Jacques Stompboxes Mercer Box II

It is quite easy to use: the other reviews explain the basics, so I won't repeat them here. I WILL point out, though, that people shouldn't confuse the "Love" knob simply as a treble control. While it DOES affect those frequencies, it brings in a tremendous amount of overdrive-really, the treble settings seems fixed in the pedal, with adjusting the other knobs tempering it satisfactorily. Otherwise, stomp on; stomp off! :)

I play with a ton of equipment: Strats and Les Pauls and Teles and a Gretsch Setzer Hot Rod and some Hamers and some G&L's into a Carr Slant 6V, a Reeves 50, a Straub Cantus 50 (greatest amp ever!) and a Budda Twinmaster (next greatest amp ever!). The Mercer Box sounds great with everything here, and that is unusual with OD/Distortion pedals!

As noted below, if you like Hendrix and Zeppelin, you'll love the Mercer Box; the tone controls are very interative, wide ranging and well voiced. Bringing up the Love knob gives a tremendous amount of overdrive; with humbuckers, it gets quite saturated at extreme settings. Then, the coolest feature of this box is another knob, for fuzz. Jacques bills the pedal as a "Plexi"-type tone, and with the fuzz added to it, it is so reminiscent of stepping on a Fuzz Face into a vintage Marshall, but the tone is crisp and clear yet warm and full and cleans up very nicely by lowering one's guitar's volume knob. Really, really well done!

Also as corrected below, the pedal is metal, with a plastic footswitch, and it is a heavy little thing that seems very strong.

Not related to THIS pedal, but I am pleading to Jacques, pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease build me a handwired Fuse Blower! Please? I want it I want it I want it I want it! ...oh yes, I will pay for it, too! :)

There's a nice demo video on the Jacques site which show how truly versatile the Mercer Box is-it could be used for just about every genre and style of guitar-oriented music there is-seriously, check out the video!

O.K. this pedal gives you LOTS of options which, compared to some other standard distortion/overdrive pedals, may seem a bit confusing -- but I can't say this makes it difficult to use. Also, all sounds I got during my "experimentation" stage were very musical... even the ones that don't work for me, so again full-marks.
I could take a hit off the score 'cause the designer is a weirdo who likes to use "creative" names for the knob values (LOVE, HATE & BLOOD)... but even these odd names make sense once you start playing with this thing!

I've only recently purchased the item and have only played it with a Peavey Wolfgang and a US Strat (w/humbuckers) through a pretty dry sounding Dean Markley solid-state 50W practice amp... tomorrow I'll give it a whirl on my nicer amps, but even on this loser the MERCER sounded great. Balls galore! Crushing (too much!!) distortion or mild overdrive... the MERCER delivers.
I give it a 10 because I hate the fizziness of distortion boxes and the general dulness (MID hump) of overdrives... and obviously the MERCER doesn't give me any of these limitations.

The pedal is made of metal and is surprisingly heavy... actually heavier (yet 20% smaller) than a BOSS. Seems reliable, but only time will tell.

Jacques does answer e-mails... but only after a looooooong while. Not a good sign.

I've been playing for over 20 years and own way more much equipment (guitars, amps and effects) than I need. Still, this was a good purchase that I would gladly repeat if I had to. I play Rock 'n' Roll and it's many incarnations and this pedal will work wonders for most of these situations. Compared to a BOSS/Keeley DS-1 ULTRA the MERCER is clearly superior... and more affordable.
I strongly believe this pedal will become a classic.

This pedal does lots of sounds, from clean boost to full distortion, so you have to manage knobs to find your sound.
Easy with Volume and Fuzz knobs, not so evident with Love and Hate controls; moreover controls do interact: you'll need time to work out your tone, but sounds you can get from this box are so amazing that you'll never considere your time wasted!

GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Full analog, deep, warm overdrive/distortion sounds from the Mercer Box II!

Your guitar tone is ALWAYS preserved and you can track your volume completely.
You'll get from clean sound to deep fuzz through crunch/overdrive/distortion simply acting with your guitar volume knob.

Checked with Shergold, Strat, Les Paul guitars into the MB II and direct to Mesa Boogie Quad Preamp to a Roland Bolt 60 final section: amazing!
Same with a Marshall pre.

I do prefer the Mercer Box with singlecoil pickups, also if I play mainly LPs and Ibanez Artist gtrs.

I've checked the M box into my Pod with headphone: it seemed to me I was playing in front of a Plexi wall, UNBELIEVABLE!!!
(By the way, I use the Pod only to practise, don't trust digital emulation... but it's remarkable that the Mercer works GREAT even with a Pod!!!)

Noise?
Well, it's analog and it uses germanium trans.; when you're gain gets high it's absolutely normal to have a little bit of noise, expecially with singlecoils.
But who cares when playing loud?

If your music is Jimi or Zeppelin, JUST BUY ONE ASAP!!!

THIS PEDAL HAS A ROCK SOUL!!!

I've giged for the last two years with Jacques' stompboxes always without problems, these pedals are solid!

Jacques is a great pro AND a great person.
It's always a pleasure to deal with him.
Very kind and friendly, perfect!

Moreover Jacques is THE wizard!!!
Great FXs designer!

Buy every Jacques stomp you find and you'll understand....

I give a full 10 to this pedal depending on its personality.
There are lots of pedals out there just sounding like something else.
The Mercer Box II doesn't sound like anything you've heard.

Just imagine a real full driven Plexi in a box: that's it... and moreover FLEXIBLE!

Once again, Jacques did it!!!