MXR

Pedal in "nano" format (see nano clone - the same size as a phase 90), with standard power supply, so it fits well on a pedalboard. Despite its reduced size, you have plenty of settings, especially those that make a difference: Low and high. USE The pedal comes with a manual including settings examples, it's very nice to understand the new characteristic settings of the pedal (low and high). These two controls that allow you to EQ the signal are really well-achieved, once you get used to them, you miss them on all other chorus pedals. This mini-EQ allows you to get a somber chorus (wonderful for clean sounds) or a more brilliant one (very '80s), which suits distorted sounds well; fiddling with the other controls you can get "the" desired chorus and some other advantages. The rest are classic controls (level-rate-depth), it's plug and play. SOUND QUALITY The sound quality is really good, especially at this price point. I wasn't a big fan of chorus effects (I'm more into flanger/phaser), but I wanted something that worked fine with clean sounds and I picked this chorus, which made me change my mind regarding chorus effects. As a result, I invested on the Maxon CS-9 (which is supposed to be the ultimate chorus in pedal form) and it disappointed me, because even though it has a good sound, it's different, but not better than the MXR chorus and the MXR chorus has the "low" control that allows you to get fabulous chorus effects with clean sounds. One last argument in favor of the MXR (compared to the CS-9) is that it is also convincing with distorted sounds. I always thought that modulation for distorted sounds meant flanger/phaser, but the MXR made me eat my words.. To sum it up, the sound quality of this MXR is excellent, it has a very "neutral" sound, less particular, with much less character than the EHX, but it's not bad for a chorus. OVERALL OPINION I've been using this pedal for one and a half years. As I said before, I was able to compare it to a Maxon CS-9 and I chose the MXR for my pedalboard (I also kept the CS-9, which I use from time to time for a change, but the MXR always keeps coming back to my pedalboard). I also have a NANO CLONE, which is very particular and I don't quite like (it colors sound too much). If, like me, you don't like the big, intrusive chorus from the '80s, the MXR is very interesting. It's a chorus that can be very deep while remaining relatively discreet in terms of coloration. The M234 is a very good pedal I can recommend. Thanks to its low control it allows you to get fabulous chorus with clean sounds (especially together with a delay). And it's also the chorus pedal I've found most usable with distorted sounds.

I was looking for a distortion pedal to get some sound from 80ies. After watching couple of videos on youtube i decided to buy that MXR pedal. Surprisingly it have correct and good distortion upto fuzz (tested on my scope & signal generator before using my guitar). But how it's build.. well. That was made almost 50y ago (i had version end of 70 / beg of 80, 9v battery only). Honestly it must be improved & replaced: the LM471, ceramic caps on sound.. Also it was made when we did not had all these wifi around & strong EM mess. Hopefully it's in alu case so it helps a bit. I don't recommend that pedal except you wanna get some trashy vintage sound or just for collection purposes. There are much, MUCH better pedals on the market. So i paid it 50€, pretty cheap (some folks are selling on ebay for 100+) and sold recently for 59€. I had an occasion to play it cheap and now someone else got the same chance. I don't like that pedal. 3 stars for the construction: it will work in next 40 years. I used it w/ Jackson DKMGTFF & Orange crush 20. Vintage side of Orange gave some low to distortion that pedal do (made it better).

MXR has released yet another Zakk Wylde signature pedal. This time, it's an effect he barely used throughout most of his career. As if we needed another Phase 90, they decided to release one with his fancy graphics on it. The pedal itself just has one knob, like the original Phase 90 that everybody knows and loves. Turn it until you like it, and then leave it. This also has an LED, which is helpful, but aside from that, it's not much different from the classic Phase 90. UTILIZATION The peda itself is housed in a strong and sturdy housing that can withstand tons of abuse. It's solid enough to where it can take touring without any issues at all. The thing is SUPER simple to use. You turn the knob until you get the rate you're looking for and then leave it. The graphics on this are pretty gaudy, and I don't know how you could like how this looks, but that's a matter of personal taste, I guess. It's not really a fault with the pedal itself. The manual is useless on this thing because it's such a simple pedal to use. I've never read it, and I doubt you'll need to. SOUND QUALITY The sound is pretty much like all of the other Phase 90s that MXR has on the market. There are some subtle differences between the models, but for the most part, they generally sound the same. This one is close to the script version, I guess? It's hard to remember. I personally use a custom shop MXR Phase 90 on my board as I felt those are the best sounding Phase 90s that MXR has to offer, aside from the real deal, old school 70s ones. I like to set the level a bit low and use this on leads to give a neat effect. It's subtle enough to where it doesn't overwhelm the guitar, but it adds this slight flavor that makes it sound interesting. OVERALL OPINION The pedal is decent, but you can find a normal Phase 90 for cheaper on the used market. I don't really recommend getting this unless you're a huge Zakk fan who needs to have all of his pedals. I'm not really a fan of signature gear in general, so I might be a bit biased. The pedal itself is decent, but there are better, cheaper alternatives out there.

This pedal is MXR's budget version of their popular Custom Shop GT-OD overdrive pedal, and is made overseas and rehoused in a slightly different color green box with a little "tramp stamp" design on the sides of the footswitch. It was sold as a limited run exclusively at Guitar Center stores, along with the M-86 Classic Distortion which I reviewed earlier. It sounds very similar to the GT-OD, but the pedal itself weighs much less and is made with lower grade components. It still feels solid and well built. Actually, it feels too solid! Well, the switch does anyway. I literally have to force most of my weight into the switch for it to press down and click, and I weigh between 180 and 190 lbs! I contacted MXR about this and they said they would swap out the footswitch if it was a big deal to me. I haven't done it yet, but that goes to show how great MXR customer service is! Most companies wouldn't even bother with such a cheap pedal, and especially not on their dime! UTILIZATION The Classic OD is very easy to operate. Three familiar control knobs make it simple. Twist and play! SOUND QUALITY The tone of the Classic Overdrive is definitely based on the Tubescreamer design. It sounds like a variation of the 808 platform to me, as it's much warmer, with more "bark" than the TS9s (which I really do not care for) It has a slightly chewy character to the gain. In fact, I actually prefer this cheap pedal to the Ibanez TS9. It feels better to play and the tone is warmer and not flat or thin like the TS9. There is a pretty good amount of gain on tap for a TS type pedal, almost as much as the Classic Distortion as a matter of fact. As a boost, this unit fares pretty well, but no matter the gain setting, it always injects its "dirty" low end into the amp's sound and response. I find most MXR pedals to have this dirty, messy quality, although in this pedal it's minimal. I prefer this pedal as a stand-alone overdrive box through a very clean amp, rather than boosting a dirty amp. It easily holds its own and rivals other overdrives and TS clones costing two to three times as much! My only complaint is that the tone knob isn't fully usable throughout its entire range. In fact I really only find the sound usable with the tone control around Noon. Less than that, it becomes muddy and muffled, and set higher than noon, it becomes a bit unnatural and overly bright. That's no big deal though, because it does sound great in at least one setting, and if all I can get from a $30 pedal is one great overdrive sound, that's still a win as far as I'm concerned! OVERALL OPINION At $30 this pedal is a steal. At twice that I would still buy it. I did get rid of my Ibanez TS9 after buying this one, so that should tell you something. Go for it, and buy the Classic Distortion too while you're at it!

So let’s start with the beginning : I got this limited edition pedal for cheaper than the normal edition at thomann. It really looks particularly good. The red paint with black stripes looks really great, plus it seems thick so no risk that it eventually goes away. The pedal seems sturdy, it’s all made of metal and there’s even a rather nice grip on the upside so you don’t slip when pressing it. Soundwise finally, I consider it sounds exactly as you’d expect from a wah. It remains precise no matter the position. The 2 small blue LEDs that signal when it’s switched on clearly are a good idea. No noise when you press the pedal. Overall, I have only good things to say about it, it even features a true bypass. No cons that I’ve noted. 5 stars – straight, no chaser!

The MXR Phase 45 reissue is a faithful recreation of one of MXR's most sought after boutique pedals from the 70s, the original "script logo" Phase 45. According to MXR, every aspect of the original circuit has been recreated to period-correct specifications, as has the exact build and finish of the device. UTILIZATION The setup is as simple as it gets, single input and output jacks, single on/off footswitch and a singular black knob used to dial varying phase tones. The different phase settings range from very slow to very fast as you turn the dial clockwise. Being a faithful recreation, it runs entirely on 9V battery power. Also like the original, there is neither the modern addition of an LED light indicating when the pedal is on or off or is there an AC power input. This can be problematic, because it's very easy to leave the pedal on and drain the battery. Therefore, I've made a habit of always disconnecting the input cable when not in use, since that automatically cuts power to the battery. Also, due to the subtlety of the effect when in use with other pedals, it can be easy to forget it's turned on! Other than the vintage limitations of battery-only power, the small footprint and rakish vintage appeal make the Phase 45 a great visual addition to any pedal board. It seems plenty rugged and should have no problems surviving most on-stage abuse. SOUND QUALITY I purchased the Phase 45 specifically for use as a subtle, vintage phasing effect. The Phase 45 accomplishes this goal perfectly. The much lauded Phase 90 may be the standard in the realm of modern phasers, but as with most phaser pedals, the depth of their sound comes from the amount of mid-range frequencies they dig into. Rather than inducing a deep modulation, the Phase 45 is much more subtle and leaves much of the mid-range tone in tact. The vintage circuitry however imparts a very obvious warmth that darkens the guitar tone quite a bit. At it's slowest setting, used in the sound clip below, the Phase 45 produces a slow, warm phase that in no way interferes with the main musical elements of the riff. In this second sound clip, the Phase 45 is set to it's fastest setting, where it sounds a lot like a vintage univibe pedal. Slow, Psychedelic riff: https://en.audiofanzine.com/guitar-phaser/mxr/phase-45-script-logo/medias/audio/a.play,m.473666.html Fast, Univibe solo guitar: https://en.audiofanzine.com/guitar-phaser/mxr/phase-45-script-logo/medias/audio/a.play,m.473667.html OVERALL OPINION If you are looking for a subtle phaser that won't cut too heavily into the mid-range of your tone, than there are few available that function with such finesse as the Phase 45. It should be noted though, that it will darken your tone and saturate anything that passes through it. For a more modern guitar tone this could be a turn-off, but if used after a brighter distortion or overdrive, the effect may be complimentary. The battery-only power may also be a drawback, but there are several tutorials I've seen on the internet where people have installed AC inputs and LED power indicators. Pros +Vintage warmth and saturation +Beautifully subtle phase tone +Rock solid construction +Simplicity of use Cons -No LED light indicating whether the effect is on or off -No AC power input, battery-power only -Vintage circuitry darkens tone considerably

This pedal was demoed at Namm this year and it will be a huge hit for MXR. It is modeled off that hot rodded tone coming from 1978. Well they don't go into too much detail why they picked that year but I have a theory. One of the most influential guitarists and band came out that year running with the devil. Let me start by saying I'm not a huge distortion box guy. I like to get my grit from the amp overdriving the tubes. So when I heard this pedal I was pleasantly surprised at how natural sounding this pedal was to a real tube screaming high gain amp. This pedal is about to make a huge impact on the overdrive pedal scene. MXR Custom Badass '78 Distortion Features at a Glance: * Hot-rodded classic circuit * Roars with huge amp stack tones and old-school distortion * Delivers soaring leads and rich, saturated rhythms * CRUNCH button boosts harmonic content of distortion UTILIZATION Really simple operation with only three controls knobs and a crunch mini button that beefs up the tone. Like most distortion boxes it has an Output, Tone, and Distortion controls. The Output will control your volume level for the unit, while the tone will control how bright and how dark the overall tone will get much like a tone control on a guitar, and then the distortion knob will give you the gain you desire. The mini button called Crunch will basically beef up the tone and add rich thick harmonics to the tone. SOUND QUALITY In my opinion most distortion boxes sound like garbage. And there are even MXR pedals that sound like garbage and I'm a huge MXR fan. This thing really shine in the lead category. The lead are smooth and silky while giving a huge midrange frequency bump that cut through the band mix extremely well. This pedal will be great as a solo boost as well with how well it responds to lead lines. The rhythm is no joke either, in that it has a tight warm gallop to the tone good for mixing in the lead with the rhythm and chugging away. Use this with a Les Paul or a single coil guitar like a Strat.....it doesn't matter at all. Any operation you through at this pedal sounds great. OVERALL OPINION Well there is something to this pedal that many other distortion boxes don't have and that is being as authentic as possible. I don't used OD boxes anymore that much unless I find one like this one. This is a great pedal and for the price it is a no brainer. At new they come in at around $80 which is a steal for something that sounds this good. I would recommend this pedal to any guitar player who needs a solid built OD box and who is on a budget. Even if you're not on a budget this is a great sounding pedal that rivals the best of them out there on the market.

Excellent, versatile little pedal for a range of classic, usable phasing effects. Not just for Van Halen fans, this pedal with it's "script" button gives you both effect types found in the standard MXR Phaser, and reissue "script logo" models. (It's just a subtle difference, mainly the standard MXR has a little more harsher mid-tone spike to it which is great for a pronounced phase rhythm effect, and the more tamed "script logo" sound which is better when soloing with distortion.) It's construction looks very solid, it's blue "on" light is practically blinding (like a deer in the headlights?). The only little annoyance I had when hooking this pedal onto my pedalboard was where the AC connecting input slot was found - on the side, close to the 1/4 inch guitar cable coupler. It just meant I had to place the phaser a little further apart than normal, to clear the daisy-chain connector. Apart from that, it's an excellect phaser and highly recommended for all styles, whether you're playing clean or overdriven, rock or jazz, or anything in-between. UTILIZATION This is simple as it gets with one knob and a one toggle button to work with. Simple and easy. SOUND QUALITY The quality is awesome. It nails all kinds awesome phaser sounds. VH all day long. I use it a lot for small little bits for leads. Just adds some great layering to it. OVERALL OPINION The Phase 90 pedal offers everything that went wrong with digitally produced sounds. I've used several Line 6 products over the years, such as the Pod, Spider and Flextone, but nothing can come close to the authentic sound of that tiny phase box. This is a simple device but can tweak your sound toward more retro music such as Sonic Youth. If you want Phase, this is the way to go.

This is a 10 band eq pedal by MXR that allows 12db of cut or boost, with a level and a gain slider. Pretty simple! Each EQ is also illuminated with red LEDs so you can see on stage where it's set. True bypass also. UTILIZATION EQ is probably the most important tool for every guitar player in terms of tone shaping. In order to make anything sound good you have to know the EQ spectrum of the guitar, what parts of it sound good and bad and work in what way etc. And so no beginning player would be able to use this properly without knowing that stuff first. So even though the manual provides some extra samples and descriptions, I'd say to use the pedal effectively, you'd need some previous experience with EQs. After that, using it is very easy. Set it up on the loop for the biggest dramatic tonal change or out in front to color it, or BOTH, one EQ pedal for each. SOUND QUALITY It is an EQ pedal there is technically no sound that the pedal offers. It's also true bypass, assuring that there is no color added to the original signal. What you do with it when you tweak the EQs will change the sound. Sort of like extra EQ knobs on your amp but now more specific, related to the frequencies. So in terms of sound It's not very fair to comment and doesn't make much sense to add a rating of any sort I feel. But in terms of the quality of the pedal itself and I will rate it here. It doesn't add any color as far as I'm concerned but the thing the lacks with this pedal is most likely the footswitch. I've owned two of these, one where the switch just stopped working and the other was noisy as hell. By that I mean, when you click the EQ in you hear the loudest click/pop noise EVER. Even in a live band situation if there's everything going on the click/pop noise is as loud as my guitar signal, it's very VERY annoying and I'm not sure if this pedal was made that way or if it's a defect. Others have said the same thing so maybe I'm not alone on this. Maybe this pedal was designed to be on all the time? Well it sure seems like I'll have to use it that way.. OVERALL OPINION Overall it's a good pedal. Most EQ pedals generally are no fuss pedals and simple to use. Again the only problem is the switch with this one and it's super loud pop. If you're looking for a good EQ with 10 bands and plan on keeping it on at all times this is usable. But if you're looking for an EQ you'd wanna kick in and off quite often, then look elsewhere, this is way too noisy in my opinion.

Eddie Van Halen was famous for his usage of the flanger in certain songs. He basically made that "jet plane" sound famous. This is really the exact same thing as the normal MXR 117, but this has the Eddie stripes on it, and it also has a button that defaults the tone stack to Eddie's favorite settings on the pedal. UTILIZATION The pedal is very easy to use in that all the knobs are laid out nicely and are clearly labeled. It has an LED indicator to tell you when it's on or off, which is a huge plus if you're on a dark stage and were in a rush to set up your gear. The manual is gives good detail as to what everything does and gives some recommended settings. The most peculiar thing about this is that it has a button that defaults everything to Eddie's favorite setting. Why they chose to add this, I have no clue. It's pretty useless, in my opinion. SOUND QUALITY Aside from the useless button, this pedal delivers a great flange sound. The pedal excels at that jet plane sound that he made famous in his songs, but it can do much more than that. This pedal can also deliver some very subtle flanging sounds that are almost unbeatable when compared to other pedals on the market. It's fairly transparent, and the sweep on the knobs is great. OVERALL OPINION If you're in the market for a flanger, take a look at either this or the BF-2. Both of those pedals are cheap enough to where they won't break the bank like certain boutique flangers, but they sound great. Personally, I prefer the BF-2 simply due to space and not having to run the pedal at 18v. Aside from that, they're actually closer than some people may think.

(Originally written by Dlz/translated from Audiofanzine FR) Two fully independent channels with their own bass and treble controls plus a mid filter (which is rare enough to deserve a mention on its own, especially given the importance of the mid frequency range in the guitar's overall tone). Two Focus switches allow interesting sound modulations (especially on the high-gain channel). Only weak points: 1. The electric power can only be supplied from a external PSU (no battery operation) and this is not always convenient for mobile guitarists. 2. The Focus switches are too small and can hardly be operated with your feet. UTILIZATION On/off switch and channel-select switch. It's simple and effective. But it gets complicated when it comes to setting sounds with the knobs because they all seem to interact, like on the Fuzz Factory for those of you who know it. Something that can be really confusing when you are getting to know the unit is that when when you increase the lows you also increase the highs. This flaw is not too obvious in the high-gain/metal channel but flagrant on the vintage channel. So you'll need a certain time to get the sound you're looking for and I recommend you to write down your settings on a sheet of paper, otherwise you'll spend a lot of time trying to replicate that huge sound you got out of the beast once. SOUND QUALITY I agree with the other reviews posted on this site regarding the sound quality of the pedal. It's a mid/high end product. Taking this into consideration the price is more than justified. In the beginning I found the high-gain/metal channel much better than the vintage channel but now, with an accurate setting of the second channel knobs and the pre-boost, I can really get the best out of this awfully interesting channel. To give you an idea about the sound, I would say the high-gain channel evokes Metallica (without the Mesa character). It's really good for thrash metal but can be disappointing for death fans (gain and low-end are a bit too weak for this music style). The second channel made me think immediately about Black Sabbath. It clearly has a vintage character (dirty and with less attack) and produces a huge low-end, perhaps a bit too big. Maybe some will criticize the slightly twangy highs of the pedal (there is indeed no comparison to the ultra nasal sound of the MT-2) and not everybody will like the typical MXR sound. Although the twangy character is much more present in the vintage channel. OVERALL OPINION I've been using this pedal for one and a half years. Both channels complement each other which is very interesting. You can simply switch from a fat vintage rock sound to a sharp and blunt modern sound. This possibility to toggle between the 70's and the 90's is a lot of fun. I also purchased a Jeckyil & hyde pedal (V2). For me there is no comparison: the Double-shot sounds definitely better (only the overdrive channel of the J&H is interesting, the second channel has no character at all). If this pedal ever gets lost or stolen, I'm pretty sure I'll buy it again. I don't know of any comparable product in terms of quality within this price range (although I must say that I haven't tested the Silver Dragon).

(Originally written by fantomas197/translated from Audiofanzine FR) Analog distortion pedal. Three controls: level, distortion and tone UTILIZATION Ultra easy to use and it sounds good with every setting. SOUND QUALITY High-quality sound and good reproduction of the tonal character of the guitar (I have a Gibson BFG). You can play all styles of music from blues to hard rock, but you'll hardly be able to play heavy metal because of the limited gain, which is a real pity. Given its versatility, it could become a must-have pedal if it had a wider gain range (it's the only reason I grade it 8 out 10). The tone knob is very effective. OVERALL OPINION I've been using it for a very short time to replace my old DS1 (and there is no comparison whatsoever). I will keep it in spite of the limited gain because it's a real good effect pedal. Perhaps I will buy a more transparent booster and plug it just before this pedal. The value for money is very good when it comes to the sound. I already tried plenty of pedals of all makes (Maxon, Boss, Proco, Ehx....) and I like this best.