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MXR bass effects really impressing me..

M

MGR

Inactive
Jan 18, 2015
1,797
1,325
Bronx, NY
#1
By nature, I'm philosophically on the side of the "boutique" pedal manufacturers. The thought of supporting an individual, usually a fellow American, satisfies me much more than buying corporate products made in China, but.........

After a few bad experiences recently with build quality of some boutique offerings (although to be fair, the companies were very good about repair), I decided to look at MXR, since they seem to be very progressive in their offerings of dedicated bass effects. Despite my not wanting to love their stuff, I can't help it...I'm becoming a convert.

It started with the M82 filter, which is to me the best designed bass filter since it includes a dry mix knob. The pedal is simple, but it sounds absolutely amazing.

Next, the bass overdrive. I spent tons of time looking at all the boutique stuff, and honestly, I haven't yet found a pedal that doesn't have that annoying buzzy fuzz sound, or a completly unusable-in-the-real-world over the top gain. The MXR, again with a dry blend knob, has the sound that I want.Beefy, thick with bottom end and punch retained.

Now I am looking at the bass chorus deluxe and the octaver. Sheeeit, I'm even looking at the carbon copy, even though I like digital delay for bass.

I am writing this post because there may be others in my position. You want to love boutique stuff, and you want to believe that "hand crafted, artisinal, small batch pedals" are the best because some guy with a beard and tattoos built it in Portland. But if you haven't yet played with the MXR bass stuff, you should give it a second look. I guess you can always get someone to custom paint the box......

My overall impression is that the addition of the dry blend knobs is key to bass effects, and I hope to see more of that in the future on bass effects.
 
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#2
Some effects I like with a blend knob, some I don't. But I'm finding it's better to have one and not need it than the other way around ;)

I've always liked MXR effects. Don't use them for everything, but they've always been solid performers with great tone. I've got the Bass Fuzz Deluxe and the 6-Band EQ to EQ my upright on doubling gigs. I'm also getting that new Bass Distortion that's a modded-for-bass Rat. Sounds great in demos.
 
#7
I really like MXR's bass pedals. They are a one stop guarantee of great electronics, packaging, size, features and tone. Except for their dirt pedals. I really like their El Grande Bass fuzz, but get the internal pot routed to the front...it makes it a lot more versatile. The Bass Overdrive isn't very transparent and seems to have a permanent EQ, which can be dialed back but not completely. The Bass Fuzz Deluxe is just a fizzy mess to my ears and the controls (like the BOD) are counter-intuitive. But all their other pedals are excellent and they are a reliable brand. If I need a certain analogue sound effect....MXR are my first go to. Their chorus rocks too.
 
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#8
MGR said:
From what I'm hearing in this vid, I like the Bass overdrive better. This pedal has a little too much distortion for me.

Click to expand...


That's because its a distortion pedal. I've owned and sold many MXR pedals. They were all pretty good. The only one I currently have is the Smart Gate, but I will own more in the future. And I certainly want to try the new Bass Distortion whenever it comes out.
 
#10
MGR said:
From what I'm hearing in this vid, I like the Bass overdrive better. This pedal has a little too much distortion for me.

Click to expand...

Well it IS a Rat ;) That's what they do. It's a hard distortion, not quite fuzz, but definitely not an overdrive. With a clean blend, you can mellow it out some, but for me, only way to run a Rat is to let it do what it does. One of the best recorded heavy tones I ever got was using a Rat and clean blend. But ProCo has seen fit to drop the ball on the Rat and change it around and make it crappy, plus they never made one that was good with bass, so this is quite a welcome pedal for me, especially since I've had two Rats stolen from me. This is why we never entertain guests anymore...bastard friends stealing stuff at parties. Try to show them a good time and they poop on you. Go to the can for 5 minutes and they help themselves to the music room. Scum.

But I digress...anyway, I like the Bass Fuzz Deluxe. It's a Tonebender with really good bass response. It's a more mellow fuzz, but in a way, that's good because it rips in the parts I want it to rip and sort of settles back in the mix the rest of the time so it doesn't scare the old folks ;) But as much as I'd love to have every distortion pedal I own on my board, I'd like to whittle down to three...mild, medium and balls out. And between the Bass Distortion and the Animato clone I got last week, I think the BFD may not survive the cut. We'll see...everything's so up in the air now.

Can I get off the shrink couch now?
 
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#12
after i bought 2 great MXR pedals (Carbon Copy delay & Envelope Filter) i had a plan to setup a MXR-only board, next pedal was the MXR Bass Compressor ... to complete my board i got the MXR dirt pedals (Bass Fuzz Deluxe & Bass Overdrive) but they did not do it for me, bye bye MXR only board. Maybe i will give that MXR Distortion pedal a new chance.
 
#13
fasto said:
after i bought 2 great MXR pedals (Carbon Copy delay & Envelope Filter) i had a plan to setup a MXR-only board, next pedal was the MXR Bass Compressor ... to complete my board i got the MXR dirt pedals (Bass Fuzz Deluxe & Bass Overdrive) but they did not do it for me, bye bye MXR only board. Maybe i will give that MXR Distortion pedal a new chance.
Click to expand...


I was thinking of getting a carbon copy, but was afraid to use an analog delay with bass. Can you give me your thoughts on that pedal since it was one that convinced you initially to have an all MXR board? I have the M82, and although I don't plan on having an all MXR board, the Carbon Copy might me next on my list.

On videos, it sounds pretty clear on bass, but I would love a real world review if you have time. Thanks.
 
#15
I have a bod, bfd, cc, bass comp and black label chorus.
I didn't get a hold of the bass od, due to the preset clean eq. The drive tone was reasonable, but the inherent mid scoop was a deal breaker for me.
The bass chorus was ok, I just prefer my blc.
The bass dist doesn't really appeal to me, as I prefer a nice 'open grained gritty' overdrive tone.
The pedals aren't bad at all, just not to my preference
 
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#16
MGR said:
I was thinking of getting a carbon copy, but was afraid to use an analog delay with bass. Can you give me your thoughts on that pedal since it was one that convinced you initially to have an all MXR board? I have the M82, and although I don't plan on having an all MXR board, the Carbon Copy might me next on my list.

On videos, it sounds pretty clear on bass, but I would love a real world review if you have time. Thanks.
Click to expand...
i've tryed the pedal on guitar, i think once on bass. my brother tryed it yesterday on guitar. corrrect me if i'm wrong, i think it's a REALLY great ANALOG delay for the size, but i think way huge and other delays are better.
 
#18
Im not too crazy about MXR. There is def a handful I dig but I have had some quality control issues with their input jacks before. But Ive still bought quite a few of their pedals. I guess for me its hit or miss. If one of their pedals does work for me though its pretty nice because theyre all mostly smaller and compact. Ive been more turned on my their older "script" series' pedlas than anything else. Some of their bigger pedals too like the stereo chorus are really appealing to me. But of about the 12 or so Ive tried of theirs, I only really like one of two. But thats just me. They arent MXR for no reason. I apprecaite what they do. I actually dig Way Huge a little more. Even though the only pedal Ive ever had is the Dirty Donny.
 

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