MXR M104 Distortion+

I bought the pedal from musiciansfriend.com and paid 63 bucks for it. I think its a really great pedal. I bought it, honestly, because i had money and it was burning a hole in my pocket. BUT, i love this pedal. It's really nice.

It has great vintage and modern tones, without muddying up the rest of the sound. The batteries also last a pretty long time, unlike other pedals.

If i were to name one negative thing about this item, it would be this: the unit does not have any tone control. Its sound by itself is a little lacking in the low end, but you can adjust it to your liking on your amp. Other than that no down sides.

VERY HIGH QUALITY. this pedal is built diamond-tough. Heavy die-cast unit with heavy-duty stomp switch. Takes a beating.

You will love this item.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

The MXR M104 is an analog overdrive guitar pedal. It has 1/4 inch inputs and outputs.


UTILIZATION

The configuration of the MXR M104 is really easy to follow and is straightforward overall. It has knobs for volume, tone, overdrive, and boost, with a separate foot switch to turn the boost on or off. It also has two switches to control different types of amp simulations and tones. I don't have a manual for this, but the pedal is easy enough to use that I never needed any help learning how to use it.


SOUND QUALITY

The sound quality of the MXR M104 is great overall. It is rich in tone and has quite a full sounding overall body to it. I use this with guitar - usually a Fender Stratocaster and a '76 Fender Twin Reverb amplifier. While it will work with other electronic instruments, it is probably suited best for electric guitar. You can get both a great lead tone and a great rhythm tone, as the pedal versatile and capable of a few different types of overdrive. Overall, the sound quality is top notch and is easy to get a great sound from it.


OVERALL OPINION

I've been using the MXR M104 for about a year. MXR is building a reputation for making some great overdrive pedals, and the Full Drive 2 is one of their best. It has a great look to it, and the sound quality is awesome. Its ease of use makes for being able to get quick overdrive sounds that sound great. The price is more expensive than most Boss pedals, but in terms of a high quality overdrive, the pedal is reasonably priced. It is built well overall and will stand the test of time if you treat it right. Overall, I recommend this pedal to those interested in a great sounding overdrive pedal - great for rock music!

The MXR Distortion+ has been around since nearly the beginning of time. It was one of the first boost pedals to ever hit the market, and it has been used every since. While its popularity has been waning, I still see it being used on pedalboards today. The pedal features an output and an gain knob. The newer ones have LEDs, but aside from that, they're still fairly similar with the same input/output/switch/2knob configuration going on.

UTILIZATION

The pedals can take some ridiculous abuse. I've never had any problems with this pedal in my lifetime, and I don't expect it to ever break down, really. I've done a true bypass mod to it, but it really wasn't needed that much. The bypass on this isn't too bad, stock. The manual is well written, and if you need any help, MXR is more than happy to assist you. However, I find that it's not needed with such a simple pedal. It's so easy to use and set up that it almost seems like a waste of paper. Even the guitarist just starting out could figure out how to use this in seconds.

SOUND QUALITY

The most famous user of the MXR Distortion+ would probably be Randy Rhoads. He was a heavy user of this pedal in his Marshalls, and if you're looking for that tone, it'll deliver it. One thing worth noting is that this and the DOD 250 are actually very similar. The DOD250 is slightly more aggressive due to the diodes that it utilizes, but they're still very similar, and if you want that Yngwie style tone, this pedal can deliver. I find that it doesn't work great as a normal boost to tighten things up. It's a bit too vintage sounding, and it lacks tightness. In fact, it's starting to sound a bit dated today. However, if you're looking for that old school distorted kind of sound, running this through a Marshall would definitely deliver.

OVERALL OPINION

The pedal is solid, but it's getting to be a bit dated to me. I have one, but I find myself using it less and less. I tend to prefer tighter, more aggressive tones than this pedal can deliver, but if I ever find myself going back to classic metal, I generally pick this off my shelf and throw it in front of my amp for that old school metal tone.

From the MXR website:

* Germanium-powered, soft-clipped distortion.
* Classic 70s distortion.
* The tone that made Randy Rhoads famous.

Pretty simple controls, one output and one distortion knob. I guess it's good for simplicity, though it's not tonally very versatile because of this.

It's supposedly the 'famed' yellow pedal that made Randy Rhoads famous but this is the first time I"ve heard of that to be honest.





UTILIZATION

TOO simple. Distortion controls the amount of gain you want to add to your signal and output is like a level control which controls the amount of level/output you want. Works the same way as an overdrive's level knob would, by just adding more output to the overall signal and can lead to clipping the guitar signal.

SOUND QUALITY

I honestly don't know what to say about this pedal other than it's not really good whatsoever. The distortion is tinny, buzz, with too much midrange. It sounds like a bad ham-radio signal! And everytime i pick, there's that super ice-picky sound just super accentuated from the pedal. I've used it quite a few times and even heard other guitar players use and have never liked how it sounded. Is this how the 70s really sounded??? If it is, I don't want any part of it!

The gain itself is quite low, complete classic rock, that's as far as you can get in terms of gain. The pedal itself looks like it's built quite well however.

It also seems to be amp and/or rig dependent, I've played it through a few fender tube combos and some marshalls and have had better results from the marshalls. So it goes to show how this pedal is not versatile at all.

OVERALL OPINION

Do not get this pedal without trying it. It has one sound, that's not very good at all and does not play well with every amp. It's shrill, has too much midrange, ice-picky and tinny. If that's what you want, this is the pedal for you. I definitely don't think this is what Rhoads sounded like nor is it what the 70s sounded like.