Billy Corgan's First Look at the Op Amp Big Muff from Electro-Harmonix | Reverb Interview
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- Опубліковано 10 гру 2017
- Shop the Op Amp Big Muff Reissue: bit.ly/3vZCeaD
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Read Reverb's Big Muff Buying Guide: bit.ly/3w9DEjh
Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan reflects on his first experience with the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, and how he used the legendary fuzz to shape the sound of the Pumpkin's famed Siamese Dream. Today, he's discussing the much-anticipated release of the EHX Op Amp Big Muff.
The tone on Siamese Dream is some of the best sounding guitar ever recorded. It sounds like you're inside if a jet engine. So awesome.
morgan ghetti the result of Billys 40+ or so overdubs for the guitar sound (especially Soma)
And the album never gets old. I listen to it everyday and am always amazed
@@Fritz-the-Brat those tracks on Soma include a LOT of clean guitar sounds. Not the wall of fuzz that defines the album. The six tracks Billy mentions here should be enough.
Uses Sabbath sound and sounds nothing like Sabbath unlike so many shitty stoner bands.
Yes!
Insane that he hasn't come out with a signature fuzz called " PUMPKIN PI"
i think it says that inside this pedals box/packaging.
Stomp under foot made one
haha. nice one !
not much of a guitarist anymore but i would totally buy that pedal.
@Chris E. that is rediculous logic.
by saying that , you could say He isnt much of a guitarist so he shouldnt design his own signsture Fenders strats, which he has obviously done.
This IS
"I actually don`t remember when we got our Big Muffs...." proceedes to describe in detail when they got them and how much they paid for them.
It was a dark and stormy night in January 11, 1988
@@ShinyFlakesShinyFlakes drugs do amazing things sometimes, 'eh?
@@bangurhead4027 From what I know they actually kicked Jimmy Chamberline out initially because he was getting too hooked on drugs. I don't doubt they used and probably abused drugs, but I think the Pumpkins probably were pretty decent about usage, at least better than most bands at the time that reached a fair bit of fame.
I think he meant like the exact date
@@drpenguin5410 Probably :)
I love that.. "we had the issue, where we both had marshall JCM 800'S" - that's a problem I will gladly take off your hands
I'd love to know how all these bands could afford all this expensive ass gear even before they were famous lmao
@@eliwallace3825 if you didn't know, most of the actors, musicians, and artists that become famous come from rich families. They don't have to work, so they can make art and acquire all the instruments or stuff that they need
@@Luke-ic6xe Billy started out as a pizza delivery guy.
@@eliwallace3825 at the time, most of the gear wasnt as expensive. You could buy old strats and gibsons for pennies on the dollar, trade gear, etc. Just a different time.
I had a jcm2000 that was around 2k.Thr way I afforded it was I worked nigh shifts after school, worked on weekends and all summers. I lived with my parents so the money went to gear. Some times as a band we go in on a PA system. Different circumstances for different people. Kids take out college loans and blow half of them on a down payment for a nice car. Some take out loans later on. My first and only les Paul was financed in payments 1994.
"well its your fault" that is so great. what a compliment.
Slash buying Les Pauls
I literally died at this part hahahahahha
I'll bet it was Black Market Guitars in SF ❤️🥲❤️
"Turn up the master all the way, and use the pre as a volume control." That's what I've preached ever since masters came out.
Tim Volk Non-master volume amps are the best amps.
+Brett Arnold says you...Johan Segeborn says differently. I would probably agree if I had a non master volume amp, but every one I've come across had a master volume mod. if you turn the master all the way up, isn't it the same thing?
dezionlion Not always. There were some specific amps (I don't recall which) when master volume knobs became a thing that just weren't as good as the nmv version. There's endless discussions of it all on forums. Most people on these forums swear the extra circuitry gets rid of mojo. That said, I was mostly sarcastic with my initial reply. I don't actually believe that, but I do play a nmv amp from the late 60s and I love it.
Power tubes getting warm.
jma111000 I thought they got pushed more with the master up? What makes the tone change then? Big muffs are v high output.
This is the Billy I admire! The musician. Who speaks about gear and tone. Hoping new SP will be awesome!
so true. he kind of dilutes his message every time he goes on his conspiracy tirades
Outside of gear and tone he's a total whack job
Yea he should focus on gear and tone, get his shit together and get the original line up to actually reunite
Shave Billy. Be young forever.
Dude this is an add for electro-harmonix. There is nothing musical about it.
I can't believe I never noticed the Sabbath connection in this sound before. Love everything the Pumpkins did & Paranoid is one my favourite classic rock/metal anthems, yet until today I never noticed how similar the sounds from that opening riff to Paranoid are to the entire Siamese Dream sound. Given what a Sabbath fan Billy always was it makes so much sense now. I'm having a real shake my head 'can't believe I didn't notice that' moment.
Yep deffo a sabbath influence all over the pumpkins heavy sound, the funny thing is Tony Iommi never even used a Fuzz pedal! His fuzzy guitar tone came from cranking a Laney amp and putting a treble booster in front of it, as well as using thin strings giving more slack. It's really interesting how one of the most common types of pedals you see associated with that Sabbath inspired stoner/doom metal guitar sound are fuzz pedals like the Boss Hyper Fuzz or in this instance a Big Muff. It's like an evolution of Tony's sound and I love it!
For 22 years I’ve been looking for a pedal like this. Sounds great right out of the box. Like Billy said in his interview, you’re going to use it with your amp and create a unique sound. The best pedal I have ever bought.
Not the best but for the money its the best I've every bought. 80 bucks is a steal for this thing.
‘Geek USA’ is pure Fuzz pleasure.
I agree, that is the prototype.
My god i love that track sooooo much!!
Favorite song on the album
Geek and silver are the heaviest tracks on that record
this is the happiest i've seen Billy Corgan since the 90's
I'll never forget the first time I heard Billy and this pedal. Every dopamine receptor in my brain went full on yes please give me more. Thanks Electro Harmonix for giving artists this wonderful thing called fuzz.
Sola Sounds has entered the chat.
Kept waiting for him to break out into "Cherub Rock"...bummer...
texanfournow or siva lol
texanfournow hummer
Nah.. because then people would complain the tone wasn't right lmao
Dude he played some Cherub Rock chords at 5:11
Yep, I did note that. I guess I was wanting more--one of my SP favorites!
Billy is the only one that convinced me to like the fuzz sound
So good to see Bill Burr pursuing music
wow. original.
Bill actually plays great drums, you can find some vids of him on UA-cam
I'm thinking Billy is gunna get the Pumpkins together for another tour in 2018. I'm making it my mission to see them.
Love finding your comments on the same videos I watch- love your channel man
Did you ever make it to that Pumpkins show?
@@toddmichaelsen788 i did! Near the front row too. They played for 3 hours and many many old songs from the golden period. Unforgettable experience
@@StonedMeadowOfDoom hell yes. I saw them in early 2000's in Anaheim. Those guys blew up when I was in high school ; )
this aged very well
Damn EHX did a pretty good job on this one. Fair play to Billy Corgan for his input. So much for expensive overpriced boutique Big Muff clones! Well done EHX!
Hits from the Bong So expensive clones that I got the original one for the same price! Snagged it fast.
Close but not the same. Wrote my opinion under Fluff's post. Still an awesome pedal! Just a bit different...
Itll never sound the same. but for $80 and sounding that good. No brainer!
Hits from the Bong I was lucky and got the original v4 for $200... But this is still totally worth it.
My green Russian suits me fine
Such a good segment. I was absolutely obsessed with the Pumpkins from about 93 to 98 so hearing those tones happen live is amazing. Billy is a complicated guy; this is him at his best.
I remember falling in love with Gish in '91 at 21 years of age and then Siamese Dream was released...oh, hell yes! Glorious times
Best thing I've seen Billy in for a while. Loved it
RhythmGrizz catch him on the Joe Rogan podcast
catch him on alex jones
This was his best riffs since melon collie
He was just in the muppets electric mayhem show as a cameo.
I could listen to Billy talk about guitar pedals/gear all day.
"You'll hear these wittle... little" 4:05
When the fuzz kicks in after the clean intro on Mayonnaise…that’s a very special moment right there.
This is one of the best sounding re-issues I've heard yet. Siamese Dream + Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (the latter not nearly as fuzz heavy of course) are two of my favourite albums from not just that era but of all time. Significant contributions to the canon of hard rock imho. THANK YOU Billy and EHX!
I remember an interview with Billy the year of "Gish". He talked about his guitar heroes and starts name dropping all these classic 70's guys.
He didn't talk about lo-fi, he didn't reference a bunch of hip, indie artists. He named Tom Scholz of Boston, he named Iommi, he named Rick Nielsen. He talked about HUGE guitars and solos. He wanted to honor that wall of fuzz and the importance of great melody. He was saying and doing all this in 1992.
If you were alive and buying records/going to shows in 1992, all those bands taking over the world were SHITTING ALL OVER guitar solos and "dinosaur rock". And Billy stood out from all those guys.
As much as I loved those "alternative rock bands",
Smashing Pumpkins were in a league all their own.
For me, the two most important albums of the alternative wave in the early 90's are Ritual De lo Habitual by Jane's Addiction, and Gish.
No other albums could replace those two for me.
Exactly.
I cant believe Ritual de lo Habitual came out in 1990. I bought it brand new when it came out. I feel so old. Nothing shocking was 1988! Such a great band! Even Soundgarden came out in '86! I like the first couple records a lot, but I wore out my Badmotorfinger cassettes twice before buying it on CD.
I got Gish when it came out and felt the same way. The punk/post punk/ indie critique of the guitar virtuoso was necessary and basically true... you don't *need* to be a virtuoso with pro gear to make great music. But at some point we all had to admit it... you *can* also make great music, in an artistic sense, as a virtuoso with pro gear. It might seem obvious now, a lot of young folks love both Zeppelin and the Fall, but Billy Corgan was a little ahead of his times in seeing that and definitely risked being a kind of culture heretic. I pretty much only liked Gish and a few scattered later tunes, but he was right and I'll always respect him.
I would play anything Norm MacDonald plays.
Ive seen the resemblance for years!
Tired joke.
@Thefuzz BoxMX you probably deserved it. I met him twice. He was awesome.
He’s a real jerk
Love Norm and Love Billy.
Billy Corgan should do more gear reviews, he's awesome human and musician :) Thanks Reverb!
Billy has spoken. No one else needs to say anything about this pedal. Let's all just go buy one now and save ourselves some hours of UA-cam research :P lol
yobhsiFehT
😄 Right on man!
but then I saw this...
ua-cam.com/video/whrn3Xaeey0/v-deo.html
Just bought mine today hehe
Juan Perez
Mine’s in the post 😊 Merry fuzzy Christmas 🎄
Got mine last week. The OP is indeed correct, just go buy it. If you’re a Pumpkin’s fan your search is over.
1:57 "I remember going there looking for _big muffs_ ..."
Naughty
Great news! You can now pre-order the EHX Op Amp Big Muff Reissue. Simply visit this landing page for more details: goo.gl/6usLn1
That thing sounds amazing, and Billy is killing it and not exhibiting his jagoff side.
Oh man! That sound! Now I am going to listen to Siamese Dream for the next week. Been my favorite album since it was released when I was 12.
Siamese Dream, Pisces Iscariot, Judas-0, Airplane flies high, Mellon-Collie - Pure bliss.
When I got my first boss DS-1, I maxed the distortion out and put the tone on five and thought "Hey I sound kinda like Siamese Dream without the thickness!"
The sound that I’ve been obsessed with since 93’.
Siamese dream, one of the best sounding records ever. Not just the big muffs. Everything works perfectly to get this massive wall of sound.
This made my day. The second I heard the full, fuzzy and unique guitar sound, coupled with beautiful music I fell in love with Siamese Dream. Thank god for this!
He doesn’t seem nearly as arrogant in this video as in other footage I’ve seen of him over the years.
He's not arrogant. He just doesn't suffer fools with a pretentious sense if humility which I actually think is more truly condescending.
I had sort of heard (and assumed) the same and then I heard him on Rogan and he just seemed like a normal guy who'd been a rockstar and possibly been a bit of a bellend in the past but then assimilated that and now he's fairly mellowed with age. Not that I know people aren't capable of putting on an image but you know, whatever. Unless.ypu actually know these people, you'll never know-know them.
Of course. He's getting a huge load of money to do this.
I met him by chance about 5 years ago in Melbourne Oz and he was very friendly and nice and was happy for us to take a photo with him which was great. You never want to meet people you idolised growing up to only find out they’re jerks.
if i recorded albums like siamese dream and mellon collie i'd be arrogant too lmao
There’s nothing I love more on this planet (outside of my wife and kids) than stepping on this pedal in my rig at the right moment in a song. It’s a button of instant happiness
Wasn't he selling that strat on his reverb store?
Maybe it hadn't shipped yet ;)
Nobody bought it or named a price. I'm glad he hasn't sold it. That guitar is such an amazing piece of SP history, last thing it needs is to be sold to some jackass with too much money, that thing MADE money for Corgan. A sacred tool.
yeah, I thought his shop sold out of stuff fairly well though, I vaguely remember it having a really high price on it, maybe he just wanted to display it but put the price so high he knew it wouldn't sell.
60 Cycle Hum I'm pretty sure the price was set as high as it could be on reverb and that the idea was to make an offer. Not sure what a reasonable offer for a piece of history like that would be so I'm not surprised it didn't sell.
I like your channel BTW
That's the SD #2 guitar. The #1 was the "Bat Strat" (w/the halloween bat stickers and the Red, Silver, & Blue, Lace PUPS. I think...Def red in the bridge). They are often confused though. He still has the Bat Strat... forums.netphoria.org/showthread.php?p=4276090
EH are totally realising the 90s sounds that are coming back into music now, releasing some wicked stuff!
i hope so man! we need the 90s rock style back NOW! when i get a band, thats my goal!!
EH was gone at the start of the 90's. The Sovtek stuff started hitting and thanks to "Grunge" Electro Harmonix made a come back. Around 1990 nobody wanted those clunky sheet metal boxes. My first Big Muff was 30.00.
90s style rock has been back for a few years now, idiot.
Matt Good I always loved 90's era rock. Want to listen to some original stuff I performed?
Skating Polly, Violent Soho, Dune Rats, Fidlar, Wolf Alice, Bully.
I got my original Big Muff when I was in HS, '76 or so. It's in the original large sheet metal case. It cost me $35 and it still works. In those days you had to have the Big Muff and a Phase 90.
I could listen to Billy talk gear all day long I hope you have more vids like this thank you so much!
Oh hell yeah. Got my first 'Sovtek' in 94 , that gain , the way it breaks up. Def reminiscent of Sabbath
billy should do all the electro harmonix demo videos
Ryan Matticola I couldn’t agree with you more :)
it seems as though EHX is really listening to their fans and remaking some great stuff from way back when... that being said please make the triangle big muff, a new hog 2, and the obvious grand canyon, and a deluxe synth 9 lol
AfternoonConcession and the echo flanger
...And a regular Electric Mistress. No stereo, no deluxe etc.
Slap an oscillation switch onto the grand canyon and I'll throw my money at EHX.
And another germanium overdrive!
I think EHX are finally realising that they should be making money that all the cloners are making.
The Op-Amp Muff goes great with the '65 Twin Reverb voice on my Fender Champion 20. With the bypass on, and the tone and sustain knobs set at 12 to 2 o'clock, I get a sick grunge/shoegaze sound.
To add: I recently discovered that with the tone turned to 2 o'clock, it works well with the deeper '65 Deluxe voice.
I’ve gotta applaud Reverb for either having kept Billy on topic or for having edited him into amicability: this is the first interview with him I’ve seen in a long while in which he doesn’t just… go off, either on past bandmates he now detests, or on collaborators he now feels took undeserved credit, or on contributors to his career he now feels held him back, or on friends he now imagines have wronged him, or on fans he now blames for not loving him enough, or on writers he now claims never understood him even when they reviewed him glowingly, or on past and present benefactors generally who’ve lifted him every step of the way but who he now feels like s****ing all over for no real reason - other than that he’s the omphalos of the cosmos, so if his self-professed genius isn’t lauded 100% of every waking moment spent with him by absolutely all of the people surrounding him, then he feels surrounded by enemies and backstabbers and loudly lets everyone know it. I don’t know if, just off-camera, there’s a sharpshooting Billy-wrangler carrying a rifle loaded with Thorazine darts, or what, but you guys really kept him more watchable than he’s been in some time, so… thank you!!
That tone just screams grunge grunge grunge
Early Mudhoney , you can't go wrong.................
JP
I was thinking of Superfuzz Bigmuff the entire time.
@@Fakename70 Can't beat Grunge / Black Metal. Was just listening to , Wallfahrer....Lacrimis Sanguine on YT......................... mighty .
And doom!
And shoegaze
I'm just gonna say it right now...I want it...I want this more than I've ever wanted a fuzz before
SeanPierceJohnson I have the original OP amp Big Muff and want to buy this one to compare... after seeing this video today for the nth time, o plugged it in and have been mesmerized for 4 hours straight.
would this work with a VOX AC30 amp?
All you need is fuzz! Fuzz is all you need!
Mike Mathews has said the Big Muff is not a fuzz.
It's fucking amazing!
Memories of high school in the 90s came flooding back. I need this pedal.
Such a solid sound. Billy always had a great sound; still does.
Corgans tone is RIGHT there with Hendrix, Sabbath and EVH......because it's so hard to grab and ride it.....like chasing your tail in circles.
Looking for Big Muffs? Back then I'm sure both music stores and strip clubs were full of them.
it was the 90's bro..not the 70's.
Jay McDanieL ah I’d like to hear more
You're all fooling yourselves. There are still big muffs now my friends.
Jenelle Big muffs making a comeback!
I couldn’t even order one back in the day. The closest my local store had was a DOD FX-69. It was awful.
I love how he said he wondered why the two big muffs sounded different, that's how I got into electronics and building hifi equipment, once I heard a good stereo I was like why and how does it sound this way and my journey started there.
love listening to billy talk, somehow it's like a conversation between an old friend.
Definitely getting one of these!
I’ve had the op amp big muff for more than a year now and I love the sound and found many sweet spots. Only drag is it doesn’t sound very loud when clean (off/bypass). So I bought the nano big muff too. The second one works perfect!
I was just listening to Siamese Dream again this week. That entire sound along with his less strained / softer vocal style really works. Hummer is one of my favourite tracks and has that outstanding signature guitar sound.
His voice has gone to shit nowdays... I cant listen to his new stuff at all :(
I cant not explain how much i love this fuzz! Best ive ever owned. I've tried for years to get that sound.
I could watch billy talk about gear all day long
First time in ages I've been able to bring myself to listen to the guy talk. Because he's talking about something he actually knows well. Nice to see there's an affordable Op Amp version out there. Will definitely be getting one.
It's such a warm and fuzzy sound
Mine is on the way! So excited! I know what I’m covering in the next demo vid!
I always wondered how they got that sound on Siamese Dreams, it was a unique sound at the time. Great album.
i heard cherub at 5:13!
Oh my god, that tone changed my life. I remember the first time I heard Siamese Dream, I was like 15 and just starting to find my feet (so to speak) on guitar. It’s still a benchmark for me.
Just picked up one of these this weekend. Can't explain it, but it's seriously a magical box! LOVE this 🎸
A few things to add, if you don't have a low gain on your amp, use a bass amp. The best are the Ampeg V4, or anything close to that model as possible are perfect and can take Big Muff pi very well. Crank your amps settings to mid at 2 o'clock, your bass at 12, and high at 1 o'clock.
The Muff sound will be massive and this is what Sabbath did this in the 70's on occasion before they got Orange amps in the mix.
If you feel it's a little muddy, then add a Ibanez tube screamer with the Big Muff, that will carry the sound and cut through with the fuzz warmth.
For solos, MXR makes a great phaser, crank the knobs all the way to the left. For clean tones, do the same with chorus pedals to create a shimmer and shinny clean sound through ol' Pumpkin Lane.
Gotta love that Ultraman hoodie.
Seven seven seven. Seven seven seven!
What a great guy. Glad to see he’s alive and well!
OMG PLEASE record a new album using this piece of equipment again. I don't care if you just ad-lib, it just sounds so good!
This is why I like low watt tube amps. You can turn the master volume up, drive the amp hard. Insane heavy tones.
Give me a couple recommendations for low watt tube amps , you’ve peaked my curiosity ?
Dear Billy C.,
I love your new material. Ogilala is always on in my car. But the style you're playing in this video is something often imitated but never done the way it should be.
Never done in the way you do it.
We'd love to hear more :)
Sincerely,
Every SP fan ever
absolutely! he is the master genius 🤘
Agreed. Make more Siamese Dreamy stuff.
That strat is gorgeous. Awesome sounding pedal I didn’t know I need
Great video and super Informative - Billy Corgan is literally the best use case for Big Muffs alongside Jack White.
I think David gilmour too
Great 👍 Now you don’t have to build an Op Amp Big Muff pedal off a kit. You can now buy a reissue pedal from EHX.
And for around $80 at that! Not bad.
The 2203 low input is the cherry on the cake.
+Swamp Donkey that's cool I have the same amp! but it's at the practice spot. send me a sample? dezionsdesigns@gmail.com
dezionlion gay
I loved the cherub rock intro at the beginning
I love hearing these stories from billy.
Who else listened to him on JRE?
Jeremy Harris Hands down one of Rogans top 3 best interviews ever.
He was very very good
Yes I did. What a great interview. I wish every "Pearl Jam" and "Nirvana" type fan who hates Billy would watch it.
Watch the Lars Ulrich interview of Billy Corgan. It's awesome!
Bass player and I stumbled across one of these and were blown away... took it into the studio and the producer just said "no. Unless you are Billy Corgan..."
We are all Billy Corgan
This video totally sold it to me and I’m so glad I bought it. Even uploaded my own demo!
This video was so helpful for me finding the best setting for my muff.
I kind of want an Andy video on this too though. Like this is really cool because he's the reason this is so huge, but to me this is probably the most versatile fuzz and I want to see more than just, "Anyway, here's Siamese Dream."
Why is he dressed like mom just dropped him off at Dylan's house?
OnesComplement rockstars can’t dress casual too?
Cuz she did!
One of the most underrated guitar players of all time!
I just put this video full screen right away and watch carefully. One of my idols and a new big muff, enough said.
This is the coolest thing i've ever seen
Sorry about that. Things will get better.
I like how he wears his own cap
With "WPC" right on it, but they still called him "Billy" in the title of this video.....
What is he almost fifty? But dressing like a twelve year old school boy. Keeping the dream alive...😂
Love the Siamese dream sound. Can’t get enough.
Omg that big muff sound is beautiful!!!
This gives me anxiety and hope at the same time.
yeeyeeyeah -why?
Didn’t even realize until he said it that the guitars actually did kill all of the cymbals. Happy accident that it makes the drums sound so distinct and crisp. I think they actually pop more because of it.
i hear the cymbals alr still, they still sound good
Love hearing Corgan talk about the Big Muff pedal and his earlier sound. I just really like the guy and his guitar style!
He's such an underrated guitar player. Oh yeah, I'm buying this fucking pedal!
He's a beast on any instrument
That's almost the exact War Pigs sound.
Sounds even fatter to me! Crazy
@@seamusmorrison1532 Well it probably is, with newer technology and all.
I had this in my head somehow as I was reading the comments without knowing it, then stumbled onto this 😂👏👏🤘
Wow this is cool.. I bought this exact pedal last week. Cool to see BC actually reviewing it!!
I've been trying to figure out how Billy got that sound for years now. Thanks Billy and Reverb!