MXR M-115 Distortion III Pedal

This little thing is amazing!! Though it might not sound like your average distortion pedal, the overdrive-like character plays beautifully through a tube amp and some single coils. Even with the distortion knob cranked, it doesn't get out of hand, and sounds very natural with a good rig. If you are looking for something heavier than a crunch-like overdrive pedal, then you may want to look at the MXR Distortion+ or the Boss DS-1.

For the last 30 years I try almost every OD and Distortion pedal on the market from boutique to cheap and in between, this Pedal have the best Overall Distortion to my ears, does not have a compressed signal like other distortions the sound are very open, its like an OD but with much more Power!

This pedal is amazing for an amazing price as well. It works really well for giving your already distorted amp a nice boost. It's more of an "overdrive" pedal instead of a distortion, so you shredders out there will have a hard time getting a massive distorted tone out of this pedal, but overall it's great. You can get anything from a Stevie Ray Vaughan driven boost or put it in front of your already distorted amp and get a singing lead tone. It works well for Eric Johnson kind of stuff (turn the tone knob all the way down and the distortion around 8 o'clock) and everything in between. The build of this pedal is great and will last me a lifetime. I do not gig with a back up, I have 100% faith in this thing. If it was stolen I would definitely buy another one. It is easily worth twice the amount they are asking for, so go ahead and buy it already!

First things first, this pedal has a very harmonic drive, and absolutely no compression to speak of. The drive sounds very much like a driven tube amp. The big flaw is that it is not at all transparent. It completely colors your tone no matter how much gain you set it to, in particular it has a very mid boosted sound and has very little low end. The tone knob boosts or completely cuts the mids and highs, so it is not particularly useful. I personally recommend boosting the treble frequencies by either using the bridge pickup, or some separate EQ (ie. pedal or amp EQ), to increase the attack. If you do boost the treble's you can get a very, very accurate reproduction of a cranked British amp sound, especially if you uses a boost pedal in front of it. I realize this sounds like a lot to get a good sound, but that sound is very good, and versatility doesn't make or break a pedal's quality. All in all, this is a fine pedal for what it does, and if you want to get a strong Brit crunch sound, this is a darn good deal.

Ok LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.....here's my rig. After years of playin Peavey 5150's and 6505's, I hung em up after Eddie left for greener pastures. I then bought my Bogner Alchemist from GC and LOVED it, but I wanted to have that 5150esq distortion as an option to the luscious "BROWN" sound of the lead channel on the Bogner. I just traded in my Boss DS-1 and I have NEVER looked back!! The real test was this. I played this pedal at GC in front of the Bogner on clean and compared it to the lead channel and "BOO YAH". GET IT, you will NOT be dissapointed. I also use a Maxon Tube Screamer as a light overdrive/boost and the two together sound AWESOME. Don't forget the MXR Phase 90 to go with it!!! You'll be soundin like the "Ice Cream Man" in no time.

As a blues and funk musician i needed something that an overdrive pedal could not do but i did not want fuzz or metal. i tried out many different pedals and this took the cake. not exactly the sound i want but i tried to many and stayed with this one being the best. the construction is great and you can really hear the analog difference. it has mid range sparckle for your strat's middle pickup or bridge perfect for the glassy sound since i play through a 68 bassman, but other than that not much more useful. great pedal but not versitile.