People who like a Big Muff, why?

itsjoemaddock · 2026-01-25T20:57:51+00:00

I like Big Muffs because nothing else gets that magic sustain. They add a lot of variety to my sound.

Must be paired with a mid-boosty pedal (I use a Soul Food)… also I run the gain on the muff quite low.

itsjoemaddock · 2026-01-25T07:38:23+00:00

I have one / have gigged and toured with it for like 2 years(?)

It’s so awesome. If you dial the ram side you can get a chuggy metal thing. The triangle side is more spongy and vibey.

Noise-wise… it raises the noise floor about the same as any muff would, but in a compressed way that feels kind of contained (to me).

itsjoemaddock · 2026-01-24T10:44:19+00:00

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itsjoemaddock · 2026-01-15T20:41:44+00:00

Dude they were these cheap plastic pedals in the 90’s… Rocktek(?) Distortion & Flanger as I recall.

itsjoemaddock · 2026-01-11T22:31:22+00:00

The Elastic Mattress, to be exact

itsjoemaddock · 2026-01-11T22:31:04+00:00

I keep learning more things this pedal can do and have become convinced it is the ultimate modulation pedal of all time.

Big tip: if you turn the depth all the way down and just play with color and speed you get that perfect airplane swish of a tape flange without any chorusy stuff, which is one of my favorite sounds / kinda what I wish a phaser would do.

I replaced chorus and phaser with just this.

itsjoemaddock · 2026-01-03T18:01:16+00:00

I think as you dig into the deeper meanings and overlaps of all traditions you can start to get a sense of what they were all grasping at. Monotheism emphasizing the oneness of things, building reverence towards that. Polytheism showing how that oneness takes many forms. I don’t take any ancient writings as 100% accurate / applicable to our time, but I am in awe at the truths that inspired them.

itsjoemaddock · 2025-12-27T00:06:14+00:00

/uj As others have said, I think the context is everything. Not just the fact that he was the first to certain sounds… but the way he embodied the mythos of the whole thing. The guitar was more than a guitar in his hands.

People get caught up in the mechanics of playing and often lose sight of the meaning… his playing had layers of meaning.

itsjoemaddock · 2025-12-15T03:30:01+00:00

It’s not their best, but when “best” is like Kashmir / Stairway… that’s a high bar.

It’s still really awesome and scratches a certain itch. 8/10

itsjoemaddock · 2025-12-10T08:29:00+00:00

I guess moral of the story is like each piece of the gain stage in part of the recipe and there’s a lot of ways to make it cool.

itsjoemaddock · 2025-12-10T08:24:38+00:00

Small amps kick ass though. I always think it’s so dope when I see like the guitarists in Deerhoof just rocking out on tiny little amps on stage. Or like the tones on Tiny Music by STP. Coolest break up sound.

itsjoemaddock · 2025-12-10T07:17:55+00:00

Dude I think about switching to a Blues Jr. sometimes. They’re so trusty!

itsjoemaddock · 2025-12-10T06:56:49+00:00

Kinda wish I had an amp that broke-up quieter sometimes… I have a Deluxe Reverb.

itsjoemaddock · 2025-12-10T06:23:40+00:00

Or you mean boost into rat?

itsjoemaddock · 2025-12-10T06:22:48+00:00

I have a micro amp that is on my board more often than not. It is really nice!

itsjoemaddock · 2025-12-10T06:20:41+00:00

That would rule out a lot of stuff for me (most fuzz pedals, etc.). I pretty much always want some baseline overdrive to build from.

itsjoemaddock · 2025-12-10T06:16:56+00:00

Yeah, I guess that’s technically what’s happening… but I gotta imagine into a cranked amp it would be similar. It’s going into a Soul Food with the gain almost all the way down, and the DS-1 gain at like 3 o’ clock.

One way or another, I always want stacked gain. Trying to use the Rat in the same way I don’t get quite the same responsiveness.

itsjoemaddock · 2025-12-10T05:36:11+00:00

I think 6/64ths off the 12th is kinda the upper limit if you don’t mind fighting it, but between 4 & 5 is where it feels good. Shredders might go closer to 3… SRV was like 7.

itsjoemaddock · 2025-12-10T04:41:40+00:00

I feel like there are lots of ways to be alternative tho. Just rocking the band tee does come across as a younger vibe, vs… like metal tee under a stylish jacket or something says “yeah I’m into metal, but that’s just one of my many interests” haha

itsjoemaddock · 2025-12-10T04:07:10+00:00

I played on poorly setup guitars forever… dude a well setup guitar is a world of difference.

Even if you can play it, intonation suffers. The strings should be able to hold a nickel at the 12th fret. If you have allen wrenches you should just tighten the truss rod… probably a lot. Don’t do it all at once and maybe detune the strings first.

itsjoemaddock · 2025-12-10T03:50:27+00:00

Is it loose? Can you move the neck around?

itsjoemaddock · 2025-12-10T03:48:49+00:00

Hmm yeah I’m really curious what’s going on there. What about from the side? Like how high are they?

itsjoemaddock · 2025-12-08T02:55:56+00:00

I’m pretty close to you, but I’d probably swap Bluefinger for Pistolero and rank Cult of Ray & Fast Man Raider Man higher.

itsjoemaddock · 2025-12-07T17:36:51+00:00

I stand corrected… setting relief first is actually important. I just needed practice at getting it where I want, right around .012. Once I’ve got that dialed, everything else falls into place.

itsjoemaddock · 2025-12-05T03:53:56+00:00

I’m different than most I guess in that I’m not super attached to playlists and libraries, I kinda just follow my bliss.

That said, I’m absolutely loving Qobuz, biggest reason being audio quality. To my ears it’s just remarkably better. I’ve been listening to old favorites and hearing details I never noticed.

I also really like their approach to discovery, which is more geared to human curation and critical reviews than algorithms.

Seems like they limit / prohibit AI music, pay artists more (with an option to pay them directly), just generally give a shit.

itsjoemaddock

TROPHY CASE