There aren’t many circuits out there with as much providence and versatility as the Big Muff. As celebrated as the circuit is, it has hundreds of variants, with even small value adjustments making big differences in tone and feel. And for being a fuzz unit, it’s much more topologically complicated than others in its category.

Our Manx Loaghtan is a forgotten classic that’s on many of our own pedalboards, which got us wondering why we ever stopped making it. It’s a sterling example of the classic Muff circuit, featuring a much more powerful EQ section—often cited as the weakest link of the Muff. Ours scraps the single-knob dual filter approach in favor of a much more robust Baxandall type, which lets you dial in every flavor of equalization from crisp highs to boomy lows, but further exploration lets you adjust the midrange content by boosting or cutting both bands at once. The surrounding circuitry has been expertly tweaked to serve up chunky chords, woodwind-like sustain and even some low-gain OD tones.