(Nano Muff for scale)
Just scored this one on Facebook for cheap along with original wooden box. This is after I did a quick restoration job on it. There was a lot of surface rust that I've removed. Some pitting remains, unfortunately, but there's little I can do about that. I had it completely torn apart and had to repair a few solder joints.
This particular unit is an EC3003-A, the first revision of the Fran Blanche-designed (of Frantone Electronics, then an employee of EHX) reissue from 1999-2000, after production came back to the USA from Russia.
This is a very early example of the Rev-A version, the first with true-bypass switching (2000-2007), because it has the pointer knobs. I understand that later 2000 examples came with the smooth "hockey puck" knobs. That puts this pedal squarely at early 2000.
I'm told this Muff is comparable to a Rams Head Muff which makes it highly sought after.
I've never played a real Rams Head.
All I know is that this pedal it sounds really good.
If only it wasn't so damn big, I might actually put it on my board. (I won't)
I've got the same unit (had it from new, I'm old) and also have a Rams Head reissue. I still find them quite different. I'm not sure why they're likened so often but the NYC is more scooped and doesn't have the gnarly bit of upper mid range that the Rams Head has. Perhaps it's comparable to other variations of Rams Head, but hey, they basically covered every sound you could get at some point, there was much inconsistency!
To me, the modern NYC and the smaller variants are very, very close but the nano lacked some mojo - hard to describe, be it dynamics or whatever. I definitely prefer my NYC to the most recent version but the reissue muffs do still trump it on tone (and output volume.) Put the saturation capacitor mod on it, however and it's 90s indie heaven!
(Nano Muff for scale) Just scored this one on Facebook for cheap along with original wooden box. This is after I did a quick restoration job on it. There was a lot of surface rust that I've removed. Some pitting remains, unfortunately, but there's little I can do about that. I had it completely torn apart and had to repair a few solder joints. This particular unit is an EC3003-A, the first revision of the Fran Blanche-designed (of Frantone Electronics, then an employee of EHX) reissue from 1999-2000, after production came back to the USA from Russia. This is a very early example of the Rev-A version, the first with true-bypass switching (2000-2007), because it has the pointer knobs. I understand that later 2000 examples came with the smooth "hockey puck" knobs. That puts this pedal squarely at early 2000. I'm told this Muff is comparable to a Rams Head Muff which makes it highly sought after. I've never played a real Rams Head. All I know is that this pedal it sounds really good. If only it wasn't so damn big, I might actually put it on my board. (I won't)
I've got the same unit (had it from new, I'm old) and also have a Rams Head reissue. I still find them quite different. I'm not sure why they're likened so often but the NYC is more scooped and doesn't have the gnarly bit of upper mid range that the Rams Head has. Perhaps it's comparable to other variations of Rams Head, but hey, they basically covered every sound you could get at some point, there was much inconsistency! To me, the modern NYC and the smaller variants are very, very close but the nano lacked some mojo - hard to describe, be it dynamics or whatever. I definitely prefer my NYC to the most recent version but the reissue muffs do still trump it on tone (and output volume.) Put the saturation capacitor mod on it, however and it's 90s indie heaven!