Perfboard Triangle Big Muff v1 (1970)

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Much obliged...

OK, Ok, ok; so I have had these photos on my hard drive for a while of this 1970 perfboard Triangle Big Muff. They were plucked from an ebay auction (that I unfortunately did not win) in hopes that we could find a reason to post them here at some point. A great idea I thought, especially since there aren't that many detailed pics floating around of these earliest Muffs. Unfortunately I kept putting it off and putting it off for so long that I actually forgot I even had the photos...

That is until luck had me recently and I got to experience an actual unit, here in Nashville, a couple weeks back. So, now that I am armed with a pretty good assessment of the sound, the taste and the grime, I figured that's as good a reason as any, so here's our newest post!



A while back we put up a crazy demo of one of these monsters in action. And if you remember that video it was apparent that there's something special about this fuzz.

The words "Holy Grail" seem get thrown around a lot when it comes to vintage effects. But if I had to pick a top 3 that for me actually hold this title; I would have to say first is the MKI Tonebender, then the Maestro Fuzztone FZ-1, and lastly this, the perfboard Triangle Big Muff. The original Muff is the Godfather of so many amazing tones and stompboxes that came afterward, this coupled with the rarity of these machines and you have yourself a genuine White Whale!

Like I said earlier, I was lucky enough to get to hear one of these golden idols in action a few weeks back, and was totally blown away! It sounded exactly like I had hoped it would.

Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of playing the more common V2 Triangle Muff will understand when I say it has that very typical scooped, "Muffy" quality we have come to know and love, mixed with all of those really gritty and raw tones we associate with the classic mid-60s fuzzes like the Fuzzrite and Vox Tonebenders. There is just this slight unhinged aspect that makes those Muffs unique and vintage sounding. Well, these perfboard V1 Triangle Muffs take this hint of the 60s to a whole different level.

I once got the chance to play through an authentic 1965 Tonebender MKI that was just an amazing fuzz and truly unique. It sounded something like old electronics that were on the verge of catching fire at any moment, like if a rabid raccoon suddenly became a pedal, like if you could plug directly into your wall socket and sweet sweet fuzz tones came out the other end. And when I heard the perfboard Triangle Muff for the first time it reminded me of all of this! Which, to me, was the ultimate sound; a fat, beefy Muff with all the rude and raw textures of an MKI Tonebender.

There is a cool video that was posted by our good friend Jerms, where they compare his V1 Perfboard Muff with three other V2 Triangle Muffs. They all sound amazing, but you can hear in the video that there is a special low end grind with the perfboard that you don't get with the other units. It's also just a little less "hairy" and scooped sounding.

Primitive and Raw, the names of the game:


I hope you guys enjoyed today's journey into fuzz unknown...
There is way more info on these and every other Muff on Kit Rae's site, so check that out if you never have. Also I would love to hear from you in the comments section if you have an original unit, especially if you have ever compared it to any later ones.

---Thanks as always, now enjoy the rest of your meat:///

thanks for reading!
-ed