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MXR M104 Distortion+
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MXR M104 Distortion+
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Published on 09/15/11 at 08:44
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.