MXR Blue Box™ Octave Fuzz

So here's the deal. Let me just make this statement before I go into the qualifiers ...The pedal outright rocks. BUT....The pedal is somewhat limited in the overall tones it produces, which is what the one star deduction is for. If all your looking for is a fuzz pedal, look elsewhere. This one is for a specific type of sound. I currently use a "La Machine" pedal from mxr for a great versatile box, but there are hundreds of fuzz's from hundreds of brands that are wonderful for any type of fuzz you want. fuzz... :)This pedal puts fuzz on your signal than doubles the tone two octaves down and layers it on top of each other. And it does so with analog circuitry. This means it is an organic pedal with quirks galore that must be mastered before you can use it effectively. And that process is an absolute load of fun for tone experimenters! At times it has a real organic sounding aspect, at others it is a bit Nintendo-ey as the octave tries to settle in on a note. Sometimes the sustain will cut itself short as you hit the note in in odd way (mostly with passive pick-ups) but most of the time there is plenty. Don't listen to those who say it isn't a good box for live playing. Slash used one for years before switching to a custom signature box he helped design, it didn't seem to hurt his live shows. Once you've mastered it's quirks and figured out what to avoid it works splendidly.A couple tips and notes to bring out the best in the pedal. There is a significant volume suck when the pedal is activated, and for its effects to work properly, you have to have some volume behind it to work with. Otherwise it sounds choked and thin. It sounds best if it comes after an overdrive in the pedal chain. It'll take the bite from the overdrive and really produce some amazing stuff with it. I currently have an OD in my amp on a dirty channel, and with some gain (not even a lot really, about 10 o'clock on the dial with noon being half) and a boost It just shines. The octave works best on the mid to higher end of the scale, the lower end is a bit muddy and in a band setting would be drowned out by a bass guitar anyway. Grindcore players need not apply. On the other hand, if you don't play with a bass, a la the White Stripes, it fills in the spectrum nicely.There is nothing quite like this pedal out there, and with this one In hand I really don't feel the need to look.

I did a bunch of searching for a unique pedal. I wanted something with lots of kick, but had taste. After searching, I found the Blue Box. Reviews were very positive and demos sounded cool. The fuzz sounded Jack White -esque, and the low end sounded interesting.Now two weeks later, I got this thing. Not what I had expected. I'm not saying it's a bad pedal, but it's flaws can outnumber it's cool sound. I'm a lead player, but my leads consist of multiple notes. This pedal is NOT polytonal. It works well if you had a solo riff, but who wants an outstanding riff that's 2 octaves down? I'm not knocking anyone's taste, but it doesn't seem practical.Another thing that turned me off was the volume sucking. Most distortion pedals have so much gain you can't turn the volume up past 10 o'clock. With this sucker, even if it's maxed out, your wet output is lower than your dry signal. Sucks.You probably don't want to play anything lower than middle C, since most guitar amps don't support such low frequencies.Another problem: Don't mix with too many effects. I have another distortion and a fuzz pedal, and this guy doesn't mix well. Too much feedback, and it sucks all your volume.The fuzz is also pretty lame.. Also not polytonal. Sounds neat in certain ranges, but not a typical fuzz box.It's decay time is also bad. Almost no dry signal to keep the sound going.Pros:- Unique: I can't and don't even want to find anything like it.- DurableCons:- Not polytonal- Small range (just my opinion)- Volume sucker- Short decayIf you want something to fool around with, then buy this bad boy. If you're looking for a new sound on your board, maybe think twice. I don't recommend it for live playing.

The sound is deep and can make your guitar sound like an old school computer game from the 80's.The best way to use this pedal is in front of an amp with subtle distortion/overdrive. (otherwise it can be confusing and noisy) Depending on the guitar you're using the best results are with neck pickup and tone knob on the guitar turned to 10.Its a great pedal for blues, desert rock and garage rock.

This is a very very narrowly used effect. But, it's so awesome. Let's face it, this is a novelty. I love it, but it's not going in my signal chain regularly. it's fun.. definitely not a necessity.

Seeing as how most kids today like their drop D tuning, this might be a little tougher to obtain the amazing sounds that this pedal is capible of. I on the other hand, still play old school standard tuning, and alot of jazz chords and rockabilly. The single note approach with this pedal can muster up some good glitchy nintendo sounds.The best feature of the pedal for me is when playing higher on the fret board (and higher strings) you can make your guitar sound like a synth bass. It's a really fun pedal and a great tool to inspire the musician who might be in a dry spell.I have the "block" logo version of this pedal. I have heard that there may be subtle differences in the circuitry, but none have proven it.In the future, I'd like to see the good folks at Jim Dunlop to re-release this pedal as the Blue Box II, with a mod button to help track the subs a little tighter, for the musician who would like to use it for more straight forward octave distortion. Kinda like using the MXR Bass Octave deluxe before an MXR Doubleshot Distortion (Top Channel).Summary...Buy it.

Great delivery. Product functions as it should.