MXR Overdrive pedals

- Output knob (aka volume) - Tone knob - Gain knob - Internal voicing switch - LED - External 9 volt power connection - Internal 9 volt battery connection UTILIZATION It really does not get much simple than this. The Output knob is your volume, the gain knob controls the amount of gain, and the tone knob control the equalization of the signal. Turning it up gets brighter tones, turning it down gets you darker tones. SOUND QUALITY This pedal basically sounds like juiced up Tube Screamer. I have found that with some amps it sounds phenomenal and on other amps it sounded dismal. All of the amps I have tried it on were tube amps. I'm not sure what causes the huge disparity in tonal quality other than the preamp design. It has a fair amount of gain on tap. When mated with an amp the pedal likes the EQ knob is quite useful. When mated with an amp it does not like, it goes from bad to worse. Similar problems occur with the signal volume. There is a switch inside the pedal that changes the overall voicing of the pedal. Based on the clips I've heard, it's not a huge change but it requires you to take the entire thing apart (unscrew the knobs and pots) which I haven't gotten around to doing yet. A lot of people have been modding them with an external switch. OVERALL OPINION MXR sold these pedals on a limited basis through Guitar Center only. Then Guitar Center ending up blowing them out at $30. It's a steal for $30 and worth the gamble to see if it will create magic with your amp. The prices on the aftermarket are starting to creep up to around $100 and at that price; I don't think it’s that good of a deal. There are things around that price that will sound much better and probably do so more consistently.

In the right position this pedal is very useful. It does have a good range of tonal options available with only three buttons. The best situation for this pedal to me is having everything maxed out. This is where this pedal lives and anything other than that in my opinion doesn't suffice. If you are entertaining the Black Label tone that Wylde gets from his guitar and you need a pedal that will beef up an existing overdriven amp then this is the pedal for you. I am not big on signature gear since it is usually tailored obviously to their personal preference which isn't always the best. Many times you need to discover what works for you and your fingers. UTILIZATION It has three knobs which consist of Output, Tone, and Gain. Pretty simple operation like most MXR pedals tend to be. The Output is going to control your over all volume the pedal puts out. The Tone will shape your pedal to be brighter or darker depending on which direction you twist it. The gain will add distortion the more you roll it clockwise. SOUND QUALITY This pedal to me is designed to be in front of a heavily overdriven high gain amp. It don't find the tone to sound that great when only using this pedal in front of a clean amp. MXR has others pedals that will do this much better if you have a clean amp and only one distortion box. I used this with a Strat and a Peavey blues amp with an MXR Crabon Copy. I had a mid boost circuit in my guitar so only having this pedal was ok for me. But this was a mod done to the guitar that boosted the circuit. I had a great classic rock rhythm and lead tone with this pedal. However it wasn't great and probably will never use it in this operation again. OVERALL OPINION I'm in no way in love with this pedal. MXR has very good pedals for distortion and effects. To me this pedal was a way to capitalize on the fame of Zakk's popularity. Not anything wrong with that but I don't think this is a good general distortion box that anyone would want to use. You either need to be a fan or really like the tone from this pedal...which I am not either of them. However, his signature chorus pedal sounds very good. I would recommend this pedal to a fan of BLS or 90's Ozzy tones with Zakk. Or someone who just generally likes the tone from this pedal. If you're looking for a great OD pedal then try the new pedal from MXR called Custom M78. That pedal is killer!