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Electro-Harmonix English Muff'n £169

A pedal that serves up overdrive flavours of the '60s

The MusicRadar Team, Tue 23 Oct 2007, 12:13 pm UTC

The English Muff'n offers plenty of tasty tones.

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Apart from Frank Zappa’s Muffin Man and Motley Crüe’s tender love song Slice Of Your Pie, rock music isn’t exactly brimming with references to home baking.

The closest your average guitar hero gets to the ingredients in a cookbook is the baking soda used to bulk up his marching powder. So why has Electro-Harmonix named its new distortion pedal after a breakfast treat? It’s a reference to the legendary Big Muff, the classic overdrive pedal of the 1970s. But there’s a world of difference between the English Muff’n and its older sibling. While the Big Muff is a solid-state unit, the English Muff’n is driven by two 12AX7 valves – the same ones that gave Marshall amps their awesome tone back in the 1960s. That explains the ‘English’ bit on the nameplate, but this cool pedal is just the thing for introducing classic rock sounds into your existing setup.

Sounds

The pedal’s gain control allows you to dial in anything from a warm, bluesy breakup, to a balls-out metallic roar. And there’s enough variation in the filth to suit any kind of player. To tweak the tone, there are knobs for low, mid and high. This puts all sorts of juicy tones at your fingertips: think Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton. Clapton’s original 1960s tone, achieved with a Les Paul and Marshall setup, inspired a generation of rockers in their choice of gear. The English Muff’n captures that legendary sound. It’s delicious.

Verdict

This is a great throwback to some classic Brit rock tones.

MusicRadar rating:

4 of 5 stars

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User comments (1)

  • shadyady69

    Avatar for shadyady69

    18 weeks ago.

    User rating 5 of 5

    Well, it certainly cured my gas pangs for for an OD pedal.
    If you've got an older Marshall Valvestate like I have and you want it to sound more like a vintage Marshall this is what you need. But - it will do so much more. The Muff'n I have has a pair of 12ay7's, so I guess it won't have as much gain as the one reviewed in Guitarist, still more than enough for it's purpose though with the trade off being more clarity and string separation in the higher gain settings. Valves are easily swapped about and I might experiment with some 5751's, but I'm more than happy really.
    Touch sensitve, clean yet driven tones are impossible to ignore from this thing and with a bit of reverb and chorus I was lost for hours.
    It takes the wah nicely - Hendrix and Trower sounds are well served here. I found myself playing Bridge of Sighs for what seemed like an eternity.
    I found the pedal to add a real breathy tone to my amp and give some much needed authenticity and character. John Frusciante type cleans are achieved with aplomb when using single coils and backing off the guitars volume. Clapton's woman tone is also easily nailed - I even got close to Josh Homme's Kyuss sound, it really is that versatile.
    I could blow more hot smoke up it's arse but I fear I would just be boring you. Try one, g'waan - I cannot see how it would fail to impress.

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MusicRadar rating

4 of 5

Pros

Those classic Brit rock tones. ‘Cool Britannia’ visuals.

Cons

Power supply fitting could be more secure.

Verdict

This is a great throwback to some classic Brit rock tones.

Review Policy

All MusicRadar’s reviews are by independent product specialists, who are not aligned to any gear manufacturer or retailer. Our experts also write for renowned magazines such as Guitarist, Total Guitar, Computer Music, Future Music and Rhythm. All are part of Future PLC, the biggest publisher of music making magazines in the world.

Specification Show

English Muff'n

Price:
£169
Available Controls:
Gain, High, Mid, Volume
Country of Origin:
UK
Manufacturer's Description:
Vintage Valve Pre-amp Pedal
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