Mudhoney

Mudhoney formed in Seattle in 1988, founded by Mark Arm and Steve Turner after the dissolution of Green River — the band that also included future Pearl Jam members Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard. Their 1988 debut single "Touch Me I'm Sick" became the defining document of the early Seattle scene, released on Sub Pop Records before Nirvana had signed to DGC or Pearl Jam had formed. Their debut EP, Superfuzz Bigmuff, named after the two pedals at the center of their sound, arrived the same year. The guitar rig that defined Mudhoney was built on a clear division: Mark Arm used a Univox Super-Fuzz through whatever amp was available, while Steve Turner used an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi — bought new in 1984 on closeout at Seattle's American Music store for one of the last runs of the original production model. Turner learned of the fuzz pedal concept from a chef at the Japanese restaurant where he worked, who handed him a Super-Fuzz and changed the direction of his playing permanently. Turner's original Big Muff was later run over by a van after a show and now resides in Seattle's Museum of Pop Culture. The amp approach has always been pragmatic rather than obsessive. Both Arm and Turner have run Fender Twin Reverbs and various Marshall heads, but the amp is secondary to the fuzz — Mudhoney's tone is defined by the pedal, not the amplifier underneath it. Turner's later guitar of choice has been a late-1960s Guild Starfire IV semi-hollow, which he has used for most of the band's career alongside Fender Jazzmasters and Mustangs. Arm has played Gretsch guitars including a Vintage Select '59 Duo Jet in more recent years. The Mudhoney approach to fuzz is purist and pragmatic simultaneously. Turner's current Big Muff of choice is an EHX Nano Big Muff, which he regards as the closest available approximation to his original 1984 model. Arm runs multiple Super-Fuzz variants — including an Ibanez Soundtank FZ5 60's Fuzz that he had a technician install into a metal enclosure for durability, and a Stromer Mutronics Superfuzz. When Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth asked Arm what he was going for tonally on an early shared tour, Arm described the ideal as the opening chords of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" by the Stooges, where Ron Asheton plays a chord and it just hangs there and breaks up. That is still an accurate description of the target. Mudhoney has outlasted every other band from the original Seattle scene and continues recording and touring. They are, by considerable margin, the least commercially successful and most critically consistent band to emerge from that moment. Key gear: Univox Super-Fuzz (Mark Arm), Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi (Steve Turner), Guild Starfire IV, Gretsch Vintage Select '59 Duo Jet, Fender Jazzmaster, Fender Twin Reverb, Marshall heads, EHX Nano Big Muff, Stromer Mutroniks Superfuzz, Ibanez Soundtank FZ5.