Proto-punk legend Wayne Kramer has been honored with a feral new signature overdrive pedal that re-creates the guitarist's raw and relentless tone while it celebrates his pioneering attitude.

The new, limited-edition MXR Jail Guitar Doors Drive pedal from Dunlop/MXR is the result of a collaboration between the late guitarist, his friend Jimi Dunlop (CEO of Dunlop) and Daredevil Pedals owner Johnny Wator. Kramer's fingerprints are all over this pedal. In fact, its tone fuels the title track of the MC5's final album, 2024's Heavy Lifting.

As for its name, Jail Guitar Doors was Kramer's charity, which provides musical instruments and art workshops to help rehabilitate incarcerated individuals. Kramer himself spent four years in federal prison in the late ‘70s.

The Jail Guitar Doors Drive pedal features two uniquely voiced gain circuits controlled by a single dial. This solitary knob simultaneously adjusts the output levels of both circuits as well as the saturation of the resulting distortion.

There are no flashing lights, fighter jet–style interfaces or glitzy LED screens. The pedal is as simple as they come. It feels resolutely punk rock, and it delivers a mighty bark.

Compounding that sentiment is the pedal’s artwork. Created by Obey Clothing founder Shepard Fairey, a man best known for his iconic Barack Obama "Hope" poster, it depicts Kramer and his trusted star-spangled Strat in gorgeous, symmetrical two-tone fashion.

The MXR Jail Guitar Doors Drive is available exclusively on Reverb for $199 via The Official MXR Jail Guitar Doors Drive Reverb Shop.

For the pedal's release, Reverb partnered with Kramer's friend and musical cohort Tom Morello to create the demo video.

“What they've tried to bake into the MXR Jail Guitar Doors Drive distortion pedal is not just Wayne's sound but Wayne's attitude, and the grit and the rawness of Detroit and the MC5,” Morello explains.

“The rawest moment in the history of rock and roll is that live recording of ‘Kick Out the Jams’ that starts with ‘kick out the jams motherfucker!’” he continues. The track is the title cut from the group's live 1969 debut album, recorded in Detroit's Grande Ballroom. “It unleashes itself like the four horses of the apocalypse running wild in a Beverly Hills crystal shop, bringing his Detroit power. It's just beyond.”

It's a sentiment that echoes Kramer's own feelings about the MC5.

“I think the band represented a sense of unlimited possibilities," Kramer said, "that there could be a new kind of music and a new kind of politics, that there could be a new kind of lifestyle

“Like any generation, we saw a seismic shift in the way we approached life. I think that spirit that anything is possible held up pretty well.”

In related news, Morello is busy spearheading the organization of Black Sabbath's mammoth final show in Birmingham next month.

“The idea,” the politically-charged guitarist tells Guitar Player “is to curate the greatest day in the history of heavy metal for the greatest band in the history of heavy metal.” All evidence suggests it will be.

He has also been morphing his son into the perfect shredder... but only after he pulled him away from his video games.

Most guitarists have that one piece of gear they can’t live without. For Brian May, his Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster makes all the difference to his tone, while Joe Bonamassa has recently developed an addiction to Crazy Tube Circuits White Whale reverb pedal.

Zakk Wylde, meanwhile, reckons his pedalboard wouldn’t be as much fun without his signature MXR ZW44 Berzerker Overdrive. First developed in 2011 and subjected to several reissues since, the pedal prides itself on being “loud, tough, and relentless.” It packs the usual overdrive pedal controls of output, tone and gain, and Wylde typically employs it in front of a high-gain Marshall JCM800 to boost his sustain when soloing.

Wylde has to switch up his gear for each of the acts he performs with. That includes Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society and Pantera. But regardless of the band, his silver OD is part of every lineup. And as EMGtv recently learned when they asked the veteran guitarist to name the one stompbox he couldn’t live without, no other pedal comes even close.

“As guitar players, we all love pedals, just because they're fun,” Zakk says. “Different sounds inspire you to write, to come up with ideas. When you hear a certain sound, whether you're playing an acoustic guitar, a piano, a clean guitar, or a distorted guitar, it inspires you to write a certain way. That's why pedals are great.

“I think, for me, it would have to be a distortion pedal: My Berzerker pedal. The rest of them — I love them, but if I didn't have the distortion, it wouldn't be as fun a night, that's for sure.”

As evidence, he points to how he and co-guitarist Dario Lorina are set up in Black Label Society.

“The way our heads are set,” he says, “it's dirty, but you could play AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell' or 'Back in Black' and there'll be no feedback.”

“Turn it down a little bit, and there's a bit of hair on there, but it's still clean. But you know what the Berzerker overdrive does? It just gives you more of what you have."

And by "more," Zakk means sustain. He notes that without the Berzerker, his sound cuts out too early. “As far as just waiting for sustain," he says, "you're not going to get it. You need that pedal to give you the oomph. So, for me, it would have to be the distortion pedal, the Berzerker overdrive.”

In the same interview, Wylde described writing "Miracle Man" — the first song he co- wrote with Osbourne — as a “monumental” moment in his career.

Speaking to Guitar Player, he says the riff's genesis pulls from Jimi Hendrix and his Ozzy predecessors, Randy Rhoads and Jake E. Lee.

“I’m aware of some of the great rhythm guitar parts that have been laid down in the past, like Jake E. Lee’s work on 'Bark at the Moon' and Randy Rhoads’ on 'Crazy Train,' ” he says. “It’s like a cocktail or a new dish. You use the ingredients that you have on hand to mix up something new that’s your own.”

He’s also hit back at the critics of his unusual picking style, citing two big-name players in his defense, and dished the dirt on Ozzy’s ultra-specific gear demands – with a legendary pedal strictly off the table.

The guitarist is due to jet off to Europe with Pantera later this month, and his trusty overdrive will be making the journey with him.

Joe Bonamassa’s gear obsession is so strong that his home, Nerdville, is a museum. So it’s no surprise his current live rig features some rare and valuable gear.

In a new Rig Exploration With American Musical Supply, the same outlet that had Steve Morse covering Jeff Beck with their house band, he reveals what's in his “amp shanty.”

“What we have here can probably be described as the world's most expensive three-channel amp,” he says.

“I've got an 11-piece band, including me, so I have to fit in between them. This whole frontline will really eat into the mid-bandwidth.”

Channel A pairs two 1987 Silver Marshall Jubilee heads with two custom-made blackface Fender Twin combo amps for a “straightforward rock” sound. The combos are fairly recent additions, but one of the Jubilees has been part of his rig for decades.

“I bought it at the Buffalo, New York, Musician's Flea Market in 1994 for $400,” he explains. “This guy's walking around the convention hall with this amp asking for $600. My father, who was a guitar dealer at the time, said 'That's' too much, offer him $400.'

“He walks it around again, another lap, and these things are heavy. He says 'Would you do $500?' I said 'No, my dad will only let me go to 400 bucks.' He comes back around about 20 minutes later, drops the amp in front of me and says, 'Gimme the $400.' And I've been using it ever since.”

Channel B pairs his Jubilees with two 50-watt Dumble Overdrive Special combos. They’re set to their Overdrive channels “as loud as they’ll go,” which is just past midway.

The Dumbles are from 1984 and 2003 and are hooked up to a Mesa/Boogie Revolver 1x12 rotary speaker cabinet. “It’s kept on mostly for a chorus solo tone that just spreads it out a little bit,” Bonamassa says. A fairly simple Boss RV-5 reverb pedal sits on one of the amps.

Bonamassa had sold his entire Dumble collection in 2014, but has gone on to buy eight since, three of which are out on the road with him.

The last of his Dumble trio is a 100-watt Super Overdrive Special head, paired with an original TC Electronic Chorus pedal for channel C.

“It’s set to what I can best describe as a Larry Carlton thing: clean channel, but driven,” the bluesman explains. “It's the most articulate that I get, to the point that the nights I suck, you don't hear it.”

Bonamassa switches between the channels with a 25-year-old Lehle box, similar to the one found on Mark Tremonti’s current Creed rig, with each serving “three different stages of midrange depending on the song”.

All three feed into a curious cabinet that looks like a 4x12 but is in fact two 2x12s split vertically and comprising four Electro-Voice EV12L speakers.

Asked if he likes the EV12Ls for their headroom, he responds: “Whatever the internet tells me to do, I tend to do the exact opposite.”

But with a degree of seriousness, he adds, “With Marshalls, especially high-gain preamp Marshalls like the '87 Silver Jubilee, I like the E-Vs because there's no coloration like Celestions.”

His pedalboard is a fairly simple set-up littered with classics. There’s a Boss DD- 2 digital delay, 1981 Ibanez Tube Screamer, MXR Micro Flanger, EHX Micro POG, and Fuzz Face.

Lastly, there's his special Cry Baby Wah, painted Lake Placid Blue for him by Fender, and his newly released Deep State overdrive, described as an “extremely good” Klon copy with a brighter midrange, which sits alongside an original Klon Centaur.

“As if it wasn’t bougie enough!” the guitarist adds with a laugh.

Guitar Player hasn’t crunched the numbers, but Bonamassa’s claim to the world's most expensive three-channel rig seems safe.

Before his current tour dates, the guitarist worked with Martin to reissue a “museum-grade” 1941 acoustic and has recently revealed to GP the one guitar he can't live without. He describes its tone as “dark and chewy,” but, incredibly, it isn't a Les Paul.

MXR’s Yngwie Malmsteen Overdrive pedal may be the company’s latest addition to its stomp box lineup. But as Ynwgie tells Guitar Player, the effect unit was some 60 years in the making. And it all started with the Swedish guitarist’s search for a signature tone.

“When I started out in Sweden, there was one TV channel from six to 10 p.m.,” he explains. “There was no information. There were no magazines. I didn’t know what guys like Hendrix or Blackmore were doing. I saw pictures where they had a Marshall. That was it. That’s all I knew. And Marshall made an amplifier called the Master Volume, and before then, they made the Plexi, with four inputs but no master volume, and there wasn’t much distortion.

“I wanted a Marshall, but it was very expensive. But suddenly, those Master Volume’s became obsolete. Nobody wanted them, and they piled up in stores, collecting dust. I’d buy them for, like, 30 bucks a piece, so I’d have more Marshalls than anybody.”

But as Yngwie quickly learned, all the Marshall amps in the world weren’t enough to create his elusive desired tone.

“From the very beginning, I had something in my head," he says. "I had a sound. When I was 13, I had this bright idea that I wanted to take the precise and fluid notes of a violin and do that on guitar. I wanted huge octave shifts without moving my hand, you know? That’s what I was going for.

“But whenever I would plug into, say, a more modern amp with high gain, to me that’s high gain, but it’s not a complete sound. The notes were too separated."

He soon realized the missing ingredient: an overdrive pedal. With that in his rig, Yngwie would go on to become a guitar hero virtually overnight thanks to a feature in the February 1983 issue of Guitar Player.

But finding the right one was a matter of trial and, mostly, error.

“I tried everything, and one day I found the DOD [Overdrive Preamp] 250. I bought it and put it between my amp and the Stratocaster, and I got the sound,” he says. “It’s the fucking sound that I have now. I never changed it.”

What did change over the years was the means by which Yngwie achieved his desired tone. In 2015, Fender gave the Strat-wielding guitarist his own signature stomp box: the Yngwie Malmsteen Overdrive. “It was very good, but they decided they would stop making it because there was no market,” Yngwie explains.

“That's when I started talking to MXR. We went back and forth, and we made the perfect one. The noise floor is the lowest, and the gain stage is the highest that you can get. It’s not a distortion pedal; it’s what you put into the guitar. The guitar signal comes into it and gets a boost into the preamp of the Marshall. The Marshall reacts to it in a way that compresses and distorts the signal, so it’s more like a smooth violin guitar sound.”

So be aware that if you’re looking for that fluid, overdriven Yngwie Malmsteen tone, you’ll need more than a Strat and a Marshall tube amp. “You can’t just take a Strat and plug it into a Marshall and have the sound,” Yngwie says. “You have to have this. I’ve always had a version of it since day one, which was what? Sixty fucking years ago?”

MXR is continuing its recent run of signature and innovative pedal releases with a custom overdrive pedal for neoclassical shred master Yngwie Malmsteen.

The overdrive pedal, designed to fuse Malmsteen’s “neoclassical prowess with the raw energy of rock n’ roll,” follows hot on the heels of the delay-blighted MXR Randy Rhoads Distortion+, its spacey Layers pedal, and Joshua Tree-channeling Ambient Echo delay.

A signature circuit has been developed with the help of Malmsteen to deliver clarity, expressive dynamics, and rich harmonics. As MXR says, this makes for a pedal “perfectly tailored for his light-speed arpeggios, expressive vibrato, and big, bold riffs,” but there should be plenty of scope to use this pedal outside of finger-burning exercises, too.

It offers a simple two-knob control setup, with its Level and Gain left extremely sensitive to the most minor of adjustments. “Every adjustment you make,” MXR assures us, “will have a profound impact.”

Naturally, with Malmsteen famed for his ‘more is more’ mantra, MXR recommends cranking both dials for the pedal’s most authentic Yngwie channeling.

“This pedal is the culmination of over 45 years developing a sound that’s perfect in every possible way,” says Malmsteen, adding that players should “prepare to be amazed,” by what this pedal can do.

MXR is no stranger to simple but effective pedals when it comes to minimalist controls – with its ever-adored Phase 90 phaser the most obvious example.

Indeed, minimal knob fiddling puts greater emphasis on the pedal’s dynamic control, so it could represent one of the most responsive overdrive pedals around if the collaboration’s brief has been properly met, potentially making it a valuable asset for players of a huge variety of styles.

For those looking for a little Malmsteen flair for their pedalboard, the MXR Yngwie Malmsteen Overdrive will come as an exciting prospect. It’s set to be available for $129. A yellow-finished version is available from Sweetwater.

Head to MXR for the full story.

MXR has unveiled Layers, an innovative new soundscaping pedal built around stacked sustains for players to build dense musical landscapes with just a single, standard-sized stompbox.

A layering and sustain pedal, Layers' magic hinges on its ability to stack three sustained, erm, layers on top of one another. The lengths of each layer can be tweaked from short to infinite, and the pedal handles chords and single notes in equal measure, trapping them in dizzying realms of sustain.

It represents a fun ambience-building tool for bedroom guitarists and gigging musicians alike, with a sub-octave feature and the ability to link up with external tap tempo, expression, and keyboard sustain pedals.

Each layer has a dedicated LED status light and is accessed by pressing its footswitch. A Single button keeps the pedal’s features to one layer for a more streamlined effect; double-tapping the footswitch turns all layers off simultaneously.

There are four dials for fine-tuning each layer: Mix, Trig, Attack, and Decay. Mix dials in the volume of the layer effect, but maintains the dry signal’s presence even at the maximum setting.

The Trig knob alters the auto-trigger sensitivity of the pedal, and Attack is all about the attack of the effect itself. Therefore, with the dial rolled back, the effect quickly punches in, whereas, at the other end of the scale, it will swell in for a smoother, more cinematic effect.

Finally, Decay dictates the sustain given to the layered notes. The sustain is at its shortest when dialed back, and rolls up to infinite when maxed out. MXR notes that high frequencies will be more sensitive to faster decays than their lower counterparts. The decay will come into play once the footswitch has been released, therefore locking in that layer.

Each knob can be tweaked in relation to each stacked layer, meaning they can be weaved together for a brain-melting amount of combinations across the three layers.

This principle extends to the sub-octave button that lets users choose which layers its “fat subterranean vibes” are applied to, and which are not.

The pedal has mono, stereo and wet/dry modes for ultra-wide application. Ultimately, there looks to be a world of tone-shaping fun to be had with MXR’s Layers, and the fact it comes in the standard issue MXR housing means integrating it into existing pedalboards is a breeze.

“Build richly detailed soundscapes that elevate musical expression to new heights,” says MXR. “With a versatile suite of controls, this pedal can be as simple or complex as you need. Whether you want to lengthen single notes or generate multi-layered soundscapes rich with ambience, the MXR Layers Pedal will extend the creative potential of your instrument.”

The Layers pedal follows the eagerly-awaited and delay-blighted MXR Randy Rhoads Distortion+ pedal. Its creation saw MXR boffins open up the late Ozzy Osbourne guitarist's famous "chip pan" pan pedalboard for the first time in 40 years to reconstruct Rhoads' personal Distortion+ distortion pedal.

The MXR Layers is available now and costs $219.99.

Visit MXR to learn more.

MXR’s Randy Rhoads Distortion+ pedal has finally arrived after a series of delays, delivering a sonic recreation of a key part of the late guitarist’s “chip pan” pedalboard.

An initial 2023 release date had been slated, with Randy's sister, Kathy Rhoads D’Argenzio, saying the subsequent delay would be “worth the wait” in January.

That announcement followed a year of silence, with the pedal first teased back in 2022, when D’Argenzio had revealed that, for the first time in 40 years, pedal boffins at MXR had opened up the Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot guitarist’s pedalboard to extract its saturated distortion secrets.

Posting on Instagram earlier this month to proclaim that the wait was, at long last, nearly over, D’argenzio had called the project “a long journey and a labor of love” for a team that also included ex-Machine Head guitarist Phil Demmel.

The inspection of Rhoads’ pedalboard took place at the family’s Musonia School of Music in 2022, where MXR “painstakingly spec'd Randy’s vintage Distortion+” to create a replica of a pedal that was a vital part of the guitarist’s sound.

Unsurprisingly, the final result has a black and white polka dot housing, a pattern synonymous with Rhoads. Its controls are simple and few: There are dials for Output and Distortion and a true bypass footswitch.

Its innards, though, are a little more complex, which is why the wait for this pedal to land has been so exhausting.

MXR says that Rhoads “revolutionized the art of the rock ‘n’ roll guitar player” during his tragically short-lived career, with his MXR Distortion+ pedal crucial to his success.

He “harnessed its raw energy to slam his high-gain amplifier with a torrent of harmonics,” MXR says. Its recreation vies for the same impact.

Speaking of the first time he heard Rhoads’ playing, Demmel, in the video accompanying the release says: “It was like nothing I'd ever heard; it was sparkling like glass and abrasive but still so smooth and you could understand all that was going on but it had all the high gain.”

Zakk Wylde, who would later stand in his shoes as part of Ozzy’s band, hailed both Rhoads' “technical playing” and songwriting skills, and says people still talk about him today “because of what he wrote.”

Metallica’s Kirk Hammet is equally praising of his legacy, which opens a new chapter with the MXR Randy Rhoads Distortion+.

“I was really blown away by how Randy Rhoads' guitar sounded, how great of a guitar player was,” he says.

“He had had this classically-influenced style that wasn't overtly classical. He was using all the latest guitar techniques, and he was able to incorporate all this into his sound and really just make it his own.”

“To me, Randy is the perfect mix of modal, pentatonic, and dynamic playing and he doesn't overdo any of it. It's all very tastefully done and it's super melodic. He doesn't try to outshine the song at all, his solos are perfect compositions within the bigger composition.”

Rhoads’ “chip pan” pedalboard lives in a flight case and comprises a minimum of eight switches and nine control knobs. While it remains a secret what those controls did – or perhaps more accurately, an enigma, seeing as this is the first time any part of it has been dissected – the magic of his MXR Distortion+ has been extracted for this release, 42 years after his passing at just 25 years old.

The pedalboard was returned to an undisclosed “secure location” after MXR’s research. That location, we do know, is not Musonia, which was broken into in 2019. Several of Rhoads’ instruments are pieces of memorabilia were stolen, prompting D’argenzio to relocate the ‘board.

Thankfully, the stolen items were recovered two years later.

The MXR Randy Rhoads Distortion+ is now available for $169.

Head to Dunlop to learn more.

Back in 2022, Kathy Rhoads D’Argenzio – the sister of late electric guitar hero Randy Rhoads – announced that the Rhoads family was working with MXR to create a Rhoads signature Distortion+ pedal.

At the time, the Rhoads family indicated that the pedal would be released in 2023. Though 2023 has now come and gone, Rhoads D’Argenzio has now offered an update, giving fans a first look at the still-in-development pedal.

“Here for the very first time, you can see the Randy Rhoads Distortion+,” Rhoads D’Argenzio wrote on Instagram last Sunday (January 7). “I personally got to design and choose every detail alongside Jimi Dunlop. I can't honestly say how proud I am of the finished results!”

Outfitted in a black-and-white polka dot finish – based on that found on Rhoads' iconic Karl Sandoval Flying V – the pedal was molded in part by MXR's extensive dissection of the guitarist's famous “chip pan” pedalboard, the first time in four decades that the 'board had been examined in detail.

Though the Rhoads Distortion+ didn't see the light of day in 2023, and won't – MXR and the Rhoads family confirmed – be revealed at the 2024 NAMM show later this month, players can expect to see it in a few months' time. 

“For those that have been patiently waiting and asking when its release will be, I have a personal statement from Jimi Dunlop himself,” Rhoads D’Argenzio wrote. “'Due to unforeseen circumstances the MXR Distortion+ is delayed until mid-spring. We know a lot of you are excited about this release and wanted to keep you updated. We want to dial it in just right, and we appreciate your patience for just a bit longer.”

Though disappointed that the pedal wasn't ready for this year's NAMM, Rhoads D’Argenzio promises that it will be “epic“ and “worth the wait.”

Rhoads Distortion+ delays aside, MXR wasted no time kicking off its 2024 line of products, releasing the vintage-style rack unit-inspired Joshua Ambient Echo delay pedal last week. 

MXR has unveiled its latest effects unit, a versatile-looking stompbox called the Joshua Ambient Echo delay pedal.

Now, for obvious reasons, MXR can't explicitly say 'get that classic U2 sound with this new pedal!' but if that's what you're after, from the sounds of the demo, and the fact that the Joshua was inspired by vintage-style rack units – not to mention, of course, the pedal's name – you'll certainly find it here. 

However, the Joshua aims to be much more than an Edge tone simulator in all but name, promising “tonal trips out of the ’60s and ’70s” in addition to the “ethereal ambience of the ’80s” you'd expect. 

Indeed, the Joshua pedal gives players a lot to chew on, with six knobs – Division, Mix, Regen, Delay, Mod, and Voice – plus Trail and Echo 2 buttons.

Delay and Regen adjust the tempo and number of repeats, while Division lets players select between 1/4 note, dotted 1/8 note, 1/8 note, 1/8 note triplet, double delay with an 1/8 note, and dotted 1/8 note subdivisions.

Mod, meanwhile, lets users add “lush, chewy modulation” to their delay signal, with Voice allowing for the mixing in of -1 sub octave, +1 octave up, and +2 octave up signals. 

Aside from the knobs, the Echo 2 button adds a secondary set of repeats to the delay, while Trails lets the echoes gradually fade even after the pedal is disengaged.

Overall, MXR describes the pedal as “a tonal recipe expertly concocted for those who seek atmospheric perfection. Whether you're an ambient rock enthusiast or a tonal architect, this pedal is your ticket to iconic sonic sanctuaries.” Whether “iconic sonic sanctuaries” include giant spheres, however, remains to be seen...

The MXR Joshua Ambient Echo delay pedal comes with expression pedal connectivity and stereo functionality, and is available now for $239. 

For more info on the pedal, visit jimdunlop.com.

For a time in the 1970s, guitarists were using phase shifters like they were going out of style. Remarkably, while the effect lost some of its popularity in the decades that followed, it has remained a staple of the guitarist’s arsenal. 

After all, why hack out static-sounding guitar tracks when a phaser can give them a stunningly three-dimensional swirling sound?

Maestro and Electro-Harmonix were among those that popularized the devices, but undoubtedly the most-loved phaser of its time was the MXR Phase 90. 

More dramatic sounding than MXR’s Phase 45, more affordable and less obtrusive than the larger two-knob Phase 100, the Phase 90 hit the sweet spot, and it landed on a bucketload of classic recordings and touring pedalboards as a result. 

Edward Van Halen smeared its tones all over Van Halen I, David Gilmour used one to add six-string sheen to Pink Floyd’s “Shine on You Crazy Diamond,” and Mick Jones slathered it on the Clash’s “Lost in the Supermarket,” to name just a few artists and recordings associated with the Phase 90.

At the heart of a phase shifter is a circuit that splits the incoming signal in two and reverses the phase of one strand by 180 degrees. A low-frequency oscillator is then applied to the signals, causing them to intersect at varying points along the frequency spectrum. 

When the two signals meet, they are 180 degrees out of phase with one another and cancel each other out, creating a “notch” in the frequency. As the oscillator sweeps those notches up and down the audio spectrum, it produces the characteristic swooshing effect that these pedals are famous for.

The Phase 90 was the debut effect from MXR, which Terry Sherwood and Keith Barr formed in 1972 in Rochester, New York. Designed by Barr and released in either 1972 or ’74 (sources vary), the Phase 90 is a four-stage phaser, since it has four independent stages at which the signal’s phase is reversed, resulting in two modulated frequency notches.

The speed at which these notches are swept up and down the frequency spectrum is controlled by the Phase 90’s lone control knob. 

Because the original MXR pedals were not true bypass, the input signal passed through the pedal’s buffer stage even when the effect was switched off, which caused it to suffer from tone suck.

By late 1974, MXR had introduced other pedals, including the Blue Box octave fuzz, Distortion+ and Dyna Comp compressor. Toward the end of the same year, the Phase 45 was released, followed by the Phase 100 in 1975. 

These early pedals had their names and MXR’s logo silkscreened on their fronts in a distinctive script font. By 1976, all the pedals in the line were given more modern block-letter logos encircled by a black box. 

By then, MXR was the pro choice among the many alternatives on the market. Unfortunately, the competition was massive, and that, among other factors, helped drive the company out of business in 1984.

Dunlop acquired the MXR brand in 1987, and has released several reissue renditions of the Phase 90 and other MXR favorites, as well as modernized phasers that pay homage to the original circuit, with conveniences such as contemporary DC power inputs, LED indicator lights and true-bypass switching. 

But for purists, nothing except an original script-logo Phase 90 will do.

If you’re building your first pedalboard, one of the best delay pedals should be high on your list. Take it from me, I’ve been through the wringer, helping players piece together pedalboards during my time working in a guitar store for the best part of a decade. The delay pedal is a super versatile effect that changes your sound unlike pretty much anything else, and best of all, it inspires creativity.

Put simply, a delay pedal records a copy of your signal and repeats it back to you after a set amount of time. Delay as an effect has been around for a long time, beginning in the 50s and 60s as large, mechanical tape loopers in studios. Since then, delay has become a hugely popular effect, thanks to ever-shrinking technology allowing creators to cram more into smaller units.

If you’re after a budget delay pedal, the Fender Hammertone Space Delay is an easy-to-use option that will get you up and running quickly. At the other end of the spectrum, the Strymon Timeline offers everything from cascading, modulated repeats to trippy reverse textures, making it a more advanced option that I’ve personally enjoyed experimenting with.

If you’re brand new to delay pedals, head to my how to choose section to find out about what to consider when making your first purchase. I have also created a glossary that succinctly explains key terms that will help clear up any jargon you may be unfamiliar with.

Best analog delay

Overview

Where the majority of delay pedals are now digital, the MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay is an outlier, a genuine analog delay with a distinctive voice all its own. Admittedly, I’m a little biased, as this little gem has been on my pedalboard since day one.

Usability

Internal trim pots control the width and speed of the modulation, although they’re not the easiest to access, requiring you to remove four screws. The same goes for battery changes, so a pedalboard power supply is highly recommended. Despite that one drawback, its characterful delay tone sets it apart, and it’s the kind of sound you’ll keep coming back to.

Sounds

There’s a dark warmth to the Carbon Copy that’s the antithesis of some of the cleaner delay sounds on this list. With delay times up to 600ms, it’s more versatile than you might expect, handling everything from vintage slapback to more spacious, ambient textures. Add in the onboard modulation, and it opens up even further, offering a surprising amount of depth given the simple control set.

Best digital delay

Overview

The Line 6 DL4 MkII is a reboot of a now-legendary digital delay pedal that’s been heard on countless recordings since its inception in 1999. Lovingly known as the ‘green monster’, this new version packs even more sounds and features into a unit that is slightly smaller than the original.

Usability

Despite the expanded feature set, the DL4 MkII sticks closely to the layout that made the original so popular. The large, clearly labeled controls make it easy to dial in sounds quickly, while the familiar footswitch layout keeps things intuitive whether you’re playing live or experimenting at home.

The onboard looper is as usable as ever, now with extended looping time and the same straightforward functionality that made it a sleeper hit in the early 2000s. It’s a pedal that invites experimentation without ever feeling overwhelming.

Sounds

If you’re after classic analog delay tones, the models here are impressively close to the vintage units they’re based on, delivering warm, musical repeats that sit naturally in the mix. All of the original DL4 sounds are present, but it’s the expanded range of modern textures that really stands out.

From pristine digital repeats to more experimental, modulated delays, the DL4 MkII offers a huge palette of tones. Add in the bonus reverb effects, and you’ve got a genuinely versatile soundstage to explore, making it one of the most complete digital delay options currently available.

Best tape delay

Overview

Tape delay is often considered the Holy Grail of delay effects, and whilst many pedals attempt to recreate tape delay, none quite nail it… Apart from the T-Rex Replicator D’Luxe Tape Echo. A genuine tape delay, shrunk into pedal format… although the word ‘shrunk’ should be used fairly loosely as it is still large compared to most effects pedals.

Usability

Equipped with a slot to add tape cartridges that look similar to cassettes, the Replicator D’Luxe records your signal directly onto the tape and then plays it back in one of three settings: short head, long head, and a mix of the two.

As it is a genuine tape delay, you do need to purchase the tape cartridges separately and will need to replace them eventually, which means there are additional running costs over the lifetime of owning this unit. The other potential ‘running cost’ could come from repairs, as this is far more delicate than most other typical delay pedals.

Sounds

Each setting has its own unique character, but all are unmistakably the sound of classic, beautiful tape delay. Plus, when the tape wears down over time, you will get the chorus effect that worn tape produces, which many love! The Replicator D’Luxe won’t be for the majority, but for delay die-hards, this is one delay you have to consider adding to your collection, because no other delay pedal – particularly a tape delay pedal – comes close.

Best ambient delay

Overview

If you’ve tried every delay out there and still yearn for more, the Meris LVX Modular Delay System will offer enough depth to please even the most adventurous tone seeker. Packed full of features and functionality, the LVX is less of a delay pedal and more of an instrument in its own right.

Usability

Effects pedals like this often sound complex, yet Meris has created this to be as intuitive as possible. It’s all easily manipulated via an instinctive menu system accessed from a few knob presses and turns to adjust your chosen parameter. This display makes it clear what’s contained within your sound and how it’s being manipulated, making for an incredibly immersive experience. Ideal for adventurous and progressive guitar players.

Sounds

The Meris LVX will function as a simple delay pedal if you want it to, but it will also help you create otherworldly, ambient soundscapes that shift and undulate beneath your guitar tone. Create unruly rhythmic patterns, step sequencer-type pitch-shifting delays, synth pads, infinite reverb tails, and bass-heavy rumbles that will evoke horror and sci-fi soundtracks. It’s truly the top choice for those looking to get lost in a world of mesmerizing delay tones.

Best budget

Overview

If you want a simple delay pedal without the bells and whistles, or you’re just a bit short of cash, the Fender Hammertone Delay pedal is one of the better options out there for cheap delay stompboxes. Fender released the Hammertone series back in 2022, and they have been an incredibly popular option for both beginners and budget-seekers alike.

Usability

Firstly, there is a modulation control that can be augmented by dipswitches inside the pedal, and overall there’s a really nice feel to the way the delay tails degrade as they repeat. It’ll do that infinite oscillation style trick as well as act as a nice slapback, making it super versatile if tape delay sounds are your bag. Plus, the standard pedal chassis makes it an easy pedal to stick on your pedalboard when you get to that stage, unlike bigger units like the Line 6 DL4 MKII.

Sounds

There’s loads of flexibility thanks to the useful pattern control, which gives you various multi-head tape sounds. There’s a quarter-note delay and two rhythmic patterns that are pre-programmed, giving you that classic Space Echo and Echorec-type sound without having to splash the cash.

Best compact delay

Overview

Boss’ original delay pedal, the DD-3, has been around for a long time now, so it was about time it got an upgrade. Enter the Boss DD-8, which does everything one of the best compact delay pedals ever made does, and loads more.

Usability

With an additional footswitch, you can also unlock extra functionality from certain sounds, making the pedal even more sonically flexible. Add in stereo operation for some seriously wide sounds and the option for multiple footswitches, or one expression pedal, and you’ve got a lot of delay pedal for comparatively little cost.

Sounds

Despite the name, there are actually 11 different modes in the DD-8 if you count the looper. All the classic delay sounds like tape, analog, and digital are here, as well as lots more esoteric tones like shimmer, modulated, and even a delay-plus-reverb option. Considering the size, it makes it a great do-it-all option for players without loads of pedalboard real estate.

Best for studio

Overview

Present on more pro ‘boards than we care to remember, the Strymon TimeLine delay pedal is about as close as it comes to industry standard these days. Packed full of sounds and ways to tweak them, it’s the dream delay pedal for players who like to painstakingly craft their tones whilst in the studio.

Usability

In terms of connectivity, the Timeline will slot into any studio due to the number of options. There are loads of ways to integrate into your existing rig and further manipulate the sounds, which is partly why it’s so popular on pro pedalboards. Add an expression pedal to control parameters in real-time, run other pedals in the built-in feedback loop, and use MIDI control for easier preset selection; it really can do it all.

Sounds

There are 12 main tones on offer here, ranging from tape and bucket brigade-type delays right through to lo-fi and filtered sounds. They’re all eminently tweakable as well, with the Filter and Grit controls allowing you to dirty up the tones, or you can add modulated sounds to your tails. You can pitch-shift your repeats and even get multi-head tape and rhythmic multi-tap sounds. With all these options, it is a fantastic weapon to have in the studio for when you want to add a little something extra.

Also consider

How to choose

Although straightforward in theory, delay pedals can quickly become confusing in practice. I’ve seen this firsthand while working in a guitar store, which led me to develop a simple checklist for beginners. Here are four key things to keep in mind when choosing your next pedal. If you stick with this method, you won’t go far wrong.

1. Analog or digital

First things first, decide between an analog or digital delay. This isn’t just semantics; it plays a huge role in the overall character of the pedal.

Analog delays typically use Bucket Brigade Device (BBD) chips, which pass the signal through a series of capacitor stages, gradually degrading it in a musical way. Digital delays, on the other hand, convert your signal into digital data using signal processing, allowing for greater precision and control.

In practice, analog delays tend to sound warmer, thicker, and slightly darker, with repeats that blend into your playing more naturally. Digital delays are cleaner, brighter, and more defined, making them better suited to precise rhythmic playing, such as dotted eighth-note patterns, or more modern, articulate sounds.

2. Pedalboard or studio

Now, if you’re just starting out, you’ll likely not have a pedalboard or a studio, but my point is to consider the chassis of your delay pedal. Something like the Line 6 DL4 MkII is a chunky unit that will struggle to fit on a beginner’s pedalboard, while something like the Boss DD-8 Digital Delay has been designed with that in mind.

This is a good consideration for future-proofing your purchase. A larger delay pedal may be totally fine if you’ll only ever use it at home or in the studio. However, if you have goals of playing gigs or jamming with friends, where a pedalboard will come in handy, then it’s worth thinking about this before you buy.

3. Tap tempo

This is a big one, especially for beginners. It can sometimes be tricky to dial in the correct tempo using the controls alone, particularly if you’re learning a song that relies on it. However, if the delay pedal you go for has a tap tempo feature, where you can tap in the tempo of the repeats yourself, then it becomes much easier to get your repeats in time with what you’re playing. It’s a small feature, but an incredibly useful one when learning songs with delay.

4. Other features

Lastly, nowadays a delay pedal doesn’t just have to give you delay. For example, one of the world’s most famous delays, the MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay, has modulation built in that you can switch on or off, making it more versatile. Others include loopers, allowing you to lay down lead parts or background ambience while experimenting with different settings. If you like your money going further, considering a pedal with extra features is a great way to stretch your dollar.

FAQs

Key terms

• BBD (Bucket Brigade Device): This is a type of chip used in analog delays that passes the signal through a chain of capacitors. It typically sounds warm and is very musical.
• Buffer: A type of circuit that helps preserve your signal strength; it helps when running long cables or multiple pedals.
• Delay time: The amount of time between your original note and the delayed repeat.
• Dotted eighth: A rhythmic setting where repeats fall between beats, creating a bouncing feel to your delay.
• Dry signal: This is the unaffected guitar signal before it hits an effect.
• Ducking: A feature that lowers the volume of the delay while you’re playing, then brings it back up when you stop, keeping things clean.
• Feedback: This is a control that determines how many repeats you hear on a delay pedal. Higher feedback means more repeats and eventually can lead to self-oscillation.
• Flutter: This is a subtle pitch variation that mimics the instability of tape delay, adding movement and character. It adds a musicality to the delay.
• Kill dry: A setting that removes your dry signal, leaving only the wet sound. It is typically used in parallel rigs.
• Latency: Referring to a slight delay between striking a note and hearing it. Modern pedals will typically have incredibly low latency.
• Modulation: An effect that adds movement to your delay repeats, often in the form of chorus or vibrato.
• Parallel: This is a routing method where your dry signal and effects run side by side rather than in a straight line as they’d typically do.
• Self-oscillation: This is when feedback is set so high that the delay repeats feed into themselves, creating a looping, often chaotic sound that can be hard to control, but when used right, can create exciting sounds.
• Series: The opposite of parallel, this is a traditional signal chain where one effect feeds directly into the next.
• Slapback: A very short delay (usually under 150ms) that creates a quick, echo-like bounce, common in rockabilly and country. Tonally, it sounds quite similar to reverb.
• Subdivisions: This refers to the rhythmic spacing of delay repeats, such as quarter notes, eighths, triplets, or dotted patterns that can be controlled on delay pedals.
• Tap tempo: A feature that lets you tap in the delay speed with your foot to match the tempo of what you’re playing. It typically works with the pedals’ footswitch or by connecting an external device.
• Trails: When delay repeats continue naturally after the pedal is turned off.
• Wet signal: This is your signal chain affected by an effect, instead of your dry signal.

How we test

At Guitar Player, our team of experienced musicians have thoroughly explored the world of delay pedals, rigorously testing various models in real-world scenarios to provide you with practical and reliable reviews and recommendations.

Our handpicked selection of the best delay pedals showcases exceptional sonic qualities, intuitive controls, and reliable performance. We meticulously evaluate factors such as delay types, sound quality, versatility, build quality, and user-friendliness, ensuring that these pedals stand out among the competition.

With Guitar Player as your trusted resource, delve into our recommended delay pedals, all thoroughly vetted by fellow musicians. Discover the options that will elevate your sound, add depth to your playing, and ignite your creativity. Whether you seek classic analog warmth or modern digital precision, let Guitar Player guide you in finding the perfect delay pedal to enhance your musical journey.

Read more on how we test and review products.

Last week, Guitar Center kicked off their Guitar-A-Thon sale in style with tons of bargains across a range of products from top brands including Fender, Gibson, Martin, PRS, Taylor, Washburn, D’Addario, Breedlove, EVH, Epiphone, Gretsch, Music Man, D'Angelico, Schecter and more.

As well as price cuts on guitars (check out this deal on Fender Stratocasters where you can save up to $230!) Guitar Center has lowered the cost on masses of amps, accessories and effects.

Right now, you can save up 43% on MXR effects pedals, including the Fat Sugar Drive, Classic Overdrive, Prime Distortion and Classic Distortion.

MXR M66S Classic Overdrive

Pro standard distortion pedals needn't be expensive. Nor must they be overly complicated. And the MXR M66S Classic Overdrive is a good case in point.

This essential, no-frills stompbox sports three simple controls (output, tone and gain) to sculpt a range of overdrive sounds from clean boost to fat crunch.

If you're looking for a quality drive pedal from a leading brand you can trust then the Classic Overdrive is well worth considering (especially with 43% off the regular price.)

Analog Man's King of Tone stompbox has long stood as one of the most revered overdrive pedals on the market. 

With a years-long wait list for an original, and prices for existing examples hitting almost four figures on the secondary market, it's not a pedal you can simply pick up at your local Guitar Center or online. 

Now though, MXR is looking to make some of that box's magic more accessible with its new Duke of Tone pedal, an overdrive based on the Analog Man Prince of Tone (the single-channel version of the King of Tone). 

Primed for mass production, the Duke of Tone was a collaboration between the pedal giant and Analog Man head honcho Mike Piera, who meticulously oversaw every aspect of the Duke's development to ensure authenticity to his original vision. You can learn more about its creation in the video below.

Just like the Prince of Tone before it, the Duke of Tone boasts a three-knob control layout featuring self-explanatory Volume, Drive, and Tone knobs, and a three-way clipping toggle switch with Boost, OD, and Distortion modes.

According to MXR, OD adds more "grit and compression," while Boost gives users "a clean-yet-vigorous bump." Distortion, meanwhile, gives players a touch of each.

Like all Analog Man pedals, the Duke of Tone also features a true bypass footswitch.

“I was very happy working with [MXR], the reason being to get these out to the stores," Piera says in the above video. "We don’t really have our pedals, especially these two – the King of Tone and Prince of Tone – in any stores because we can’t make them fast enough.

“I thought it would be great to get these in dealers all over the world with the same basic sounds and nice, small compact size. And the tones are all there. You don’t need to have something big to have good tone.”

The MXR/Analog Man Duke of Tone overdrive pedal will begin shipping on October 1, for $149. 

To preorder the pedal, visit jimdunlop.com.

Dr. Know helped turn the punk scene on its head when his band Bad Brains emigrated from Washington D.C. to New York in the early ‘80s.  Here he discusses some of the guitars, amps and effects that have transported him on his unique musical journey…

What amps did you use early on?

Believe it or not, early on I was using Acoustic amps, because they had built-in distortion and, most importantly, channel switching so that I could switch from fuzz to the clean sound I needed for the reggae stuff. I also used Marshalls, but often they were customized by people like Harry Kolbe in New York.

Eventually, I started using Mesa/Boogies, and then, by the late ’80s, rack gear with multi-effects units and MIDI control. I would just look through the guitar magazines and be like, “I need that! And that!” Most recently, I was using a Boogie Triple Rectifier, which I liked better than the Dual Rectifier, because it had more headroom.

There’s a video of Bad Brains performing at CBGB in 1982, and when the band is playing reggae material, you’re using phasing and delay. Do you recall what effects units you used?

It was an MXR phaser and an Echoplex. I just recently watched that video and was thinking about how that was when I had just built my first pedalboard. I built that bad boy out of plywood. It wouldn’t look like much to somebody today, but for 40 years ago, it was good!

You had a pedalboard on the stage? I would have thought that with all of the kids getting up there to stage dive, you wouldn’t be able to do that.

Oh yeah, especially at CBs, because the stage was so small. But we had our roadie, Alvin Robertson, and he would stand by me and be like, “Yo, you all get out of here. Don’t mess with his shit!”

In the early ’80s, you’re frequently pictured with two guitars: a B.C. Rich Eagle and an Ovation UK2 1291, which featured a unique aluminum skeleton and a Urelite foam body

The B.C. Rich was stolen. I think it happened when we went to England to open for the Damned, but they didn’t let us in. We were all punked out and we didn’t have our working papers. They were like, “A bunch of Black punk dudes coming over here? Nah. We got enough of this with these White kids over here.”

They took our passports, put us in a room and were like, “You’re getting on this next plane, and you going back.” We went home, but the equipment never made it. The Ovation was a gift from Ric Ocasek, who gave it to me when he was producing Rock for Light.

By the time the band is recording I Against I in 1986, you’ve switched to using Superstrats with locking tremolos.

I had Roger Sadowsky build me a white Strat-style guitar, and then I remember Darryl and I going to 48th Street, to ESP, which was still really a parts shop at the time. I think he ordered his green bass, and I picked out an alder body and a neck for the guitar that became Old Blackie [his Strat-style guitar with an ESP body and neck and custom DiMarzio pickups].

The pickups in there were made specially for me by Steve Blucher at DiMarzio: the single-coil-sized pickups in the middle and the neck are actually hum canceling. I played that guitar forever. Still sounds good, too! I also have a Maguire guitar that has a Floyd Rose, EMGs and a Sustaniac pickup that I like a lot.

What instrument do you play most now?

I’ve actually been spending a lot of time playing an electric baglama, which is a Turkish stringed instrument that I run through all my pedals. At some point, I want to incorporate that into my next musical venture.

Buy Rock for Light by Bad Brains here.

We’ve all heard of guitar players “making the instrument talk,” but the unique effect known as a ‘talk box’ actually combines the sound of the human voice with a guitar signal.

One of the earliest forms of electric guitar effects, the genesis of this sound can be traced back to the 1930s when jazz guitarist Alvino Rey combined his electric steel guitar with his wife Luise’s voice using a military throat mic.

As eloquently explained here by Stringy the Talking Guitar...

Amazing, considering LSD had only just been invented.

In more recent times, well-known examples of the talk box effect include Richie Sambora’s electric guitar hooks on the Bon Jovi anthem “Livin’ On a Prayer” and Joe Walsh’s Heil Talk Box licks on “Rocky Mountain Way” from 1973.

Peter Frampton is also famous for using a Heil Talk Box in the 1970s. In fact, the guitarist became so closely associated with the effect he later launched his own brand, the Framptone Talkbox.

Some of Frampton’s best-known songs where the Heil Talk Box can be heard include the tracks “Do You Feel Like We Do" and "Show Me the Way" from his classic 1976 album Frampton Comes Alive!

But where did Frampton get the idea from? It seems the British guitarist first came across this unique sound in 1970 at Abbey Road Studios during a recording session for George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass album.

The session was attended by Nashville A-Team steel guitar player Pete Drake who showed Frampton the device that he used to outstanding effect (literally) on his 1964 Pete Drake And His Talking Steel Guitar hit, “Forever.”

Recounting a scene that sounds like something straight out of Alice in Wonderland Frampton told the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum in 2007: “In some moment when nothing was going on [Drake] plugged up his little talk box... He put the little, tiny pipe in his mouth and all of a sudden he started singing to me (or the pedal steel did!)”

The novel tones of Drake’s ‘singing guitar’ brought to mind a sound that Frampton had previously heard on Radio Luxembourg. “It was like so many bells went off in my head,” he recalled. “My jaw dropped to the floor.”

“I invented this thing in 1959,“ claimed Drake during an interview in 1982 (though the device he used in 1964 to record "Forever" with has also been credited to pedal steel player Bill West.) “I made a station break for WSM [Radio station in Nashville] and then every radio station in the world called me the next day. I’ve done over 3,000 radio stations.

“Peter Frampton: when he was 18 years old, I was in England and he says, “How do you make the guitar talk?” I showed him, and he said, “Boy, I wish I could do that,” so I gave him one of my talk boxes. And he got rich off of it.” [laughs]

Frampton denies he ever took possession of Drake’s talk box. However, it wasn't very long after his initial encounter with Drake that Humble Pie engineer and creator of the Heil Talk Box – Bob Heil – gave him one.

Though the Dunlop HT1 Heil Talk Box is no longer in production, similar results can be achieved using the MXR Talk Box and Boss VO-1 Vocoder.

It’s always nice when a product offers more than meets the eye. MXR’s new Tremolo pedal seems straightforward enough at first blush, but this compact pedal is one powerful modulation box, with six tremolo styles that are selected by pushing the gain knob, which also controls the volume of the effect. 

The Tremolo carries depth and speed controls – along with input and output jacks and a nine-volt input for the included adapter – but it quickly gets much deeper thanks to a CTR (control) jack and accompanying two-position slider switch that allows the use of an optional foot switch for tap tempo, or an optional expression pedal to blend between two different tremolo settings. 

Depending on how the switch is set, there are also three available stereo (TRS) modes: Stereo Input, Stereo Output, and a mode for panning the tremolo effect from one output to another.  

Furthermore, you can access an Envelope mode by pressing and holding the gain knob for three seconds. This allows the Tremolo to respond to picking dynamics, and by holding the knob down you can adjust the sensitivity – the picking strength needed to trigger the effect – with the depth knob and the rate of the effect with the speed knob. 

Yet another manipulation of the controls allows the pedal to be switched from true-bypass (the default setting) to buffered bypass. These more-advanced functions aside, the Tremolo is easy to use and offers a ton of great sounds. 

Each of the trem settings is indicated by either a green or red LED and they’re accessed sequentially in this order: 

• MXR: Classic MXR M159 sounds (green)
• Bias: A vintage-style bias modulation waveform that emulates the compression of tubes (red)
• Revo: A reverse optical waveform that produces exaggerated peaks and valleys (green)
• Opto: An optical waveform that emulates the smooth pulse of vintage amp tremolo (red)
• Sqr: A square waveform for choppy effects (green)
• Harm: A vintage-style harmonic tremolo with frequency modulation (red)

Running the Tremolo through a Fender Deluxe Reverb reissue and a Mesa Mark 5:25 combo – and with a Gibson Les Paul Traditional Pro V and a Fender American Pro II Stratocaster plugged in – I found the sounds were all excellent and provide plenty of variety to make this pedal useful for a lot of different tastes and applications. 

For example, Harm produces a warbly, slightly pitch-shifted effect that contrasts nicely with Bias, which is the go-to setting if you’re chasing blackface Fender-type sounds. The MXR setting is a little more pronounced, and also very clear and richly detailed, but it’s not quite as jagged as Revo, which has big peaks and valleys that really stand out in a mix. 

The effect is a bit more ethereal in Opto, which is great for adding subtle pulse in situations where a more obvious trem sound isn’t really desired. For that sort of action, Sqr delivers the helicopter chop and very staccato effects at high depth settings that can make parts leap out with strobe-light intensity.

It’s cool that you can adjust the Tremolo’s volume with a twist of the gain dial (always handy), and the way this pedal offers so much additional flexibility via its CTR input makes it very customizable to your personal needs.

The Tremolo certainly packs a lot into a footprint the size of a Phase 90, and it earns an Editors’ Pick Award in the process. Bottom line: If there’s only room for one tremolo on your pedalboard, the MXR Tremolo is a strong contender.

Specifications

• PRICE: $159 street  
• CONTROLS: Gain (push to cycle through modes), Depth, Speed 
• FUNCTIONS: Six tremolo modes: MXR, Bias, Revo, Opto, SQR, Harm I/O Input, output and CTR (control)
• EXTRAS: CTL is selectable for optional tap or expression pedal operation, as well as stereo in/out and other functions. 9-volt adapter included
• CONTACT: Jim Dunlop

MXR and blues guitar great Eric Gales have teamed up to create the Raw Dawg overdrive pedal.

Graced with the same name as Gales' signature DV Mark amplifier range, the Raw Dawg pedal features output, tone, and drive knobs, and a custom circuit that's been fitted onto a mini-chassis. 

Though info on the pedal is still scarce, we can report that the pedal is based on a classic 'drive unit, and aims for both a balanced midrange and sweet-but-sizzling high-gain tones, just like those produced by Gales himself.

The MXR Eric Gales Raw Dawg signature overdrive pedal is available now for $119.

For more info on the pedal, keep an eye on jimdunlop.com.

MXR has debuted its new M305 Tremolo pedal.

The M305 is anchored by six waveforms that run the gamut of tremolo tones - from classic sounds to all-new creations. 

The six modes are: a recreation of MXR's famous M159 MXR Stereo Tremolo; an SQR mode that produces a choppy tremolo; an Opto setting that emulates smooth, photo cell-generated pulsating tremolos; a Bias mode with sounds modeled after the tremolo effects found on early '60s tube amps; a Revo mode that runs the tremolo waveform backwards for more pronounced sonic peaks and valleys; and a Harm mode that emulates the phase-esque tremolo found on vintage Supros and Magnatones.

Control-wise, the M305 features Speed, Gain and Depth knobs. The Gain knob can also be used as a push mode selector. The M305 also houses an additional jack on its side, which can be used as a tap tempo/expression output or - thanks to a small slider on the side of the pedal - a stereo output.

The MXR M305 Tremolo pedal is available now for $159.

For more info on the pedal, stop by jimdunlop.com.

MXR has unveiled its new FOD Drive pedal.

This compact new overdrive pedal features a circuit that allows for blending two hot-rodded amp stacks. Each of the pedal's drive circuits emulates a heavily-modded amp - one is optimized for potent midrange punch, the other for heavily-scooped high-gain sounds.

Each "amp" features independent volume and gain controls, which can be set individually and balanced via the pedal's blend knob.

The FOD Drive's scoop switch allows for choosing between flat, scooped or boosted midrange, while the global tone knob lets users tweak the EQ of the signal.

The MXR FOD Drive pedal will be offered at an MSRP of $242.84, but is available now for preorder at Sweetwater for $169.99.

For more info on the pedal, stop by jimdunlop.com.