MXR Distortion III Pedal

[LOMAZ5150]

to me doesnt sound like distortion its more of an gainy overdrive

[Shaun7189]

whats that song at 1:24? i cant seem to put my finger on it. @_@...sounds so familiar.

[LiamMailman941]

@Shaun7189 No Quarter by Led Zeppelin :)

[FunkKlock]

@LiamMailman941 gives me chills all the time

[AsteroidsFlight]

is this one better or at least different than the big muff by ehx ?

[amprojektdj]

@AsteroidsFlight man.. the big muff is fuckin heavy.. ive got it.. big muff is a fuzz distorsion, this is like beetwen fuzz and overdrive..

[opiquez]

I GIVE IT AAAALL!!!!

[HBK1337]

i love this guy's style of playing. does anybody if he's in a band?

[VictorC53]

TOOOLL

[mtmusicgear]

I heart you Andy.

[tub3scr3am3r]

ToooooooooL!!!

[codypullins]

AEnima!

[Fempter]

I WANT THAT! Much better than BOSS DS-1.

[BobMan250594]

i'm currently playing through a peavey classic30 30 watt head, sweet clean channel, but low enough gain in the overdrive channel, would this be a good option to further the amount of drive for a heavier sound?

[gnrcr]

He played AEnima. Buy this pedal.

[squiresuzuki]

@gnrcr He didn't play Aenima, that's an album. He played Aenema. :)

[guitarcreep94]

is output like a volume knob?

I need a good distortion pedal that can get really loud.

[soothslayer21]

@guitarcreep94 Yes, the output is the volume knob.

[malaysianriffer]

hello andy..i need your help on this one..recently i but kerry king ten band eq to set my guitar sounds like..but it not get enough gain..i love playing slayer song,can you recommend me what pedal should i buy..?mxr fullbore..?is it good enough,,help me..i need perfect pedal to sounds like slayer bro..please..help me

[jharri1]

Andy kicks so much ass!

[suqies]

damn give it all and aenima, that was kickass

[robotsforever]

Learn to swim Andy.

[aspebrend]

great pedal I use is with the gain up a quarter to boost my blackstar ht 5 overdrive channel for a great heavy metal sound

[imashellamit]

Hey, can you guys recommend of a good distortion, that will suit Old School metal, such as Grave Digger?

Also I would appreciate it if it could go for Black Sabbath Classics. Thanks!

[BrokeProductions1]

@imashellamit A Pro Co Rat 2 is great for classic rock.

[fox68795]

custom badass or distortion 3 pedal?any ideas?

[karmagedon]

"Any fucking tiime any fucking daay. Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay.!! "Nice way to start DEMO!

[CZgrungeCZ]

Is this a good distortion on single coil stratocaster? I need a more punk-rock or grunge sound...i play with EHX Little big muff but when i palm-mutting it sounds ungly... :/ ...Thanks for answers...( Sorry for my english iam czech...)

[HarmLess7]

Sorry to be a knob, but what was the very first riff with the string slashes? Sounded beast! Literally 50% of the reason im getting this pedal... the other half is Andy... obviously... cheers x

[Zombiekeks]

@HarmLess7 Tool's Aenima I believe. And by the way, I fully agree with you.

[Hilariocrocy]

ive been on the biggest Tool binge lately, even though they are a lame dad buttrock workin on trucks band that no one my age cares for. absolutely genius musicians though.

kinda funny im randomly trying to find a demo of this cus im considering trading for one via Craigs List, and here he is playing tool haha. just makes me want it that much more

[duran2085]

learn to swim......

[nortonblack15]

green day holiday!

[IRRxerum525]

The way Andy said 'overdrive' round 1:00, is like I heard Solid Snake's voice :D

[FlankinspanK]

@IRRxerum525 what a nerd but that was pretty good observation lol

[greenbeemusic]

I'm a fan of this pedal. I bought it used from a guy for $50, a great deal. It plays well with a jazzmaster, doesn't suck away the natural sound of the guitar at all. Plus I find it has a certain 'springy' or 'elastic' character that all the MXR pedals have -- if you've ever played a Dynacomp compressor you might hear it.

[martinwrang]

Tool and Led Zeppelin in the same demo!? Great!! :D

[visiter182]

Aenima! Tool! lml

[Qoooba95]

that click in the beginning :D love it

[alhomeboy]

Love his song selection...not only "No Quarter" but Humble Pie's "I Don't Need No Doctor"..!! Andy & PGS totally know how to put a great product demo together; I'd buy anything they sell just because their demos rule - rock on!!!!!!

[mrflip321go]

No Quarter!!!!! zeppelin4ever

[asmithgdci]

anyone know what he plays with the first bypass signal?

[komahahagrrr]

I love this pedal!! Just got it and it's easily the best Distortion I've heard. Well done MXR, the best.. :))

[danielrc14]

Tool!!

[ihatemikestanley]

@Alanrymeswithmelon And the riff for No Quarter. Since Tool covered it better than Zeppelin it counts as another Tool song :D

[DerEchteBold]

@ihatemikestanley

to me "no quarter" is a crowbar song

they did it back in 93

(way better than tool or zep)

[RedPaperTowels]

NO QUARTER!!!! :D

[northstarallstar]

I like how he actually plays popular songs unlike the other demos which are just stupid blues scales

[Dennizzz119]

Is it possible to put this in an already drive channel?

Or would it destroy the sound ?

[WASD9ox]

@Dennizzz119 you'd want a good noise gate and it would feedback a lot i'd say

[DLjohny]

@Dennizzz119 It works very well. At least with Blackheart.

[wildcatp7]

I have this pedal and gives its best with a les paul and a marshall

[imacoolkid613]

@Shaun7189 A mesa lol... eh, its hard to get a recto sound out of a pedal, you get a nice dark overdrive out of this pedal, but its not a rectified sound, you should look for an amp that actually has a rectifer in it.

[DiffrentNotes]

I think this pedal is really nice sounding for a humbucker guitar with a high gain setiing, nice with a strat for a mid gain setting! Awseme pedal!

[badmonkey2082]

hey man, nice demo. does this pedal add mids?

[NoKeTri]

whats that riff your playing at the beginning?

[barrybar22]

@NoKeTri aenima tool

[jorgefuzzomendez]

damn! *o*

[journeyquest1]

Sounds alot better than the DS1 garbage. MXR stuff is better than the Boss pedals for the most part. My DS1 is now a doorstop.

[journeyquest1]

When are you going to review the new mxr 78 distortion pedal?

[behlau12]

no apologies sum 41

[gwugluud]

I don't need no doctor, but I need a psychiatrist so I can deal with the fact that this pedal sounds 10 x more Marshally than my expensive, egg-headed Rockett Pedals Animal pedal !

[Jalpow]

Would this sound good combined with an overdrive? eg. MXR GT-OD? Thanks.

[Charlot1962]

Great great sound, cant wait to plug it into my Marshall JCM800 and my Les Paul, i've got chills allready !!

[Krouwkaar]

@Charlot1962 so did you? got JCM800 too and this sounds like a good matchup...

[fendi85fendi]

nfsu2

[haydenf]

what song is that at 2:30 ish

[minid15]

@haydenf its give it all - rise against

[renatoufo]

Hace 2 semanas compre este pedal a 60 dolares , en el video me gusto mucho pero cuando lo escuche en vivo el resultado fue el siguiente: suena un 90% identico al zakk wylde od ( que tambien tengo) , la diferencia es que al MXR DIII le fata mas treble , aun con el potenciometro de tono al maximo el sonido es muy grave , le faltan agudos. No es un mal pedal, aun lo tengo en mi pedalboard pero por ejemplo el BOSS DS-1 suena mucho mas rico y te permite sacar mas sonidos que este pedal.

[summinrandom]

PGS demos are awesome, they show what the pedal can do and make you want to learn the songs, ive learned buzzbomb thanks to Andy haha

[Daan7000]

what is the big difference between mighty red distortion and this one??

[Aehro]

NO QUARTER!

[XmakkuX]

Would MXR Distortion III or Zakk Wylde Overdrive be a better 2nd overdrive/rhythm pedal with my TS9DX ?

[doooomination]

@XmakkuX

Depends - what amp are you using? Do you want to use the 2nd dirt pedal as your higher gain pedal or your lower gain pedal?

[chuckmastazero]

that pedal sounds killer....YOu could pay 350 for a mighty red distortion from Mad Professor, but why? this thing sounds just as good!

[vai9999]

is the mxr true bypass??

[JaredxSmith]

@vai9999 1:09

[56goldlespaul]

This guy got a super sweet tone on "No Quarter" by Led Zeppelin. I'm sold on this pedal just because of that. This pedal is bonin'.

[jesse1291]

Ænima, No Quater, I Don't Need No Doctor, this guy knows all the good riffs

[ottozing]

@jesse1291 holiday and give it all

[mirkus21]

what a great pedal... sounds like an ampli y bought it, at the begining I was a little dissapointed... now its my favourite, said bye bye... to the others!

[DimDim40]

What was the song from 2:30 to 3:00???? I've heard it on Need For Speed Underground 2 but have NO CLUE what it is!!!!

[IsYourDayToRemember]

@DimDim40 Rise against - give it all :)

[Op4Blushift]

@LOLWUTIPWNU I'm not sure about brad, but apparently mike has this and a tubescreamer in his touring rack nowadays, i think brads still just using amp distortion live, but i might be wrong.

[joakoPRIMUS]

Please demo the distortion plus

[milkeatscereal]

i was looking at dist pedals to replace my MT2 and all i saw was pple playing that same old pentatonic scale. Thanks for playing my fav band; tool :)

[metalguitar1011]

@milkeatscereal why would you replace an mt2?

[benc1891]

@metalguitar1011 mt2 is possibly one of the worst piece of crap pedals ever made

[Jomoko123]

@milkeatscereal dude, me too, seriously need to replace that ol' MT2, it's either this or a Blackstar HT Dist.

[3abedthedude]

No Quarter

[fatkidsluvcake95]

yesss rise against! you rock!

[AnRTPgA]

Lol Tool, Rise Against, Led Zeppelin and Green Day

this guy´s a badass

[LOLWUTIPWNU]

this is what brad delson uses.

[MrGibsonJunior]

How would this pedal work mixed in with my Marshall amp's original, natural overdrive?

[nocontrol89]

Sounds more like an overdrive than distortion.. Is it possible to get Seether or Nirvana sounds from this pedal?

[WarmothGuitarist]

@nocontrol89 Overdrive and distortion pedals are the same thing. Overdriving a circuit induces distortion into the signal. Some overdrive pedals just induce less distortion than others. It also depends on the type and sequence of clipping diodes within the circuit. Some create a crunchy distortion, some create a buzzsaw type of distortion, some create a fuzz type of distortion, etc.

Generally for Nirvana, you'd want a fuzz distortion like the Electro Harmonix "Big Muff Fuzz" pedal.

[Shaun7189]

@WarmothGuitarist whats a good pedal then for a buzzsaw type of distortion? something you'd get like on a mesa boogie rectifier? thanks in advance ;D

[hotlion81]

@Shaun7189 rectifier in a pedal: AMT Electronics Legend Amps R1

[maydecember513]

@WarmothGuitarist

Umm... no. Kurt Cobain used a DS-1 for years, as well as an MXR Distortion +.

[FutureKubrick]

Led Zeppelin :D

[ThatSemiOkGuitarGuy]

would adding this to a relatively high gain setting on a tube amp give a good metal tone without getting fizzy?

[andrewalderman]

@ThatSemiOkGuitarGuy I've been using one of these for quite a few years now. If you're pushing this into and already high-gain channel, it won't sound the best. It sounds good with another overdrive in front of it. Modern metal - maybe not. Classic metal - for sure.

[astromekk]

Thanks Andy ! I'm getting one of these !

[nintendoor1]

zeppelin!!!!

[commur]

I Give it all (8) 2:44

[Fluffykuns1]

Rise Against - Survive. Awesome!

[tropotrepo]

@Fluffykuns1  give it all

[chapintex1]

Green Day :)

[bon086]

1:23 No Quarter of Led Zeppelin

[InFuriatedShadows]

i see, a punk distortion pedal?

[TankDriverOriginal]

Do You play on a tube amp? If You do, the demo is quite pointless since tubes affect the sound so much. The pedal seems to be cool. But maybe just 'cause the brand.

[NickolasLacey]

@TankDriverOriginal umm i think your wrong. if you listen to every demo he consistently uses the same guitar and amp, so then you can tell what the amp is effecting and what the pedal is doing.

[Jakeistoocool143]

@tehwasabiking I cant think of a pedal that sounds truly better on a solid-state amp but it will still work. Really, though, you should be saving your money for a tube amp rather than spending it on stompboxes just yet.

[HeresAnOffering]

Hahah Rise Against!

[joakoPRIMUS]

please demo the distortion plus

[skiperklim]

love your voice

[evi07gr]

what's the name of the song that starts at 3:35?

[Swifty2893]

@evi07gr make a guess

[19oregon95]

@evi07gr sounds like somting from green day

[GuitarAddiction7]

@evi07gr its holiday by green day

[haldir23her]

Give it all at 2:26

Rise against!!!! :)

[b44styreraug]

GREEN DAY!!! This pedal kinda sounded like Billie Joe's tone. However, I personally feel that my stock BOSS OS - 2 can do the job too! MXR makes nice pedal. In fact, I kinda feel that MXR pedals has more character than BOSS stuff, there's more variety for you to choose from.

[diogowm2]

normal pedal.. nothing surprising...

[Oliverto1]

whats the name of the song??

[lunchboxattacks1]

I have this and I can say it's a pretty nice pedal. It's a little bit too smooth for the really heavy music but it acts so well as a boost on front of a decently powered valve amp, on top of the amps clean for a clean sustaining lead sound or in front of the dirty channel for a little more gain, tightness and boost :)

[DrEviscerator666]

Nice No Quarter!!!!!!!!! Jimmy Page FTW!

[xX0Jota0Xx]

shit man that's a damn good song selection you got there. Tool, Led Zeppelin, Rise Against, Green Day. Man, i love you.

[ZacharyWeekend]

can this be used for metal aswell ? i couldn't tell. someone plz answer me :(

[ProShredder]

@ZacharyWeekend

Zachary if you want metal buy MXR Fullbore Metal i have this and its F***ING AMAZING!!!!!

[HeilTheOperator]

@ZacharyWeekend First we must understand that metal is more of a playing style than an amount of gain in a stompbox or amp. Yes, we need a least amount of saturation to play metal but it's your dinamics and riffs which give the character of such genre. In my opinion this works for some sub generes in metal, but not for the heaviest. It also depends of the pickups you are using and the amp you own. If the gain of this pedal on its own isn't enough for your needs, try it as a preamp! Regards Fer

[moucon]

@HeilTheOperator dinamics? Freudian slip - dinn-amics ;-)

[serve4life]

whats the difference between this and the mxr classic distortion?

[adamw98]

this or the DS-1... I want a new pedal and if i get this will it be a good replacement for the DS-1

[KiodoMotoGodo]

good sound

[PushedBox]

andy is fucking cool!

[razormusik]

This thing nails the rise against tone!  WANT!

[Sexytime0mad]

doesnt have much sustain

[limescout]

This pedal sounds great, at a great price. It's one of those dist. pedals that fits comfortably between minimal gain crunch pedals and cold ultrahigh gain metal pedals.

[TheMushroomDog]

I'd play through this pedal "Any fuckin time, any fuckin day!"

[thehornypuppy]

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet fucking intro man! Hahahah yeah!

[sharrer2]

Led Zeppelin, Tool, Rise Against, Green day and various other. :o Andy. You're beyond cool.

[ubad00d]

what amp you playing through?

[tommytomat0]

i never thought i'd hear andy play rise against (:

i'm liking this pedal, sounds to be a versatile beast

[jimmyboo5]

finnaly someone who doesn't play only bluesy shit like that guy from world music suplies

[TheSchoolsux345]

does this use a tube?

[stewie9793]

@TheSchoolsux345 no, its just very natural sounding

[TheSchoolsux345]

@stewie9793 then what does analog even mean?

[sanquilo]

@TheSchoolsux345 that it's not using an ad/da converter and a digital chip to create the distortion. It's created by an analog way: transistors amplify the signal, then diodes tied to ground clip the sound.

[TheSchoolsux345]

@sanquilo Thank you, ive always wondered.

[IslandThreeBand]

damn thats a nice overdrive

[GuitArch54]

WOW

This thing has a sort of buit in compressor effect. The sustain is long and sweet but not gritty or high gain. At least through single coils. Even Andy's strat rig sounds completely different than what I am hearing. I can get a smooth Hendrix sound that is really amazing. And each of the 5 switch setting has a more distinct ring than most of the other pedals I tested. One of the best, what a jewel.

[AShaver182]

hell yeah rise against! good song choices

[morganchavis]

what is the song at 2:27? I know I've heard it I just can't figure it out.

[bfv102290]

No, it's Led Zeppelin - No Quarter. Please pay more Led Zeppelin stuff with the LOVEPEDAL PURPLE PLEXI!

[theShowStopper321]

This does have a crunchy tube amp sound. I'm stuck in a rut of what to get: This, the GT-OD, the Hardwire Tube or the Hardwire Valve.

[theShowStopper321]

Would this be good thru a JCM 800 on either input to get a crispy, not too heavy early Van Halen(Van Halen 2, Fair Warning, 1984?)

[theShowStopper321]

Could this pedal sound good as the main overdrive on the low input of a JCM 800 and boost the high input? I like a real hot, crispy drive but not too distorted, more like EVH Fair Warning, 1984.

[thmsrojo]

bought this pedal, can say absolutely adore it, and its much cheaper than other pedals out there.

[theShowStopper321]

@thmsrojo Does this emulate real tube overdrive fairly well? Im stuck between this or the Digitech Hardwire Tube Drive.

[matthew909]

does anyone think this could get a distortion sound like 30 seconds to mars? or any other pedals that can? other then the shitty boss ones...

[TheSchoolsux345]

i like how they use a les paul and a strat because theyre so different that you never know

[GoatRocker95182]

wow.. i seriously think Andy has the widest range of playing styles out of all pedal reviewers on youtube.

[GoatRocker95182]

wow.. i seriously think Andy has the widest range of playing styles out of all pedal reviewers on youtube.

[RemoKinga]

@GoatRocker95182

thats what i like about andy,

hes like a bag of riffs, you never know what ur gunna get

[GoldenGibson31]

rise against!!! hell yeah!!

[saraband0]

I want this as a more normal sounding pedal than my Boss Xtortion.

[fffffcccckkkk]

i've been researching overdrive/distortion pedals for a long time and i think i'm sold on this. thanks for the review.

[saraband0]

Tool- Aenemia

Damn- Andy has good taste

[ViciousGuitarist]

hellz yeah

[TimeWolf26]

@saraband0

Green Day - Holiday

I don't think so :)

[wyldefan00]

@TimeWolf26 if you're referring to the first riff played then no it's not Green Day, it is Tool

[Holykatzbob]

@TimeWolf26 actually it is...

[fuegofreak]

@saraband0 eww fuck no...

[RoboSteveMan]

Led Zeppelin-No Quarter haha

[b4ra2]

mxr pedals are not true bypass

google harder

[MatiazPdl]

Which jack plug are those?? (brand/model)

[buthetbecco]

0:08 ... what song guys?

[DaTimeHat]

@buthebecco

Aenima, by Tool

[dazpatreg]

he was listening to a lot of tool at the time i bet