MXR Blue Box

Well, it is easy to use, but otherwyse of no use at all ;-)

Due to the fact that this pedal *should* sound broken, it does exactly that and I don't like it at all! Sounding like an old Nintendo is too much for my ears!

Probably, it lasts forever

never used it

This pedal sounds ******* ugly and if you want to make weard sounds, then you should buy real ring-modulator! Don't buy this pedal, you will be disappointed unless you're collecing MXR-Pedals.

All in all: a silly noisebox!!

Well, the device is easy to control but simply not usable! ;-)

Uuhm, if you like Mario games from the 80ties, this blue box is for you! It sounds like a f**ing 8bit analog synth and not like a guitar anymore. Try a green ringer probably for other sounds from outer space

rock stable

never needed it

i sell it as fast as i can because I don't have much fun with this box anymore ;-)

It'e pretty easy to use - two knobs. The output controls the output volume of the pedal. The blend knob controls how much of your original signal comes through the effect.

Messing with the two knobs together does produce some different sounds but I leave the output all the way up to cut through in a band setting. The blend knob gets pretty wild... (see below)

The simple way to describe this pedal is to say it's a fuzz that replicates your signal one or two octaves down.

But it's not a simple pedal. It's glitchy, totally messed up and bizarre. It does do what it claims it does but it doesn't do it like you think it would. At higher settings, it's subtle and fairly straightforward. Dial it back and it starts glitching out - jumping between the two octaves at random. It sort of sounds like a broken Nintendo but in a kind of White Stripes way. Dial it back further and you lose your original tone completely - the octave takes over in an all out noise fest.

It consistently sounds good but it always sounds different. So don't expect to dial in the same results every time - even on the same settings. It's way more versatile than you'd expect though - and usable in a variety of styles.

Sometimes I use a Turbo Rat or Big Muff after it in my chain and it cleans up the glitches really well - turning into a solid sounding deep octave which is cool too.

It's only problem is a slight volume drop. I think I can fix it pretty easily though. I haven't noticed any noise seeping out when it's in bypass despite what others have said about it.

I bought it knowing the Thurston Moore has used one for twenty years. I still have yet to figure out what he does with it but I love it nonetheless.

I'm an avid Blue Box fan. You will be too.

The housing is solid and durable. The knobs are huge, thick rubber. The switch, however, seems a little weak and I can imagine needing to replace it eventually.

I do gig without a backup.

N/A.

I play Post-Punk with funk/garage/noise/surf influences and this pedal is a perfect match for that. It's probably not for everyone though. In fact, it's probably not for most. But there are enough of you out there that will love this pedal to death... If you're into lo-fi, noise and all of that - this is where you'll find it.

I've been playing for 7 years or so. If you're interested my set up is:
Jap Strat with Duncan Rails>BOSS TU-2>Ibanez Tubescreamer>MXR Blue Box>Pro Co Turbo Rat>EHX Big Muff Pi>Sovtek Small Stone>BOSS Digital Delay/Reverb>Fender 410

If it were lost or stolen I would absolutely, 100%, positively buy another one. I might buy another one just for the sake of having two and run them both together for absolute noisy chaos.

As already discussed in previous reviews, the Blue Box is as simple as they come: Two knobs - Output and Blend - and only one of these knobs actually alters the sound.

As has also previously been discussed, the Blue Box is a combination of a Fuzz and an Octave-down pedal. With the blend knob turned up, you get a gated-fuzz that would be well worth the $180 I paid for it. The sound is smooth but searing, allowing solos to cut through the mix & also suited for somewhat chaotic rhythmic patterns. As you roll back the blend, the lower octave slowly reveals itself to produce a fuzzy, synthy tone that is very musical. With the blend down, the pedal produces a very low, very synthy 'noise' that modulates at random. This sound is also very musical despite its unpredictability.

It is important to mention that this pedal is only really suited for single-note passages. Chords simply get lost under layers of fuzz.

Despite many other reviewers claiming the Blue Box is more of a novelty than a necessity, this pedal has become an essential part of my sound. I am using the Blue Box with a rusty old Ibanez RG with DiMarzio humbuckers and a Maton J45 Jazz Box. I play many different styles of music from black metal to blues to electronica and I find this pedal usuable for all styles. The pedal sits in between a ZVEX fuzz factory and an Electro Harmonix #1 echo running into an ENGL Ritchie Blackmore head and standard cab.

It is also worth mentioning that I modified my Blue Box by removing the C11 capacitor. This mod increases the volume of the pedal and filters out less of the high frequencies. The pedal is now a little harsher and doesn't gate as well as it used to, but is now much more usuable due to the added volume. I also added a switch so I can still have the filtered sound if I want. You too can learn how to do this mod at the following site: http://www.noisefx.com/article/mxr_blue_box_mod

Hooray!

Of all the pedals I've ever owned, I trust this one the most. You can tell by the weight of the thing that it is built to last.

Although I love this pedal, there are a few things I would change if I had the choice. Firstly, The output knob is almost totally useless straight out of the box. Even now that I have modified the pedal, the output is rarely set at less than 100%. A gain control would be much more useful and would drasticly expand the potential of this pedal.

Secondly, The C11 mod improves the Blue Box's versatility so much, I can't imagine why a filter switch isn't included staight out of the box. If you own this pedal already, the mod takes about 30 mins and costs about $2. Do it.

And Thirdly, I'm not a big a fan of the power supply being located on the side of all dunlop pedals. Why can't they put it on the top like all other pedal manufacturers? It's a personal thing, but at the moment I'm wasting 2 plugs in my daisy chain in order to reach the sockets on my Blue Box & Cry Baby.

Apart from these wishes, this pedal is great.

Well, this is a pretty easy to use pedal - 2 knobs - but I didn't give it a 10 because as it's pretty unique, to get full ease of use out of it you need to get used to it a bit first (plus I had to apply a mod as I will explain in the next section).

Also, get an adapter - you have to unscrew the bottom of the case to get at the battery which is a bit annoying.

First off, I need to say that I applied the C11 mod - just removing the C11 capacitor from the board. Easy enough - just need to take it apart and clip it off with some wire clippers (trust me, if I can do this "mod" anyone can). Gets rid of the annoying volume drop, but also I found made it sound less muddy and more put some more highs in the tone. This might not be to everybodies preference, but I much prefer it with the mod.

I will admit that after 10 or so minutes with this pedal, I wasn't too impressed. Do not try this pedal expecting a simple octaver. Not that it is noisy and unusable - it isn't. But it's used best not like a traditional octave-down effect with a fuzz and more like an experimental synthy-sounding pedal with a unique ability to create certain sounds. To begin with (really until after I had applied the mod) I didn't hold a particularly good opinion of my new purchase.

Having said that, it does sound pretty awesome once it gets set up (ie modded, and you've found the right settings). Blend at 100% wet I find to be a bit useless(except for general rumbling noise), but other than that you can create some really interesting dynamics and lead sounds with it. I use it at about 11 o clock blend (that's an estimate - when I took it apart to mod it I put the knobs on a bit hastily and now they are slightly offset) to get a psychadelic weird lead tone.

I run it into a Roland Cube 60 (I also own a dunlop wah but I have yet to try this combination - I'm sure you can get some crazy stuff out of the two). It sounds pretty good on the clean channel, but I sometimes layer it on top of the Cube's rectifier distortion to make a super-compressed, dark and heavy tone which is amazing. You would think this would make for extrme amounts of noise, but it is very quiet. I actually think I remember reading that the Blue Box contains a built in noise gate, so this might be why.

Also, it is really a dual purpose pedal - blend at 0% wet turns it into a pretty nice fuzzbox. I see this as an extra, really. If you just want a fuzz, get something else - it's not a good enough fuzz to justify it being a stand alone effect, but it is useful.

It is built pretty well. I wouldn't say it would NEVER break though, 'cos it used so there's no telling really. Casing is really solid though.

Not really applicable, if it did ever stop working I'd check for broken connections myself or just replace it, as it's used.

I play a lot of stuff, my influences vary from progressive metal like SikTh and Opeth to 90's alternative stuff like Alice In Chains and experimental stuff like the Melvins, Mike Patton's projects, Primus, etc, as well as post rock like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Set Fire To Flames, Milhaven, A Silver Mt. Zion, etc etc.

It suits me well because although I enjoy straight up metal and etc, I love weird noises and sounds, and try to use a variety of sounds and influences in my own playing.

I have been playing for about 3 1/2 years (I was 13, now 16). I will say here that I don't have a great lot of gear experience, however I'd say this pedal doesn't have a massive amount to be compared to.

I'd just say that if you are on the look out for a fresh sound and enjoy quirky but still useful, you should consider this pedal.

It's really hard to say, if it is easy to use. It is, when it comes, to making noises:}, and It's not, when you talk about predicting it's actions. Basiclly, you can nail three setings. Blend to 100 %, blend to 50% and blend to 0% (other sounds, are just mixes). Of course, it is stompbox - plug and play. I dislike placement of the imputs. It is easier to find suitable place on pedalboard, when imputs are on "the top" of the effect.

Machine with personality. Heh. Indeed, it is a really sensible beast. I was (Sold) using it for making solos. Smooth, fat,transparent, cutting througt the mix, violin like sound (Blend - 100%). Add a litte delay and enjoy. This effect is worth buying only for this setting. Unfortunetly (for Blue box) i am able to mimic this sound using UF-1 (wonderfull pedie!). Other usefull feature, this effect delivere is blend at 50 %. You can achive some industrial noises, weird things. Love it:}.
Blend at 0% is the most.....crazy one. Atari sound, some drones - in this categories it is a specialist. Try it.

Solid, rought case, bloodred LED, tought pots. Looking at my pedalboard (UF, BB, Echohead, Polychorus, Tuna Melt, Small Stone, Jammman) it is the most reliable effect. You CAN't destroy it......hmmm.....maybe you can.....put away this rocket luncher! !

Never needed:}

Worth buying. However, it's not type of effect you DO need. I was using it rearly, from time to time. That was the main reason I sold it. Blue Box are becomeing hard to find (Hmmm....In Europe every good stuff is hard to find, or is horribly expensive). We had a nice couple of weeks together, and I don't regret buying this unit. If you like Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, or Placebo, try it out.

2 knobs, so this is easy to use!

But as others have said you may need to mess with the BLEND setting for a minute or two to find the sound you might be after... The output knob does in fact drop your overall volume UNLESS you turn it up to 75-100% (roughly 3 o'clock or higher). I find this NOT to be a probem really. I just leave it turned up in that range. :)

The sound quality is pretty damn GOOD! I mean, it is very analog sounding and not overly processed (like the Digitech Synth Wah, which alos does a fuzzy octave effect).

As others below said, I will testify that the fuzz alone is worth the price! Turn the blend all the way up and you get a SMOOTH fuzz with killer sustain. Start turning the BLEND down, and you begin to unleash a beast you've never encountered before! It's pretty cool because besides getting that "Fool in the Rain" led Zeppelin tone and the White Sptripes tone that opther guy mentioned, you can get some wacky Nintendo/Atari sounds. I sounded like a car racing in Pole Position for one minute, and Super Mario traipsing thru Bowser's castle the next! Just by a small twist of the BLEND and alter your phrasing to sound choppy = 8-bit video game effects. :)

There is a tinge of noise with this pedal at some settings, but it is intentional. It's part of the sound.

I use an Epiphone Sheraton usually, thru a Fender Deluxe Reverb, or a Twin Reverb.

I think I can depend on this thing more than any woman I've ever met! haha.

MXR pedals are built tough as sh*T! Kind of like BOSS, but maybe better!

Since it's kind of a novelty pedal, I wouldn't buy a backup. I can get thru a gig without it. But if I ever broke it or had it stolen, I'd definitely buy another one. They're pretty cheap and well worth it!

I wouldn't bother calling MXR because I wouldn't need tech support for this. I'd fix it myself (if it was a soldering issue, for instance) or I'd just buy another one.

I play classic rock, jazz, weird rock, electronic music and more. Been playing 12 yrs, and I have a few other effects (modified Tube Screamer, Small Stone, Small Clone, Boss Analog Delay, Boss EQ pedal, and some other junk)

There's really nothing I can think of to enhance this pedal. This is my new favorite toy! It gives me inspiration to write more and freak out on my rock solos. Thats the whole point of getting gear right? Inspire you to pick up that instrument and do some damage! haha

The blue box is one of the easiest pedals to use, but one of the hardest to get the sound you want out of it. Just 2 knobs, Volume and Blend. All the volume really does is reduce your levels unless you crank it all the way up. The blend function can make your guitar go crazy. I took one resistor out of mine to compensate for the volume problem

First off, i got this pedal just to goof around and see what kind of funky new sounds out of my rig. The blue box nails the sound of the white stripes' blue orchid if you set the blend knob a little below 12 o'clock, use your neck pickup with the tone almost all the way down, with the volume low on the guitar. Just play it an octave up add a big muff after it to make up for the volume cut. I use an Epiphone LP custom--Blue Box--Danelectro French Toast--Big Muff--Snarling Dogs Tweed E. Dog--Marshall JCM, and the blue box helps me out with the evil tones in the bridge of Bullet with Butterfly Wings by smashing pumpkins. Not noisy, the fuzz alone is impressive as well. Good times scaring neighborhood animals too.

Very reliable, good battery life, and very quality housing. I have gigged without a backup for a few years now.

Never had a problem.
Never purchased an upgrade for it, and i probably wont.

This pedal is great for any style of music that needs something that makes the sound one would think Satan made while taking a dump. Really innovative, high quality pedal. Only thing I wish it had is an octave up effect, so i could ditch the french toast. I would probably buy another one, or a digitech whammy if it were lost or stolen. Overall, it is a nice novelty pedal worthy of your money!

This pedal took a while to figure out the sweet spot, just read enough reveiws and you'll fugure it out...prolly.

i did the "mod" to this pedal second day i had it because it was to quiet, now it cranks. the sound is buttery smooth octave fuzz, i love it....volume at 2 o'clock blend at 3 o'clock rocks my world. i use a jazzmaster/dod fx 90/boss tu 2/zvex fuzz factory/dunlop jimi hendrix classic fuzz/dunlop wha/mxr bluebox/fender super amp.

seems real tough

it rips when you get it figured out, smooth octave fuzz....nice

Two Dials and a footswitch. volume (volume) and blend (blend between original and octave sounds)

The fuzz sounds great on its own and the octave sounds great, but there are certain things you need to do to get the best out of this pedal. 1: Play with your neck pickup, this reduced the amount of harmonics and doesn't confuse the flip flop as much (this is what makes the pedal glitch) . 2: Play around the 10th fret upwards. This also reduces harmonics, but also it means the the 2oct down sound is much more audible, especially through a guitar amp.

If you play chords through this, you're an idiot. Actually I take that back, the company should be telling you what I'm telling you, so it's not your fault. Play some single line blues licks around the 10th fret using the neck pickup of your guitar before you judge how good this pedal sounds.

As for the volume drop issue, I can't say I've noticed. But I'll probably try the mod anyway..

It's solid, and heavy. I really can't see anything breaking on this sucka!

Who knows, no problems with any of their products....

If you're into pitch shifted type sounds or octaving you need one of these toys. It can glitch if you're into that, but I prefer getting searing single note licks blasting out a tube amp.