The Electro-Harmonix Double #Muff is, as its name suggests, two chained muff transistors in one pedal. It has a very simple control layout that includes two gain knobs, one for each transistor, and a toggle switch that toggles the second muff on and off.
This pedal has a surprisingly wide range of usable tone options, especially if you count your guitar volume and tone knobs. It can sound close to an overdrive pedal or a dirty #fuzz pedal, depending on the settings you dial it to, and everything that surrounds the pedal.. including your guitar pickups, the volume on your guitar, the tone, the amp, other pedals in the chain and your heart rate. This pedal is extremely sensitive to signal path changes, for better and worse. So much that I would say that if you are using many pedals and tend to change the combination a lot during a gig, just take it off your board and leave it for studio work, because it can be a tough beast to control! However, if I judge by sound, I think this is one of the most underrated and misunderstood pedals I had the chance to play with. It is unique and it makes you play things nothing else will! It is really special in that sense in my opinion (scroll down for some sound samples).
Pros
unique sounding and surprisingly versatile
very dynamic and sensitive to volume and pick attack
great with single-coil, humbucker and bass guitars
huge sounding, never muddy low end
very useful gain range
very inexpensive, like many EHX pedals
true bypass
Cons
the output volume of the pedal is a little out of control. When you want to push the first muff, if the amp is not overdriven, the volume just doesn't make any sense.. I learned to avoid that.
the 9v power socket is for an 1/8" PL style plug, which is very uncommon these days. In the current production line that was corrected.
mine is housed in a relatively big enclosure, which is not pedalboard friendly. In the current production line that was corrected.
Like with most fuzz pedals, you need to find the sweet spot with that thing. I highly recommend to start by connecting it straight to an amp and learn how it interacts with the preamp gain. It's not an everyday plug-and-play overdrive, but once you learn how to use it properly with your rig, you'll be very happy if that's the sound you're after. I am very comfortable with just a double-muff always on and a delay pedal straight to a #Marshall. All you need is the right amp gain and your guitar volume and you can cover a lot.
Be sure to check out the tracks below for sound samples.
Audio Samples
Demo Clip
This demo clip has been created specifically for this post to demonstrate higher gain settings on the Double Muff. It has been recorded with a Duesenberg Starplayer TV bridge humbucker and into a #Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 401 clean channel. The muff 1 gain is set around 10:30 o'clock and the muff 2 around 11:30.
The Man In Purple Shirt
The main guitar here is a 1996 Gibson Les Paul and the slide guitar is a Fender Telecaster, both played through the Double Muff in single mode, through a #Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 401. It sounds fat, round and dry with a lot of air between the overdrive teeth, if you know what I mean.
Mambo Jumbo The guitar is a 1996 Gibson Les Paul, played through the Double Muff in single mode, through a #Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 401 with slight breakup. I'm pretty sure the guitar volume was not maxed on this one.
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