Electro-Harmonix announces reissue of Op-Amp Big Muff Pi pedal, as heard on Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream

When Smashing Pumpkins main man Billy Corgan told us he was working with Electro-Harmonix on a reissue of the Op-Amp Big Muff Pi back in October, we could scarcely contain our excitement, and now the official release of the legendary Siamese Dream-featured pedal has arrived.

Also known as the IC or V4 Big Muff, the Op-Amp Big Muff was famed for its use on SP’s pivotal 1993 album, Siamese Dream; its sound came from op amps rather than transistors, and featured three rather than four gain stages. The resultant tone was more compressed, yielding the wall-of-sound fuzz tones that Corgan made iconic.

“Mike Matthews, the company founder, actually contacted me because he felt we made [the op-amp Big Muff] the fuckin’ sound,” Billy told us. “That was an incredible honour!

“I told him I didn’t want anything [in terms of payment]: I want to [collaborate with EHX] because they changed my life. That sound is the sound!”

In the video demo with Reverb above, the guitarist enthused of the reissue, “The magic’s still in the box - I can still get what I’m looking for!”

Like the original, the new incarnation features sustain, tone and volume controls, as well as a tone toggle switch to bypass the tone circuit, while adding true bypass switching and a compact chassis.

The Electro-Harmonix Op-Amp Big Muff Pi is available now for $80.90 (approx £60/€68) - head over to EHX for more info.

Michael Astley-Brown

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.

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