SoundLad Liverpool's Hungry Beaver Multi-Muff is an exceptionally smart, versatile and potent evolution of the Big Muff

I believe this is at least the 2nd iteration of this circuit - where the Volume knob is a relatively recent addition to its provenance as far as I recall. The first cool and unusual thing about this pedal is that you have two separate gain circuits - GRAVY : based on a 1973 Violet Ram’s Head Muff, and MEAT : based on the NYC 2000 Muff. The MEAT side is somewhat Thick and Chunky (Beefy!), and the GRAVY side is more focused / cutting, with more Mids. And by balancing those two in different ratios and further shaping with the EQ and Starve controls - you can achieve near enough every key Big Muff flavour.

There was a second limited edition Private Beaver variant at one stage - where the two Muff Gain Circuits (named Scoff and Chow this time around) - were based on Green Russian and Red Army Overdrive (Civil War) circuits. That one has a slightly more modern overall tonality and attack - I like this Hungry Beaver so much - that I feel I need to track down the Private Beaver too - to complete the set! Perhaps I can persuade Marc to reissue that at some stage - would be great to have both in the reference collection.

The second really cool thing about this circuit is the Starve knob - which yields an incredible Super-Fuzz-like Harmonic Octave Fuzz when set around 11 o’c. If that knob goes much above 2 o’c you basically gate out the pedal’s output entirely - I like it best either wound all the way back - or at 11 o’clock for those harmonic octaves. The more you turn up the Starve control, the more you need to raise the Volume to compensate. There’s all manner of textures to explore across the sweep of that dial - for me my 2 preferences really stand out though while some really like those more throttled sounds!

I own over 110 Big Muffs now (I’ve lost count - but feel that this may be #114) - and most of those have a 4th Mids control - either a 3-way toggle-switch or fully variable knob - so the Tone (Big Muff Dual Filter Tone Stack), and Mids together here are very familiar / normal for me - where for Big Muffs I prefer the Mids either scooped as is traditional - or boosted in the modern sense for a more cutting output. For some reason I’ve never liked a Muff with flat Mids / EQ!

Since I’ve mostly reduced the Starve knob to a binary function, I generally spend most of the time getting the right Balance between GRAVY and MEAT. You can dial one or the other down - for a more streamlined Muff experience (deploying just a single one of the gain knobs) - where though a big part of this pedal is experimenting with the balance between GRAVY and MEAT - and finding the best mix of those for your rig and sensibilities, or a particular song tonality and timbre. The combined output shaping options allow for all kinds of possibilities.

Controls - GRAVY (Gain 1) :  Mids Focused, MEAT (Gain 2) : Thick and Chunky , Mids sweep, Tone, Starve (Harmonic Octave @ 11 o’c), Volume.

My Current Preferred Settings are - Gravy @ Noon, Meat @ 10 o’c, Mids @ 3 o’c, Tone @ Noon, Starve @ Fully CCW or circa 11 o’c for the harmonic octave sound, Volume varies between Noon & 3 o’c. I typically like the Meatier side dialled back a bit compared to the Gravy - otherwise the lows can overwhelm - each of those gain circuits is beautifully calibrated - and they combine so well when you get the proportions right. You crank both of those up in proportion to get to the Triangle level of aggression which is often my favourite variety of Muff.

The Hungry Beaver Fuzz (Multi-Muff!) is superb value at just £129 from the SoundLad Liverpool Webstore. If you’re in the market for a Big Muff - you should definitely start with this one!

This is instantly one of my favourite Big Muffs, particularly in compact enclosure format - it has such a vast range onboard - and by mixing up those 6 knobs you can get near enough every key flavour of Big Muff (as the below demos aptly showcase). It’s such a smartly designed circuit with the perfect complement of controls! And where the Starve knob and EQ can massively temper the output of the pedal. This one’s every way top tier for sure - looks great too - and I like the current set of knobs that came with mine!

As far as I’m concerned this Hungry Beaver comes very highly recommended. I’ve been meaning to get this one in for so long - and I’m delighted that it’s finally happened - and that it’s met my every expectation.