Fuse Audio Labs has released Big-Sur, a freeware guitar distortion pedal in VST, VST3, AU, and AAX plugin formats for digital audio workstation software on PC and Mac.
Big-Sur is a freeware emulation of a diode clipper guitar pedal. There’s no information on which specific guitar stompbox is emulated, but the plugin seems to be based on the classic Big Muff distortion pedal. The developers describe Big-Sur as a stompbox that is suitable for distorted rhythm guitars and heavy leads, with a wide distortion spectrum and plenty of fuzz.
See also: Best FREE Guitar Amplifier VST PluginsThe interface features a bypass switch, four control knobs (Sustain, Level, Tone, and Mix), and two on/off switches – one for the Tone control and one for the oversampling feature. The user can also adjust the GUI size (from 80% to 125%) and control the graphics quality (useful for reducing the RAM usage).
In terms of sound quality, Big-Sur is a great little fuzzbox effect. I’m not a guitar tone expert by any length, but I love stompbox emulations because they can work great for coloring the sound of softsynths and samples. Big-Sur works great for this and it’s a recommended download if you’re looking to add another distortion effect to your arsenal. It’s also worth pointing out that Big-Sur offers zero-latency processing, so it’s suitable for live use. All that said, I’d like to hear what experienced guitar players think about Big-Sur’s sound, so do leave a comment after you’ve tested the plugin in your DAW.
Big-Sur is available as part of Fuse Audio Labs’ new VPB-Bundle (short for Virtual Pedal Board Bundle), a collection of five guitar effects in VST plugin format. In addition to Big-Sur, the bundle also contains El-Germano (a drive pedal based on Germanium transistors), Octafish (an octaver pedal), Gate-230 (optical noise gate with a hold function), and Chorus-65 (a stereo chorus based on a vintage analog bucket brigade chipset). The bundle costs $19 but the Big-Sur plugin is completely free to download and you. To install your copy of Big-Sur, download the installer from the product page (no registration required), run the installer, then choose the custom installation. Make sure to select Big-Sur from the many and choose your preferred plugin format.
The other plugins included in the bundle can be tested for fourteen days without any restrictions. This is true for all other Fuse Audio Labs products, so there’s plenty of time to test the company’s other plugins if you’re interested in buying them.
More info: Big-Sur (14.7 MB download size, ZIP archive containing EXE installer, 32-bit & 64-bit VST/VST3/AU/AAX plugin format for Windows & macOS)
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12 Comments
Brenny C
onAwesome!! Fuse Audio Labs makes excellent plugs!
Tomislav Zlatic
onAlways great stuff from them. Fairly priced, too.
Neychev
onGood plugin for our work, using it as like a preamp/thickening.
Although it is 77mb (all bundle) download size for Mac,
we extracted only AU component file to be copied on its place.
So, useful software device, use it with pleasure (wisely/carefully).
Al
onThat’s not unusual…
Michal O.
onHas anyone tried to use Big-Sur in Cakewalk? It doesn’t seem to find it, even after full VST plugins reset and scan. It works fine in Reaper though.
Michal O.
onNever mind the previous post. I figured it out.
Tomislav Zlatic
onGlad to hear that, cheers!
Alan Twelve
onI’ve just got around to having a look at this plugin – I am a guitarist, and I also have an actual Big Muff that I bought back in about 2001 to compare the plugin to.
Basically, it’s a great sounding plugin, but it’s not a Big Muff. It’s got too much warm midrange (a Big Muff has famously scooped mids), and it lacks the insane low end sustain and the top end fizz you get from the real thing. But if you stick the sustain to 12 o’clock and crank up the tone to around 2-3 o’clock, it does give you a very nice dirty fuzz sound.
It’s a really good plugin, and you can’t argue with the price, but if you want a free Big Muff emulation, Analog Obsession’s Pig Pie is a better bet (although it’s also got a far warmer sound than the real thing).
Tomislav Zlatic
onThanks for sharing your thoughts! Yeah, perhaps Big-Sur wasn’t even meant to be a Big Muff emulation, I’m only trying to guess based on the name and the design. But it’s definitely a nice little distortion box, worth the download for sure.
Alan Twelve
onI think it is meant to be a Big Muff – it’s not just the “Big” in the name, the Sustain control is a Big Muff thing too. It’s probably what Gary says below, that it’s an emulation of a specific edition of the Big Muff.
Should anyone want a plugin that does sound like a normal Big Muff (and nine other drive pedals), I can recommend Audio Assault’s Dirt Machine (currently on sale at only $7).
Dan Gayle
onThere are a lot of different Big Muffs he could have modeled, not all sound like what you mention. I’ve owned a few, and they all sounded pretty different from each other.
gary
onI was wondering if it was based on a Big Muff but the ‘IC’ edition from the late 70s, pretty different to the classic BM, more intense and middy, think Smashing Pumpkins as they used it a lot.