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Rating And Reviews: MXR M103 Blue Box

Takes your guitar signal, fuzzes it up, then duplicates it two octaves down.

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"Nice, with a small mod..." submitted October 29, 2012

By Christopher K in Decatur, GA
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Musical Background: Played +30 years, part-time pro
Music Style: Rock, funk, blues, experimental...whatever.
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Overall: I liked the sound, but the volume drop from engaging the pedal is ridiculous. There's a simple way around this: clip the C11 capacitor off. Voila, gain is back! The tone is more aggressive (the cap is a low-pass filter, I believe) but this is not necessarily a bad thing - and if you're handy with a soldering iron you can always change the value to something less extreme, and/or put it on a switch so you can go back if you want to. It's a waaacky sound, once you get it dialed in. Pretty simple - one knob is level, the other is amount of fuzz vs. low-octave mixed in. All the way CW it's a nasty fuzz pedal, all the way CCW it's fat, fuzzy, synth-bass. Mix to taste. There are probably better (or at least different) pedals like this out there, but at this price point I'm betting this is the one.
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MXR M103 Blue Box Customer Review submitted January 29, 2009

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Music Style: psychodelic rock/funk/electonic
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Sound: The sound is really juicy, but it takes a lot of effort to get the sound you want, and it is not always possible too. Ease of Use: I know that it was created to be a little bit unpredictable, but id use it more often if i could get from this box what i want every time.
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"Crazy-Cool Effects Pedal!" submitted September 16, 2006

By a customer from hotmail.com
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Musical Background: Active Musician & Recording Engineer
Music Style: Classical, Bluegrass, Punk, Weird Stuff
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Overall: The MXR M-103 Blue Box is a combination octaver/distortion pedal, with a bit of pitch modulation thrown in for extra insanity. When played without other effects, it sounds like a rabid Atari 2600 on a rampage! Combined with a slow and deep chorus and a bit more rock distortion, you can get cool sounds similar to to '70s rock or even a bit like '60s psychedelic. This is not a polyphonic pedal, so chording with this box doesn't work so well. Use single notes for best results; and use chorus, delay, or harmonizer pedals later in the effects chain to flesh out your sound. I've also tried MXR and DigiTech phasers with the Blue Box, with fun and interesting results! Keep the Blend knob around the 10 or 11 o'clock position for less randomness and a bit more control over your sound. The Blue Box is built tough, and is a lot of fun to use! This pedal is a great value; and provides unique sounds for rock, metal, industrial, punk, alternative, and experimental music!
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"DO NOT BUY" submitted April 30, 2013

By brian b
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Music Style: rock, metal, blues, and jazz
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Overall: I bought this thinking it would be a cool addition to my collection but I was dead wrong the volume drop is awful the tone is terrible all settings were terrible. If I could I would give 0 stars
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"A Must for Your Pedalboard!" submitted September 16, 2006

By a customer from yahoo.com
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Overall: This is the sweetest pedal ever! There's none like it!
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