MXR Blue Box

easy to use, 2 knobs-blend and volume

very cool box, not to be used in every song tho. very wierd tones, with the blend knob at 0, makes your guitar sound like a synth. turn the blend knob clockwise to 12 oclock, you get a fuzz sound mixed with the synth sound. sounds like a broken synth turn the blend to the max, you lose the synth sound, and just get the fuzz sound. very cool and wierd. i use this in conjunction with the jimi hendrix octave fuzz and i get some really wicked tones. not noisy at all. however, there is no sustain. the notes die rapidly.

yes, very, built like any other mxr pedal.

never dealt with em, but when i was looking for this, i emailed JimDunlop, who makes the MXR line now, and asked where i could find this. within 2 days, Jasmin Dunlop (wife?) personally emailed me back and told me which stores could special order them for me, etc. great service and very nice people.

i basically got this cuz my idol, J mascis of dinosaur jr, uses one. and it looks cool. sorta owning like a vintage 70s pedal (i know its a reissue) and no one else has this sound, anywhere i've searched, not digital racks, not BOSS, DOD, only this blue box and cheap too, only $65.

The Blue Box has two knobs, VOLUME AND BLEND. The blend controls the fuzz and the lowere octaves. At minimum blend, it sounds like a Atari video game ( I even learned the Mario Brothers theme songs per level ). At the middle the octave comes out to play. At meltdown the effect is more fuzz and is really unusual sounding to a mainstream Big Muff or fuzz face. It is a real different type of fuzz and might take some getting use to. The damned thing came with a Crybaby manuel?!!!!!

For all you s megadeth fans stay the hell away from this thing, it is more fuzzy than moustache and can easily spudder your amp. The fuzz (at least to me)is really cool. and changes color really fast by changing your amps positions; especially gain, it can go from a muddy fuzz to a bright sizzle from 1-10. The treble and bass can also change it enormously. Treble can bringsome loud sizzles and snarls. Bass can make it feel like theirs an earthquake. Mid can also make a difference by making it sound dry or wet. The 2 octaves down are also fun to toy with. You can dial some pretty crazy and weird leads on this thing. I hate industrial music but Trent Reznor does have a Blue Box. I use it for more early Pumpkin stuff though. Since this effect is an evident waveform distortion, it is a nifty tip to use alot of vibrato while playing because the feedback phases your vibrato movement into it.

I've throwen it at a brick wall before and it knocked out the brick! It has a zinc die cast so there is no way it is going to crumble. It also a mxr so i have never been appointed with a problem.

I have never spoke with the company or had it repaired

I would buy it again if i had the money. I would also like to buy the older one but their too expensive.

Easy to get sounds if you like sludgy, fuzzy,grotesque lower octave sounds. Has volume and blend knobs. The fuzz is thick and unremoveble and the volume knob is not very effective. The octave is two down and really only works well high up on the fingerboard.

Surprisingly quiet due to some sort of built in squelching which gives the sustain a quick decay. It sounds almost organ like and is good for getting Deep Purple or Iron Butterfly sorta sounds

It's an MXR (Reissue) so it will probably last a long long time.

A friend dealt with Dunlop once and he said he talked to Jim Dunlop personally and they were all cool.

I got it cause J Mascis of Dino Jr plays one but it's too wacky and I doubt I would buy it again. Everyone knows Jimmy Page used it once on "Fool in the Rain" but the new ones don't really sound like that. They are much fuzzier. However at 250-300$ for an original it's worth the savings for a reissue.