MXR M75 Super Badass® Distortion

Product Information

The EQ section is brilliantly voiced, providing an impressively vast range of tones with nary a bad sound to be found. Boosting the bass control makes the tone bigger but never flabby or farty, and when it’s turned down it never gets wimpy or too thin. The treble control covers a palette from dark (but not muddy) to razor sharp (but not piercing). It’s a fairly simple thing physically, with just the two knobs for output and distortion, and a nice big LED. It all looks nicely laid out, is incredibly well finished (including the knobs) and the bright yellow chassis really evokes the spirit of those 80s shred guitarists. Think the legendary Randy Rhoads, who incidentally did use this pedal in some of his setups. It is worth noting that distortion pedals are different from overdrive pedals, which are meant to push your amplifier past its headroom for a slight crunch or very subtle distortion. Distortion stompboxes offer extra grit or dirt to your signal without having to push your amplifier, giving you that signature distorted sound even at low volumes.

The output control provides significant amounts of boost, while the distortion control offers a range of textures, including clean boost, tubey blues-style overdrive and sizzling saturation. Would be cool if anyone can explain to me the distinction between Custom and Super and whether this is actually a proper subset of MXR or simply a marketing vehicle! What is not in dispute though is that these are some truly great sounding Overdrives, Distortions and Fuzz. And I’ve seen many a player cite the Modified Overdrive especially as one of their favourites of all tine. Paired with a wah pedal, some Hendrix classics can also be played with this MXR masterpiece. The versatility of this MXR pedal is what makes it such a great go-to for beginners who have no "ideal" tone or preference when it comes to distortion. However, this does not mean it's only for newbies - the sound quality and tone-shaping makes it just as perfect for performers and recording professionals. So to conclude, there are so many different types of metal, with varying sounds, that it just isn’t possible to say there’s one single greatest pedal for metal. If you pushed us for a choice from this list, however, we’d recommend the Boss DS-1 for its flexibility, and potential for proper distortion. It’s a good starting point for most types of metal, but if you wanted something for 80s shred, then you might go for the Distortion+ or RAT 2. Alternatively, stoner metal might call for the Acapulco Gold. What is the best high gain Distortion Pedal?

Tech Specs

ProCo’s RAT 2 could in all honestly come very close to being our top choice, but it’s such an incredibly good distortion pedal for an incredibly good price, that it has to be our great value selection. It’s really not that often that you can say this about such a famous pedal either. There’s usually a premium to pay for a name, but there isn’t here. There is a reason that the MXR Super Badass Distortion is hailed as one of the best choices out there in the market - it just sounds really good and badass. As mentioned earlier in this review, the tones you can get out of the Super Badass are very impressive due to the built-in equalizer. This MXR pedal can do anything from making your guitar produce that powerful heavy riff to making your guitar's tone scream through the mix with a smooth distorted crunch. The M75 Super Badass Distortion from MXR is a great choice in terms of value, features, build, and sound quality for a distortion stompbox. The MXR Super Badass pedal sounds great and delivers a wide range of tones with its versatile control panel including a 3-band EQ, which will be discussed further on in this review. MXR did a great job with this pedal and is a great go-to pedal if you can't decide which stompbox to get for your rig. The manufacturer has other similar products such as Distortion+ and Distortion III - but in terms of versatility of an MXR distortion, Super Badass wins the comparison.

What can we say? The DS-1 has been designed from the outset as the everyman’s distortion pedal. It’s versatile enough to be used for a very wide range of music styles, it’s not hard to get it to elicit some great sounds, and it’s priced very attractively indeed. We can easily get everything from a bit of light distortion to some serious growls from the responsive dials, which is great if you’re new to this kind of effect. It does this by giving you controls for both level and gain, as well as treble and bass. There are also two fuzz options, for either a classic sound, or a grungier feel, and a boost one too. It’s really very good - the tone might not be the greatest that the market has to offer, but it’s ideal for someone who just wants to play with this kind of effect, or wants to sue it selectively. Among our choices, you'll find multi-channel offerings, blendable drives, and amp-inspired circuits at a variety of price points. Where does my distortion pedal go in the chain? Design wise, this pedal clearly has its target market in mind with its vintage cream facing and funky typography - it looks great. The switches don’t feel quite as robust as some competitors, but overall build quality is superb, and there’s no reason to doubt Electro-Harmonix quality.For a fat, warm tone that pairs perfectly with the sound of a quality British valve amp, this is the distortion pedal for you. Of all the pedals on our list, it’s probably this one that gives the most uniquely distorted tone, and we love it. It sounds so very Marshall, and indeed you could probably replicate the sound of an overdriven Marshall without the right amp - it’s that good.