Crimson

JHS built the Crimson as an exact replica of the rarest Big Muff variant ever made—the 1992 Mike Matthews Red Army Overdrive by Sovtek. After Electro Harmonix declared bankruptcy in 1984, Mike Matthews moved production to Russia. The Red Army was the very first Russian-made Big Muff, manufactured in tiny quantities from 1991-1992 before disappearing.

Volume, Tone, and Distort controls match the original layout. A side-mounted Mode button adds JHS innovation: a midrange boost that forces your sound through the mix, solving the classic Big Muff problem of disappearing in band contexts. The circuit delivers woolly Soviet fuzz with more grit and saturation than American Muffs.

At 4mA draw, it's one of the most efficient pedals in the JHS catalog. Part of the Legends of Fuzz series honoring sixty years of broken sound. Finding an original costs thousands—if you can find one at all.