I've got three different versions of the big muff: the little big muff, the deluxe big muff, and the deluxe bass big muff. I love the sound of a big muff, and I was hoping this would be a hug step up in usability. A lot of the additional features look like great ideas on paper, but are not executed well. The additional feature do offer some usable tonal options, but don't work very nicely. For example, I was hoping the mid eq would help me get a muff like tone that still cuts through in the mix, but the mid eq is kind of bad sounding and changes the tone in a way that sticks out badly. It only really works with very gentle settings. The same thing is true of most of the other setting too. They have to be set so that they are almost not doing anything. The gate is way too audible. I wish it had a smoother setting. The attack knob makes the tone sort of open up, as if the high frequencies were suddenly being let through more, but it also can get kind of nasty sounding and stops sounding like a big muff. I wish that Electro-Harmonix would instead just design a really good sounding 3 band eq for it and put a blend knob on it, but after using their Overlord pedal, I'm not sure they know how to make a good 3 band eq. I will keep this on my pedal board for now. If you are thinking about getting this deluxe version, try to play one in person first, and lower your expectations. It is a lot more expensive than the standard big muffs, but the features only make it a tiny bit more versatile.
