Using my Rams Head reissue as the baseline, this is less scooped, less compressed, less saturated, and has more low end. I was worried that it wouldn't have enough saturation or fuzz for me based on what I've read and the demos I've listened to, but I dig it. I can see why it's such a popular version of the muff. It sounds even better pushing the front end of it with an overdrive. After jamming around with it on for ten or fifteen minutes I turned it off, turned my Blackbox overdrive on, and was surprised at how much thinner and less big ( I guess) the guitar sounded after being so used to the Russian tone. The Blackbox is definitely not thin at all, just not nearly as massive as the Russian.
I think I will build the Civil War soon, but the next one is going to be some Triangle variant. I was thinking of an Elk Sustainar clone, but I have to order parts for it as well.
