the amp, and pedal to dial in for that sweet spot. But once you find it, it's so worth it! Definitely recommend this pedal!

Great pedal , just awesome .. and with the noise gate you can't go wrong..Highly Recommend it..

First off, this is not a fuzz pedal, it is a distortion pedal and it sounds great for metal. The gate does not work as well as I would like, cannot find the sweet spot on the dial that kills noise without killing sustain, so I knocked 1/2 star off for that. Cant go wrong for the price on this one.

This very affordable pedal produces reasonable sounding metal distortion and flexible EQ tunability. I ultimately replaced it with a Friedman BE-OD pedal, but I think the metal muff is a very nice pedal for the cost. It is a great pedal for a first pedal board.

This thing works well. Great alternative to more expensive metal pedals. The built in Gate works very well. would absolutely recommend.

This little thing is amazing. The star of the show has to be the mid nob, that things is so versatile than anyone can use this pedal to dial in their own unique tone and don't forget about the addition of the built in noise gate, not the greatest but really useful.

An excellent distortion box, especially for the metal lover. The noise gate is quite useful. I also use it in conjunction with other distortion and overdrive boxes. Effect boxes come and go in my household. This one is definitely a keeper for me. I would give it 5 stars but this product is for Metal lovers. Great but not incredibly versatile. No effect box is perfect.

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised by this, but I find pedals only rarely sound anything like the demo videos I always watch before a purchase. Such is the case here. This is a very good distortion pedal that includes a very nice noise gate. There's a lot of flexibility in shaping the tone, but I've yet to get that wall-of-Marshalls sound out of it.

Very efficient eq, it's really raspy and deep, I decided on the nano over the top compressor and I'm very satisfied, noow the noise gate is gonna take sum time to get used to very all or nothing, this pedal is definitely worth it!

Like most pedals some will love this and some will hate it. The features allow for a nice range of distortion tones. But if you're looking for something extreme, you probably won't find it here. The noise gate is a cool addition, but it's all or nothing when in use. That's great if you play songs with a lot of pauses and mutes. Otherwise, it's not very useful and sometimes can actually interfere with your signal. That's too bad, because It can be pretty noisy at high gain. Basically, this pedal takes some getting used to, unlike something more plug and play like an Eyemaster. It's not for all metal styles and tunings, but once I found it's sweet spots, it really grew on me. Can't really go wrong with this one considering the size, features and price range.

The distortion circuit sounds exactly like the original, and the noise-gate gates the noise. The video I watched said that you can turn the distortion all the way down and just use the EQ and gate, however I didn't like the sound I got, but then again, you aren't buying this pedal for round fat glassy clean sounds. Really can't ask for more from this tbh

This is one of my all time favorite distortion pedals. Lots of tones. The noise gate is not so good. It kills the sustain even at low levels so I just don't use it. Other than the noise gate I recommend this pedal for us metal heads.

Its an ok pedal, not the tone I was hoping for.. I already have the green muff, thought this would be voiced a little more differently. Also, I don't know if its my Mesa Boogie, but thing is NOISY.. almost unbearable.. noise gate isn't useful for me at all and seems more of a gimmick than anything else.. ill be looking for something else

This is as they put it "the first big muff voiced for metal." but why would you ever want fuzz in metal? As a Cliff Burton fanboy though it still grabbed my attention but when I got it, I was disappointed to find that it sounded exactly like my big muff I already own and had this really ugly noise when you get higher up on the fretboard. I thought the noise gate and EQ was cool but you can't use them without the fuzz, (even with the fuzz/dist rolled back all of the way, it still colored my tone to sound fuzzy.) Long story short I returned this.

Pedal was in out I believe to a manufacturer issue but what tone I did here which I am gonna give you an unbias review pedal was okay for the in out but if you are looking to play metal I def did not here it out of this pedal maybe a crunch noise but that's it but the noise gate is cool to have in a over drive pedal but the in and out effect really got on my nerves so sweetwater took care of me so for now I will pass on this metal muff and maybe look for a fortune mod ts9