Jim Dunlop MXR Bass Distortion+ Pedal

Very happy with this. Oozes quality. I'm still experimenting with the range of tones it can do. I'm using it between my floor pedals and the out front PA system, so no bass amp or cab in my chain (monitoring via IEM from the desk). Firstly, the bass mid and treble controls work well and with no noise (in any mode), and they cover a lot tone shaping possibilities. MXR seem to have designed and placed the tone frequency controls in just the right tonal areas. Using just the clean channel is good but when you use the color button there's a big scooped boost which sounds instantly great. I'm going for a mostly clean tone, so I don't really need the gain distortion channel, but I'm finding that if I use the gain channel but with the gain blended right down low, it sounds nicely warm but not distorted. Its a nice tone to work with for most styles. The gain channel automatically uses the color scoop/boost, so sometimes I'll roll back the bass and treble just a little to compensate. My only negative so far, is that I was hoping I'd hear more of the "gate", but I don't hear much happening. I think its affecting the gain distortion trigger which I'm not really using. I was expecting more of a traditional noise gate which would auto switch off the output when I'm not playing - its not that. The gate LED goes on and off but the output stays live. Sometimes I have both hands off the bass, so a proper gate function would have been better for me. Any of that doesn't take off the fact that I like using the MXR80. Its simple and noiseless with lots of tone shaping options. Strange it didn't come with a PSU, but it uses a common Boss / Dunlop type PSU, 9V DC tip negative. Its very low current (less than 200mA). Minor niggle, sometimes - in certain light conditions, its not so easy to see the LED indicators, but this device is the kind of thing you leave on anyway. Also no speaker simulator, but that's really (really) not a deal breaker.

The tone out of this little box is phenomenal. Rugged build quality means it'll survive live gigging and works great in the studio straight in to the desk out of the DI. Even better, the extra parallel out means feeding a in-ear monitor is simple and saves pi$$ing off the sound crew having to faff around with your "personal" monitor set up. Love it.

Broken, one week after Christmas and after the returns window. Buy from elsewhere. Edit: Replaced immediately by Amazon despite being beyond the window, after talking to customer service. Arrived 2 days later, being used ever since.

This a great pedal, really versatile. The overdrive feels slightly artificial but the pedal has a lot of tone range. Overall its compact and feels really solid

I bought this the day I flew out to a gig. I knew I was going to DI in to the FOH PA and wanted to be able to control my tone. This thing is awesome I wouldn't have been able to gig without it now. It doesn't matter what the backline is or if it is my own amp, I just set the eq to flat and let the M80 set the tone. After a bit of playing around I have found a great light dirt tone that works with my band. The only negative comment I have is the batter compartment protrudes from the body of the pedal, this caused me some issue mounting to my pedalboard. I did manage to solve this by using a doubled over piece of 3M dual lock on each corner, now it is solid on my board.

Lets get the first thing right, this does have two modes (clean and distortion), but it is not a distortion pedal. What this does is let you get a great fundamental bass tone. The clean is great with the colour switch, and with the three band EQ you can really get a beautiful clean sound. With the distortion channel, you get to blend in some grit into your tone! Now, a lot of people say this pedal isn't worth it because the overdrive sounds are not great compared to other pedals. This is true, but that is not how it is to be used. You dial in a little grit, I like the blend at 10:30 and the gain at 9:00, so as you churn out the notes, your bass just sounds beautiful, powerful, booming and with just enough dirt. Grab yourself a Bass Overdrive pedal and put that into this pedal in driven mode and you will blow the audience away! That is what I mean by this being a fundamental tone pedal. The construction is solid and the pedal is reliable. The glow in the dark decals also really top it off. I no longer own an amp, I record and gig with this strait to the mixing desk (through a compressor first if I can). I love mine, and at £144, its well worth the money!

To noisy

Faulty product, it just made a horrible and laud buzzing noise when connected to the amp. Disappointing experience.