Browse Helix Models and Effects

Helix currently supports 111 amplifier models, 276 effects, 56 speaker cab models, and 16 microphones. On top of all that you also have the ability to load Impulse Responses (IRs) that you can grab from free or paid sources. Go have fun.

There have been several versions and revisions of the 1970s Electro-Harmonix (EHX) Big Muff. Originally they were based on discrete circuitry, but some later models switched to integrated circiuits. Each version has its own character, but the 1973 version two Big Muff Pi — with a ram's head printed on the casework — was used on so many classic records that EHX have decided to bring it back. This reissue combines the original discrete transistor with surface-mount resistors, the latter being used to save space.

To my ears, this version of the Big Muff Pi, which has a similar circuit to the Green Russian pedal, sits somewhere between classic fuzz and distortion, exhibiting wondrous sustain while retaining good note separation. Its circuit is relatively simple: based on four silicon transistors, the first is an impedance matcher and gain stage, and that's followed by two identical clipping stages in series that use diodes around the transistor to create the necessary clipping. The fourth transistor handles tone-control duties as well as buffering the output. It doesn't 'clean up' quite as elegantly as a less aggressive drive pedal when you back off the guitar volume, but it still does so to a useful extent. However, clean and subtle is not what this pedal is about! It does that searing '70s solo thing, that can be heard on records from U2, Pink Floyd, the White Stripes, the Black Keys and many more, so beautifully. It has also been used on bass guitar on several records, of course.

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