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.

Very straightforward indeed: one knob for the output volume and one for the blend between wet and dry signal. The blend dial seems to work the other way around to most pedal dials (ie you get more of the wet signal the further anticlockwise you turn it), which is curious but not really difficult to figure out.

If yr one of those types who fret endlessly about the quality of yr tone and so on, then steer well clear of this pedal. The tracking is fine one the higher settings but turn the blend anticlockwise past about two o'clock and the signal starts jumping around between ovtaves at random. Past about eleven o'clock the whole thing goes absolutley crazy; low frequency rips and full on sonic flatulence galore! And I love it! I can see why some people may be using this as a paperweight soon after purchasing it but personally I think it's amazing. I used to think that the signal was rather weak (which in fairness it is, quite often it could do with a good nudge from another fuzz/overdrive unit) but i've found a way of incorparating that into my playing. Here's how it interacts with the rest of my current set-up:
Epiphone LP-100 >> Boss TR-2 Temolo >> MXR Blue Box >> EHX US Big Muff Pi >> Dunlop Crybaby Wah >> Boss DD3 Digital Delay >> Whatever amp is available.
I play wonky experimental stuff which borders on electronica at times with an ecstatic slant. This pedal is pretty cool for noisiness and abstract details. If yr not after that (or at least Sonic Youth style semi-coherence) you may have some probs with it..... BUT I love it so i'm giving it a nine!

Big like and deceptively (reasuringly!) heavy. I love the little clips you can put on the knobs that make them llok like roller skate wheels too! Only annoyance is that you have to unscrew the back to get at the battery but i'm running my pedals from a power pack now.

This one is gona split opinions but personally i'm a fan of it. It's fairly versatile, amkes a lot of belching noise and seems highly reliable. Definitlely a keeper.

very easy to use. two knobs -- output and blend.

this particular octafuzz-like effect is quite excellent. i'd give it a 9 or 10 except that it's not true bypass so i hear it working ever so slightly when it's in the chain but not engaged.

the sound is always great to play with. it can be a bit of a one-trick-pony and for that reason i use it sparingly. right now i have it set up:

am tele > blue blox > deluxe memory man > voodoo lab tremolo > modded fender blues jr.

solid, solid, solid. not a huge part of my sound so i gig without a backup.

never dealt with mxr.

i play spaced out blues/jazz/rock so this fits nicely into my rig. i've been playing for 18 years and have a lot of boutique pedals. this is the only pedal that i use which is not true bypass. but heh, it's also the only one well under $100. if it were lost or stolen i would probably buy a red witch fuzz god.

It doesn't take a brain surgeon to operate the Blue Box. There are two knobs. However, it was a little confusing at first since the octave effect, which is adjusted with the Blend control, is at maximum level when it is turned to the extreme left, whereas most pedals the most extreme sounds come when the knob is at the extreme right.

This thing sounds great. Well actually it sounds horrible. Either way if someone is looking for a pedal to really alter their sound, this is it. YOu can get cracked out Video Games sounds, to a nice subtle fuzz, with plenty of suboctave fuzz in-between. My only complaint is the noticeable drop in volume when the effect is engaged. That can easily be remedied by placing it in front of a booster. This pedal works great with my rig. I use a 72 Fender Tele and an 80's Epiphone Dot. They both sound great with the Blue Box. I play through a Roland JC-120 and '56 Multivox Premier 50 (for vibrato) and they both sound great. I have way too many pedals to list but, one that makes some really quirky sounds when used with the Blue Box is the Boss HF-2 Hi-Band Flanger. This flanger only really affects the higher level frequencies and generates a subtle flange effect by producing a tone one octave above the original signal, if that makes any sense. When mixed with the Blue Box which produces some tones two actaves below, it sounds really cool. (I apologize for not being too knowledgeable about the technical aspects of the HF-2, I just know it sounds good with the Blue Box.)

This thing is an original, and its a tank. Don't think I'd be needing abackup any time soon....unless it is stolen.

Never had a problem, lets see what the future holds.

You can't really say that this box fits with any particular genre, but it can really add color to any one's sound. This is not some thing that you would want to use often like a TS-808, but when it comes time to kick in the solo, this is a refreshing alternative to the Tubescreamer.

No manual...don't need one, this aint your usual "i wanna sound like..." pedal, Two knobs; Level and Blend (which they should re-name "Road to hell")! Easy!

This is an oddball, the signal is not boosted with the pedal on and this is a downright shame coz this pedal is a motherfucker! I performed the C11 mod on mine which does boost the volume slightly, however you can boost the sound with a Tubescreamer after it. It's not a noisy pedal, the fuzz is nasty with an onboard soundgate that makes it "break-up" rather than sustain gracefully, it's a good fuzz sound. Then there's that blend control which adds a two octaves below effect. It seems to loose tracking though so it jumps about, and can sound like a demented Nintendo game going through a fuzz box, up full is complete hell, unusable in the concept of music. If this pedal was loud it would be one of the most evil things man has created.

Like all MXR pedals, this pedal will will probably "outlive" the owner.

Never had any problems.

I've been playing 16 years and have used valve amps, i'm bored with traditional sounds so i searched for an evil lo-fi fuzz. This pedal delivers but the volume is a big shame. I would definitely replace this if someone was foolish enough to steal it (it's the sort of sound that could give you nightmares for years to come), I've played a Gibson Les Paul Junior and Fender Music Master through this and it sounds evil everytime. On full settings everyone thinks i've blown a valve or my amp is fucked, the exact reaction i wanted!! ;) I could not compare this pedal, i've tried loads, as i said it's an oddball/a one-off.

As simple as can be. Two knobs - one for level, one for insanity. As for how easy it is to get a good sound out of it... it depends on your definition of a "good" sound. Some people would probably hate this thing and consider it useless. I think it's fantastic and sounds great no matter how you tweak it.

Not sure if this is the vintage or reissue. I think it's the reissue though.

Raven RP450 Hollowbody > Ernie Ball Volume Pedal > Vox Wah > MXR Blue Box > Dano Compressor > Proco Rat > Ibanez TSDX9 > Dano Vibrato > EH Small Stone

Crystal quiet in my setup, doesn't seem to mess with the tone more than any of my other pedals have. Quiet all the way around, effect always sounds good.

With the blend knob all the way to the right, you get a nice solid fuzz tone. Start turning it left, and it's like Satan appeared in your amp. It's an octaver of some nature, but switches frequency at random, creating some very interesting sounds. With the blend knob all the way to the left it creates a dark, ominous tone that you can hear jumping frequencies. I keep the blend at about 11 o'clock for some nice Atari on Acid sounds.

The reason I run this right after my wah is because if you use the wah, it allows you to almost control where the frequency jumps. It's freakin' awesome! This pedal is fantastic, great for spacy jams. I use it a lot during spacy, psychedelic jams when I need something to scare small children and animals.

Built like a tank. I'd gig without a backup as it's not a huge part of my sound.

N/A - Haven't needed to talk to them.

This pedal is fantastic for what I use it for! I needed something just plain weird and unique because I like making strange sounds. I had gotten a Digitech Synth Wah before this because I really wanted a synth tone, but this thing beats that out. The Synth Wah had massive volume swells and just wasn't doing it for me. This isn't a true synth by any means but it does what I want it to do. It's just plain weird!

I play a variety of music, largely jamband oriented, but with influences ranging from Phish & the Dead to Metallica & Slayer to Miles & Coltrane to electronica.

As others have said, it's the height of simplicity - two knobs, one controlling output, the other controlling the effect. The only way it could be simpler is if there were no knobs at all.
The only reason I deduct the one point is because of the strange reverse function of the Blend knob - it's a bit counter-intuitive. Usually the leftmost area of the dial is no effect, and the rightmost is the largest amount of effect.

It does what it does very well....and since it's the only one of its kind, you can't compare it to anything else. Totally silent for me. May not track perfectly on the 2nd octave, but that's part of the charm.

Heavy metal casing...but you have unscrew the bottom plate to change the battery. This is the only apparent downside. Use an AC adapter! Otherwise, as tank-like as Boss.

N/A

A strange pedal, not terribly useful (how many times do you remember hearing it in songs you like? OTHER than Sonic Youth or Zeppelin's Fool in the Rain? Exactly)... but still QUITE interesting to play with. If you get one cheap, and have some time to kill, it's good to play with. Maybe a nice musical result could come from it. Based solely on what it's meant to do, it's a great pedal.

Comon dudes... 2 knobs, I mean... Level amd Blend... Duh!

Okay...
Here's the real deal.
If your into playing stuff like "The Beatles", or if your like "the finnest distortion in the world is never found"... Then this effect is NOT for you... Its a noise maker... It makes noise, and makes it sounds pretty damn good. Not people have mentionned thid but I finf that this peddle is THE peddle to get that weird "John 5 solo" sound from Marilyn Manson. His music is AWESOME, but let us stay focussed on the effect. It makkes a really weird kind of nois (make that noises). sounds really neat (as in "wow, that's a guitar your playing?".
THIS PEDDLE IS THE SHIT!!!!
AWESOME

hmmm... make of steel... life: 900+ years

Never dealt

For Marylin Manson music: AWESOME
For "the true distortion": Not so good.
Makes really weird noise, makes noise sound good.

It did not take me too long to determine how the knobs interacted on this lovely contraption. On the downside, it is necessary to remove the backplate to change the battery and the AC jack is in a potentially awkward place.

The lower octave tracking in this beast is insanely bad ... which makes it an EXCELLENT noise pedal. The tracking actually seems to get worse the more you blend in the octave (turn the "Blend" knob to the left). Also, the internal gate is fairly harsh, so it is easy to get retro arcade game/synth sound effects at certain settings ... and it should react with digital amp modeling devices without producing unwanted hiss. The only drawback here is its curiously low output level (even with the "Level" control dimed). This leads to a volume drop when the pedal is engaged, but can be compensated for with post eq, a boost, or another fuzz after the Blue Box in the signal chain.

This thing is pretty much a solid steel brick ... but I have only owned mine for about a month, so only time will tell.

Have not needed to contact them just yet.

MXR struck gold with this design, IMHO. The only missing component would seem to be a sufficient amount of stock output gain (volume).

-2 knobs + an on/off switch......

Sound qualiy???? I use this pedal to basicly play noise, which is great for tring to enulate Wolf Eyes, Hair Police, Lightning Bolt etc........

Don't know just got it.

never dealt and dont think I ever will.

Dont buy this pedal if you have conventional playing in mind. More options are always good but in this case
If you like the end of Mildred Pierce By SONIC YOUTH you will not be disapointed by this pedal.....(i'm not suggesting this pedal was used on the track though, even though Thurston does use them ).

It's very easy to use. Mine came with the wrong directions (they gave me Cry Baby directions)but within 10 minutes i was able to get the sound i wanted out of it. The two knobs control output and blend. Output is obviously how loud the effect is and blend controls how much of the octave effect is mixed with the distortion. Extreme left on the blend control gives you Atari music on the high frets, and on the low frets it sounds like a Floyd Rose tremolo pushed all the way down so that it's touching the body. Extreme right on the blend control gives you a strange distorion. Both sides ARE useable, and with the blend control in the middle it gives you a great balance between the distortion and octaves.

This is the reissue and i was worried it wouldn't sound like an original, but it does. On their site, www.jimdunlop.com, they have a sound clip of the reissue. Currently i'm using the following setup: Gibson SG>>DOD death metal FX86>>MXR Blue Box>>Cry Baby>>Alesis NanoVerb>>Peavey Butcher (120 watt all tube)>>Crate 4x12. However, i have a DOD fx56 American Metal distortion pedal, DOD dfx5 Digital Turbo Distortion, and a DOD fx40b EQ that i just won off ebay and should be arriving soon. i also want to upgrade to a Peavey 5150 II. As you can see i only use DOD and MXR stompboxes (the Alesis reverb unit is rackmount). This unit is very quiet because it has a build in noise gate. The only audible noise it makes is a very quiet clicking sound when you arent playing and the effect is still on. Unless your amp is cranked, everyone around you is quiet, and your not playing, you wont hear it. If your playing in a band nobody with ever notice. The effects this thing produces are perfect. The distortion is a little strange, but so is the octave effect, the whole thing is strange. Don't buy this and expect to get the classic MXR distortion, because it isnt there. The distortion is colored by the octave effect. This is what Jimmy Page uses on "fool in te rain", and it allows you to pull off some Tom Morello tricks (he uses the Digitech Whammy, which is similar to this unit). Tom Morello is my favorite modern guitarist, if you have never heard him you should. He was with Rage Aginst the Machine and is currently with Audioslave. Download "Ashes in the Fall" "Down Rodeo" and pretty much anything else by Rage to hear some these tricks. Head from Korn also uses this effect. You can check out Morello and Head's rig at www.guitargeek.com.

I haven't used this enough to be able to judge the reliablity. It is very solid looking. Take it apart and look how thick the metal casing is. It comes with rubber slip-ons for the plastic knobs, which look very cool. I would definaltey gig without a backup, and i wouldn't worry about it.

Never had to deal with Dunlop (MXR is owned by Dunlop). Never had to have it repaired. the guy i bought it from shipped it to me in the original box with the warranty slip that you fill out and send in. I wont be filling it out, waste of time.

I play many kinds of music. Everything from Nu-Metal(slipknot) to ska(sublime) to classic rock(Hendrix)to Old School Metal(Anthrax) to Alternative(Incubus)to Blues(Leadbelly)to Grunge(Nirvana). This thing can be used in all of these styles in one way or another. It's especially good for Nu-Metal and Alternative. Ive been playing for at least 8 years. i own all the gear i've already stated, and some strat knockoffs, an Oscar Shmidt acoustic, a crappy Rouge distortion that ill be selling soon, and some other little things. The Gibson SG is my most prized possesion. I would buy it again if it were stolen, its just as usefull as a Cry Baby, i don't know why more people don't use it. Probably because it's not a very well known effect. Everyone i tell about it thinks it's called a "Blues Box", and that it makes blues overdrive. I love everything about this pedal, there is nothing i wish it had. I originally wanted to get a DOD fx33 Buzz Box, but they are in the 150 dollar range used, and damn near impossible to find. This effect is more musical than the Buzz Box and much cheaper. This should be on everybody's pedalboard. like the Cry Baby, this is a pretty weird effect, but it can be used in so many ways that it amazes me why not many people have started using them as much as Wah type effects.

Very easy to use. Almost too easy. It's blue. It's a box.

This effect is the Missing Link. It acts like the Missing Link, it looks like the Missing Link, it sounds like the Missing Link. And oh what a discovery! Yes, Jimmy Page already had it all figured out in the 70s when he layed down that unforgettable solo on "Fool in the Rain." But Jimmy Page had a lot of things figured out before anybody else because he was a studio rat. What's amazing about the Blue Box is it can go from THAT sound to one of the meanest distortion sounds you're going to hear. I run this one a couple of spots behind a Tubescreamer and oh my Gawd it is mean when the dials are all the way up. Dogs will howl, children will cry, and the paint will peel. Or dial it back down some and it's like playing with a melodious octave pedal on the fritz. It's an absolute delight. And, as so many others have noted, it's unpredictable. And that, my friends, is KICK ASS. When it's not being used, it is as quiet as cat fart. In fact, I think it's a bit of an introvert, because it seems to become awfully withdrawn when it's not in use.

Yes. MXR. Can't find anything better.

MXR don't need no stinkin' customer support.

The MXR Blue Box is a pervert on acid. And your signal is the hapless victim. Whether you are a tone addict or a noise maker, this little contraption can bring a smile to your face. Beware, it can make the other pedals on your board look frightfully pale in comparison.

Tricky one to answer this - I think it's incredibly easy to get a good sound out of, but then I like what it does. Two knobs, blend and gain. Despite what some people have said the gain control DOES boost the signal, BUT because this thing work sat low frequencies, you need to crank it to make it cut through - therefore the more you roll the blend off the more volume you need to roll on.

AND

If you don't like the sound (see below) then you'll never get a good sound out of it. Horses for courses.

Setup - I use either a re-issue Jaguar or Mex Tele, through (in sequence) Turbo Rat - Blue Box - Boss Hyper Fuzz - Old Russian Big Muff (green one) all in front of a Marshall 2554 valve amp (not the silver one though) and then (all boss) supershifter, DD5 delay, and flanger in the effects loop.

Normally this thing isn't noisy when off - but at the moment it's bust (see below) so it is.

Now for the actual sound - as everybody say, think Nintendo/Atari music. It makes a buzzy analogue synth sound, and constantly "flicks" between the octaves creating a glitchy sound. It's perfect if you're into repetitive riff based stuff, similar to Sebadoh's Flame. My favourite trick is using this with my pitchshifter set to harmonize one or two octaves back up, but half and half with the orginal signal - It screws around with the sound even more, and cures all the problems with it cutting through - you realise exactly how loud it is with it on full volume!

Doesn't get used much, partly because when my band kicks in most of the effect gets lost, but it sounds great if a section features it, normally a repetetive riff.

Well I've had it for 10 months and it's having a wobbly now. In the process of getting it repaired. Basically, even when off, some of the signal is coming through, plus if you touch the casing it gives the "buzz" as if you touch a guitar lead when plugged in.

Also as mentioned on other MXR problems - the space for the battery is WAY too small, squishes all the wires up, plus you will really struggle to fit a square 9 volt battery in (as opposed to those with the rounded corners)

Waiting to see what happens with the repair.

See above - asked Dunlop direct for help - received nice e-mails back, but unfortunately no service centre in the UK, so I'm sending back to the shop. The did offer to fix it if I'm prepared to send it directly to them though. Can't be arsed though, the store can deal with it!

I love it. I'm extremely mad that it's bust at the moment, and miss it immensely. The kind of music I play is a combination of stripper down bluesy/punk coupled with noisy "space" rock sections. It's great for both, but unfortunately due to the all out noisiness of my band it tends to get lost in the all out rock explosions. It's just too low!

Great fun, I'd recommend it to anyone who has an imaginitive streak, doubt you'll use it much within songs you already have - but I guarantee you'll write a song "for" it... I've written loads!

Some may say it's impossible to get a "good" tone out of this little box, but I think that's rather the point. It's such a unique sound, it's hard to compare it to anything else.
That being said, the setup is simple: Output and Blend knobs (huge, easy to futz with them with your feet) and a switch. Cant get much more simple.

I play an Ibanez AF75 hollowbody and and a modified Nelsonic Tele through a Crybaby 535, an MXR Distortion + and the Blue Box into a Peavey Classic 30. The Blue Box is noisy and hard to control, but again, that's the idea. It creates notes 2 octaves down from whatever you're playing, and switches between them seemingly at random. Almost unusable for rhythm playing, but sounds really, really cool on leads. I found that with the wah before it, if you engage the wah after the BB, and park it somewhere in the middle range of it's sweep, the octaves stay more solid and don't drop out as much, if you want a sound you can reproduce any time you want.

It's an MXR, if these things can stand up to touring with Husker Du and Dinosaur Jr, they can take whatever you throw at them.

Never dealt with them.

I play a wide range of rock music, hardcore stuff to poppy Replacements style rock and roll. The Blue Box gives me something weird enough to stand out in any situation without having to mess with a million FX. I would absolutely get another one if this got stolen, esp if I could get a good deal like I did this time.
I love MXR pedals, and I'm always on the lookout for more toys from them

The blue box is ridiclously easy to use. There are two huge knobs: "output" and "blend. These knobs are so rubbery and massive that you can move them with your feet while playing. and theres just an on/off switch. yeah. its easy to use.

I am playing this between one of the larger fender princeton amps and a strat or thinline telecaster. one annoying thing is that its not true bypass, and you can hear it very softly when its disengaged. The sound quality is good...for a blue box. a good word for this effect is confusing. it makes everything sound all synthy and drops your original note an octave. playing chords with the blend knob anywhere below the maximum sounds pretty much terrible. this can do some cool tricks on jazz runs on the higher frets. this pedal is the definiton of experimentation.

its an mxr so its built like a tank. the only thing wrong is that my lcd broke, which is a pain in the ass.

n/a

this is a good match for experimental music. if it was stolen or lost theres a good chance i wouldn't buy this again. i just dont use it that often, even though it makes for a good fuzz pedal. its kind of like an octave divider, a ring modulation and a fuzz pedal all mixed in to one satanic pedal.

2 knobs. As other said, "blend" is the key of this effect

I use a mexican tele > Dod fx80b comp-sustainer > Nobels overdrive special > Big Muff (nyc reissue) > blue box > Aria stereo chorus > Zoom 505II (for delay and ring mod). Simply incredible, the funniest effect I never played with. And it's quiet, I mean there is no noise. My only complain (that's why I gave it 9 instead of 10) is that it do not have enough sustain, but I use it in couple with the dod comp, and it sounds still good. Like other effects (as the muff) sounds very good plugging the head of the cable in yr. hand and playing with the "blend" knob, it makes some weird bass noises.

It seems a heavy blue brick

I play a mix of grunge and noise, and my main inspiration is Sonic Youth's music. I'm very happy to have bought it, it's really great (even if my bandmates do not like it) and helps me a lot making strange noises.

very easy to use, only one knob that affects the tone, the other is for volume. the blend knob affects the fuzz/octave ratio.

THIS IS NOT A CONVENTIONAL FUZZ BOX. this unit takes your input signal, fuzzes it up, then drops it one and two octaves below the original signal. the tracking is all fucked up, and the signal jumps from octave one and two at random. with the blend knob at hard right, the pedal produces a straight fuzz effect, but its a little weak for my tastes. i have a script reissue as well as a 70s original blue box. i like the vintage model better, it seems to have a bit more 'oomph' compared to the reissue.

never had a problem with either pedal, but mxr pedals are just short of bomb-proof, anyways. knobs are solid plastic. pedal casing is a solid steel chassis.

never dealt with mxr customer support. never had to, either.

both blue boxes i own are constantly used in my music. ill chain a bunch of pedals together with the blue box, or run it into my fireworx processor to get insane results. running it just before an envelope filter will give you results similar to a line6 filter modulator (i usually use an EH q-tron as a filter). i write experimental/industrial rock/coldwave unlike anything heard before. just a bunch of brutal noise and atmospheric pads, and like i said, the blue boxes are used heavily. sometimes i like to set the blend knob at 3 o'clock and run it into a phaser when i jam out to some hendrix :)
im pretty sure zeppelin used this on the solo for 'fool in the rain'.
and for those people who say this sounds like shit: do your research before you buy something. IT'S SUPPOSED TO SOUND LIKE SHIT. YOUR PEDAL IS NOT BROKEN. this pedal isnt for people who jerk off to steve vai. period. i was fully aware of what i was getting into when i purchased this. its a substitute to the DOD buzz box (which are getting rare and expensive).

It's a pretty simple box to understand. You've got two knobs, output and blend, which do pretty much what they say. Output controls how, well, out of control it sounds, and blend controls how much octave effect is mixed in with your signal. I had a sweet sound out of it within about 30 seconds.

Man, this thing tracks horribly, the distortion is uncontrollable, it sounds like an Atari on LSD, and you cannot, repeat, CANNOT control this pedal. Yeah, I love the thing.

For those who don't know much about them, the MXR Blue Box is really a synthesizer pedal. It actually changes the waveform of your sound, adds a tone 1 octave down, and then adds a tone 2 octaves down, then switches between the three in an erradic and unpredictable way. Also, it's got a sweet fuzz-distortion tone. The distortion is not controllable via any parameter knob, but that kind of adds to the chaos this beast unleashes.

Anyway, don't even consider this pedal if you're looking for a quiet, predictable, clean, good-tracking, easily controlled distortion/octave pedal. That's not what this thing's all about. It's about piss-poor synthesis and uncaged sonic confusion. This thing will make just about anyone sit up and say "What the hell?"

It's an MXR. You could hit it with a hammer. It'd probably break, but you could hit it with a hammer if you wanted to...

N/A

This thing is great. It offers a real unique sound. It's not for everybody, and a lot of people will be frustrated with it's lack of human interaction (aka the thing has a mind of it's own), but I get a real kick how it makes your rig sound like it's alive and doing what it frickin' wants to. It adds a VERY dynamic facet to your sound.

Like I said before, don't expect this thing to be anything but a Blue Box. It's not an octaver, it's not a fuzz, and I'd stray from saying it's a synth pedal too, or at least a synth pedal that you can control. It's a Blue Box, and as such, it's going to sound how it wants, whether you like it or not. It's not one of those pedals that gives a repeat performance, either. Sure, it'll sound the same, but the erradic tracking promises that no phrase will ever be repeated exactly.

Anyway, I recommend this thing 100%. If you're into a unique sound, go for it, the thing is bad as hell.

Easy to use. Stomp on the switch, turn a few knobs and see what you get. Aside from the volume/level/output/whatever control there is only really the 'blend' knob to get the hang of, this basically controls the amount of fuzziness that you get.
The main problem is that it's very easy to get weird noises from but perhaps a bit more difficult to get 'useable' sounds out of it, although it is fun trying........

I'm currently using various Super-Strat guitars (Soloists, RG's) and Strats into various Laney amps. Usually there's at least three or four other effects units in between, including a rackmount comp, various phasers, Vintage Rat, modded TS9, BD-2 and whatever else I decide I need.......Noise-wise, it doesn't create any annoying background hiss as such, but if you turn up the 'blend' control past halfway you do tend to get a lot of mushy white noise. Fun if you like that kind of thing, annoying if you don't. This unit can probably be best described as an octave-fuzz unit on drugs, the octave tracing is really loose which can give you some interesting effects. As I said above, it can be quite difficult to get some useable sounds from it, especially when you start adding distrotion/overdrive from other units. I find that having the controls at twelve o' clock (vertical) work reasonably well for me.

This thing can take a kicking. Happily gig without a backup, it's not like you'd be relying on it much anyway........ this is the kind of unit you flick on for one song to make the crowd go 'Wow, what is that?' rather than using it constantly like you would with an OD unit or whatever.
It can also be used as a doorstop if you decide that you don't like it.

Never dealt with Dunlop. I don't think I'll have to anyway, MXR gear can usually take more of a kicking than even Boss.

I mainly play blues-rock through to hard rock, so this isn't the kind of thing that is useable for most of the stuff I want to play. I don't use it anywhere near as much as I use my other, more 'conventional' units.
However, for anyone with an experimental side or for anyone who likes wierd '80's computer-arcade-game noises then it has its uses and it can be great fun to play with. The MXR Blue Box is one of a kind, I haven't come across anything quite like it. Not everyone's kind of thing, I can see why people hate it, but if you can get something useable from it then it's all good. It's the kind of unit that you'll either love or hate........ so definately worth trying before you buy. If it were stolen then I'd wouldn't say no to another one but it wouldn't be at the top of my GAS list.

2 Knobs. Easy to set. Difficult to control. I have the blend set at 1:30. Any more to the left and the sound begins to leave the ?musical? realm. The AC adapter input is the old-style 1/8? mini-plug and is not as universal as the barrel type plugs found on most pedals today.

I play this with my lap steel and then only with single note lines. It?s my secret weapon but still only used to steal attention away from everyone else in the band. Otherwise it gets old pretty quickly. Chords destroy the tracking ability. I can get really cool synth sounds if followed with some modulation effect. I have noticed that the octave tracking and volume is extremely affected by used batteries.

It?s an MXR. It should last longer than me. The connection jacks are rough and could damage the cheaper 90? cable ends if rotated when plugged in.

N/A

Because of the rough connection jacks and battery problems, the Blue Box is really pushing me to setting up a pedal board. When I play with new people, they are always surprised when the Blue Box is engaged. Then I am politely asked to turn it off.

Piece o cake to use the box. Not so easy to control the sound on your axe.

Never did get this one. What does it do? It sounds like a Psychotic Octaver/distortion that can't track. I really think this was a mistake that someone figured would be popular. I used the original a few times during the late 70's and just never liked it. It is impossible to control the sound. Some say it gives ring modulator type effects. Don't think so. If you want to hear a lot of this effect listen to Terje Rypdal's "If Mountains Could Sing" or Jeff Beck's solo on "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" on Wired (near the end). In a word the sound is: "Unearthly". Gets a 6 for being unique.

MXR's were great quality pedals in the 70's though if you left them plugged in for hours or days with the battery they broke.

no idea.

See Sound Quality. If you want something different, this is it. I guess you could say it accentuates the unnatural overtones by driving them into oscillation (?)
Apparently Hendrix used to use something like this.

Two knobs, not hard.The manual is cool but you won't need it.

I use a 1971 LP Deluxe into the MXR BLUE BOX into Austone Millenium Over Drive into my 1968 Fender Vibrolux. It is not noisy at all like I expected but it swerves a little on tone being that it is new I know they are not built like the days of old.
I have found 1 setting that I really use and others that aren't useable at all.

Yes I would gig without a backup, if it quit working I would toss it and look for a vintage one.

Never dealt with them.

I play anything from blues to Floyd to Satriani to EJ to Jeff Beck and Page.The reason I bought the pedal is because of Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.
I wish it had more control over the signal.I wish you could dial out some of the signal and let more of your guitar through.
Definately inspires new ideas and funky riffs.

Output and Blend. That's it. Fairly simple. For some reason, I got a Crybaby manual with it, which has happened to other folks as well judging from the reviews. It's almost a hint to how schizophrenic this effect really is.

Everyone in their family has a relative that's just a little off-kilter, you know? It might be their sense of humor, misuse of common phrases, or personal hygiene...but there's just something about them that isn't right. But sometimes these are the relatives that are the coolest to hang out with...never boring and sterile like your uppity aunt.

Enter the MXR Blue Box to my family circus of guitar effects.

Putting the blend all the way to "10" yields a thick, somewhat complex fuzz. I was very surprised by this. It's definitely usable, and would make a great tone for a backing track to thicken up a chorus or verse. It's a little glitchy, you can't adjust the gain, and it doesn't sustain well, but works great for heavy strumming and creating thick walls of sound. It's got enough character that it would sit very nicely and subtly in a mix of several overdubbed guitars, I think.

Turning down the blend knob is akin to turning up a hippy's acid drip. At about 12'oclock, the two signals, an octave down, are blended pretty nicely...or about as nice as you'll get. Playing around the 12th fret on the lower strings yields cool Atari sounds. The Blue Box seems to track a bit better on this settng, and definitely has sweetspots along the neck where it does very well. Below 12 o'clock your crazy uncle ED wants to come out to play. This is my favorite realm to explore.

Basically, any setting with blend all the way down to about 10 o'clock is characterized with crazy, unpredictable glitching and random low frequency explosions. You can play the same note over and over again, and it will rarely sound the same each time. Rubbing your hands across the strings only adds to the calamity. One second the notes are somewhat distinguishable and the next you might as well have attached some Ernie Ball's to a snow shovel. Pounding the input of the Blue Box with my Ibanez FZ-7 fuzz set for 100% damage (see reviews for this pedal for an explanation of the damage switch) is total mayhem. This is probably what it would sound like if Brian Eno's brain exploded. Unholy low frequency gargles, random cackles of white noise, the occasional high frequency tone sneaking through only to be captured and dismembered in a sonic Tower of London as the built-in "noise suppression circuit" can't decide whether it's on a smoke break or not is sure to upset the neighborhood animals. Using the Blue Box by itself yields enough sludge, but pairing it with other overdrive devices, especially ones that have a lo-fi crappiness option available, is like handing a psychotic monkey drunk on rage and cranberry schnapps the keys to a burning front-end loader parked outside a Nintendo 8 bit super store.

Without a doubt, one of the coolest, unequaled effects of all time.

It's only natural that an effect this unapologetically freakish (and made by MXR) would be indestructable. You can almost hear it laughing in some sub-octave synthesized voice "HA HA HA...you can't control me, and you can't destroy me!". It's like some kind of robot dracula.

Never dealt.

I like shoegaze, blues rock, classic rock, indie...just about everything. I've been playing 14 years, and have a variety of gear (several Boss and Ibanez pedals, a couple of boutique items).

Overall, it's a seriously cool effect. It's relatively cheap, doesn't really sound like anything else, has an unassuming name, and will definitely get people trying to figure out your rig. It's not usuable a lot in full-on sonic meltdown mode, but I think it's one of those effects that benefits from NOT being usable all the time. It definitely freshens up the eardrums a bit, and encourages unorthodox tonal exploration. Might not win a ridership award on most pedalboards, but I could see it being one of those pedals that would be cool to stick on there if you have the room and have it available for audience torture if necessary. A must-for noisier stylings.

Very easy to operate with only two knobs,

The sound is great ,most octaves are to low end for me,this pedal has a good balance between low to high.Also it sustains well with a aother effects (wah,phaser,and a compresser)The octave fuzzes like the MXR Jimi Hendrix octave fuzz,break up at distrotion level,but with a little practice you can get steady sound,this is the first octave that I was able to play a bar cord on.I play with both a Tele ,and Les Paul speical ,threw a Marshall JMC 800 lead ,and a fender Blues Jr,works with all situations with or with out other effects.

Built like tank ,easy to set up for a live gig,and you can run it for hours on a 9 volt ,which is good when you play out ,because of limited power sources.

I never had to use customer service for my Dyna Comp ,dought that I will have to use it for my Blue Box

This was the octave sound I was looking for ,think Melveins ,Sonic Youth,Rage , Sabbath (first five albums) Hendrix (Band of Gypies,Woodstock)I had Boss OC-2 ,but it was to low end for guitar,but this effect will work for both bass and guitar,sounds great threw my amps as said before ,but I ran it direct in a Cakewalk 8 track ,and it sounded great for the bass,and guitar track that I put down.The sound also sounds a little like a pitch shiffer when I run it with a phaser.
If you are looking for an octave to put in to your effects chain this is one of the more dynamic sounding ones on the market

if you have to ask, then put down the guitar and go back to playing nintendo. 2 KNOBS... output (level) and a BLEND knob to find a balance between two fixed effects.

this is the (in)famous blue box. it is meant to completely destroy whatever is run through it. the fuzz end of it is VERY clipped (perfect for what I was looking for), with surprisingly awesome sustain. the octave down side of it is what gives it the reputable twitchy-ness... the tracking for the octaver can only handle so much: as mentioned before, it can't handle bass too well, and you have to be careful how you play guitar with it, because playing chords will give you "splat" noises.
Here are some tricks.
putting this before and into another distorionor modulation will lend itself to some serious freaking out. distortions turn it into white-noise that shakes your bowels...chorus or other modulations will just the slop sound "quivery" if run after it, nut when modulations run before it, it freaks out the octave tracker ==> instant "sound of an atari glitch". dont even try to use pitch shifters anywhere near this thing...but delays and reverbs get FUN.

using it at all fuzz (with both knobs at max) it can actually work quite well for fuzz guitar. when used right after compression, stomp it right at the climax of a bluesy guitar solo that's been climbing into really high notes... it's like spraying mace on someone right in the middle of an orgasm.

using it on a microphone (or other monophonic instrument or microphone can be VERY fun, because the octave lends itself quite well for monohponics. on vocals, the octave down became blurry with any fuzz blended in (...but it was awesome to run a 50/50 blended vocals into another distortion...so that just touching or breathing on the mic produced an ungodly fizzing that dies away evenly). however, used on a trombone player's microphone, it turned the horn into the sonic equivalent of the bastard child of Chewbacca and Jabba the Hutt.

taking the advice of someone else below, I AM going to use this thing to make a battle-bot which I will use to destroy ibanez pedals.

I especially enjoy the rubber rims on the knobs that are meant to let you use your shoe to turn the knobs. on most other MXRs, you can use your feet to get "more" or change rates...but this pedal rubbing your converse all stars across the BLEND knob in the middle of a solo literally mutates the very nature of the pedal and your sound.

the website seems to imply that they still make these things. It won't break, but I've heard the support is good.

I play music that makes people question why they even know me... so I LOVE THIS THING. If I find one used, I may rebuild it into a larger box ...fit it with a positive-tip barrel-style a/c adaptor jack, and add seperate controls for fuzz and octaver...maybe put in a stronger op-amp so it can get LOUDER... (or maybe just build a 3ms noise swash around it...tee hee).

if you don't know and have to ask...then put down the guitar and go back to playing nintendo....

on-off switch, two knobs.. real easy to learn but you have to fool around with it depending on what guitar you use and your amplifier. there is not one perfect setting that works with all guitars/amps

i'm using it with my two guitars and sets of amps, works great with both but you have to "tune it" differently depending on setup.
1. fender tele custom=> bluebox => marshall jcm2000dsl
2. ibanez rg something => bluebox => laney-tf800 (loop with delay and flanger)
one of my worries was that the built-in fuzz would result in massive feedback but the bluebox had some sort of silencer so it got really quiet when I wasn't playing.
I love the sound of this thing, great for softer parts and intros but also for groovy stuff, wouldn't use the clean fuzz alone as a standard sound of a song though, but it's an ok sound.

don't look like it'll break, sturdy metal construction.

haven't dealt with 'em

I've been playing for about 8 years, mostly metal/rock/hardcore stuff. wouldn't recomend it to a person who wants the stereotypic sound of a metal record but i WOULD recomend it to everyone who likes to experiment and fool around with moods and sound. If I would loose it I'd buy a new one, definitely! even though it's pretty expensive here in sweden compared to the states (about 110$). The only thing I miss about this thing is probably a knob for the fuzz, to be able de decrease and increase it, but hey, it's great as it is!

monkeys can learn how to use these pedals. two knobs - output and blend. just move the knob to the desired level and that is it.

i play a 64' fender jaguar through a fender hotrod deville 410 and the pedal sounds great. the sound rages from a indie fuzz to a atari or video game like sounds. this pedal is not for everybody. it is quite a unique pedal. it is nice because you can control the volume of the pedal on the pedal. it has a nice warm feeling and has the ablity to sustain for a long time. i now know how sonic youth gets some of their weird noises.

this pedal like all mxr pedals are built like a tank, i could probably throw this out of 10 story building and still have it work fine.

i haven't had to call on a mxr pedal yet and i don't expect that i will be calling them in the future.

i paid $60 new for this pedal when i was expecting to pay over $100. for the amount of money and the craziness of the pedal it is a deal.
i would recommend one to anyone trying to create avant garde music. hell anyone who has experiement tendencies should pick up this little guy.

Just an output knob and a knob to adjust the octave level, pretty easy.

I'm running this through a '95 Fender Twin-Amp, and I play a mexican Fender Tele. I like the pedal a good bit actually i decided. The output knob allows the pedal to be used as a booster, and it's great for leads actually. Its a smooth, fat distortion with a solid low end. The distortion is stationary and is not varied by the knobs or anything. When you turn up the "blend" knob, the octaves fade out, and when you turn the blend knob down, the octaves are more and more present until - when the knob is completely down - it is only the octave. The thing is, it is your signal taken down two whopping octaves, so when you play something too low, it distorts and its just a blurry wall of feedbackish stuff. But with the blend knob at about 1/2 to 3/4, you get an appropriate blend (!) of distorted signal and octave, and on the higher strings it really beefs up your solos.

Then, with the blend all the way up, with just the distortion, it sounds great for barchords and the like, but not so good for harmonizations and open chords, as there is a wee bit too much gain (for my single coils anyway) and you cannot adjust the gain.

This sounds pretty good for what it is supposed to do, this is a reissue and they are not supposed to sound as good as the originals, but this sounds ok.

Its real sturdy and heavy feeling, thick metal casing. I'd gig without a backup.

Never dealt with them.

This thing is kinda weird, but it's cool and it adds a new dimension to things. Its really cool to go up high on the e string and hear the high note, and then hear a beefy rumble of the same note. I also love the low end, very thick and heavy, but still keeps a good amount of treble, so it doesn't muddy up or anything. Another thing i really like is the fact that this pedal actually gets rid of excess buzz from single coil pickups, believe it or not, but it runs quiet. The downside to this i think is that the sustain is very limited and when you let a note ring out, it stays for a moment, but then it fades out and it sounds just like someone is cranking down the volume knob on your amp, but its pretty minor. I play mostly rock stuff, and i actually like this one a good bit. On the dunlop website they have soundbytes of this, www.jimdunlop.com. The soundbyte i decided is pretty close to what you hear on their sample, but go and try one because when i brought mine home i realized it can do a lot. This pedal isn;t for everyone, but its still a good pedal and i'd recommend it.

2 knobs. easy enough, however, you have to screw around with it for a while to get what you want out of it.

makes great noise. i love it for that psychodelic, sonicyouth esq. guitar sound. my setup consists of a randall rg80 combo,a fender rocpro 4x12 cab, an mxr micro-comp, proco vintage rat, electro-harmonic big muff pi, crybaby wah, boss chorus, electro-harmonics small stone, and then into the BlUE BOX. with this arangement, the blue box adds a nice twist and carries my sound further into the unconventional. i also like to use remote controls, metal files, slides, and other stuff to get wierd sounds with the blue box.

i'm pretty sure it will last forever

it's a great pedal and for all those axe playing, mullet flowing, leather pants wearing, guitar snobs who think this pedal sucks...well i guess you're entitled to your own opinion, but i know you'll come crawling back to the blue box when you realize that real music and inovation doesn't come from a jackson and a metal zone.

This is cake to use. It has two knobs. Output and Blend. This is the reissue version. There is no manual cause you don't need one.

Man is this pedal interesting. It is totally unpredictable. With the blend all the way up, you get a nice beefy fuzz. All the way down you get an octave that is out of control. Mix it up for that good ol fuzz octave sound. As other people have stated before, it gives you the Nintendo sound on higher frets. Totally cool. It is not noisy in the least bit. The only noise you get is what you put into it. It has a built in noise gate.

It is built to last. Weighs quite a bit. Fortunately it is made of metal, so it isn't gonna break any time soon.

If you like to experiment with your sound or are looking for a new sound, give it a try. It is not for everyone. So don't go buy it to use as a distortion pedal, cause it won't get it. It is definately a pedal of aquired taste.

2 nobs. 2 NOBS! M'kay?

Ok, I don't really know what others are talking about, but my pedal needs volume at about 2-3 o'clock for equal singal when bypassed, and I am only using a strat and an older epiphone. Plus, this pedal has plenty of gain, just no way to tame to bass-y-ness of the sound. At Blend completely off, it is a nice clean-ish dissonant octave effect, and full it is a NIN distortion. I also have found that with open strings, they ring forever and the sustain is pretty nice, good Sonic Youth type drone.

Definitely for experimetal minded players

MXR are great, tough little pedals.

Never dealt with them.

Value = yup! Great pedal! Better than using a 2 octave down and tehn addind distortion, I have tried this, it is not even close.
s
I actually got another one of these laying around in the box brand new as a back up that I want to sell soon because I am going back to school and need the cash. So if you are interested, email me! jadczak@hotmail.com

Two knobs (Level and Octave Blend), of which one is never used...Dur...

I use a Telecaster with the following pedals: Sola sound volume, MXR Blue Box, Lonax Delay, Boss Overdrive, RAT, DOD Grunge, EH Ring Modulator, Boss DD3.
My pedal appears to be true bypass so I haven't had any problems with noise as some people have complained about.
There are two knobs - one for Level which you have to keep maxed or else you get a volume drop, the other for blend. Blend at full you get a sick noisy fuzz, about 1 O'clock you get Octave fuzz, at 10 O'Clock it jumps randomly from octave to octave and sounds like it's exploding and it full anticlockwise you get a burbling low exploding noise which doesn't let any of you original signal through. If you're into sick and wierd sounds it sounds great. If your into normal music you'll hate it. My favourite trick is to let the chord ring at the end of the song and let it jump about - it sounds like the delay from hell.
This pedal has no gain at all, you can't use this as your only pedal or it sounds wimpy, but if you have an overdrive or another distortion after it to boost the signal you can get some stupidly heavy and horrible sounds. It's great for stoner rock, industrial, metal and other evil music.
Although it's got a reputation for being unpredictable you can also get a very good octave sound. It tracks very well if you set it right. I was fustrated with Boss and similar octavers because they killed my sustain, and rumbled and died at the slighted loss of volume. This octaver sustains happily and you can even play chords. I'd like to see you do that with the OC2. The OC2 and the rest sounded so synthetic and cheesy I hated them but this just sounds big and heavy unless you play up the neck (and then it sounds like a Nintendo Great!)

Much more solid than a Boss. See how many cliche's you find about Boss pedals in the reviews? Go figure.

Never dealt with them. But the pedal didn't come with a battery and had a cry baby manual. Doesn't bode too well.

I play all sorts of noisy music.
I like this pedal, I like any weird pedal really to make more noise with.
I wish it had more gain, it would make it's noise making potential a lot higher. I guess I wish that the Level Knob was replaced by a knob to sometimes reduce the fuzz because if you play anything other than powerchords or single notes through this it just sounds like a mallet hitting you with noise. Ever a minor chord would get lost. It doesn't bother me much because I sometimes just use noise to make textures and create feelings rather than actually playing notes. It's good for beginners in that sense I guess. Changing the Fuzz might take away you beautiful simplicity and primititive nature of this pedal though. An octave up would be interesting as well - imagine if it jumped around through three or four octaves! It's a really evil sounding fuzz so step up doom rockers. You can get some unsettling tones with this.
One thing is that it has a bizzare AC adapter socket, so it's batteries only. But they last quite a long time so it's no big problem. It's very small and compact, it shows EH that you didn't need to make thouse huge pedal cases to sound good.
I like this pedal, I don't know if it's worth what I paid for it but It's still cool. It is an "effect" not a main distortion though.

I knew what it did before I got it,therefore it was very easy for me to use.Those unfamiliar with the actual effect may be confused and wonder,"is it supposed to sound like that?"

Setup is unimportant.Use with an envelope follower and achieve any synth model tone on the Line6 filter modeler-no shit.I personally knew what I was gettin myself into when I got this.I did my homework and read the reviews here from people who have similar taste in music to mine and also heard it on the dunlop website.I can nail and surpass the sounds of the EH microsynth.And the Mario bros.thing everyone was talking about-I can do that too.Many would say not to use this all the time but if your basically a synth player with guitarist's dexterity then why not?The tracking goes apeshit and is extremely random in shifting between low octave one and oct.two.Its a rarity that you get both at the same time but it doesn't really matter because this thing is an oddball effect for weird ass music and if yr a shredder who masturbates to Satriani tabs then don't bother-you'll hate this.But for me,it's everything I expected and more(good straight fuzz tone from this thing with both dials at max)

If I were to make a battlebot out of this and one out of a Boss pedal,this one would fuck it up.But I've got athe musical equivalent of a crack habit so I don't play D&D and build robots.

don't know really don't care.It won't break.

I make strange sounds.I can't wait to run a mic into this and beatbox over some of my guitar explorations.I've been defying musical convention for 15 years now.If this were stolen or lost,I'd buy it again.I think it'll be safe because my town is like Night of the Living Buttrockers and this ain't a Metalzone or some Digitech multi.I did not compare it to anything else because there's nothing you can compare it to.It included these 2 rubber parts to put around the knobs so you can adjust settings with yr footwhilst playing.I'm now dating my bluebox and my green box(DOD envelope follower) is my mistress

This is one weird ass pedal. i'll get into that in the sound quality section though. This thing only has 2 knobs, it's very easy to use. one is for Output, the other is for blend. THe output only changes the volume, and doesnt change the sound any, so basically the blend knob is all u can do to change the sound. with the blend knob all the way to the left, u get the low octave note and the fuzz. the higher u turn it up, the less of the octave u have, and once it's all the way up u get this really weird distortion. I have to give it a 6 though because you cant make the pedal sound any different and you cant control the distortion level. I like the nice compact shape of it though, and it also looks really cool and has an LED so u can tell when it's on and off.

Okay, this thing sounds REALLY screwed up. it's SUPPOSED to. If u're looking for analog tube distortion or if u like to play jazz u better not buy this thing. No matter what the settings are on with this thing, it is REALLY distorted. It has this weird fuzz to it that will NOT go away. you cant control it. from what i read in the reviews here, i thought u could make it go clean. it CANNOT and WILL NOT. the sound it gets is REALLY cool though, it's basically laughable. if u turn the blend knob all the way down and just play a bunch of random notes it sounds just like centipede. this thing seriously sounds like Atari music. i use my bass with it, and i play a low E and just go higher and higher on the fretboard and it sounds just like pole position. seriously. it sounds JUST LIKE IT. i was done in my room and my mom goes "what were u playing in there?" like i was playing my atari! (i still have one that still works!!) also, i need to stress this, this pedal doesnt have very much sustain at all. with all that weird fuzz and distortion going on u think it would, but it DOESNT. aaannnd if u try to palm mute or something like that the notes get this really weird decay to them. it's fun to mess around with though. also, ive noticed that messing with the volume knob on ur guitar can help u create different sounds. like turned down quite a bit and if u pick pretty hard the note kind of fades in and out in a weird cool way. u have to play different with it on but u can really create some cool noises that u NEVER could with any normal distortion pedal. using this thing on a bass for doing anything other than atari music is WORTHLESS. it barely accepts any of the notes u play. it'll jump around and try to find the right note, resulting in more atari sounding music. which is pretty fun, i like to make it do that on purpose. u CAN use it if u have the blend knob all the way up, and then it just gets weird ugly distortion, and isnt't worth using really. there basically isnt any practical use for this pedal. i cant fit it into any songs, unless i want to play a screwed up rendition of it. other than that, it's just a toy to mess around with. it's fun, but i wouldnt buy one for over 50 bucks. I love this thing, it's crazy and it's basically the frankenstein of guitar pedals. You just have to be into making weird noises or else you wont like this thing at all. im not going to leave an opinion on the sound quality though, because the thing that makes this thing so cool is the LACK of sound quality. it's so screwed up, u cant say it sounds "good"! it sounds COOL. one thing i dont like though is that if it's in the chain, even if it's off, u hear this weird, faint, really fuzzy sound wheneveru play anything. its like the same note u're playing, but really fuzzy. it's quiet, but not quiet enough to not notice. so i dont put it in the chain if im not using it. i definately wouldnt have it in the chain if i was recording and not using it, becuase this noise is pretty noticable. also, u have to have the output knob just about all the way up or it's quiet than the clean signal. i think that it sucks, cuz u cant hit the blue box and go from a normal tone to a weird fuzzy tone and have it a lot louder than the other tone u just had. so u have to work around that. other than that, i dont have any complaints. it does what it's supposed to do, which is to be weird!

Like every other MXR pedal ive used, this is a sturdy pedal and it has a really good footswitch. u have to push down on it pretty good, so i dont think it'll give out on me any time soon (if ever).

never dealt with MXR before. never had to. thats a good thing.

This is a very cool pedal. Sometimes i think "man, i cant do anything with this but make atari music." but i know that if i sold it i would REALLY wish i hadn't later. they're not popular at all, and pretty hard to find, and i dont even know if MXR makes new ones any more. i dont know how they'd make money off of them. All i know is that this is a really cool pedal. u can do a lot of stuff with it that normal pedals will never be able to do. i like hitting 2 notes that REALLY dont go together and letting them ring, it sounds like something blew up (in an atari game of course). Basically, when u play it u cant tell the difference between a Low F and a Low G on the bottom string, but thats okay. it's fun to hit them and see what comes out. this thing does something different every time u play a note. i like how the note will jump around and try to get to where it's supposed to be but never quite gets it. The only thingi dont like about it is that u cant control the distortion, but the thing is without that weird fuzz it wouldnt be a Blue Box. i just wish i could control it somehow. I dont think i'll ever sell this pedal, if i do i will regret it later. i got mine for 50 bucks used, and it was worth the money. i would recommend it to anyone who likes weird noises and likes to spend time playing and just tweaking knobs and seeing what comes out. i dont think people who like blues and traditional music will like it much, because it wont get any traditional tones, and it doesnt really have much of a use in a "normal" sounding song. It's one of my favorites just cuz it's so weird and it's really a lot of fun to mess with. if u want to use this as a straight octave pedal u BETTER NOT. it always has the fuzz on it, and plus the tracking on this pedal sucks. it's supposed to. it's a great weird pedal, but it wont do a lot. i think i might wanna gte a EH bassballs or a DOD Buzz box or something else to fill my need for weird pedals. but this is definately a great choice for a weird pedal. I'd give it higher than i did, but it's not very practical and u cant use it a lot during songs just cuz it's so weird. but that's what makes it fun.

With only two knobs (and one of them is an output level), it never gets too complicated. Some might find the lack of control a little frustrating (just mix and output level), and you can have a little trouble getting the octave to track, depending on how and where you play.

If you want to take a look at the sound coming out of one of these, you should probably check out the taglines they sell with: "A musical synthesizer?" That's a good place to start, and a decent explanation for the lack of a Gain control. This isn't so much a fuzz pedal as it is a waveshaper-it essentially obliterates the sound of your instrument, chopping it into a very odd, hard clipped tone.

The lower octave is something truly special, and definitely unique. Keep your mind on that Musical Synthesizer line, because if you want an octave-down distortion, you are in the wrong place. Unlike most octave pedals, you can dial this thing to give you just octave, none of your original pitch, and have that octave come thundering through like a freight train? if you can control it well? which may take a little practice. As you pick down to the lower range of where that octave will track, you can actually hear the cycling of the waveform, like an oscillator moving slow.

Anywhere between the two extremes will give a nice stacked-oscillator sound, with the original pitch and the tone two octaves down. The waveshaping on the original tone will handle chords just fine (though, careful, this is not a dynamic distortion pedal), the octave will get messy.

The output is gated-when it's not making noise, it is dead silent (probably to keep the thing from tracking on any random hiss that comes through your pickups). Simply because the way this machine works, there is sort of a muted high end on it. This is a pedal for the low end, and it's just not very bright and sparkly. Personally, I like to run a Big Muff after it, because it really brightens up the straight tone of the Bluebox.

I've been looking for this for years? if I'd known that this is what the Bluebox did, I would have picked one up a long, long time ago. This and a decent filter will take you to town in higher style the the Boss SYB-3 or the EH Microsynth (neither of which I have ever been happy with). The Bluebox is pure goodness? dense tone, odd sounds, and no lag (viva analog!).

Of course, I am stepping up to the podium on this one because of the previous review? which just can't be allowed to remain the top entry for this pedal-- "are people so incapable of being objective or can't they admit they've spent their hard earned money on a mythical piece of junk?" Ye gods, man-how can it be that everyone who likes this pedal "has no taste?"

On the other side, I am not a nostalgia player. I don't emulate anyone, and I'm not a fan of 70's rock. I like to use this before a MoogerFooger Low Pass Filter and run fat, squelchy synth tones from it. The pedal may be limited, but it is still unique-a strong, distinct synth tone, a basic oscillator that I can modify myself with any outboard effect imaginable (seems like most synth pedals come with nasty, non-bypassable, thin little filters)? just a powerful foundation for lots and lots of sonic wildness.

Don't let the prejudices of a few bring you down? they are definitely the few. This pedal may be for freaks, but there aren't many posts by people who dislike the Bluebox.

Use the Mix to either get a terrible Fuzz sound or a terrible Octave sound

What is wrong with people? Just look at the scores below - are people so incapable of being objective or can't they admit they've spent their hard earned money on a mythical piece of junk? When I went through a phase of buying MXRs in the 70's I noticed that this script version (very important - NOT)sat in a dealers window in the West Midlands (UK) for some years and eventually we agreed a price and I bought it. Well I see now why nobody else wanted it. It was the biggest piece of crap I have ever bought. The tracking was absolutely dreadfull but worse than that, the fuzz tone that the Octave sound was derived from was just noise. I repeat it is the worst effect I have ever owned (the Distortion+ came close) and I have been through almost everything. I grudgingly give it a 1 because 0 isn't an option.

I had most of the MXR units and yes they were great at the time (my favourites were - Phase 100, Distortion II, Limiter and Micro Amp - see also my review on the Loop Selector). But things have moved on guys - nostalgia is only worth so much. These devices didn't even have true bypass. I kept all of mine in great condition and I just laugh at how people are clambering to get hold of some pretty beat up units. If you buy one of these then you are either a fanatical collector or you've got no taste. Don't say I didn't warn you. Another grudging 1.

2 knobs input jack output jack

i tried using this with my guitar but everything ended up sounding like wanky 70s psychedelic crap (no wonder jmascis owns one).
now i use it for drum, vocal and synthesiser processing.
i get incredibly fierce drum sounds by running my kawai r100 through the blue box and setting the blend knob anywhere from 12 oclock to full right (4 oclock?). very hardcore :wumpscut:, fiendflug style sounds that fill up the mix in a hurry.
i use the blue box with blend set pretty close to full right for vocals as well. good if you produce some higher harmonics with your voice by whispering or screaming, but more i tend to get too much rumbling from a straight singing or talking vocal style. also, since the octave doubler doesn't always lock onto the fundamental, it's hard to sing melodically through it.
hooking up my arp omni, the blue box gives a whole new dimension of sounds by sweeping the blend knob while playing. great for putting up dynamic walls of noise.

dropped it on the pavement when i was bringing it home. can't even find a scratch or dent in it.

no contact

i make electro/ebm and noise music and it works great for that. it's biggest shortcoming is, of course, it's very low output level. i wouldn't pay the $115, i've seen them advertised for, but really a great value at $50 or less.

Very easy to use. A bit harder to figure out how to deal with
the volume loss. Takes some time to change the batteries.
After using it for about 15 minutes it loads my pickups
and causes them to distort even on bypass mode unless I
put a buffered pedal between it and my guitar.

Various strats with various humbuckers -> Blue Box ->
Trace Elliot tramp tube 60w combo. Causes no noise.
When the blend pot is on max it only fuzzes your guitar
and when its on min it only lets through the weird
synthesized lower octave. Set elsewhere the blend pot
mixes up these signals. You can use it as a fuzz box
only but still it has its characteristic industrial
sound. The lower octave tracking is very bad and funky,
but thats the way its meant to be. This pedal is for
weirdness and serious noisy freak out music anyway.
You can possibly make the tracking better by putting
various sustain adding pedals before it.

At least it looks indestructible. I've had it
for just about a month so I cant tell for sure.

It is a guitar pedal but I've already tried it out with my
drum machine, vocals and also tried it with a guitar to
a 120W Yamaha bass amplifier. The bass amp gave nice low
gritty random octaves, but I guess it wouldn't be that
useable for anything more than just fooling around.
The Blue Box connected to a drum machine was however
quite useable for any kinds of industrial music.
Yes it works in vocals, but only if you want a lot
of noise.

Two knobs, one for VOLUME and one for BLEND. VOLUME is self-explanitory. BLEND is a little tricky, but it took a cowderhead like myself to figure it out in about a few seconds. When BLEND is at zero, it is a plain octaver, and you can't get a decent sound unless you play high up on the neck. When you turn BLEND ot max, it causes the pedal to be a fuzz-box type effect. Your mission (if you choose to accept it) is to find some sound you dig between zero and max. When the BLEND is somewhere in the middle and play somewhere high up on the neck, you can get some really really weird sounds out of it that sound like some old Nintendo games. The fuzz-box type effect kinda reminds me of old Black Sabbath for some reason, but I am probably just on crack. Oh, and mine didn't come with a manual.

I my chain (so far) is Gibson HAWK --> Blue Box --> Boss Metal Zone --> Carvin VTR 2800 100w tube amp --> Jackson 4x12 Cabinet. It is probably one of the most quiet pedals I have ever played; there is no unwanted noise whatsoever. I mostly use it for a boost when I play solos because I set the VOL at max and BLEND to somewheres between 10 o'clock and 12 o'clock. It gives me a really really cool tone that really stands out. The reason I gave it a 9 was because there's a slight drop-off in volume when it is selected. Also, the sound gets a little middy when used by itself. It really isn't that noticible if you use it on it's own, but I can really tell when using the Metal Zone. No biggy, though. Also, the sustain on this thing will keep on going IF you keep the note fetted. Once you pick your finger up, it will die a quick and painful death. But I like it, so again, no biggie. I heard that Buzz Osborn from the Melvins uses one of these thingamajigs, and it does not surprise me.

It's a MXR, which equals "hunk of metal that can withstand anything up to and including thermonuclear war." The only thing is that the light tends to be a little tempermental, and does not come on sometimes, but if you can't tell that this pedal is on, you must be Hellen Keller or something.

Never called them, YET. But I will contact them about the light messing up.

I started playing punk (and am in what I call my ?pseudo-punk / cacophony of noise? phase) and enjoy noisy bands like the Melvins, Sonic Youth, Big Black, and even Flipper, and this pedal really gets me all hot and bothered. I read all these reviews on this baby and couldn't wait to go out and buy one. It suits my personality just fine and I really enjoy making a godawful racket with this thing. It's simple enough for a dunderhead like me to figure it out, and it makes all sorts of cool noises to keep me occupied for many hours on end. I suggest that if you are into shredding, or into guys named Yngwie, or bands with (or had) lots of hair and makeup, you will not like this pedal one bit. But if you are into making an ungodly menagerie of a racket to raise Cthulhu from his watery slumber, this is the pedal for you. Enjoy!

The Blue Box was extremely easy to use. I brought it home, plugged it in (oh yes, and added batteries), and began to make noise. You could honestly teach a very dumb person to do this, because it only involves turning knobs. However, the real magic begins when you begin to understand what each knob does, and what happens when you put it where. Then, you can balance both knobs to get precisely the sound you want. It took me about 2 days to get the exact sounds i wanted (but one of those days was just messing around) so i'd give it a 9.

I am using a Fender Jazzmaster or Epiphone G-400 Deluxe into a 95Q Crybaby, into A Big Muff, into A Poly Chorus, into the Blue Box, into a Crate GFX-212. The Blue Box creates no noise at all in this position (but it may be hard to tell if it does, due to the rather noisy Poly Chorus). When I played Guitar-Blue Box-Amp, i had no problem at all. Very Quiet operation, and wonderful Sound. The effects on this baby sound awesome, but if you aren't careful, the volume will drop, which was really frustrating before i got the hang of it. Have you ever heard the solo to "Blue Skies Bring Tears" by the Smashing Pumpkins? I think that really wet, chaotic fuzz sound is from a Blue Box. If you turn both knobs all the way up, you can't even hear separate strings or chords. So, you can use it as a fuzz box, but honestly, i think it works best on extremely noisy solos or noisy parts in your songs. My band plays a funk-alt-metal-no wave kind of music, and this pedal fits nicely into songs with noisy sections. If you REALLY want a spacy chaotic section in a song that will make Mom think the house is falling, put your reverb pedal or reverb channel on all the way. With the blue box and reverb, you can get a really really awesome sound that will complement any Sonic YOuth-ish noise sections in your music. My only problem was the occasional volume drop, but you just need to learn how to use it. A perfect 10.

All MXR pedals are built sturdily (which is more than i can say for an old Small Stone i had that fell apart) and i have no problems with the switching. My only suggestion is that before you switch off the Box, Slowly bring the volume down, so the immense noise doesn't just click away into silence. I would gig without a backup, and if anyone stole it, I would get extremely pissed (and im usually pretty non-chalant). I can always depend on this pedal's construction.

I never had to deal with MXR/Dunlop about the Blue Box, but when i had a problem with a Crybaby i had three years ago, they were pretty helpful.

My band is pretty diverse as far as music goes, but there is nothing i love more than making noisy solos, and the Blue Box is perfect for me. I have been playing for 10 years now, and this is one of my favorite pedals. If it were stolen, i would try to find another one. I like the fact that its sonically diverse, because its like a fuzz box on one end of its spectrum, but like a hurricane on the other. I'd compare it a little to a Frequency Analyzer, not because of its sound but because of its awesome noise-making power. I also love the reverb-blue box trick. My least favorite part of this pedal is the "octaver" thing, but since its apart of the pedal, i dont have a problem with it. It's just my personal preference. I don't recommend this pedal for everyone. I suggest you go to a store and find one, and PLAY IT FIRST. This only represents my viewpoint, not yours,

If you have one finger capable of turning a knob, then you are set.

I run a Yamaha Pacifica into a Danelectro pratice amp (hey my simple bedroom jammer's rig, I don't want the neighbors to shoot me!) My Effects chain is like this: Guitar >> crybaby wah >> boss ds-1 >> proco rat >> old Pearl Flanger >> blue box. With this setup, the blue box is completely quiet. No hum, no white noise, nothing. Even with all my dist pedals on this thing doesn't make a peep. The only beef I have with it is that it tends to get, for lack of a better description, pixelated and scratchy sounding. But this is all a part of the weirdness of this thing

Built like a goddamned tank. I would feel confident that the thing would not break even if I jumped off of a highrise onto the stomp switch. The one effect I have had for a few months that I have not need to change batteries with and I use it every day when practicing.

Never dealt with Dunlop/MXR

I play mainly anything that I think has a good sound to it, and I am a HUGE Nirvana fan. I have been playing for almost a year now so I am still in the experimentation phase as far as effects and the like are concerned. I would definately track down and rape with a blow torch anyone that stole this from me, it is the ultimate noise maker. I guess this is just one of those oddities that you have to hear to believe. I had no Idea what this thing sounded like until I bought one. Everyone I have leant it to loves it. I do wish it was a little louder but that could be due to my setup as others have had to only set the output to half way while I have it set to full on. Just for kicks I wish it had a distortion level setting as this thing combines distortion and Octaver (in case you didn't know) and it woudl be good to fool around with it. I would recommend that people at least try these little beauties or consider MXR effects in general as they feel really fucking solid. I would buy another MXR pedal if need be.

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.

Two Knobs and easy to distinguish settings make the blue box easy to set up.

I planned using the BB with my bass, but since I brought it to rehearsal my guitarrist has borrowed it. We play simple and fast Punk and The fuzzy tone of the box is pretty well suited to that. He also uses a DOD Stereo Phaser to go with it, and the setup is guitar, phaser, BB, amp.

I agree with everybody who called it indestructable.

I would buy this baby again (and if our guitarrist doesn't give me mine back I'll probably have to).

It has a blend and octave knob, if I remember right (I've sold it).

My last review was LD and didn't really do it justice. I bought this when I was looking for a good heavy distortion, so naturally I was turned off. This thing makes squeals 1 to 2 octaves below what you're playing with wild synth-ish fuzz-y-ness, it sounds really horrible and gross but that isn't necessarily bad. It's similar to a DOD Buzz Box but the Buzz Box has more of a distortion element to it. You know how when you play real high on the neck with the Buzz Box, it sounds like old-school Nintendo? The Blue Box sounds like that ALL the time.

Made like a brick shit house.

This is pretty subjective. If you're into landing UFOs with your stomp boxes then go for it. You can get it for $50 at elderly.com. It wasn't really my thang tho. Jimmy Page used this on `Fool In The Rain` and poop daddy Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit) owns this one in his collection, as does Trent Reznor (NIN).

2 knobs. Volume and I guess you could say `distortion.`

This thing is a piece of shit to me. It's manufactured with great quality but the effect's so funky and bizarre I could never use it! It's like some Dracula-Synth-Space-Rock sound. I know that sounds a bit retarded but that's the way it is.

It's build out of metal; very reliable.

Someone told me that Wes Borland used one of these and then I read that Trent Reznor used it on the MXR home page. I thought it was going to be awesome but it was a let down. Not my style. I hear that Jimmy Page once used this for a solo on a song "Fools In The Rain" or something like that.

Two Knobs, one is level, and the other is Effects loudness, I think... I can't tell, I spray painted over it long ago..

I bought it when I was younger because I thought it was an octave box, and it is, but not in the traditional since.
This thing is FUZZY, and the octaves go all over the place... I've never used thie pedal in any song, but someday I'm gonna want it's sound, it's just too bizzare not to have..

Thick metal = Reliability

don't deal with it

I was young, I was foolish, but my parents bought it for me, so it was worth it... I wouldn't pay over $30 for this pedal if I had to buy it myself... It has no practical applications, but it is great for those times you want a solo, or lead, or techno loop with a weird fuzzy sound...

The volume knob has to be set to full blast at all times if you plan on ever switching it off mid-song. even then, the pedal's output is a bit low in comparison to clean signal. a fair amount of tinkering is to be expected with the blend knob. standard "duh" pedal fare.

the blue box is a unique sort of octave fuzz/distortion that replaces or mixes your guitar signal with a sine-y, synth-like tone two octaves below what it believes to be the fundamental tone. the fuzz/synth-tone balances are adjusted with one of two knobs, the "blend" knob-- setting it full down gives you pure synth-tone, and full up gives you *mostly* distorted tone, although the tone is still perceivable as some sort of weird cyber-buzz below your notes. personally i find the distortion to be pretty ok and surprisingly high-gain in nature, but not really usable by itself-- far too little output from the pedal, and not enough high-end presence, plus the weird stuff going on down below makes it sound too funky to really be considered a straight distortion pedal.
the synth-tone end of things is *great* and tracks very well on individual notes. forget chords entirely. additionally, it takes a bit of practice if you expect this box to behave predictably or want to play minimoog-type bass lines with it. the problem seems to lie in that the box gets confused about where the fundamental lies and will oscillate between the 1st and 2nd partial, or if you really smack it hard, the 3rd partial as the frequency it operates on. the partial generated by the pick can also be heard on the wound strings of the guitar for a brief millisecond or two.
what i've found effective to get consistent tracking of the fundamental is a combination of palm-muting and gentle thumb-picking on the wound strings, and just gentle picking on the flat strings. the lower the note you're playing, the riskier it is-- it's almost impossible to get the thing to stay on one note if you play an open E on the 6th string. of course, unpredictability is a lot of fun too, and you can really get some psychedelic, space-rock or downright obnoxious noises just smacking your axe at any point in the blend settings-- if you want to control it better, your technique has to be adjusted minimally. to me this pedal sounds good with the blend control from "0" to about 2 o'clock.
one warning about this pedal: the "dying out sound" that so many below are complaining about is a byproduct of the synth-tone generator, which seems to be gated in a rather simplistic fashion. it can seem a bit noisy on short-decay notes, with a little fartiness/wooshiness after the note ends. the synth tone itself actually cranks out at the exact same level until the note decays to the point where the pedal no longer hears the string. this is pretty useful-- it really sounds like a vintage synth! you can hold notes for about 10 seconds on a les paul. vibrato works great too!
if you really want to emulate a techno band, set the blend to "0," and run this through a wah-wah as a real-time resonance filter. you can also run it the other way around and *really* screw with the pedal's "hearing" of the fundamental-- the easiest way to get 3rd partial tracking out of the box is to leave the wah fully cranked and play a solo on the D and G strings.
one final note: this is not a true bypass effect. there is some signal loading involved, and the output is not exactly trebly. maybe an eq following would be in order.

never heard of many problems with mxr stuff. this is a reissue, btw.

i don't know that i'd pay full retail or even typical used prices for this thing, but if i could find them regularly for $30, i'd buy about ten of the suckers and run them all in parallel with the blend knobs at "0," but different eqs going through each one. if you play or have played one, you know what the results would be-- sheer pseudo-synth hysteria. this is *great* for techno, electronic or experimental music. i bought it from a blues player (perhaps the name was a misnomer for him?), and i can't imagine this being of much use for conventional styles of music except to "weird up" a punk guitar solo every now and again (as some of the reviewers here seem to be doing). but god, i love this thing. i expect it to be all over my next couple of projects-- and i doubt that i'll just use it on guitar! more expressive and retro than a midi guitar rig, and more fun to interact with too (although obviously not as flexible, but i don't need to play oboes from my instrument any time soon). ain't nothing else like it, except the EH micro synth-- and try finding one of *those* for $30.

I bought this thing (the original, not the reissue) for $20 from a backwater music store of sorts who didn't know what it was. The anachronism of ''good sound'' means you have to ask, what do you think is good? Lots of punk and indie rockers use this thing, but if you like Ozric Tentacles, Steve Hillage and Poisoned Electrick Head you'd probably like it too. I even managed to use it to write two songs: "Blue Box Boogie" (not a boogie tune at all, really, sort of industrial) and the horrific "Neighborhood Disturbance" (about how chronic alcoholism can ruin relationships and neighborhoods) Well, effectively what this thing is could be construed as a fuzz unit with an octave divider with some sort of synthesizer circuitry. Two knobs - volume and blend. Volume does what you would expect it to, blend allows you to blend the mixture of the fuzz and octave down/synth sounds. The fuzz seems to have a sort of bizzarre gating effect on it (ala a synth signal being processed by a filter) and mixed with the blend knob you can go from the Bad Company "Rock and Roll Fantasy" tone (where this effect was used) to weird bleeps and bloops that are really synth like. With outboard effects, I've emulated a mini-moog synthesizer perfectly. The fuzz, with processing can even give you an Ed Wynne (Ozrics) type lead tone (think "...Hup Ho World" and you know what I mean).

The unit is noisy and glitchy, but not in a bad way. The octave effect appears to have a stability problem so sometimes that octave note will jump around in pitch in a semi-robotic fashion. This thing is perfect for space-rock. In fact, you can do budget Fripp soundscapes by using this setup - guitar/blue box/boss DD-3 delay. Adding a Lexicon Vortex will make it even farther out. Who needs a guitar synth or virtual guitar when you can use this to twist the space time continuum? It's kind of hard to fit into songs, though, since the sound is so extreme - you need to figure out the right moment to use it. Also, the thing gets really interesting as the battery starts to wear out. That being said, I still like the thing because it has oodles of character. You won't see Frank Gambale with this thing, as it doesn't give vintage, horn like tone, but people who are interested in being true individuals in the rock field will probably have one. I could see Fripp enjoying this device.

Made of metal. Very reliable. You can't destroy it. Remember, I bought it at a music store for $20. The back cover was half off and the knobs were missing. Replaced the three screws and the knobs and I was ready to offend. Actually got into a bidding war with some other guitar player there who wanted to buy it (playing it into a JC120 there gave an amazing fuzz with the chorus on the amp going).

Never dealt with them.

Style: prog/fusion/spacerock/drones/loops/etc. Playing 20 years, lots of other gear. I'd get one again, probably. I love the fuzzed out psychedelic effect you can get from this thing, not to mention that you can emulate some of the low-budget 70s synthesizers with the right processing. It's not really what I'd call a versatile effect but it really rules in its own peculiar area. It has helped write two songs on sound alone, so I'd say it helped make music.

Well, it only has 2 nobs (Volume and Blend), so it should not be too hard for anyone to figure out. The blend nob is actually pretty good, you can really hear a difference in sound when you change it, unlike some other Ocata-type pedals I know of. Did not come with a manual, but with 2 nobs, it is not really needed.

This effect is made to be noisy, but in a good way. It actually has a decent Ocatve sound that is usable (probably from the added fuzz). I play Sonic Youth-ish stuff, but also like to play some Ramones and Pixies too, so I really don't use it that much. When I do thought, it is just the thing to really set my sound apart from the other bands at the show!!! I have the volume up pretty high (the effect is kinda quiet if you don't turn it up) and the blend nob is over 75-80% up (I only need a little of that color, otherwise I might over do it) The way I have it set up is: guitar (strat copies with JB Jr pickups in the bridge)-Blue Box-Small Stone phaser-Big Muff distortion-DOD FX 96 Echo-tube amp (Fender Bandmaster Reverb). The Blue Box sounds great in this set up becuiase the fuzz can push the small stone, but also add some serious tones to the distortion with the Big Muff on!!! This is a great Ocatve/fuzz pedal, you can actualy play chords and have a usable sounf come out!

MXR, small and tough....

Never dealt with them.

This is a great pedal. It tracks well, give sounds you can use, and will add some freaky buzzes to your playing. You have to put this effect first in your line, though, otherwise the 2 distortion thing will make your sound weak and muffled. I like it a lot, I know Thurston and Kim from sonic Youth both have one. I think it's a lot better than other Ocatves, like the BOSS or DOD, they don't sound good when played with chords, this one does!!! I might trade it in, though, if I try out, like, and can get a good deal on an Electro-harmonix Bass Balls, but for now, this is my envelope controling effect of choice. Great pedal at the price I got it at!!!

OK 2 knobs may seem simple enough but that's not where the problem lies. Even with the volume knob on max this box still doesn't get very loud. Turning it on after a normal volume fuzz means a fairly severe drop in volume. Difficult to get the octave sounds on lower frets (we're talking really really grumbly lows) and that is through a Marshall 4x12. I haven't tried it through a bass amp or DI to a PA system yet though so maybe they would have more luck.

The actual sounds of this pedal are cool. Hooked up guitar>fuzz>Blue Box>Flanger I managed to almost flawlessly recreate some soundtracks from cheesy old 80s computer games. The fuzz on it's own with the blend knob all of the to the right is kind of strange. It has a weird kind of subtle reverb which is probably from the synth circuit. It is however a great sounding fuzz and is very different to any other fuzzbox (which HAS to be a good thing, right?) It is a very muddy kind of sound as mentioned by everyone else when concerning the octave effect however it is a perfect box for accuracy of tracking, even though on certain strings it seems to like to jump around and flamenco upon your note meaning the smoothness of the sound is sometimes lost. If you love noise this will suit you just fine. If you don't like things that crackle fizz and fart into your amp then steer well clear.

You could probably drive a Cheiftain tank over the little guy and he wouldn't blink. Even better, you could probably fire it from the gun at a solid concrete block and it would only chip the paint. Oh yes, the little beast is mechanically sound.

Don't know, never breaks..........................touch wood.

I play very noisy stuff and so I love the little guy. It's not the kind of pedal that you would buy if you still have a 10 Watt transistor amp and a Boss Metal Zone in your bedroom. It is however very cool if like me you love effects of all kinds. I would certainly buy this zany little guy again. I love the cuteness of it. From certain angles the pedal looks like Beaker from the Muppets having been locked in a freezer for three days. It sounds REALLY cool , although I don't think there are many people i'd recommend it too. People who like clean cutting tones willl REALLY hate this box. It's often a challenge to fit this box into songs but if you want to turn heads at a gig by making some really cool noiise, stomp on this.

hmm...there's only 2 knobs, and one is simply for volume, so basically you're dealing with a single knob that controls the level of octave effect. no manual.

this is certainly a pedal for noise-hounds..it can get pretty wacky. basically, it's a geetar synth...2 octaves down + fuzz. you can control the octaves but not the fuzz. it actually has rather decent tracking in comparison to some pedals i've heard. with the blend knob at zero, it basically sounds dead. it emits loud indiscernable rumbles. moving up a bit, it adds a bit of the 2nd octave, which is certainly cool...it creates the effect heard on the first note of sonic youth's 'anagrama'. it sounds like someone is playing ping pong and yr notes are the ball (for lack of a better analogy). basically, it hops all over the place. moving up a bit more (past 12 o'clock) it starts functioning more 'normally', i suppose...this is where the good tracking comes in. 1 octave down + original signal.
my only complaints are that sometimes it sounds pretty muddy...i think this is a result of low battery, however. also, the biggest complaint would be the sustain, which is nil. hit a note, and after 10 seconds or so it'll sound like yr guitar is conking out on you and fade out. however, you can prevent this by using another fuzzbox at the same time (a big muff, in my case). overall, i'm very pleased with the wacky effects i can create. also, combined w/ a phaser + a wah, this thing literally sounds like a drunk with a synth, trying to play a scale.

hmmm...i just recently acquired it and have been using it non-stop, so i'm assuming it's reliable. however, i'd like to look into getting an AC for it. for the record, i would never use this for fuzz only.

n/a

basically, i love this thing. it's certainly not something i think most guitarists would enjoy, specifically self-obsessed shredheads who don't like anything to mess w/ their tone. it's certainly liable to scare the neighbours. this is a nice effect when used minimally, but also works supremely well for cascading waves of noise. however, it's a good idea to check that yr blue box, amp, and alternate distortion (if you're using one) box volumes are all at relatively the same level, or you could be victim to severe drop-outs when pedal-hopping. i'd certainly buy it again, especially this cheap (viva www.elderly.com!). this is the only octave device i've ever owned, though i have tried the octoplus, octave multiplexer, boss octave, etc...and i certainly like this one best. the others all sound weak with cheesy tracking. however, i honestly don't really use this for an octave sound (ie: giant screaming guitar masturbation rock god solos). i'm a fond supporter of mxr products and this one is certainly terrific. sonic youth fans, both kim and thurston use this thing, if that matters at all (uh...i don't see why it should). anyway, if you like crazy noise, check this thing out. if you're a stuck-up guitar theory geek, steer clear of this little blue box. it might actually knock you out of the 80's.

they get a 5 here. This isnt the easiest pedal to work with. TWo knobs, output(if anyone has an output that actually boosts instead of just cuts let me know.)and blend, which controls synth vs.regualar distorted signals. with the blend knob all the right, the sound is too jumbled to be of any use, and sounds like it is on crack. at 12 oclock, the actual signal starts to come through. i usually use it around4 oclock.

i usa a jazzmaster and a superrack head, and this sounds ok, the only 2 problems are the lack of gain and sustain. once you stop playing, the signal disappears in a violent sort of death. this can be annoying except at the end of songs. The blended/synth/octave effect is pretty neat, although hard to work into songs. SOunds good on bass.!!

the only pedal that could kick a boss in the ass, MXR is great in this catagory.

the only time i would call dunlop(mine is a reissue) is for my wah.

at first i bought it for bass, it sounds good, but the effect sounds like it would be good on guitar, just cant find a good way to use it in a song. this is dissapointing, but i like the effect to play around with, as far as i know, this isnt a very popular pedal, and the only guy i have ever heard of that uses it is J. Mascis of dinosaur, but ive never even heard him use it, unless his sounds different then mine. I cant say i would buy it again, if i could find more uses for it, definately, if not, eh, at the moment it wouldnt matter.

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.