ds-1 (modded or non modded) VS russian big muff

[bassist_k]

hi. im stuck with these two. im dying to get my first distortion pedal. all over the net, i read reviews of how good the big muff is and how bad the ds1 is. i listened to all the clips available on the net for both the russian big muff and unmodded ds1, but hell, i still couldnt decide. any suggestions?

im planning to add a bd-2 to either one im purchasing.

thanks in advance!

 

[leecs]

Nice choice on the BD2.

 

[Radius_Vector]

Dude I think there are millions of threads on DS-1's in soft itself. Please do a search..

Personal Opinion : Big Muff >>>>>>>>>> DS-1.. But you havent told us anything, youre style of music, etc etc. I dont know how a Big Muff stacks with a BD-2 though.

 

[bassist_k]

almost every recent threads have been advised to do a search. so of cos i did a search before i started this one. :?

i couldnt find anything in the forum which compares both the pedals to each other.

 

[Radius_Vector]

There might not be comparison threads, but youll have to do your homework as well. Screw it, Im not going to be so anal about things.

Btw, you still havent discussed your styles of music . We cannot help you unless you do that

 

[bassist_k]

oh yea sorry, lol

uhhh, i do generally soft rock and pop rock, but i do hope onto classic rock and rock and roll quite often

 

[audioslave]

non mod..

 

[bassist_k]

lol, so ure saying i shd go for the DS1 instead of the big muff?

 

[ShredCow]

Ever heard a big muff before?

 

[dookiedookdook]

im not too sure about this, but imo, the muff is fuzzier and bassier than the ds1. am i right to say that? haha

 

[relinquish69]

I've played both a russian big muff and an early MIT black label DS-1 before. did you know that the russian big muff is regarded as the cheaper alternative as compared to the USA made big muff? I'm not refering to the vintage 1980s green big muff here, just the regular black russian big muffs.

disadvantages of russian big muff:
- no power supply input ( can only be powered by battery )
- the input and output jacks are at the wrong place
- bulky, takes up lots of space.
- not very versatile ( its more like a fuzz than a distortion pedal. grunge yes, classic rock, unlikely. )
- harder to find as compared to a regular MIT DS-1

disadvantages of the DS-1:
- not possible to make it a stand alone distortion pedal if left unmodded ( thin sounding ).
- very harsh sounding ( at least to me )

if I were very particular about my sound, I would look at other sources.

listen to Mudhoney - Touch me I'm sick for an idea on how a big muff sounds like. for a DS-1, I'm guessing that a lot of people here are able to provide you reviews or soundclips.

 

[penta-tonic]

hey i guess u have done ur homework part, now time for the work part. since uve already tried to find clips and compare the 2, read up on reviews and stuff like that, how abt heading down to the shops to try the stuff? after all ur ears are the final judge and reviews and clips online can sometimes be inaccurate or biased.

 

[edder]

IMHO, touch me I'm sick sounds more like a superfuzz than a bigmuff.

 

[dookiedookdook]

i have a bd-2 and now am alse considering the ds1 or muff.
yea, relinquish is right. the russian one has more disadvantages, but imho again, it sounds way better than the USA one.

 

[relinquish69]

the russian one has more disadvantages, but imho again, it sounds way better than the USA one.

aiyoh, how to compare between USA big muff and russian big muff? so many different versions of them. the early USA versions wouldnt sound the same as the current versions. I wouldnt know which one is the best unless I have them all. big muffs are harder to collect as compared to maybe Boss pedals. furthermore, most of them are like beaten up like no one's business.

read:
http://electroharmonix.ronsound.com/

read up on the EH articles regarding the Big Muff.

 

[dookiedookdook]

hahaha, my personal problem right now is choosing between the nyc version, russian version and little big muff.

i prefer the russian tone as well as the little one's over physique (its tone is not bad). damn

 

[dookiedookdook]

oh yea, to add on. i saw a very early post on this forum (i did my hw too! :lol: ), and someone said he got himself a little big muff and tweaked the settings to make it sound exactly lyk the russian muff.

any idea how to do dat? or anyone i could bring the little big muff to to do the same?

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

to do it, use the ear to listen by putting 2 pedal side by side, start turning the sustain and tone knob to match both. It isnt difficult.

Every 15mins of turning, rest your ear for a while and go back again to do it if not satisfied with the sound.

If after a long while, still cant get it. Relax, take a step back. Its perfectly normal if not able to get similar tone.

Each and everyone of us hear things differently in a smallest of way. The similarity which one heard, can be diffierent to others.

And if you refering to modding the little big muff. Unfortunately, its pretty hard due to the component in it.

But what you get when you buy the lil big muff, is the true bypass, fat huge muff sound, ability to use 2.1mm plug to power up etc

 

[dookiedookdook]

oh. so its just the turning of the knobs and not permanently?
thanks!

im really wanting the tone of the russian muff, but one thing i really really hate about it is that it goes only on batts.

 

[PatheinRaindropMoe]

yeah, shud be turning knons to match. The parts in lil big muff doesnt facilitate modding easily, unlike the russian one.

But if you prefer the russian one, just get it and live with the limitations rather than getting the lil big muff but trying to get the russian muff sound..

just imho