MXR M-104

It's pretty simple.

I think this pedal sounds great, when used properly.
Not trying to insult the previous comments but if you're looking for Randy Rhodes' tone why buy a pedal without a tone control. Also, more importantly, this is not a pedal which will turn any clean drive into a mass of Randy, Zakk, Dimebag distortion. These guys have stacks of Marshall's behind them, all of which taylored to produce their driven tone. The MXR 104 comes into play for the solo's and pinched harmonics. I think this pedal is great when it comes to supplying a little more treble and gain to deliver long sustains and screaming pinches.
Yes it's a noisy bugger but used correctly it's a great tool.

Tank.

As yet, ever needed.

It's not a pedal that will change your life but, like all pedals, blended properly with your choice of amp and pick ups it will aid guitar god like status.

Level- and distortion knobs.
On/off switch.

Is this the box Randy Rhoads used with Ozzy ??
No, that can't be possible...
This is the worst sounding distortion box I have ever heard.
Sound is very harsh and shrill, way too much treble. Lacks compression. Humbuckers sound better than single coils, but still not usable.

Looks and feels very sturdy.

Dont know.

I had a original Distortion+ in the 70s which sounded very smooth.
This reissue is just crap compared to the original.
Sent it back the next day.

One output knob and one distortion knob. Can`t get much simpler than that

The sound quality of this pedal is TERRIBLE !!! It sounds very trebly, thin and cheap. I`m using American Telecasters with Mesa Boogie Lone Star Special and on the overdrive channel this pedal produces a very loud noise as well. On the clean channel no extra noise.

MXR stuff is built to last. Never have had any problems.

I have been playing for 20 years and i play blues, hard rock and funk. I use American Telecasters with Mesa Boogie Lone Star Special and about 5 - 6 pedals in my pedalboard (phaser, chorus, delay, compressor and overdrives/distortions) including MXR Phase 100, Electro Harmonix Small Stone, MXR Stereo Chorus, TC Electronic Vintage Compressor, Boss DD-6 and Fulltone, Ibanez and Maxon Overdrives/Distortions.

Since i link MXR to quality and own and use some of their pedals, the fact that this pedal sucked so bad was a big dissappointment to me (this was the first and the last time i buy anything without trying it first).
I own a few quite decent overdrive/distortion pedals but the MXR M-104 Distortion + isn`t one of them so do yourself a favor and buy something else (pretty much anything is better)!

Distortion and volume pots.
On/off switch and a LED.

Compared to the original 70s this Dunlop reissue sounds terrible.
Very harsh and trebly, even with my Gibson Flying V.
Not much distortion either.

Rock solid!!

Don't know.

I bought the Distortion+ and Phase 90 together. I was very disappointed with both of them.
I did the R28 mod on the Phase 90, now it sounds fine.
I did not know any mod for the distortion+ unfortunately.
I sold it after a few weeks.

Distortion and Volume Knobs. Turn each one left and/or right till it sounds good. It was easy to dial in a great rhythm sound. Impossible to get much else. The manual is non existant, box was stuffed with all kind of marketing cray about the dunlop crybaby. For the novices, suggested settings are always a big help. I also think all gain pedals should tell how to get unity gain with the unit. I think more people would be happy with thier products armed with that little tidbit.

Les Paul standards, Marshall JCM 2000 half stack and 2x12 marshall combo. guitar-->vox wah-->zinky true grit-->boss 7 band eq-->mxr distortion + -->EH memory man deluxe-->ernie ball volume pedal-->amp.
It is weak, it is not noisy unless distortion is 100%. It needs to have about 2db more volume boost available. With unit volume at 100%, I'm still a tad shy of unity with my amp, so I have to buffer the output with an eq. I consider it a limited "helper pedal", but not enough merit to stand alone. I am using it for rhythm crunch only. I have the distortion at 10 or 11 o'clock and volume cranked. At that setting and with the eq afterwards bumping the signal back up a bit, I get a beautiful crunch tone that is very responsive to my volume knob on the guitar. Back it off a touch and it cleans up beautifully. The notes of even full chords are pronounced, while still having a bit of bite to em. Great for blues or rock or even country/rockabilly. Crank the gain much more than that and it becomes over compressed and fuzzy with poor sustain, but I will say you can still hear the note itself thru the fuzz. Which is not something most high gain pedals can claim. Gain past 11 o'clock just isn't my bag with this unit, try for yourself. I think Randy Rhodes had horrific tone. A textbook example of bad tone. And this was his OD of choice. But even with both knobs cranked to 100%, I wasn't able to achieve his trademark awful tone. I'm guessing he employed more than one form of gain boost before the preamp. Anyhow, back to my test drive. I run the Zinky True Grit after it and use it for soloing or when I want a little more pure bite. The combo of the 2 units works like a dream. Basically I'm saying don't depend on the distortion+ to be your single overdrive tool, it isn't capable. But whne used as a component in an overdrive group, it has it's place and does well. Rating is low because of it's limited use and poor performance outside of the one sweet spot.

Seems dependable. I would gig without a backup. I bought it a couple days ago, haven't gigged even once with it yet, but I am looking forward to it.

It will be modded for true bypass. That way if the pedal ever dies during a gig, I still have sound coming thru. Any pedal should have true bypass. It shouldn't be a luxery.

Never have dealt with them. Want a true by-pass mod.

Great peice of gear in it's tiny zone. Go outside the sweet spot and you got muddy garbage or thin thin tone. Behaves alot better with a Les Paul than a strat. It brightens things too much for a strat. My pal has an old MXR D+ from the 80's and we did a side by side comparison last night. The old one is smoother, less harsh. More even frequency response then the more high/mid heavy new one. Sustain at low settings happens on the old one, not the new. I'd definately recommend buying an old one, the difference is more than marginal. I'd buy an old one if this were lost.

One Gain Knob and One Volume Knob. Cannot get simpler than this. No tone knobs but that was okay for me because I could use the EQ in my amp.

This is where it sucks big time. Original MXR pedals are deadly but it's hopeless after Dunlop acquired MXR and screwed up this pedal with all the cheapest quality components from Taiwan. If you take this pedal as a stand alone overdrive / distortion pedal, you are dead. I use it with a Fat Strat and Marshal Amp. Randy Rhoads used the original MXR not this piece of shit. If you open it there only silly common Op Amp and a simple clipping circuit. Just a few shitty components. I wanna bang Jim Dunlop for advertising this shit with Randhy Rhoads name.
Use a overdrive in front of it and this things works a pretty decent boost.
I'd actually give a minus 20 but because of boost ability, I give it a 2.

Solid Construction. This small pedal is heavy and very solid that I wanna take a few of them and bang it on Jim Dunlop's head. Wanna crash and shatter his skull for making this shit. Great Reliability but what's the use when the sound is shit.

I didn't contact them. If I had contacted them I'd have abused them like crazy for making such shit. Learnt a lesson. No more Jim Dunlop products. This pedal showed their attitude. THe original MXR 104 is great. Jim Dunlop will go to hell.

Buy yourself a few pints of Beer instead of wasting on this shit. Rather buy a good distortion from quality boutique pedals. There are tons of them available at around $150 but will be worth the money. Try Rocktron, Toadworks, Pigtronics, Robert Keeley Modded DS1, etc..
Excellent weapon to bang your enemies or a cool looking paper weight.

simple as the other review said. two knobs, output and distortion.

I own a esp M10 guitar with shitty pickups and a little M15 practice amp. my sound was horrible and I was desperate and didnt have thta much money andm y idol is randy rhoads and I wanted to have a similar sound to him (no copies). I baought it and it really improved my sound. I couldnt listen it to its full capacity because of my shitty pickups, but this can give you that classic 80s fuzz. Listen to crazy train and imagine this pedal. I coudl also get some decent kill em all sounds. very good pedal for classic rock , no wonder randy used it!! im not giving it 10 because I havent heard it at its full capacity.

Ive droped it many times, nothign ahs happened very strong

I play 80s metal and its perfect as I said before. ive been playing for a year and play leads of EVH, randy rhoads, early metalilca etc and the htin is awsome. what I love about it is that it gets me closer to the sound in my head and inspires my playing knowing htat my idol used it. good for blues to.

Simple. Two knobs: Output and Distortion.

Great rock sound. If you crank the amp you get some noise but what pedal doesn't do this. Great for classic rock, blues, and some early metal. Randy Rhoads used this to get his signature sound. Great solid sound.

A tank could run it over and it would still be working. Very solid metal casing. Weighs about a pound and will never break. No backup will ever be needed.

Great solid pedal. I have two of them just because I love them so much. Great sound and very dependable. I use it all the time. I would definitely buy another one if it were stolen. I think the originals are better sounding, but the reissues are great also because of the upgrades on the pedal. Rock On!!