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MXR M80 - recommended settings?

D

dogwillhunt80

Apr 13, 2012
54
1
#1
Just got an MXR M80 for my birthday.

Mucking around with the settings, looking for something ideal.

I just also wanted to get other people's feedback who have this pedal and how you have your settings to what you like. Just looking for ideas.


All serious replies are greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 
#3
EQ depends on what kind of sound you want - it's an EQ. I think the one thing is to decide if you want to EQ on the M80 or on your amp. In general, I leave my M80 at noon and EQ on the amp (lows and mids about 2:00 and the highs at 10:00 for me), but you can go either way. The "color" button is always on for me - it's like a boost pedal all by itself, that little button is worth the price of the M80 all by itself. Distortion, I usually keep the volume a notch above the clean volume, the gain at noon or so, the others around 10:00 or so (trigger and blend) so the tone doesn't go to pure fuzz. But it really depends on what you want.
 
#4
I had just about given up on the dirt side as a useless tone suck when I figured out the blend knob. It's the key to keeping bottom end working while getting a subtle breakup. Go easy on the dirt side gain, too. I put the dirt side volume up a bit so I get a boost when I kick it in, I can always roll back at the bass or play lighter if I don't need the volume.

Like Jumblemind said, turn it on, press the color button, and tweek the eq settings from noon. The color scoops, so a little mid, either at the M-80 or on your amp might be to your taste.

The switch on mine broke on the clean side, so I wired it on and it's been on ever since. Not a problem since I never turned it off anyway.

One of the best features is the phantom power on the DI. No more battery worries, no need for a power supply. Just run it off the board's phantom power. Things get ugly fast when the battery starts to go in this box.

This box has outlasted all the other pre amp, dirt boxes, and di's I've had, I don't leave home without it. Often times I'll just take the MXR and leave the amp at home.

Nice birthday present!
 
#5
I've used the M80 for a few years now and it's great. The EQ, when I need it does what iut needs to well.
I've got to say I don't share the love for the 'color' button on the dry channel. Very occasionally in a busy mix I'll use it and it help push me under everything else but generally it's to scooped for me and can get boomy. On the distortion channel however having the 'color' engaged all the time does help keep the lows in tact.
I generally set the EQ to noon and adjust to the room as needed. On the distortion I put the blend around 11:30 and the gain from 7:00 for light gain to about 2:00 for fuzz. Anything past 2:00 gets too compressed for me. Somewhere about noon on the blend works well.
 
#6
I don't use the color button at all. It automatically engages when the dirt is used. The only things I can offer is that it seems 2-10-2 (o'clock) settings on the low mid and treble get you close to flat. I use the blend control at around 10 o'clock, with the distortion set at 9 to 10 o'clock and get a pretty nice overdrive(ish) sound. The settings will depend on the instrument, though. I like the pedal a lot.
 

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