gilmourish | 5 years ago

Electro Harmonix Ram's Head Big Muff review

Guitar: Fender Stratocaster with D Allen Voodoo 69 neck and middle and S Duncan SSL5 pickups, Fender Telecaster with Texas Specials pickups
Amp - Reeves Custom 50, Laney LT212 cabinet with Celestion V30 speakers
Amp settings: linked input, normal volume 1:00, bright volume 11:00, bass 12:00, treble 9:00, mids 1:00, presence 12:00
Mic - Sennheiser e906 mic

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Electro Harmonix recently released the last of their Big Muff reissues and probably the most anticipated. The Ram’s Head. The original pedal defined David Gilmour’s late 70s and early tones. Here’s my review.

It’s exciting to see how Electro Harmonix is embracing their legacy with these reissues. The Big Muff has been cloned in every way possible by countless brands - and yes, I have many favourites among them - but to me, the Big Muff is synonymous Electro Harmonix.

David Gilmour started using the Big Muff around 1976, with the recording of Animals. It was a natural transition from having used the more overdrive sounding germanium Fuzz Face and later, during the Dark Side of the Moon era, the slightly more aggressive silicon transistor Fuzz Face.

The Ram’s Head Big Muff was David’s main distortion pedal for the Animals tour, his 1978 solo debut, the recording and touring of the Wall and Final Cut.

The Ram’s Head was introduced as the second generation Big Muffs in the early 70s. It got its nickname from the ram head graphics on the chassis.

The first models, with red graphics, had a distinctly brighter and more aggressive character compared to its predecessor, the so-called Triangle. Later versions of the Ram’s Head, had violet graphics and more gain and an overall smoother tone.

EHX’s new Ram’s Head reissue is based on the mid 70s Violet Ram’s Head, with the familiar controls for volume, gain and tone, as well as true bypass switching, led and 9V powering.

Electro Harmonix has done an amazing job with all four reissues (the fourth and perhaps not as Gilmourish - the late 70s OP amp model). They’ve managed to capture the true essence and character of each original model and some serious competition to the boutique market.

Tonewise the Ram’s Head is very close to the mid 70s Violet. It’s got a lot of gain, a nicely balanced low end and that slightly compressed and smooth character. And it’s loud! Probably one of the loudest Big Muffs I’ve played.

Read the full review here
http://www.gilmourish.com/?p=8237