MXR Blue Box

Easy as Julie Hathaway. Tinier than Mini Me. Bluer than my balls after watching Wild Things. I didn't get a manual, and if I needed one, I might also need a drool cup and a helmet.

It's pretty cool. There are three basic sounds from this mofo: bassy fuzz, bassy fuzz with random octaves down, and old nintendo synth sounds. I think the Pumpkins used it on "Quiet," or something or other off Siamese Dream. It's good for stuff like NIN or A Perfect Circle or Pumpkins or the theme music to level 1-4 on Mario. Or whatever. I don't care what you use it for. Shove it up your ass if it makes you happy. It's much smaller than a Big Muff.

I'm not sure how to describe what it sounds like, really. Maybe think of a raccoon. Now think of that raccoon fucking a deer. Now imagine the raccoon and the deer getting hit by a Suburban. And it sounds nothing like that.

It's silent when it's on and you're not playing. You have to crank the level up all the way or you get a volume drop. I wish getting an even volume level meant turning the knob up halfway. It'd be nice if I could get a volume BOOST. Oh well.

Shit, you want to know my setup? It's ridiculous. I have way too many damn pedals, but you only live once. I play a Fender Tele and a Squier II strat. I run them through nine pedals, which are a wah, a small multi unit, the Blue Box, a Big Muff (modded by Sustain Punch), a tremolo, a flanger, a chorus, a pitch shifter/whammy/backwards guitar/delay/detune pedal, and a delay pedal. This complicated-ass array of tone-altering devices goes into a Peavey Bandit which is hooked up to an extension speaker cab. I'm into techno, industrial, blues, rock, pop, psychedelic, experimental, punk, and new wave music. In no particular order, though blues and techno seem to be my favorites as of late. You can use the Blue Box for techno, but if you use it for blues B.B. King might smash his Gibson over your head. If he does, take the blue box and bludgeon him with it.

Sure it's dependable. It's compact and solid, like yo mamma. I don't know if it's dependable, actually. It seems to like it would be.

Donknow

This is one pedal of many that I use. It's worth it if you're into weird stuff like me. Try it out, you'll probably either love it or puke upon first hearing it.

This pedal is not for yellow-bellied sap suckers. Good for perverts, alcoholics and Communists. Dosvedania, comrad!

Two knobs VERY SIMPLE

THE MXR BLUE BOX IS A VERY STRANGE BOX AND A BIZARRE SOUND.I KNOW
J MASCIS GOT ONE AND SONIC YOUTH.YOU CAN HEAR THE MXR BLUE BOX ON THE
SONIC YOUTH LP A THOUSAND LEAVES ON 2 OR 3 TRACKS WITH A GOOD CASQUE.

THIS THING IS BUILT LIKE A BRICK

HAVEN?T DEALT WHITH MXR OR DUNLOP

I PLAY MOSTLY DINOSAUR JR STUFF AND REALLY LOVES SONIC YOUTH
,PAVEMENT.I GOT A FENDER JAZZMASTER JAP A LES PAUL JR (LIKE J MASCIS).MT
BOX ARE EH SMALL CLONE , MEMORY MAN,BIG MUFF REISSUE,ELECTRIC
MISTRESS,VOODOO LABS BOSS TONE FUZZ,MXR PHASE 90,VOX WAH AND A JCM
900.IF YOU?RE INTO DINOSAUR JR AND IF YOU GOT THE SONGBOOK TABS WITHOUT
A SOUND E MAIL ME AT NICO.DEL@LIBERTYSURF.FR .I OWN THE PHOTOS OF J
MASCIS RACKS GUITARS LIST OF PEDALS CONFIGURATION RIG AND FEW TABS
SOUNDING PERFECTLY LIKE RAISANS LOSE.....AND DON?T FORGET DON?T BUY ANY
BOSS PEDALS!!!!! SORRY FOR MY BAD LANGUAGE I?M FRENCH

Well it only has 2 knobs. Ones a output knob which you'll leave turned all the way to the right all the time and the theres the blend knob which can do one or two octaves down or an awsome fuzz sound all the way to the right. It came with a crybaby manual. Thank god! I've always wanted one of these things now I can draw on it b/c I like to draw. my dad once used this thing and hooked it up to a chainsaw with meat on it and me and my mom watched it was a great concert so if my dad can use it a deaf, retard, blind, fat chainsmoker can use this.

Well I'm using a fender squier(lovely crap) through a Fender stage amp, but sometimes i like to add some other effects in it but I just like the sound of this thing alone, it has an awsome fuzz sound which can sound like old pumpkins stuff if used right and if you tweek the settings on your amp a bit. It loses some of the treble on your amp so i boost it a bit but turn down the bass some b/c it really boost the bass on your amp but in a good way sometimes. I've seen the pumpkins have one of these in there collection once on this website once but not sure if they've actually used one or not but you really need to turn up your amp to really appreciate the sound of the fuzz but if that wasn't enough turn the blend to the complete left and appreciate that you have ears. I have actually just played for two hours straight with just this setting and gave my mom cancer.

It's pretty reliable but the knobs are plastic and ive heard in some other reviews that the switch could break easily but the metal is so tough that ive used it in a rock fight and killed thomas.TAKE THAT THOMAS!!! YOUR STUPID ROCKS ARE NOTHING!! I KILLED YOU AND YOUR DEAD!

I haven't dealt with them but I dont think I will need to unless I need someone to talk to b/c it gets lonely in the woods.........

I play guitar/hell and this thing is great. It's great for noise or that siamese rythem sound. I love playing just straight guitar then going two octaves down trying to play a song its great b/c it goes insane. Iv'e been playing for a while and own a squier, a terminator,lots of effects and that stage amp. If it were lost or stolen I would kill myself. U cant compare this to anything except god. I wish it was a little bit more louder though. It helps me play music sometimes but thats not really why I bought this thing. I dont think metal heads or people who just try all day to try to play eruption will like this(or in simpler terms "idiots") but if your a little child starving buy this pedal b/c you'll die b/c you wont have any money to but food but you'll die happy knowing you've found the meaning of life.

Pretty easy, Output is volume, and Blend is sort of a how much octave you want, easy to control, only one knob to worry about (the other is volume) and its kinda confusing, but its only one knob....soo....

If you turn the blend at the lowest setting its really muddy and weird, it flickers between octaves and scares woodland creatures. When the blend is all the way up, sounds like a synthy fuzz, sounds like the original nintendo music....When i bought the sellar was like "Have you heard this?" "yea" "Are you sure you want it? This is my last of 6 blue boxes from 4 years ago..."

Its reliable, built like a tank, the footswitch is a bit..i dont know u gotta slam on it, and i usually play barefoot and it hurts...ow...need 9v or AC adapter...gettin an adapter soon....

No instructions...don't really need any support...thats good...

Great for you freaks like me. Not your normal octaver, it octaves and fuzzes and synths and distorts and makes wolves howl at night and can go 2 octaves down and scares woodland creatures and little babies...i love it!

Pretty straight forward. I'm a dummy when it comes to figuring out how to work these things, but even I got it within 20 minutes. Output is volume, and blend, is basically a mix. However, the sound isn't as straight forward as would think.

Definitely a bizzare effect in its nature. I knew this when I went in and bought it, but i was still thrown by it's sound. For what the effect is supposed to do (I'm not sure anyone is actually sure what it's precise function is) It's pretty good. The only problem I have with it, is that when bypassed, I get a little bit of fuzz. It's a small amount, but it's there just a little bit. The other thing I've noticed, is that it will take out some of the noise. I had it in a chain, after some pedals that produced some noise, and it took out the noise from those, when I put it in front, the noise from them are back, so it depends on whether or not you want the noise. Putting it between a compression/sustainer unit, and another disotortion box, gives a really cool sound, that's probobly where I'll wind up using it.

Metal box, this thing isn't going to break. I'm not sure how well that switch will hold up though. I've never bought any MXR products before, and I haven't heard any complaints, but I could see it start to stick after a bit of use.

It all depends on what your looking for. I like it, but I was looking for a real bizarre type of effect. DON'T buy it if you just want an octave unit or something that's going to give a straightforward sound. I play just about anything, but like I said, I wanted something a little bizarre. Also, this thing is not good for playing chords, so don't use it for that. But, I'd buy it again.

Pretty simple...two knobs...you just gotta play with it...as for a manual...i bought it new, but got a crybaby wah manual with it..pretty weird...

my setup is as follows...compressor/sustainer --> blue box --> wah --> metal zone --> eq...i strattled the distortion boxes (blue box, metal zone) around the wah and get the best of both worlds...with the blue box on, i get a really blatant wah tone...in other words...it's very obvious...but since i have my main distortion after it, it's more subtle when i need it to be...i like it best that way...the use of the compressor really enhances the blue box because i can get it to really shut up if i set the compressor as a limiter...it's not that noisy to begin with except at the extreme low blend setting, so to get that sick melvins-ish tone, without unwanted noise, a limiter is the way to go...like i said this box, if set right, can sound pretty close to the melvins' noise jam stuff...also, if you set your guitar on it's treble pickup and use the blue box and your main distortion, you get a killer heavy tone that still cuts through the mix on stage...very melvins...my only gripe about the pedal is that it's not loud when by itself

it's a tank...bring batteries

never dealt with mxr/dunlop

good pedal as an enhancer...not a main distortion...great for experimental noise jams and waking up the neighbors...a good deal overall

Two knobs, one switch. Seems straightforward, but the actual sound that's going to come out of this thing the first time you play is going to have you kneeling down and tweaking for quite some time. You'll never adjust the output knob - you may as well weld it in at 10, but the blend takes some work, and you have to really adjust what you play for the settings. The seem to be about 3 or four main things this will do, but they overlap quite a bit. Bought it used, so I don't know if there was ever a manual. It might have been nice to have read a little about it, but the chance to buy it appeared out of the blue, and I grabbed it after playing for about an hour.

I use this either with a Squier P-Bass and a Bassman Compact amp, or a Musicman 30(?) watter and a Teisco Silvertone or a Hagstrom III. I tend to use it more for bass than guitar, but it sounds kind of nice with the Silvertone. Of the four settings I mentioned above, two I use really rarely. One is Blend all the way up, which is basically fuzz, and it's nice, but not great, and I'd use my Big Muff over it in a second. (I actually use the Big Muff alongside the Blue Box - more on that later - and the two fuzzes together is kind of interesting) The second is Blend just past Noon, which is the easiest to use. You get a real nice lower octave mized in with the fuzz which is nice and touch sensitive, and has a warm, buzzy, but not obnoxious tone. You get almost unlimited sustain out of this pedal, especially with the bass, and the lower frequencies confuse the circuitry in a cool way, so there's always a random factor as far as what octvae you'll get and how much of it. Roll the bland to a little less than Noon - like 10 or so, and you get more octave. The randomness gets much more pronounced, and the sound fuller and warmer. On the upper register of a bass, you can actually get an awesome analog synth sound out of it, and feedback is absolutely heavenly. I've noticed it works better when you slide from note to note than when you move your fingers, but that suits my style anyway. Don't plan on playing anything too complicated, or you'll freak it out, and be gentle. You get a much better sound playing light than hacking on it, and it will actually be louder too. Playing with the tips of you fingers works nice, because you can control the harmonics a little better, and actually play simple melodies without moving your left hand at all. A really good setting for droney stuff. Turn the blend all the way, playing bass, and as long as you're alone, you're in for a lot of fun. You basically get playable static. there's a slight variation in pitch from note to note, but not much of one, especially in the lower register, and the pedal has an incredibly beautiful decay where it sort of fades in these terraced stages of crackle, which you can also control if you play really gentle, so that you can keep this really warm amp noise going for a super long time, and then suddenly explode into all-out mayhem again. If you're playing with another person though, you will be totally drowned out, so don't either bother trying. I'm not real thrilled by this setting with guitar though, so I don't use it. My biggest complaint is that it's a very VERY low output pedal, or at least mine is. If I'm going to beplaying with anyone else, I plug it in before the Big Muzz with the distortion turned way up, and that seems to be a decent solution, but it still gets lost in any sort of mix really quickly. I guess it's sort of the nature of the beast, but this is really a pedal for home recording or playing on your own more than anything else. If you're into playing go-nowhere style stuff, or noise, this is a nice one to add to the fleet, but it's kind of a toy more than a tool. I really love mine, because you can just plug in and start creating real stream-of-conciousness, go wherever you feel like sounds, and because I just like noise, but this is not the most practical thing I've ever bought. I bring it to shows, and occasionally plug it in for looks, but I rarely use it. Maybe in time I'll find more applications for it, but it's not something you can use all the time, and the volume dorp-off is definitely a major drawback. I'm giving it an 8, which is a 10 for what it does, but a 5 for the fact htat you can't show anyone what it does but you.

I can't see how I could break this thing without deliberately trying to. I carry it with me to every show, but I mostly use it at home, so I suspect it will last forever.

On one hand, I can't say enough about this pedal, about the sounds it produces. Definitely go out and find one at a store or a friend's or wherever, and try it. The tone is absolute perfection. But it's pretty much that one tone (with a little shading), and then two sort of Bonus Tracks that you'll take orleave. I just wish it were louder, because the Big Muff quick fix adds a lot of unecessary distortion, and even then, it still can be hard to hear. It's the kind of sound you're really going to want to stand out, and unless it's a recording, it won't. But for people who like to grab a beer and hang out in the basement playing all night, it's a very very fun pedal. If I had a 4-track, it would probably result in some songs being written around it, but mostly I just make noise on it. But check it out, if nothing else. I'm really happy I have one, and I would miss it if it were gone. It's just not a sharing pedal, which doesn't worry me all that much. You deserve to treat yourself to thispedal, because you're pretty much the only one you'll be treatin'

A full 10 here. This is a no brainer. Off and on thing called a switch. two "knobs". One marked "output" which is really volume and gain combined and another marked "blend" which adjusts the stability and likely hood of what octaves are going to be produced.

First up the fuzz is excellent. Turn both knobs up full and you've got a straight fuzz unit. A bit of treble is lost (I play a telecaster). With the blend knob all the way off the octave effects are wild! Sometimes the note you play will get oblitterated completely and replaced with the same note two octaves down, sometimes only one octave down, but never both. If you play a low E you can sit and listen the to box randomly switch between one octave and two ocatve's down, it's just crazy. The more you turn the blend knob up the more stable and predictable the octave effects become. Anyway up past 9 o'clock and 90% of the time the original note that your playing will come through, and the Blue Box will harmonise with it one, or two octaves down; depending how it feels. turn it up as far as 3 o'clock and you'll get a pretty consistant one octave down harmony from the blue box. Set it at tweleve and you'll be a slightly less consistant two octaves down. Anyway past 3 o'clock and the octave effect is lost. Depending where you set the blend knob will determine what octaves it will flick between, and whether or not the original not will be incorporated. This thing is plain loopy. I just played it over the phone to a friend and he stop calling me stupid for spending 65 pounds on it. The blend knob is the trick to this thing. It only gets an eight because of it mangels a bit of your tone and because of a lack of control over the effects e.g no EQ or separet fuzz/volume control. One other interesting thing is that operating inside this box is a automatic noise gate. this dosen't annoy me much. Holding long notes on this thing wouldn't sound that impressive, you might as well play a bridged chord. Try this thing with a e-bow and things get scary.

Everything thing about it is dead solid. Even the switch feels like it would last a life time.

I like to experiment and this takes the biscuit. Gets really impressive with a digital or analoge delay. I recommend putting this thing first in your effects chain, otherwise the box will not have any consistancy at all with regaurds to what octave it'll produce, quite often it won't do anything if the signal coming through it is already distorted. If it got lost/stolen I'd be annoyed, I wouldn't cry. It's just the freaky-ness of this thing that makes it unique. Just plug into your amp and with a wah pedal mess about, especially with the blend all the way down. Just hit a low E and wha-wha way and be amazed at how well the little box malfunctions flickers and growls. I'll scare shit out of your bass player. I can't give it a ten, it's against my ummm... principles.

Very easy to use, no manual but who needs one. I am happy with the sounds I have got out of it, and I only bought it a couple of days ago.

Customer Fretless bass -> Blue Box -> Big Muff Pi -> Cheap Chorus -> Morley PWA Wah -> Trace Elliot AH250 head -> Custom 2x12 200w cab.
It is noisy when played through, actually overall there is not unwanted noise, when you're not playing it is very quiet. The sound is HUGE and I mean huge in that at low volumes even the house rumbles off its foundations. I haven't braved taking my amp past 3 yet with this going. This thing sounds good but the way it cuts notes and sustain off is something to play around, also the octave effect on bass is a tad on the weak side but then again the poor little thing is probably confused and being tortured by notes it wasn't designed to deal with.
Absolutely great for freaking people out and making noise. Through the wah and chorus it sounds very good.

I have to fix mine up a little, as I am missing the back cover (Oh anyone have a spare MXR box cover, it doesn't matter what pedal it is off, I just need any old cover that fits.
Once cleaned up a little it will be a bit more trustworthy.

Damn good, super freaky, very fun. If I lost this I would definitely buy another. I play a wide range of stuff from mellow to heavy, this thing does both, great for experimental trip-out music.

Two knobs. Difficult. Volume and Blend. Yes, blend. this is simple to plug in and operate, unless you're a lobotomized monkey. and if you're reading this, you're probably not one of those poor creatures. It's easy.

Sound quality is hard to rate for this monstrosity. How it sounds is totally dependant upon what you like. If you like a clean, clear sounding pedal or octaver, this isn't your bag, baby. If you like a weird pedal that will creep out your parents/neighbours, then you'll like this thing. Personally, I love it because it is so bizarre and I can throw it into a song if I want a break that sounds insanely different from anything and anyone else on the stage. I once turned it on and the sound I coaxed out of it was so extremely unearthly that I made someone vomit. It is an enemy of dogs and cats everywhere. It can explode babies too.
I like it but it's entirely subjective. It is a weird octave pedal, much akin to the infamous Fender Blender. That 'blend' knob that made you a little wary when you bought it adjusts the amount of blendingof the sound. All the way to the right, it is just a distorted octaver, with limited possibility. At the far left of the spectrum, it is just a sonic blur, incoherent and totally devoid of distinction between a high E note and a low G#. It's spooky, really. I love it. I would be super interested in running two of them together. I think that could trigger earthquakes and cataclysms of all sorts. Anyone want to sell one?

It's pretty tough and durable, but I don't know if it is super sturdy. I don't think you'd need a backup because it's not something you'd use a lot or for extended periods of time. Unless you're torturing someone. I think it'd stand up though. Hasn't failed me yet.

I don't know. I've never had to deal with them, plus I bought it used. I'll get back to you on that one.

I think it is cool, but I can understand how others could hate it. It's not super diverse or something you'd run all night long at your show, but it can give you some weird noises and fun--if used right and with enthusiasm. The biggest down-side is that it has some sort of noise gate, which restricts feedback and means it'll cut out and you'll lose your weird sounds. Other than that it is a sturdy beast that will make your parents/neighbours rue the day you started playing guitar/moved in.