Electro-Harmonix Green Russian Big Muff Pi Fuzz Pedal Reviews

I own a few different Big Muff variants, I rate the Russian as the best place for a newbie to start when venturing out into this territory. It can be harnessed quite unlike the Nano and it sounds deep and unique.

I thought I was buying a generic fuzz to start messing around to some Doom metal stuff with. I was completely wrong, this totally transformed my tone in the best way. It's easily the best money I've spent on a pedal. I play Bass in B standard and it's just monstrous.

I never been much of a fuzz guy so my son got me this one for Christmas a year ago. I absolutely love it when I play with my strat in church using this pedal I get those sweet Eric Johnson tones. Creamy and pretty but I can get in the Jimi territory real quick. And it's so well built like all eh products you need to check these out best fuzz ever in my opinion

It has a variety of sounds i really enjoy and the bite I was looking for. It's just what I hoped it would be.

Do you want to hit the switch on a pedal and get an amazing fuzz that just gives you a rush of your own fuzzy feelings? The big muff is amazing, unlike a lot of fuzzes this can be almost like a distortion pedal to where you can use this fuzz with chords and it sound mean as heck but also you can hear the notes you're playing. Look up some sound demos with this, it sounds great through my 100w peavy which has a very overdriven sound and it sounds amazing through a fender bassman and a twin reverb. It sounds great trough every amp I've put it though and if you are in drop D holy **** it's killer sounding. Try Soundgarden's "Outshined" riff through it, it amazing. I love this pedal and highly recommend it. Also try it with a bass, it's super fun.

This pedal is perhaps the greatest sounding distortion/fuzz I have ever plugged my bass into. It's raw, disgusting, and provides the heaviest of fuzz tones you could ever want. Perfect for Doom and Sludge Metal. Although, It can also pull off a pretty good Muse tone. As well as a pretty good Metallica tone. It shines in just raw brutality. Better yet? There is no low end loss at all!

Sounds awesome, would highly recommend this.

Love the sound, works great with my gretschs. Small size and great build quality

I love it, what a difference it makes!

I have an odd setup using a Rat as an always on OD and a Les Paul into a small Blues Jr (15w). I generally have concerns with bottom end and have have feedback problems when gain stacking.

But this pedal stacks great right after my Rat. Thrilled with its interaction with humbuckers and single coils, neck and bridge. Absolutely SCREAMS and provides a great blues and 90's grunge vibe. Bass response is full and powerful - no flub.

Looking forward to seeing what else this thing can do. Absolute BEAST.

This pedal sounds incredible. I really dig using it with both basses and guitars.

I doubt that any guitarist / musician looking for a fuzz pedal would be disappointed with this. Super dense, wooly fuzz with great low end response. Good price and very sturdy build quality.

I love this fuzz super fuzzy and sludgy

If you want earth moving fuzz for the bass, this is it. It's dirty, messy, full of garbly nonsensical garbage. It is not clear, transparent, sharp attack, overly sqaure-waved (you can play more than one note), or just a mis-labeled distortion. It's a fuzz.
The tone knob is useful for the full sweep. The sustain knob(gain) is useful up to about two-o-clock, as most fuzz's are. Volume knob...
For guitar, it is a messy wall `O sound. Think grunge/sludge rock. Not for metal as it has poor attack and not face ripping. It's more like a kick in the groin.
I would buy another in a heart beat.

Get it if this description rings with you.

Very nice little pedal. Very smooth sounding.

This Big Muff is probably the most ferocious pedal I've ever had! Nice and thick distortion with tons of sustain, yet it never gets muddy or undefined. You want 90's grunge and alternative tones? You got em!

Not too much to add about this classic fuzz. Go from fat and round to nasally piercing. Plenty of great fuzz boxes out there, but you can't go wrong with a Big Muff variant.

I like it! Use it on a bass.

I got this pedal looking for a specific sound. When I got it, it exceeded my expectations. The range of tones on it is amazing. Not just from the pedal itself either, but you get some pretty unique sounds if you play with the tone and volume knobs on your guitar as well. I honestly have nothing bad to say about it. Construction is solid, sound is amazing, and the price is reasonable.

I've tried just about every iteration of the Big Muff and this is hands down my favorite. I play everything from Blues to Doom Metal and this fits the bill no matter what I throw at it. Some just starting out may prefer other versions of the Pi due to the Russian's emphasis on lower-mids and slightly lower sustain but you often need less distortion than you think you do and even with the sustain knob cranked, the pedal sounds brutally gorgeous. I can't recommend this pedal enough, from kids just starting out to even the most seasoned professional. Give it a whirl and prepare to be a-blazed

I wanted to get close to the Gilmour sound. This fits the bill, especially with some Delay added. Very Happy with the result and the wide range of tone you can get with this for other styles of Music.

I already had a Bass Big Muff, the regular NYC Big Muff, and a Black Russian Big Muff...they are all cool, but I was surprised by how much more I immediately bonded with the Green Russian Big Muff. It's truly is different than the other muffs... Lots of low end and just warm all around. This thing is perfect for both bass, rhythm guitar, and lead.

This thing looks like a surplus Cold War prototype that failed to detonate, and that's exactly what happens when you dime this boxy Soviet land mine.
It detonates.
...And with great suddeness, a thermo-nuclear wall of devastating, luscious fuzz, that can melt rocks, rumbles across the soundscape. And it's not alone. Accompanied by a low end that feels like the floor turned into quicksand and sustain for days, this thing can take the skin right off your face. Violently poetic yet tortuous rapture. Can it be tamed? Absolutely. There are nothing but great tones in this pedal, and it seems versatile. But it's so much more fun to just go full atom bomb. Love love LOVE th is pedal.

I used the muff pedal with my Squier Affinity Telecaster for the first time last night. It's amazing what you can make it sound like with different settings, from boost to overdrive to fuzz! I also tried it with a Keeley Compressor Plus in front of it; and a Mosky Golden Horse (Chinese Klon clone), delay, and Keeley Omni Reverb on plate setting behind it, and even through my Vox Mini 3 practice amp, the sound was huge! Highly recommended, especially if you intend to used it in conjunction with other pedals.

This is a fantastic fuzz box! If you love the Big Muff Pi sound, then this is something that you should have in your collection. It has a tad more midrange than the older units; but that just improves the overall tone (and helps it cut through in a live or studio mix better). Get one one of these fuzzy bad boys!

Rarely has a pedal recommendation worked out for me - heck half the time the ones I think sound good in the store don't sound good at all when I get them home and try them in my rig , so this pedal is an absolute exception to the rule . it was recommended to me by a fellow guitar player and I owe him because this is "the sound" I have been searching for in a fuzz pedal . As a cool bonus here it comes out of a company who makes pedals for the working musician who isnt fortunate enough or unfortunate depending on how you look at it) to have the bill taken care of for him . You can add this to your ever growing list of excellent pedals at an excellent price . No pedal maker has an impressive record of good vs bad pedals - as far as I'm concerned it's just a hit and miss business . Electro-Harmonix has got as good a record as the rest of them with prices that beat almost all of them . EHX is a pedal company I don't think our community of pedal nerds/lovers/and hobbyists can live without . The sound of this fuzz is of course completely subjective . I will agree with others that it i's bass heavy , however I find it usable and a fair trade for a fuzz pedal with true to life honest to goodness musicality . It isn't the roadblock to that alive feeling my tube amp gives me = every fuzz i tried before this either killed my amps feel completely or greatly tampered with it in some way that i just couldnt get past . A velcro ripping fuzz would be the other end of the spectrum compared to this pedal and thats good buy me as i dont bond with that type of fuzz whatsoever. Finaly my big muff tone wicker (which has little in common with my new Russian best friend) was the only fuzz i could force myself to keep until this bad boy got between me and my amp (EHX apparently is one of the big guns when it comes to fuzz) As is known the wicker has pretty much one setting on the tone knob that sounds right everywhere else hurts . The green machine breaks down this barrier ! I can get usable and even great sounds with the first two thirds of the sweep and no I'm not joking I can even screw around with the top third of the sweep when I get bored for some weird funky noises with out my ears bleeding - the ice pick to the ears is still there but it is considerably reduced from the tone wicker I have and it makes it usable for experimental sounds . Do I like my new Russian best friend ? Well how about this EHX I humbly thank you and applaud you on a true out of the park and beyond home run ! You didn't just give me a great fuzz I could use , you gave me the fuzz sound I've been dreaming about and that leads to the real gold = opening the door to my sonic freedom that much further . EHX thank you ! Mike Mathews (wish you could hear this) Thank You ! Finaly - Sweetwater in the world of online music retailers that us musicians are so very fortunate to have = you have no peers . I have found you a great company to deal with especially when there's been the rare problem and isn't that the real benchmark ?so a big Thank You to you guys as well !
PS - to the few who say forget that pedal and try the real deal - my ears work just fine and I know what I like and this hits the bullseye . So for the price why would I fool with anything else . Oh and I like Russian people not just Russian pedals lol.

Love fuzz, you name the pedal I have it, but this one's different. It's got the typical bite that everyone loves from a Big Muff, but it's a much more balanced, rich and full sound. Geared for classic rock for sure, but I've found it's great for some crunchy blues as well! Awesome pedal -- Strat, Tele, LP, SG, sounds great with all.

I used to have an old, black and yellow, big box Muff and always preferred the "Russian" tone. This pedal is certainly an update, while still holding true to that sound I always loved! Crank the clean channel volume and let it ride. Thanks again to Matt Fuller for answering all my questions; always top tier service from the guys at Sweetwater

Great grunge, sludge, dirty sound produced by this pedal. I'm glad I chose it over the Big Muff Pi USA

Cant stand the other types love this great pedal

I have an original green Russian Big Muff I bought in the "90s when I was about 16 years old. It still works great, but I"ve had to resolder the 9v clip a couple of times. That plus the fact that the original pedal is pretty large and worth a bit of money these days, I decided to try out the reissue. I think it"s great! It fits on my pedal board better, and I can plug it into my power brick without having to use a battery adapter. I ran the pedals side by side. I"ve gotta say, the reissue is pretty close to the original. I prefer the original"s switch, which would allow you to hold your foot on it and run the distortion until you pulled away. It made it a little easier for fast changes back to a clean sound. Outside of that difference, the pedals operate pretty much the same. It"s a great choice for people who want that sound without breaking the bank by going vintage or for those who don"t want to risk damaging their already vintage muff.

What am I playing?! a Synth, a Bass, a Guitar covered with Sludge ? I don't know but it sounds amazing, like the sound of the finest hand crafted Velcro ripping apart! I tired a few Fuzz's in the past and never really bonded with them, this thing however is awesome, very creative tool, make me re think my approach to playing, and makes old riff's sound renewed and re-inspired, not many pedals have that effect, great tone, great price, stacks with other pedals well, a lot to like here

I own one of the originals from the 90's. I love how it sounds, but it suffers from all the well-publicized drawbacks. This reissue sounds as good as anything out there, including much more expensive boutique clones (and I have a few of those too). Loud, smooth, wall-shaking fuzz. This is not the most versatile fuzz variant, but that really is not the point. Also, the paint job and design is pretty slick - much nicer than most of EHX's unfinished looking metal boxes.

Should have bought a Big Muff 30 years ago. I'm keeping this one!

Davvero uni dei migliori muff da me provati, rispetto alla versione ram's head e a tutti i cloni del ram's, il green russian conserva un suino molto più accentuato sulle basse e medie frequenze, mai sgranato e molto definito. Addirittura con Gain al minimo è anche possibile suonare con accordi, il suono risulta caldo e molto dolce, ha molta versatilità tutto ciò, forse, grazie all'utilizzo di diodi al germanio. Consiglio acquisto a chiunque ricerchi il classico suono di un muff storico.

I bought this new EHX Green Russian Big Muff Pi to reproduce some David Gilmour tones and this is one is one of the best Big Muffs I have used in my whole life. The price is very attractive too. If you're looking for a good big muff to reproduce Gilmour/Pink Floyd tones, this pedal is for you. Well done job by EHX pedals!

Whoa. This thing pumps up the low tones better than any Big Muff I have ever had ...and I have had a bunch (since the 70's). I had to move it off my "direct" pedalboard. It just overwhelmed everything else. It now sits on my "magic" pedalboard that contains all my favorite pedals. This is one mighty dirt box. Great overtones, thunderous (and not flappy) bass response. It's gunna give your rig a workout. Not so much a "lead" sound - more like a big chunking truck that smashes into your speakers like a fat moth hitting a windshield (in a good way). I like it.

I've owned an original Sovtek green Big Muff since they came out. Needless to say, it's seen better days. So when this pedal came out, I decided if it was "close enough" it would help extend the life of the original pedal.

Well, it's not "close enough", its dead solid perfect. I really struggle to hear any noticeable difference between the original, and this new pedal. And the smaller form factor is icing on the cake. Thanks EHX!

I have an original Russian Green Big Muff, this basically sounds the same, it's not exactly but close enough, if you haven't experienced an original, or like being able to tweek mids and stuff this pedal is not for you! I've seen people below saying not even close, they either haven't used an original green, or they like the tweekabilty of the much more expensive tall font/green big muff clones, because this pedal does exactly with out needing a battery, or a 9v adaptor, the original does!

Sounds like a 90s russian! Had an original in the 90s played it in bands... Sounds the same what more can i say... great little pedal. Even better with a boost behind it.

Awesome pedal! Sounds great on bass. Nice and fat. Has replaced my bass big muff pi. Also sounds great on guitar. Gets a wide range of pleasing, useful fuzz tones.

The Green Russian big muff is probably the greatest fuzz/sustainer pedal in existence for all instruments. Put the tone knob around 10 o'clock and you'll lose absolutely no lows on bass. (heck it may actually boost low end) Then set level and sustain to where you like them. And the result will be the greatest fuzz sound you will ever have. The tone spectrum is so wide. You can get Cliff Burton, Lemmy (if you crank mids) Chris Wolstenholme, and Flea-type sounds all in one pedal.

Great box especially for the fat strings! I would say it sounds as good as you want it to sound due to ability to make adjustments! I have another box for the thin strings but this one always sounds good for rock on all strings...! A must have!(IMHO)

Big thick fuzz

In the late 90s while stationed in Germany, I was window shopping in town when I noticed, in the window of a pawn shop, what I thought was some sort of Russian military surplus device. It was in a small wooden crate with the Russian text that looked alien to me. I decided to go in for a closer look. I quickly discovered that it was some sort of guitar pedal. I'd been playing guitar for about 6 years at this point and had owned a couple of Boss and DOD pedals, but I'd never seen or heard of Big Muff Pi. So... I decided to buy it. Even if it was terrible, it wasn't too much of a loss.

When I got back to the barracks and plugged this thing in. At the time, I was playing through this tiny, cheap solid state Peavey practice amp. The Big Muff made it sound like what I imagine a circuit board sounds like while melting and having Black Sabbath played through it simultaneously. It was so different from any other distortion pedal I'd ever encountered. After that point, if I wasn't playing clean, I was playing dirty with the Muff.

Years went by and we grew apart. It spent a couple of years as a door stop when I lived in a house that wasn't quite level. I'm pretty sure at some point I used it as a hammer when I couldn't find a hammer. The wooden box became storage for small, sentimental doodads. The Muff ended up in a plastic milk crate full of stuff that I never used, but didn't have the heart to throw away.

Then, earlier this year I decided to make some changes in my life. I decided to get sober after having been way too into the booze from the age of 16 all the way up into my early 40s. I figured with the money I was saving by not drinking, I could get a nice amp and some pedals and start focusing on music instead of gin and tonic.

I purchased a VOX AC15 and a few pedals from Sweetwater and received them a few days later. I loved the sounds I was getting but I needed something more. I pulled that old milk crate out of the closet and retrieved the Big Muff Pi, tossed it into my chain and gave it a shot. I'd forgotten that it required a battery, so I quickly ran from my room to pull the battery out of our Carbon Monoxide detector (silly thing is always beeping for no reason) and stuck it into the muff. I pushed the massive button and was immediately brought back to my bedroom in the barracks back in Darmstadt. That sound is just burned into my brain in a way that can't be explained. Noisy and buzzy and chaotic, but also beautifully creamy if you plucked the strings with your fingers instead of a pick. I felt like, if the neighbors were ever going to call the cops on me, this would be the pedal to make that happen.

Then I started noticing on the guitarpedals subreddit that lots of people had these little miniature versions of my pedal. At first I figured it was some sort of weak throwback attempt that couldn't possibly sound like the massive metal doorstop that I'd been carrying with me all these years. But, I needed to hear it. So I checked out a few videos with people comparing the new ones to the old. This quickly changed my mind. Once I'd found a comparison video where the differences in sound were practically indistinguishable, I knew I'd have to have one. It just made sense that if I could produce the same sounds with a pedal that was so much smaller (looking down at them now, I think I could fit 4 of the little muffs inside the chassis of the old muff) then there was no reason to dedicate so much of my pedal board real estate to that thing. So I bought one.

The first thing I did after getting it home and hooking it up was to dial in my ideal sound on the old Muff and try to closely duplicate that using the new smaller muff. This didn't take long at all. I should mention that my old muff is the 'Bubble Font' version while the Green Russian Big Muff Pi is based on the 'Tall Font' version. However, it's been said that all of those old muffs were slightly different from each other in sound. I know pickier folks will point out the differences and act like it's massively noticeable "Man, you can totally hear the slightly scooped mids at 523 hz, it's a night and day difference!" It's not, the differences are negligible and absolutely 'close enough for rock n roll'. After having played the two side by side, I'm actually liking the new one better. To match the sound of my old muff with the distortion knob dimed, I only had to put the little muff's sustain knob at about 3 o'clock. So it has more face dissolving capabilities than the old one; there's math that proves that.

It's kind of sad knowing that I'll soon be putting the old muff back into the milk crate in the closet. But I've seen what these old ones are selling for these days, so putting it in a safe, dark place is a good idea. No more door stopping or hammer duty for this old fella.
He's going to a better place, so we shouldn't cry...this is just part of life.

Compared this to my old 90s green Russian Big Muff.
This reissue sounds a bit better to my ears and less noisy.
The only issue is the tone knob sits close to the switch. I gaffe tape the tone knob to avoid my big toe moving the dial.

Sounds awesome with a great range of fuzz tones and harmonics.

It’s a big muff. It’s green and smaller than older units. Sounds great! The switch is stiff but I expect it will get better with time.

This pedal sounds great with my '94 MiJ Jag through a Deluxe Reverb. Thick and wooly, sounds a lot like my old Bubble Font Muff. Also sounds great with my Ric 4003 through my medium sized live rig. Took a half point off because I'm not a big fan of the knobs. They're a bit hard to see on a board and a little hard to turn. Overall it's a 9/10 and will be buying a 2nd so I can have one for my guitar board and one for my bass board. Ya owe it to yaself to try it.

Super saturated smooth fuzz. No too harsh. Great for stonet rock.

Lots of cool tones, and appears to be well made. One of the control pots is staticky when adjusting, but not going to return it.

Customer service was great during and after purchase thanks.

I haven't purchased one of these, but I'm commenting about the original pedal. My original Big Muff Pi was purchased in the 70's, and it stopped working. The Electro Harmonix folks repaired it for me just before the original NY company folded, but it broke again a few years later. When the company came back, the Big Muff Pi was re-offered only as the made-in-Russia version, and I purchased one. It's not green, but black. The build quality wasn't great (the battery cover didn't fit well, and there was no external power option. Still, it sounded great...compared to a made in USA one that I purchased later, it has better bass and an overall warmer tone. I'm not sure when they started painting them green, but I may yet get one of these newer versions. The die cast case looks like a big improvement!

Never had an original from the 90s but a friend did. Nice sounding fuzz but the tone knob is pretty useless. Mite spend the extra cash for the Stomp Under Foot Green Russian, a true fuzz machine.

This is an amazing big muff! I had an original back in the late 90s , and this is just as warm and fuzzy as I remember my original.
The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because it's a little bit of a one trick pony. There are a lot clone makers adding midrange boosts or cuts. But then again those guys cost more the double this one does . So might as well get the real thing!!

Big thanks to my sales guy Bryan Campbell for twisting my arm on this one , it was a no brainer!!

A great big muff, but killed my signal clarity in bypass. Upgraded to a JHS muffuletta.

As the title says good tone just not great.I'm still in search for the sound in my head and this wasn't it for me. But if you like the sound give it a try.

This pedal has a great sound, but it is by far my noisiest pedal. Whenever I plug it in, there is a low-grade hissy/fuzzy background sound that none of the other pedals in my chain produce. It is loud enough to be distracting. I tried the pedal in different rooms, etc. but always got the noise. I have contacted EH about the issue and will see what they have to say. Was noticeable enough that I felt compelled to write a review as I currently wish I had gone with another model.

Having never owned an original Green Russian, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. All of the reviews/previews I read indicated this fuzz would be on the bassy side...little did I know it would be bass overkill. The bass output from this pedal is completely overwhelming.

Working the tone knob doesn't help much. It seems to go from "trunk rattling bass" to "high end fizz" with very little effort....not much of a sweet spot as far as I can tell.

The box itself is probably a step above your average EHX box....but nowhere near as sturdy feeling as a Boss or MXR box.

Finally, there isn't enough sustain for my liking. Anything below 12:00 is in "why even bother" territory. Pushing it with another overdrive helps out, if you don't mind doing that.

For bass, this is probably a great pedal. For guitar, probably better to look for other options.

Poorly made pedal.