Don't We Already Have One Of These
Yes. The Initial release of these pedal included the Rusty Fuzz. However this was a silicon fuzz based on the Fuzz Face. For those unfamiliar with fuzzes, there are just as many fuzzes to have as there are overdrives. Does that mean that they are all different? I'll answer that question with another question. Are all overdrives different? Let's just think about how many "different" Tube Screamers there are. Sure, there may be some slight differences for one manufacturer from another, but for the most part a Tube Screamer is a Tube Screamer. But a Tube Screamer isn't a Blues Driver.
Ruby Fuzz is to Fuzz Face as Honey Pot Fuzz is to...
Big Muff. Yes, the Honey Pot seems to be a clone of the EHX Big Muff Pi. It's also been suggested that even the name may be a reference to same anatomical location as the Muff. The largest hint as to what the circuit is based upon are the label given to the knobs. Volume and Tone are pretty basic stuff, but Sustain on a fuzz usually point in one direction, Big Muff.
Which Muff Is This Muff?
This is where it get a little trickier. The Big Muff Pi has several versions to choose from when cloning. From the Triangle to the modern USA version, there are at least a handful of circuits and sounds that we could expect from this pedal. If I had to take a guess, I'd say that we might be getting a Russian variant of the pedal. This may be wishful thinking on my part, or it may be due to the fact that another pedal announced along side this one is call the Iron Curtain (far better name if this is a Russian version). The main reason I think this is that it sounds rather tame. The Russian Big Muff is one of the lower gain version of the pedal. In any case, we probably aren't looking at a clone of the modern Big Muff Pi.
Conclusion
Yes, these pedals are bulky little tanks, but given their relationship with Behringer I'd rather have these than those. Personally, I have never been a huge fan of TC's dirt pedals. The Mojo and Dark Matter were both rather underwhelming But with the new line of "inspired" pedals, TC might just have my attention. A $50 Muff clone has my attention. But if this really is a Russian Big Muff, then it could possibly take the wind of the resent EHX Green Russian release. But for the love of Pete, they should have name this one the Iron Curtain... Such a better name!
I also think russian due to the olive green enclosure.
ReplyDeleteHad no chance to open that one but did had chance to test it and it's dam good Fuzz, quality is super, truth it is very sad that people put them sticker ''Behringer it sucks'' - then again who cares what snobs have to say. Pack any Behri or TC into ''boutique'' box and those same tone gurus will talk days and days how great that pedal is. TC made great job IMHO, had chance to peek into ''echobarin'' and ''thunderstorm'' - great quality and sound, can stand side by side with any fancy 200$ pedal.
ReplyDeleteMine is yet to arrive, but opening the box will reveal which Muff it is. If it's not the opamp or germanium versions, there's only a couple of resistors and capacitors difference between them. Mostly they affect the max gain and high freq filters.
ReplyDeleteAmazing value for a US$50 pedal.