MXR M-120 Auto Q

six potentiometers & one three-position switch. need i say that there's a lotta options here? i preferred to have the switch in the "lo" position; other two were too shrill for my ears. volume knob: straight-up 12:00 seemed to be unity in my chain, so that's where that stays. "q" knob sounded best to me @ 9:00, too quack-y any higher than that. settled on the range knob @ 3:00, which, while "raising the frequency floor" (& working against my attempts to dial out shrill-ness), made the wah sound unruly in a most kick-ass way. a cool sound, but really nothing more than a fixed-position wah. that is, until the OTHER HALF of this pedal is put to use... and i'll cut to the chase. decay, blend & rate knobs, all of which control the changing of a held note from auto wah to a phased-wah "shimmer" (dunlop's term). after a bit o' screwin around, all three of these pots nestled into the straight-up 12:00 setting. so when all is said & done, a rookie guitarist could pull this thing outta the box, set all the dials true north, start blasting away, & have a pretty righteous sound. ease of use would rate a 10-doesn't get any easier than that. BUT, for the seasoned pro, who keeps insisting that there's gotta be a COOLER SOUND somewhere just around the corner -waiting, lurking, hiding- if only he keeps spinning the knobs this way & that... well, ease of use...

set-up: 2005 epiphone les paul w/seymour duncan sh-55s > radial dragster > doobtone mcbuffer > barber tone press > m-120 auto q > maxon ds-830 > mxr m-108 10-band eq > isp tech decimator > bbe sonic stomp > barber launch pad > 1961 gibson ga-40. everything connected w/alessandro cables & powered by furman power factor pro & maxon adaptors. treble rolled back just a bit on ds-830, m-108, & the ga-40 to remove the "high-end" stuff the m-120 introduces w/out taking away the almost-out-of-control vicious-ness of the wah/shimmer-stuff that makes this pedal something worth writing about in the first place. also, heavy metal pick (as in heavy=weight, metal=material pick is made out of) deployed. sound quality? let's just say THE NEIGHBORS MUST BE HATIN' IT.

sure.

don't be a frickin sissy.

110 clams. in my opinion, a pretty damn good price for a pedal these days. constructed heavy-dutily (as are the other two mxr pedals i own, the [afore-mentioned] m-108 & the m-117 flanger), so it should last. capable of many sounds (i know this concerns a lot of you out there in reader-land), but has given me all that i demand: one different, life-affirming sound that i can't live w/out. will guitarists be throwing out their uni-vibes, wah-wahs, envelope filters, et al, once they hear the m-120 in action? unlikely. but if yer the kinda guy who owns a dozen or more fuzz/distortion/overdrive pedals & wants to know the score on every sound-modulating device that comes down the pike, here's where to blow that c-note you just inherited.

very easy to use, read the manual to get you started on the knobs funtions. once you start to play with the knobs you should get a firm understanding of how the unit works. the only downside or is it an upside is that it is very versitle. tweeking away yields many results.

clapton strat, cort matt guitar murphy, gibson 335- keeley comp. vox wah- auto q- analog man eh small stone- univibe- keeley bd2- keeley ts9 boss delay- boss loop station-rivera chubster. this set up is quite. you do here noise in background when you are not playing from auto q (sweeping sound) but only if overdrive is on, it must amplify it, it is minor and any other instrument in band playing covers it. garcia is why i got this, for dead covers, i soon left garcia behind and went my own way. (thanks for the inspiration Jerry. the sound quality is very good. watch the high end though, you can adjust with Q knob.

good, i would gig without back-up. it would not be the end of the world if it $%^& the bed during a gig, it is used sparingly, i would be sad though to miss the tone that day. i could fake my way through with the wah.

not need to yet.

i play a style i call psychedelic blues based jazz rock. you know a little jazz, dead, allmans, floyd, blues mix. too may influences to list. been playing 20 years, i listed my current set up. i would replace if lost for any reason. my favorite part is the adjustable shimmer, really makes this pedal stand out. start with wah sould end with a fast or slow phaser sound, very cool. i do with it had an up/ down swith and an overall effect blend knob. i decieded i needed an envelope filter, i ordered to boss, eh q-tron and q-tron plus and this from mail order companys with good return policys. i wood sheded for 3 weeks with them all. probably 25 hours trail time. i really wanted the q-tron to win, but the auto q is the only one that did not get sent back. i was willing to keep q-tron and auto q. money was not a factor, but like i said, the auto-q won out and went on my pedal board. i am really strict about my pedal choice. the fact that the auto q won says alot. if you read my gear list you will see i am not afraid to spend cash on gear. yes this pedal does help me create music.

This box was a little tricky at first. It took me a LONG time the first night I got it to figure out what all the knobs did and how they affected the sound, even after reading the little (mostly worthless) booklet and sample settings included with it. By the second night I was able to dial in most any sound I wanted fairly easily.

I think this pedal sounds great. While not *quite* as "vocal" with the "wahs" as the EHX Q-Tron, I like this pedal better because it doesn't add distortion to your tone the way the Q-Tron does, and also because it has the unique shimmer effect, which basically is like a phasing/trem effect applied to the end of your notes, the rario depending on how much you dial in. You can hear the Q sweep in the background but it's not too bad. I play through Vox amps and this sounds nice n' funky when I stomp on it.

I have 5 MXR pedals and they are all bulit like TANKS! Solid, heavy-duty metal boxes.....I'd use it without a backup no question.

N/A

A great auto-wah/envelope filter. And the price can't be beat, especially with all the features it has on it (and all those knobs! 6 of them, plus the three-way frequency selector). I play rock that's a cross between Hendrix/Who/Cream/Zep and Beatles/Blur/Mansun/Suede and this fits in to quite a few of my songs. A great pedal!

great little black box...i can twiddle her knobs even while twiddlin my bass with one hand and make some cool transitive sounds...from envelope to almost a tremelo/vibrato... tweak away! i found the band staring at me in practice waiting till i was finished fiddling... maybe i should deduct a point for addictiveness

great sound, blend and volume alow unit to bust on through or exist as subtle backing...every time i jump on it someone invariably (a bass freakoid) comes running up to see what it is, or asks afterwards....audience loves it and so do i...my setup changes frequently - pedal order (or autoQ by itself), amps Edens and cabs, ADA preamp + PA power amp + bergantino 322, little hartke combos, basses - modulus, warwick, but fender P sounded particularly nice....it has a sound for you and it's unique cause 6 analogue knobs make 9857982829 possiblities

mine happened to get sidelined somehow...the switch was stuck in off position, and the back door wouldnt stay shut nothin some black tape couldnt fix, but still peeved me real good one night before i found the tape... ownded it two years under 2-3 nights/wk gigging and extraordinary stomping from great heights. other than that this baby is all amazon!

never tried support... bass tech out of town, so i bought a used one online, with same backdoor problem. two is better than one right? we'll see.... new:$109 used:$63

is a gotta have, too much fun and always a place to slip it in, every sound you want is within reach with this filter envelope, and at a great price either used or new. i would have fixed it myself but the switch is connected fairly intricately... so now i have one extra if ever something goes wrong. the 'Q' knob is key

Very easy and user-friendly controls. Every knob and switch actually DOES SOMETHING and significantly alters the effect in a unique way.

A versatile pedal with very good qualities. Easy to dial in everything from a funkmeister vibe to a subtle coloring of your personal style, and can be adjusted to obtain vowel-like responses to your picking dynamics. With six knobs and a three-band EQ, the many possible combinations makes it rather impressive. Sounds much better than the Boss AW series of Auto Wha pedals I tried (IMHO). My only minor complaint would be that you can hear the Q frequency "sweeping" in the background when you aren't playing, but is most noticeable only with the controls cranked for maximized effects. I use this pedal for minimal filtering and modulation control, so it doesn't bother me all that much. Sounds best with my Strat, but still sounds good with my Les Pauls, and equally well through my Marshall and Fender amps.

Oops! It didn't work at all - right out of the box. Very unusual for a Dunlop/MXR pedal. Read on.

Absolutely first-class customer support. Responded promptly to my email and immediately gave me an RA#. Sent the pedal back to Dunlop Mfg., who quickly repaired it and returned it back to me. Works great. Thanks, Jason and Bill!

Been playing for 35 years - roots rock and blues - and I've got an assload of gear and have always used conventional wha pedals. I'm very much satisfied with this effect, as it suits my style and does exactly what I wanted and expected from a good auto wha. Sure, there may be better filtering/modulation effects available, but not at this price! I would buy another one in a heartbeat.

It took me 1 practice, or about 10 minutes of occasional tweaking to get the classic Jerry Garcia mutron sound. Once I understood the blend knob being turned down being relavent to getting rid of the shimmer sound, it was great.
I've owned a Dr-Q , a Q-tron and an older MXR envelope follower. The M-120 sounds better than any of them.

Generally play through a Roland amplifier or a Fender 69 Super Reverb with a G&L SC-3 or Gibson SG. Only effects are a TS-9 tubesceamer and an occasional crybaby wah pedal.

The effect quality is consistantly great. A volume knob allows you to play either rythm or lead with the effect being as dominant or laid back as you like it.

I have not had the need to use the 'shimmer' effect. It sounds somwhat like a wah phaser and is kind of noisy...great thing is you can blend it out of the effect.

THe M-120 is one of the most solid housings I have ever seen on an effect pedal. I use it in gigs without a backup. Never had a problem.

Not had a problem with the pedal, so I wouldn't know.

Awesome pedal, great price. Used sparingly in a set list it can add some wonderful flavor. I play jam rock, and it definitly adds some tastiness to the groove that gets laid out. The M-120 has enough flexibility to through down anything from weeping Garcia style leads to old school porno-flick funk.

This device offers a lot of control knobs for customizing the effect. You can control the decay rate of the filter, the peak, the mix, etc... A few sample settings are offered and serve as a good starting point.

If you're looking for an envelope filter along the lines of a Mutron III or Q-Tron, this isn't it. It' *almost* there, but not really. I like the Auto-Q because it doesn't add a lot of gain to your signal, like the Q-Tron does, it has more control options, and is built like a brick...

But the sound isn't there. It doesn't produce enough of a "vowel" like effect when playing. The effect is there, but pretty light. If you're thinking of the classic Garcia tone, this isn't it.

Not to say the pedal is bad, per se. It does do the Shaft "waka waka" thing pretty good and would probably be well suited for light funky rythems.

I can tell just by looking at it and playing with it a little it would easily outlast my Qtron. The dude is solid.

Haven't dealt with MXR before, so I'll mention Musicians Friend:

Bought it from Musicians Friend. Plugged in a Boss power supply and blew the fucker up! The polarity on the power supply was reveresed! Be sure to get the right powersupply for it. Anyway, I called Musicians Friend and told them it was "broke" II didn't say *how* it broke, did I?) and that I needed to exchange it. They accepted without a problem and about a week later I had a new one.

It's OK for light funky rythems. It's more of a automatic wah pedal than a true envelope filter. So, I can't really fault the pedal, it's probably doing exactly what it was designed for. I just wish they could have made the effect a little more pronounced, rounder, and warmer sounding. I'll stick with the Qtron for now and may start looking around for a Mutron III.

The m-120 is one of those pedals that sounds good right out of the box, but it also has alot under the surface. There are no input level controls or drive controls because the pedal has an automatic sensitivity device. This means that the way the filter sounds will be dependent on the input signal; playing softer has a less dramatic sweep while playing more aggressively yields to greater sweeps. I think this is pretty damn cool. The manual is ho-hum but it does provide "sample" settings. The pedal has six knobs on the front of it controlling range (where the filter sweeps from), "Q" (basically the wah sound), volume, decay, blend, and rate. The blend function of the pedal is also a really cool feature not found on most auto-wahs. What it does is blend the settings on the range and "Q" knobs with the settings on the decay and rate knobs. You can of course turn the blend knob all the way down so the sound is just the range and "Q." Turn the blend knob all the way up and it's just the decay and rate. Figuring out the relationship between all these knobs is somewhat confusing but its really easy to learn. There is also a band switch controlling lo, mid, and hi. The best way to become acquainted with this pedal is by trial and error.

Here's my setup:
Larrivee DV-09e or Veillette Bari-12 -> DigiTech Whammy -> MXR auto q -> Morley Wah/Volume -> Ernie Ball Volume -> Boss DD-5 -> Boss RC-20 loop station -> moogerfooger ring modulator -> Boss DD-5.

The pedal sounds like a auto-wah or filter should sound. I haven't had any problems with it interacting with my other pedals.

The acutal pedal is really sturdy, the knobs look semi-sturdy but then again, most knobs are that way. I would gig without a backup because I really don't think this thing would break barring extreme circumstances.

All I know about this company is that their website isn't that great, but who cares?

I definately recommend this pedal to anyone looking at auto-wahs (filters) for a guitar setup. I really thought that the price should be higher than 100 but hey, high quality and low price is a good thing. The people at Dunlop could be making a killing off these but maybe I should just shut my mouth. This pedal is a really good one, my friend who also plays guitar has nothing but good things to say about it as well. If it were stolen or lost, I would get another without even thinking twice. If you get one, you'll have fun with it, and that's what it's all about.