Category: EH Articles

Friday, 28 September 2007 19:51

Last Updated on Saturday, 21 August 2010 13:01

Electro-Harmonix will go down in history as one of the great innovators in the music industry. Who can deny the impact their creations have had? Imagine Robert Fripp without his 16 Second Digital Delay or Frequency Analyzer. How about early Carlos Santana without his Big Muff? How about the hundreds of garage bands that relied on EH stuff as an inexpensive means to achieve their sounds? The list goes on and on.

Lately, though, I’ve been taking a good look at my collection, and the one thought that keeps popping into my head is: What the heck were they thinking? I mean, sure, they made some great stuff and some, like the Big Muff, are considered classics. But what about The Other Stuff? (; ), Al P.) Although I’m sure EH had good intentions, they just couldn’t help but make a few things that just weren’t very practical for guitarists or musicians in general.

How about the Domino Theory (circa 1978)? This was a red plastic tube about 8 1/2″ long and 1 3/8″ in diameter. Inside was a circuit board with several components and an array of 15 LEDs (3 x 5). By means of a small microphone mounted on the board, the Domino Theory would light up in different patterns when it detected sound. A trimpot protruding through one of the end caps allowed for adjustment of the sensitivity. Pretty cool when used with your stereo, but not for much else. Here’s a CLIP of it in action.

There was also the budget version: the Pet Lite. Sporting a scant 5 LEDs, it’s pretty much the same as the Domino Theory with 1/3 the LEDs.

There was also the 3-Phase Liner (circa 1979), an electronic necklace with a circle of 6 LEDs. It was a small plastic box about the size of a 9v battery with a string attached for wearing around your neck. When the unit was worn or placed in an upright position, the LEDs would light up and appear to move in a circular pattern. It used a #PX27 battery originally, but since this is no longer made you must use (4) #86 watch batteries in series with a small ball of foil to complete the circuit. Don’t be like EH designer Howard Davis and wear yours to a disco. The string is very easily broken and dancing feet are not kind to these strange items. I purchased the green one on Ebay in 2004. I had never seen one like it before but the seller, who was in Singapore, had 2 of them. Mike Matthews says that while most of them were black, there were a few colored plastic ones. You can see how I used the 4 watch batteries and a ball of foil to make it work. The original battery was 5.6v, but these add up to 6v, which isn’t a problem. Click HERE for a short AVI of the 3-Phase Liners in action.

Would an AM guitar transmitter fit in this artcle? Maybe so. The Wireless Wizard was actually made by UMI, another early effects manufacturer, but appeared in EH stock lists in 1972-73. Mike Matthews recalls carrying these items, but was unsure of just where they came from. To quote Mike: “I bought these, but I don’t remember from where, maybe the company was bankrupt and I bought all the stocks at auction, BUT I am not sure. I just thought it was a cool idea so I got them and then sold off about 1,000 pcs.”

Regardless, for $39.95 you could play your guitar through any AM radio whether it was yours or not. Kind of like a Mr. Microphone for guitar. Instead of just saying “Hey good lookin’, we’ll be back to pick you up later!”, you could just hit a few bars of “Foxy Lady”. Better just hope they’re tuned to the transmitting range of the Wizard if you want this to work.

The Corona Concert was a high-voltage device similar to the “Lightning Balls” you see at Radio Shack, Spencer Gifts, and other places that deal with “unusual lighting effects”. Simply turn the unit on and adjust the controls for the effect you want. Too bad it’s not made to react to sound like the Domino Theory.

Last Updated on Friday, 20 August 2010 07:53

Let’s pick up where we left off last time and meet the rest of the Big Muff family.

Muff Fuzz

The Big Muff wasn’t alone in this family. It had its share of little brothers as well. The smallest was the Muff Fuzz, a little fuzz that plugged directly into either your guitar (EH-2009) or amp (EH-2008), depending on which one you paid $18.95 for. Featuring only an on-off switch and a boost control, the Muff Fuzz delivered a mighty sound for its size. By ’75, the price had increased to $21.95 and then to $23.95. Later editions (EH-2008) had two 1/4″ jacks and came with a double-ended plug so you could choose where to plug it in. Again, these started out transistorized and became IC units sometime in the mid or late ’70s. This model went on to cost $25.50 by mid 1978 and was later increased to $34.

Little Muff and Little Big Muff

These two units were housed in a Small Stone-size box. The Little Muff Pi or EH-1008, appeared circa 1972 and was basically the Muff Fuzz in a floor box. The controls were the same as the Muff Fuzz with the on-off switch alongside the Boost control. It was always (?) transistorized. Around 1975-76 it became EH-1009, the Little Big Muff Pi which was a simpler version of the Big Muff with only a volume control and a tone switch. This became an IC unit later on as well. If you look inside many of the later Little Big Muff Pis, you’ll find that EH put an actual Big Muff board in them and simply preset the Tone and Sustain controls.

Sovtek Big Muff

Let’s not forget that Mike Matthews is now making a reissue Big Muff Pi under the Sovtek name. This pedal is an extremely heavy-duty version that comes in a little wooden box. The sound to me is reminiscent of Version III Big Muffs. The early models have the jacks only supported by the solder holding them to the board. Troubles abound!! Later on, they started securing them with nuts. Here’s a page about the Sovtek Muffs.

Now Electro-Harmonix has reissued an American version of the Big Muff. Check out this page for tips on telling an original Big Muff from the American reissue.

Who really knows how many Big Muffs and relatives were made? Apparently there’s enough of them that anybody that wants one can get one. All I know is I see them advertised all the time. Version I seems to be the rarest and most expensive. Version II: Good supply. Version III: More of these than any other. If the person you’re buying from has more versions than one, try them all to find the one that best suits your taste. Even seemingly identical models can sound quite different depending on what’s inside.

For my money, nothing beats a good Version I. Mine sat in a local former music store in its box until 1994 and everyone that’s tried it loves the sound. You may have heard it on a recent Judybats disc that was recorded here in Bloomington (finally got my free copy of that, 2 years later) and also on Velo-deluxe’s “Super-Elastic” (finally got my copy of that too; thanks to producer Paul Mahern for both!). Muff Fuzzs are also fairly common and available. Little Muff Pis are only slightly rare and Little Big Muff Pis are not much more common. The Deluxe Big Muff is actually 2 effects in one so you’ll probably have to spend more money for one. Think of the money you’ll save on batteries!!

Before I forget, EH also made Big Muffs for other distributors. The most famous of these is, of course, the Guild Foxy Lady which actually predated the Big Muff Pi (but not as a Big Muff). Other names you might see are Marveltone, Electra, L.D. Heater, and Wabash. Some of these are labeled “Distortion- Sustainer” on the top.

Special thanks: Kevin Macy for the Little Muff Pi, Aaron Fleenor for the Little Big Muff Pi and Jeff & Al at Guitars O Rama for the Muff Fuzz.

Last Updated on Friday, 20 August 2010 07:55

This time we’re going to take a look at the Muff family. As you all know, the Big Muff Pi was probably EH’s most famous product. Thousands of these things were sold to crazed guitarists around the world seeking that down and dirty sound that only a Big Muff could deliver. It was most likely the 2nd or 3rd EH effect I bought (the 1st was a Small Stone and the 2nd might have been a Memory Man).

The Big Muff was a mainstay of EH almost since the company’s beginnings. In its long history, it went through several changes which I shall discuss here.

Version 1: The famous “triangle knob” version, so called because of the triangular arrangement of the knobs (Figure 1). The model number at this time was EH-3003 and the list price was $39.95. This is the smallest of the Big Muffs, only slightly larger than a Small Stone. This is also the best sounding one of the bunch with tons of sustain and a smooooth distortion. The electronics were pure analog: transistors (4), capacitors and resistors. Power was switched on by a slide switch just above the volume knob, but some early ads show the power switch as actually being on the volume control. At this time it was also possible to purchase the Big Muff as a kit for a lower price of $26.95. This gave you the satisfaction (and possibly the frustration) of putting it together yourself.

Version 2: By 1975 the Big Muff had moved into a bigger house with a bigger price tag, the house being a large box like the one used for the Electric Mistress and now listing for $49.95. The controls were also laid out in a straight line across the top of the pedal with the power switch moved to the back between the jacks. The lettering was black with “Big Muff” printed in red across the middle and the EH “face” in the lower right-hand corner. The face logo was sometimes shown as a circular graphic and sometimes a square one. These versions are commonly referred to as “Ram’s Head” models. I don’t like this designation because the logo is obviously not a ram or any other kind of hoofed mammal. I prefer to just call it the “V2” (preferred) or the “face model”.

Version 3: Around 1977 EH updated the paint job on the Big Muff to the famous red and black paint job with “Big Muff” in big red letters and a large black area around the footswitch but kept the earlier circuitry of the Version 2. You can easily identify these by the power switch on the back. Another new feature was the inclusion of a 1/8″ DC power jack for an AC adapter. If you look inside the unit, you’ll also see that it has the earlier “3003” circuit board. The original box also has the correct layout pictured on it along with the model # EH-3003. All versions from here on kept the graphics of this unit, sometimes with some variations in color.

Version 4: Big change for the Big Muff!!! Around 1977 EH completely changed the circuit of the Big Muff and created the “op-amp Big Muff”. The earliest models were still marked on the circuit boards as EH-3003 but soon the model was changed to EH-1322. From the outside, it appears identical to the V3.

Version 5: Another op-amp Big Muff I own is pot-dated 1978 and labeled as EH-1322 but has a TONE BYPASS switch. With the addition of the TONE BYPASS switch the circuit was modified so that power was switched on when you plugged into the input jack. A V5 unit that came in for repair was labeled as EH-3003 and had a pot-code of 1979.

Version 6: The op-amp circuit was dropped and the transistor circuit brought back. The model continued as the EH-3003. The TONE BYPASS, which was first found on the V5, was retained. By 1981 the model # had changed to EH-3034.

So, what did we learn from this? There are more Big Muff versions than you can shake a 5X Junction Box at. Here’s a quick recap of the article:

Version 1	EH-3003, the “Triangle-Knob” version	Early 70’s to 1975
Version 2	EH-3003, the “Face Model”	1975 to 1977
Version 3	EH-3003, the “Face Model” in new red/black graphics w/ ON/OFF switch. All units from here on use Version 3 graphics	1977
Version 4	EH-3003/EH-1322, the first op-amp version w/ ON/OFF power switch	1977 to 1978
Version 5	EH-1322/EH-3003, op-amp version w/ TONE BYPASS switch	1978 to 1980
Version 6	EH-3003/EH-3034. Changed back to transistor circuit w/ TONE BYPASS switch	1980 to 1983

If you’re wondering how the different Big Muffs stack up against one another, check out Kevin Macy’s article in the March 1994 issue of Vintage Guitar. He had access to a lot more of them at once than I did.

Not enough? Well, for those of you who need more, these was the Big Muff’s big brother, the Deluxe Big Muff Pi (Figure 4) which you could buy in 1978 for the grand price of $89. This puppy was AC-powered and had a Soul Preacher compressor built-in as well. I’ve seen two versions of this: the EH-1330, which had a Blend switch (apparently the earlier model) that allows you to switch the compressor in or out and the EH-3053/3054 which had a Series/Parallel switch. In the latter case, both effects were always on and the switch allowed you to reconfigure the way they were hooked together. For some reason it also cost more, with list price set at $130. All Deluxes, to my knowledge, were made with ICs.

Next, Part II of the Muff family……. Thanks to Bruce Beemblossom at B&B Guitar Elite for the Version I Big Muff. I forget who sold me the Version III back in December 1995 although he worked at a local second-hand store and recognized me. Chris Carruthers supplied me with the Deluxe Big Muff (Blend switch model).

Last Updated on Tuesday, 01 June 2010 13:48

I am the EH Man, Keeper of the Electro-Harmonix flame. In this column, We’ll be exploring the histories and purposes of those products we all know and some of us love. In this first column, I’ll be examining the EH Attack Equalizers.

First, the facts: The Attack EQ appeared very early in EH’s history. There are catalogs stating its availability as far back as the early 70’s, making it a triangle-knob model. There were no pics of this version in the catalog and so far, one hasn’t come to light. Perhaps it only existed in the ads and none were actually produced.
The Electro-Harmonix Knockout Attack EQ, model # EH-3004, made its appearance in or about 1974. Its first appearance in my literature collection is in Guitar Player’s “It’s New” column from Jan. 1975. It was housed in the standard 3 knob, Big Muff Pi style box and features a nifty boxing glove logo .

Controls for this edition consisted of (l-r): Volume, Blend, and Tone. According to the description from an EH catalog, the Knockout “takes the output signal from any guitar and amplifies the highs and lows while simultaneously allowing the guitar player to mix out the midrange.” Does it do this? Well, I plugged it in and played the trusty ol’ Guild Thunderbird (refinished, you guitar hounds) through it into a Mike Matthews Dirt Road Special and here’s what I found. Volume does just what it should and yes indeed, the Blend control does allow a blending of the straight signal with the EQ’d signal. I’m not certain that the Attack control does what the ad says, but it does have a wide range that takes you from a boomy bass to an annoyingly crisp treble. Different settings of the Tone and Blend knobs allow you to dial in (or out) that extra little touch of treble or bass you’ve been wanting. Try Blend on full and Tone on minimum. OUCH!!!
The KO Attack EQ operates on a single 9 volt battery which supplies power to the sole chip in the effect, the LM324 op-amp.   An on/off switch on the back allows you to leave your guitar plugged in without running down the battery.

In April 1976, Guitar Player’s “It’s New” column announced a new Attack Equalizer. Same chassis, but now “Knockout” was deleted from the name and “Every guitar sound can be obtained from any guitar with the simple setting of a dial and flick of a switch.” was the bottom line here . The Attack Equalizer was designed to allow the guitarist to “convert his Les Paul into a Fender or vice versa.”

This is where the fiction comes in. In reality, the Attack Equalizer is a glorified 3-band rotary EQ. The controls are labeled as (l-r): Fundamental, Blend, and Attack but the schematic lists the controls as Bass, Mid, and Treble. After seeing the schematic, former EH engineer Howard Davis remarked:

“If I were to redo it, I’d certainly improve those PRIMITIVE low pass and high pass filters! Also, what is called the “midrange” control is actually a direct signal level control, not a bandpass, as a midrange control should be.”

Don’t get me wrong though, the Attack EQ is just as good as the KO. To me the sound is about the same, but I’m a bass player so what do I know?
The main (only) disadvantage to this model is that the circuitry was changed to accommodate two 4558P dual, internally compensated, high performance op-amps, which required positive and negative power supplies. This resulted in, yes, 2 nine volt batteries for operation which are switched on or off by a rear-mounted power switch.
The original Knockout Attack EQ carried a price tag of $69.95 as did the later Attack EQ. By the early 80’s though, the Attack EQ had increased its price to $89.95. The Attack EQs are not as popular with players as some other EH stuff, so you can probably pick them up for under $100 in working condition. Hey, it’s cheaper than buying an extra guitar! Pick one up, plug it in, and make a new guitar out of your old one.

Thanks to Kevin Macy and Al Pepiak for their help in getting this article put to paper.

Last Updated on Friday, 20 August 2010 07:57

Now here’s an unusual item I bought from a guy in Germany. It’s a copy of the EH Small Stone that was most likely made in Turkey. The previous owner attributes this due to the fact there was a piece of tape on the bottom with the name of a previous Turkish owner. I saw one similar to this offered by Abalone Vintage Guitars on Ebay a few years ago, but missed winning it. One interesting note is that it’s labeled as EH4600, which is the Small Clone model #, instead of the Small Stone’s EH4800.

The circuitry is based on the last version of the Small Stone which used (2) LM324 and (1) LM13600 (similar to 4 of the EH1048 or CA3094E ICs the Small Stone usually used). On the left is the clone’s circuit board, on the right the original EH circuit board. Nothing like a good copy, is there?

Notice also the funky footswitch and jacks as well as the fact that the board is not secured anywhere inside. It’s a free-range circuit board, allowed to roam at will within the case.

Last Updated on Friday, 16 December 2011 09:46

This month’s article is unusual in that it is actually a history of a Guild effect. Along the way, though, it became linked forever with Electro-Harmonix and even the Mosrite company. So, without further ado, let’s look at the EH Axis, the Mosrite Fuzzrite, and the pedal that links them all: the Guild Foxey Lady.

We’ll start at the beginning with the Mosrite Fuzzrite, a very basic 2-knob fuzztone. It was designed by Ed Sanner, originally of Mosrite and later of Rosac (Nu-Wah, Nu-Fuzz, etc). Ed’s original plan was to make a fuzz for a friend of his, steel player Leo LeBlanc. Leo used a Maestro Fuzztone on his steel, but it wouldn’t work on cold concrete floors. When the transistors got too cold, they would shut down and refuse to pass any signal (if you don’t believe that, try spraying the inside of one with freeze- spray while playing through it). Semie Mosely liked the fuzz, so he put it into production. It turned out to be a very good product for Mosrite, selling about 1000 units a month. Mosely made about $10 profit from each unit, so it definitely kept him in Pop-Tarts for a while.

The layout had the two controls (Volume and Fuzz) at the upper end of the pedal, the jacks on the sides, and a power switch on the lower left side. Originally, it was constructed of discrete components, but later an encapsulated circuit was used that was made for them by Sprague. Even later, it was made with discrete components once more, sometimes at Mosely’s kitchen table.

Around 1967, Mosley came back from the NAMM show with an order from the Guild company to build Foxey Lady fuzztones for them. Guild was a company that was well known for its guitars, but they just didn’t want to go to the trouble of tooling up for fuzzbox production. What Mosrite did for Guild was simply repackage the Fuzzrite by moving the controls and power switch to the top of the pedal, putting the power switch between the Volume and Fuzz controls. They made approximately 1000 of these units for Guild until Mosrite suffered financial problems and went under for the first time.

While we’re on the subject, another interesting variation on the Fuzzrite was the ZB Custom fuzz, which was probably produced in the mid 70’s. At the time, Mosrite was sharing a building with ZB Custom, a manufacturer of steel guitars. Ed Sanner believes that the ZB Custom fuzz was either made for them by Mosrite or was made by ZB Custom from units they found in the building after Mosrite’s departure. It is identical to the Fuzzrite except for the name. Interestingly enough, I’d never heard of ZB Custom until one of these pedals came in for repair. The next day, I ran across a ZB Custom pedal steel at a local music store. Deja vu abounds!

Back to Guild. With Mosrite’s demise they began casting about for a new manufacturer of the Foxey Lady and happened upon Mike Matthews. Take a look at the photo below. According to Mike Matthews, these are PRE-EH Foxey Ladys, which he had made by a company called Aul Instruments in 1967. The circuit, which is extremely similar to the Mosrite Fuzzrite with hints of the later EH Axis, was designed by Bill Berko – the first EH designer. The unit is the same size and shape as the early triangle-knob pedals, but has a much heavier steel chassis. Some may not have the Foxey Lady logo on the top. These had been popping up sporadically over the years, but I finally got the dirt on them from Mike Matthews himself.

When EH was formed in 1968 the Foxey Lady became a renamed version of their very first effect, the Axis fuzztone. It had a 2 transistor circuit also designed by Bill Berko, a tech from 48th St. in NY. The controls consisted of Volume and Fuzz, with a power switch located on the back of the Volume control. An interesting feature in the construction is the use of a DPDT footswitch soldered directly to the circuit board. Unlike later EH products, this greatly reduced the number of loose wires and made for sturdier construction. Instead of being wired for true bypass, however, the switch was set up so that one side switched the output of the circuit while the other side switched power to the circuit on and off. The same sort of switching arrangement was used in the Mosrite Fuzzrite and the Mosrite-made Guild Foxey Lady. Neither pedal was made in huge quantities, but the Axis seems to be rarer of the two. Mike says that the Axis was created to cash in on the big fuzztone craze of the 60’s and estimates that only about 2000 – 3000 Axis and Foxey Lady pedals were manufactured before the introduction of the Big Muff Pi. Currently a reproduction is being offered by RonSound. You can see it here: RonSound Foxey Axis fuzz

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With the introduction their soon-to-be-legendary Big Muff Pi circuit, they changed the Foxey Ladys to use this design and discontinued production of both the 2-knob Foxey Lady and the Axis. Again, these are identical to Big Muffs internally and are available in two versions: a triangle-knob configuration which is equivalent to the earliest Big Muffs (series 1) and a straight-knob version equal to the series 2 Big Muff. They continued with the production of the Foxey Lady until approximately the mid 70’s.

Finally, here are some Guild ads showing the 3 incarnations of the EH-made Foxey Lady.

It’s possible that there are other variations on the Mosrite Fuzzrite just as there are on the Big Muff. If anyone has a fuzz that they suspect may also fit in this story, please contact me.

Thanks to Pedalman for the photos of the Mosrite-made pedals and Kevin Macy for the Aul Instruments Foxey Lady pic.

Last Updated on Friday, 04 June 2010 08:34

The 64 Second Digital Looping Recorder

The RAREST of all Electro-Harmonix products!!!! According to Mike Matthews, only a few prototypes were built, but they tended to break too often, thus ensuring their non-production. Unfortunately, EH had already announced the release of this unit to several magazines. This copy came from the Dec. 1983 issue of Guitar Player. The price was one of the highest as well, second only to the rackmount Guitar Synthesizer.

ELECTRO-HARMONIX DIGITAL DELAY. The 64 Second Digital Looping Recorder is a rack-mountable unit that can create delays of up to 64 seconds in length and can provide an audio bandwidth of 15Hz to 12kHz at a delay length of 8 seconds. It can be used to store loops of sounds without tape-with infinite hold, reverse playback, double- or half-speed playback, and sound-on-sound-and can function as a digital chorus, flanger, echo, and doubler. A 4-digit display shows loop lengths from 8 seconds to 64 seconds, and a click track allows for synchronization of echoes and stored sounds with other sounds. Silence can be recorded into the entire memory via a Fast Erase button, allowing new material to be recorded. The list price of the 64 Second Digital Looping Recorder is $1,195.00. Electro-Harmonix, 27 W. 23rd St., New York, NY 10010.