Its a Version 5 op-amp Muff, but I think someone scratched the “TONE BYPASS” ink off. I don’t think any were made this way (EDIT – updated with a new photo. Added a few and sold a few).

I have been collecting Muffs for years. I trade a lot on ebay. I’m always buying them to see if I can find better versions to the ones I already have, then I sell lesser versions back on ebay, usually for a profit to help this hobby pay for itself. These pix are the largest collection I had at one time.

Yeah, I forgot this forum code runs like an old PC from the 80s. It’s the only forum I post on that has that problem.

I know of many users who have used the Big Muff. I have either read or seen pix that verify each of these, but I’ll have to dig up the info again to do in the format suggested here.

Carlos Santana, John Lennon, Pete Townshend of The Who, Steve Howe of Yes, J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr., John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo of Sonic Youth, Thom Yorke of Radiohead, Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins, Kurt Kobain of Nirvana (on Lithium), Cliff Burton of Metallica, Chris Ross of Wolfmother, Robert Sledge of the Ben Folds Five, Jamie Cook of the Arctic Monkeys, Mike Mills of R.E.M., and Jack White of the White Stripes. The band Mudhoney named the EP Superfuzz Bigmuff after the Muff, which was used on it.

David Gilmour of Pink Floyd used both the USA Ram’s Head and Traingle Muffs, Sovtek Civil War Muff, and Pete Cornish Big Muff clones on many of Pink Floyd’s greatest recordings. Lots of documentation in interviews and photos that verify this. Too numerous to list all the songs he used them on, but it is documented that the solos on Comfortably numb are the Ram’s Head Big Muff. For the live Wall shows it was the Ram’s Head into an 18v Electric Mistress for Comfy Numb, and just about every other song with any distortion. The Sovtek Civil War Muff was used on many songs from A Momentary Lapse of Reason, most notably on On The Turning Away. It is also used all over the Pulse live CD. The Ram’s Head and Triangle Muffs were used on Gilmour’s recent On An Island tour in 2006. Though David has also used the Pete Cornish P-1 live since 1980 or so, that is just an E-H Ram’s Head clone made road worthy and tweaked with a buffer.

The Electric Mistress was used heavily on the later Pink Floyd shows in 1977 for several songs from Animals, all over The Wall live and studio recording, and the Final Cut studio recordings. Also used on David Gilmour’s first solo record on the instrumental Raise My Rent, which also features a Ram’s Head for the solo.

Let us know how it compares.

Well, despite having Muff in the name, the Metal Muff is not a Big Muff. It does not use the four stage transistor design like the Big Muffs.

That black and white one is sweet. Would love to find one with those graphics.

Ned, I checked with Fran, the designer of the 3003-A circuit, and she did that one in 2000. So I guess the first production of the NY re-issues was 2000, since it could not have been earlier, and I know they were being sold in 2000. I think you had asked about the date in another thread. Fran did not do the next two revisions to the NY circuit, so those were probably done by John Pisani, who I believe is the lead designer at E-H now.

Regarding the boomy sound of the old Sovtek Muffs, I actually like that about them. The tone is so huge. They really sound good with a strat through a Fender twin. I use a Boss CS-2 compressor and a bit of boost from a BK Butler Tube Driver with them like David Gilmour, so that helps it cut through a band mix well. I am not a big fan of the Triangle Muff either, though I still own a unique sounding first edition and play it every now and then. I do love the Ram’s heads though. I have two really good ones at the moment.

From my experience playing vintage USA Muffs and quite a variety of the 90’s Sovtek Muffs, I have to say I think there is more variation in the tone of the USA Triangles, Ram’s heads, and Version 3s than the Sovtek Muffs. Most of the Sovteks have been more conistent in tone than the USA versions, if you can even use the word “consistent” with regards to a Muff

My two favs are the Ram’s head and the Civil War, but I have to say, I like them all, and all of their differences!

I have read that the Green Russian Muffs tranys were marked SPT87-103, though none of my old Russian Muffs have any markings. The first small box Black Russian I played had BC549Cs in it.

Regarding the hFE on the older Sovteks, I was told they (Civil Wars and dozens of Greens measured) averaged around 500 and the USA Muffs with 2N5088s averaged around 700-800. That is why I list the Russians as lower gain than the USA Muffs. They may not all be lower gain since the hFE range is quite broad.