MXR M104 Distortion+ Guitar Pedal

This pedal is PERFECT for adding a lead high gain boost. I have it after a MXR 78 BA in the signal chain. I have a bunch of EQ and EPlex sounds that i didn't want colored up by a pedal with an EQ. For that, this works perfectly. One thing i did notice is that the gain past %75 gives off a loud hiss. Nothing a noise gate wont fix but I've noticed that 3/4 is a perfect blend where it doesn't sound as loud. .

Sounds great with my Marshall

being a previous ds1 owner, I like this better. I'm running a strat thru a vox amp setup, and this little unit adds a nice crunch and bite when I want the distortion. great for rhythm or lead, but I just wished the unit had more controls for tone shaping. other than that, the tone has a nice low and high end to it.

Like many other dirt boxes, the Distortion + sounds terrible into a clean amp, and that will be a turn off for novices, players looking for an amp-in-a-box, or someone looking to add a second channel to a clean amp. What it does do, however, is take an amp tone with some grit and add a ton of hair to it. The two knobs are very interactive. You can get a "push" with this pedal, but it works move better giving you a "shove". The tone comes from germanium, so at higher gain levels, you notice a distinct fuzz flavor which takes the brittle edge off the hard clipping stage. Higher volume settings fill in the tone quite nicely, and bring out a warm bottom end without being boomy. Transparent is not in this pedal's vocabulary, and as others have mentioned, it's got a real 80's vibe to it. I don't think those are bad qualities. This is a unique tone-shaping tool. If you can't find an original sound, blame your ears and hands.

See my previous review. I meant to mark it as 2 stars.

Sorry,no way this pedal deserves 4 (or let alone 5!) stars. It doesn't compare to the pre-Dunlop original. The tone is not nearly as warm. This has an almost irritating sound. If it was not meant to duplicate the original, then call it something else. It's dependable, it works, it's similar in looks to the original, and it even has a convenient on/off light that was not on the original. But that's it. There are so many better distortion boxes out there.... Shop around!