MXR M-104 Distortion Plus Guitar Pedal

[RuXTaR]

This pedal has almost the same circuit as the DOD 250. I built both of them off the same circuit. This pedal is higher gain, you can easily change the clipping by changing the diods inside, super easy, again. So if you think it's too hot just swap the diods out and put in LED's or something like that. Honestly? This pedal (the clone i built of this pedal with the diods I used) sounds good with a strat with singles, good with humbuckers, and same with drop B tuning with .11 strings on.

[bigcatroberts]

isn't this an overdrive pedal?

[SpinalAlloy]

No, idiot, it's purple! OF COURSE IT'S YELLOW!!! WE'RE NOT IN 1ST GRADE!!!

[minedarea]

Not a good demo. This is a great pedal, but you wouldn't really know it from this.

[Fernandez3995]

Is the clean channel on while he's doing this?

[MichaelD8393]

@Fernandez3995 up until 2:43 he is.

[tomakiakls]

fuck you

[TheAzurefang]

Great video, very helpful. Thanks Jason.

[baconstealer1]

good job you got the color right! now reward yourself with a cookie!

[feblig95]

thinking of buying one of these is it as worth the money?? or is it just shit??

[el9ctronic]

@feblig95 i've got one, it's pretty tubey sounding, but it's REALLY trebly when you turn the volume past one oclockish . you might need an eq if you want to use it as a distortion. i just use it to boost my big muff

[FZmustacheFZ]

Did anyone else find this guy's constant fucking swallowing really annoying? Sorry, I know that's not what the video's about, but jeeeeez.

[el9ctronic]

@FZmustacheFZ oooooooooooh fuck yes, it's disgusting. blubberface

[ka0ism]

Hey dude, you got the color right, kudos!

[Divljina89]

Ma daj bre Spenseru jebi se vise...

[bowserwars]

You have to have the volume up most of the time. I've got a 1978 block logo version and it's much better. Not fizzy - fat and quite compressed

[crazkurtz]

I bought this pedal, and love it, but with the output at anything but full it cuts my volume. In these videos it doesn't seem to cut the volume. Am i doing something wrong?

[cerfew601]

@crazkurtz is the battery dead?

[crazkurtz]

@cerfew601

No, i use a wallwart.

[realkman666]

@crazkurtz Doesn't cut the volume, are you mad?

[electrickithara]

Nice demo! I love crunch and grit.

[xBuRToN126x]

if i want a van halen sound what distortion pedal should i use

[runrunrun854]

@xBuRToN126x ?v=ZwkGQRSPHDE&feature=fvw

[fgonzalezb1990]

It's yellow... hahahahaha

[DaveDaevil]

I don't understand why people hate jason too much?!

He just helped me noticing the pedal was yellow!

[Djsukyy]

OMG i want that pedal sooo much. :D

[chuckmastazero]

@Djsukyy I had one of the original distortion+ boxes years ago...got it from my uncle, along with the 73 marshall JMP 50 thats sitting in my practice space right now...I don't know what happened to the pedal though :(

[Matheusfk3]

one thing i didn't want to hear, but i heard was : Roll it back, but anyway this was the only pedal review i've seen that the clean tone wasn't crunch, it was CLEAN

[loggsoul]

gay pedal .

[itsbuzzsaw]

Stop swallowing.

[pootangdalama92]

@itsbuzzsaw

i have been watching alot of pedal reviews and i swear in all the world music supply videos theres like 6-7 seperate people demoing gear and all they do is swallow or look like they are holding back a fat burp. i think they must work near a fast food outlet or something as its rediculous!!!!

[SethYoda71]

IT'S YELLOW!?!?!?!

[MLplayer78]

@taygoo13 rofl

[Doominess]

oh my zombie jesus, it is yellow

[Rhizomio]

You know, you could see someone about that mole.

[guitarsbunch347]

i am not sure what is worse, him or the guy from gearwire!!!!

[MrSkeff]

that mxr sounds like ass

[OmriLahavComposer]

This guy puts me to sleep...

[CaldaroneRyan]

Crank both knobs and throw it in front of a dirty valve amp and you've got kickass tone reminiscent of K.K. Downing and Randy Rhoads.....what you DON'T do with this unit, is play it with low distortion settings on a clean sparkly amp.

[GrigoriSom]

MUCH nicer than the Boss DS-1.

[JacobSmithUK]

did randy rhoads use that

[vaibanez17]

@JacobSmithUK Yes he did.

[RR5GUITAR]

@JacobSmithUK Yupp

[bigmuffexpress]

At this setting we lose ALOT of volume... so I will turn it up a LITTLE BIT.

[trenticle]

Ugh, good review gone bad by way of Korean junk guitar on the review. Those pickups are soooo dull.

[yhcnoR]

i was wondering why my pedal glowed in the dark. it kinda freaked me out..

[GuitarNiimura]

@yhcnoR haha

[Musicunseen95]

I LOVE JASON SPENCER!!!! :(

[IDP5150]

Whats wrong with the swaoling speach !!?

[itsbuzzsaw]

Randy Rhoads's Pedal. Can't be that bad.

[YourNameHere136]

@itsbuzzsaw randy uses one of these? i have one and didnt know he used one too

[danogolden]

@YourNameHere136 yeah, I dont know about the whole song, but crazy train's solo is played with this, and it was recorded with this

[AllBluesCat]

2:10 & 3:10; sounds like a harmonic minor scale run. I could be wrong, my theory isn't all that.

[AllBluesCat]

2:10 and 3:10; Jason Spencer trademark lick run.

[Fab13]

Come on !!! You're on a soundproof room, let's rock, push the volume up !!

[MrSFblack]

not a bad pedal,u can get a pretty good sound out of it.anyone complaining about the host playing the same lick or whatever,hes not trynna show off his playing u dumb fucks hes here to show off the equipment.last i checked,ppl were watching to check out the pedal.

[serve4life]

blues licks on a distortion pedal? leave these pedals to the rockers or at least do chord riffs. just my opinion

[litlemadguitarist]

HE always plays the SAME FUCKING LICK IN EVERY BLOODY VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But at least its not as bad as that gearwyre dude who looks like hes gonna break down any minute!

[riderdude10]

"this is it, its yellow, it has two nobs.." WELL NO FUCK! WE CAN SEE! This guy just looks like he shouldn't be doing pedal demos, I'm sorry. Yes, Pro guitarshop and gearmanndude are the best pedal demos/reviews on Youtube.

[Edor12345]

it might also be blue... maby its just youtubes bad qaulity, cause i dont trust that guy.

[rhettvlog]

swallow a little louder next time

[ImUnd3cid3d]

Why Spencer do you have a Schecter c-1 you anal bandit... They are purely for cool people, your balding and your in your late thirties.

[justinwiggy]

what a jackass comment!

[reallyguitarhero]

amen

[MaggaraMarine]

@Runelaier The thing what's wrong is your amp. Distortion pedals are not designed for Micro cube. Get a better amp and then try. Get a non-digital amp.

[Runelaier]

thanks =D

[gratefuljrp]

yeah, spencer is an ass clown. gearmandude or proguitarshop are the way to go for pedal demos.

[guitarshredda2]

amen!!!

[Erock09291]

no one cares what it sounds like if he's not playing anything interesting

[Bracho007]

es un pobre huevon que no sabe vender ni exibir un efecto.

[1234Sebster]

Can this give a good randy rhoads tone ?

[leftnutnamedchancey]

This guy is too quiet!  Crank it up!

[brooklynstudio]

1:54 Starts to play Eruption... ends in blues licks... Nice pedal, but this guy always seems to sound the same.

[WoxHax]

who cares for what he plays? it's not like he's playing to show off anything, but just so people can hear what the pedal sounds like.

[12kirkhinrich12]

DS-1 is better!

[gree17]

MXR would be so pissed if they saw you demoing there pedal. your literally driving away customers.

[GlicVideo]

he always sounds too quiet, I can't really HEAR the sound...

[MattiGardners]

i have a multi effects pedal but the metal tone is not really that great if i bought the distortion plus would it sound better, or would it siund better just buying a mxr fullbore metal?

[TheGuitarPlayer80]

get the distortion plus if you want a vintage distortion, I think Randy Rhoads used it. The Fullbore Metal is for hardcore metal players

[joakorush2112]

badass video. i mean, are they stupid or something?

[TheJonOhBoy]

He must be colour blind

[torbjorn66]

i have not heard this guy make a pedal sound good... either he's shit or there are no good pedals out there? im thinking the first one...

[ROCPALMER]

I agree, check out Andy at pro guitar shops for good reviews.

[skitheport]

why does he feel the need to say its yellow and has 2 knobs, like we are all blind

[paparazzi3p]

ROGAINE FUCKFACE

[CBDash]

Hey, the amp he is using in this video... is that amp any good? how many watts? price?

[DevoGuitar08]

I think it's a good amp, not the best, but it's ok.

Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 401

40W All-Tube Combo

In Europe, it costs about 840€

[prophetdude2]

wish he'd play it on a better guitar.

[distortionator1]

its yellow, no duh

[Mastahboys]

sounds great

[tannerwhit]

anyone know a good pedal to get an iron-maiden like sound?

[321Arizona]

i have a boss ds-2 and it has both the ds 1 and ds2 built in and gives it that sort of punch gainy sound they have

[Ajbadboy252]

Dave Murray and Adrian Smith used Marshall 1960a stacks but Adrian smith used an Ibanez ts-9 tube screamer most likely for a boost during his solos

[GreenManalishi8151]

This pedal is not to be used in front of a clean amp. Put it in front of a tube amp that is already overdriving, it sounds much better. This demo sounds like ass.

[VanfHimself]

It's yellow?!

no kiddin O-o

dumbass

[Zevonfan524]

Why does he never demo anything with power chords?

[Mastahboys]

what distortion pedal can i get for the clapton/ slash tone? pls reply :D

[GaganSambhi]

slash uses this pedal

[Arj3n182]

Are you sure about that?

[GaganSambhi]

i'm pretty sure, cuz in a guitar magazine i have, it has his setup, and that's one of the pedals he uses.

[topografer]

who with a marshall dsl 401 would need this?:P

[Radomu]

Why does Jason Spencer not get it?

[jamesgarvey12345]

thick and heavy? ha

[SpiffyPunx]

i usually don't like schecters, but his sounds good on the clean demo. fa sho i'd rather just use the dirty channel on that amp

[brampy]

the marshall distortion sounds better than the pedal

[kebekoi66]

Of course!

[topografer]

the marshall's got overdrive, not distortion, if i'm not fooled

[cobracarg]

marshall overdrive, you mean...

[GuitarsBlood]

hillbilly playing rock

[malice667]

what a idiot. shows how sounds when off with depth playing, then turns on and plays very high notes.. really good to compare them, isnt it?

[alish911]

i hate the way he says distortion

[varone6t9]

for everyone saying its a bad pedal it really isnt...reason why this video has a bad tutorial on it is because hes playing it on a plain clean channel..this pedal is good if u have a crunchy amp as a clean signal like a marshall jcm 800 like what randy rhoads had with this pedal hooked up. What im getting at is its a good pedal when u have it hooked with a hot roded amp.

[GuitarsBlood]

wish I could cook his balls

[Coppulor]

why???? that would kill all the enzymes. raw is much better for you  : )

[Lovecannon]

You sir have posted the weirdest comment I have ever seen. Congratulations, I wish I could shake your hand.

[cknollmeyer]

yuk. not the pedal, him. and yes. it is yellow.

[Coppulor]

sounds very buzzy to me. it DOESNT sound "crunchy and heavy and thick" to me.

[befrankis]

sounds fucking weak and buzzy and too trebley

[Coppulor]

okay, thats what I really wanted to say : )

[taygoo13]

are you sure its yellow Jason.

[GuitarsBlood]

I HATE JASON SPENCER!

[yondaime597]

I know right? he plays the same licks and theres nothing special with him. Heck, even I could beat him in exciting guitar playing.

[joakorush2112]

i dont like this guy

[Teutonic1250]

Randy Rhoads used this...wow

[100roberthenry]

ITS YELLOW SHIT....

[Gibson2471]

how does jamie cook get his sound on this cause this seems like it only gives really crunchy

[guitarclancy]

crunchy amp, crunchy guitar +

if you go to the dolphin music website theres a picture of his pedalboard with the levels on it

[ski5150]

It's amazing to think that Randy Rhoads used this thing...I think it sounds crappy in this demo...a pure testament to Randy's ability..

[joed424]

he put in front of a dirty marshall plexi

[HarryRulesAll]

the guy iz like wtf this thing sux

[smausetrap]

its yellow......no shit worst demos I've seen

[wonderbaums]

This demo doesn't do this pedal any justice at all

[justin0x77]

which is better this or distortion 3

[ChillBroify]

1Prouditalian no offense dude but if you dont know much about guitars your wasting money with a angus young sg or a dark fire i mean you should prob learn to play before you buy a 2000 guitar. just an opinion though. good luck!

[ChillBroify]

fuck gibson. fender man all the way no way a gibson and a marshall can compare to a vintage american strat through a twin reverb thats holy grail right there

[mistercrane]

what about a gibson les paul into a marshall 1959?

it's all about style and the sound you like

[ralgrad]

no. i own a warlock. its a shitty guitar.

[ossisanttufilms]

Its yellow... SHERLOCK!!

[1ProudItalian1]

I was thinkin' about buying the Gibson SG Angus Young? Anyone got some feedback?

[therapist123321]

cant really go wrong with it, its a nice guitar, but its a little too much, i dont really go for signatures anyways, you can take the money for what they cost and pretty much have something better, but its up to you dude

[1ProudItalian1]

I see. I don't know much about guitars. I tried to google different words like "pros and cons of gibson and fender." and "Fender vs. Gibson." They are the best guitars I have heard. I like the way the Angus Young sounds. I also like Jimi Hendrix's smooth style, but I like Randy Rhoads's melodic, fast and kind classical style.

[therapist123321]

well you are right, fender and gibson are the best "all around guitars". i would recommend one of these if you want to play lots of different styles, but if you want to play just metal i recommend getting a jackson or esp. but fender strat and gibson les paul/sg are good for all around guitar playing, they both sound great for just about anything. and dont let anybody tell you they cant be used for metal, cause the guitarist for iron maiden uses a strat and zakk wylde uses a les paul.

[1ProudItalian1]

I see. I'll probably get the Gibson. I've only heard good things about it. Do you know how Randy Rhoads has such a clean sound? When he plays, it seems like there is no static at all. Everything is clean, and in tune. Is there some kind of pedal that reduces the static sound. Like it seems like you can hear each string clearly. I'm trying to word this question as best I can..

[KhaozMaker94]

yes..there are some noise reduction pedals..

[falloutboy7778]

dont get a maestro tho they suck i got a maestro from gibson its a nice starter guitar but once u learn to play its just not made for fast playing and u cant finger tap it at all the bridge came too high on mine and i had it lowered and had the strings lowered and i still cant play high notes like my frets in the 20's cus they sound like crap

[1ProudItalian1]

I see. I kind of like the darkfire gibson, but it kind of seems like just not really for talented guitarists. I want a Gibson, but I think the SG Angus Young is really nice. I just wonder, how is it Randy Rhoads was able to sound so clean? It's like you can hear every single not he is playing by itself, yet you can hear the entire composition. It's hard to explain... I was thinking about getting the Jackson Randy Rhoads? I was looking at the Gibson the other day. I need to save more for an amp..

[cockofdoody4ftw]

i know what you mean. if ur planning on randys style or stuff, get a nice les paul, (reccomend a gibson studio or top line epiphone) studios have great, (cleanliness) what ur talking 'bout is note definition. randy has that because he runs his gibson (or other) through a mxr distortion+ pedal then to his marshall cascade mod amp and uses very little distortion on the pedal but cranks his amp. i cant afford it so i use a od and distortion cranked thourgh a clean amp. sound good?

[cockofdoody4ftw]

oh and make sure you TRY TRY TRY OUT those guitars. dont sit and stare or watch reviews. go to the store, ask for it, run it though some different settings n pedals and find what u like. angus uses his sg with a very little gained up marshall. thats it. put distortion on his and your not gonna get any black sabbath or heavy metal. in my opinion. something about his pickups just makes it it tinny for metal and perfect for rock

[kempobrad]

studio magic lol

[falloutboy7778]

i would personally go with a BC rich cus their not too expensive and the Warlock looks bad ass

[tribaltattoos75]

you suck!

[Aldaraia666]

Man he all did was just solos in this, I wanted to hear some riffing because I'm pretty sure everyone who does buy one will using riffs at least once.

[tjsr21]

why do they never test pedals in front of a cranked amp? these sound infinately better when adding a little crunch and grit to an already pushed amp. They sound thin and shite on their own.

[Jamiebbz91lolz]

I hate Jason Spencer

[BigMateo24]

Yeah but at least this guy can actually play a guitar, unlike that dipshit JD Brake or Blake or what ever.

[senojnomis]

sounds shit why is it called a distortion pedal when it sound like a crap fuzz box

[eddievhfan1984]

Because the pedal is designed to better complement an already-driven amp (Tube Screamer in front of a dirty amp, SRV-style) rather than substitute it. Randy Rhoads kicked this thing in front of a cranked Marshall and made it rock (with a little EQ'ing). But in a way, you're right; if you need something to substitute as a distortion or lead channel, you're gonna want something a bit more useful. But I like it...

[ThePedro999]

NO SHIT SHERLOCK.

[woj1246504]

wow

[eddievhfan1984]

I use it, it's a good pedal, but it's better used WITH a good tube amp, NOT as a substitute. It can turn a Plexi into a Fuzz Face for sure, but it can't turn a Jazz Chorus into a Plexi... :P

[fullofblood]

you posted that on a harmonycentral review right hahaha

[eddievhfan1984]

No, actually not.

[fullofblood]

Ah ok den but did you once watch a multipart video on how to play eruption? p.s. i havent added spyware to ur comp dont wry lol

[fullofblood]

amd sry nt for using puctatio ytube wlndt lt m post a comm

[eddievhfan1984]

What about spyware? And I don't think I did...

[fullofblood]

lol iwas just kidding about spyware lol

[eddievhfan1984]

Besides, I also do prog rock stuff, so I like being able to transition between clean and distortion w/ my volume knob, so I would prefer a Rockman Sustainor or Distortion generator (Autoclean is AWESOME). Anybody got one for under $250?

[joakorush2112]

great pedal

[lordkram]

ITS YELLOW! Gee, what a well thought out description. ok, i felt like being a smart ass. other than that , this sounds very digital.

[caloydaman]

is it just me, or he seems to be playing/ or the pedal hes using, while standing up, sounds/plays better???

[bma473]

I hope other guys will be given opportunities to test distortion pedals at World Music Supply. I have nothing against Jason but all he does is blues. I like to have other guitar players who play pure rock or metal.

[DrFunkyTetris]

"Not really like a blues purists' kinda box, but I think it has a lot of uses..."

This guy should only be allowed to review the Blues Driver pedal.

[gen0x]

Meh, sounds pretty lame.

[davidarlette]

Yes it does here. I don't think it's supposed to be a blues pedal in this way either...maybe for some slide sizzle. Should be demoed in a way it'll get used. I own it. It's OK, but not in the wat it was used here.

[PrsFenderJackson1980]

lol. I like hellstoast comment. This guy was obivious not in love with this distortion pedal.

[PrsFenderJackson1980]

Now listen.  Blues players. If you want EQ control make sure the description says something about that. Don't make a vid bashing a pedal cause you didn't read the description. On less personal note. Problem with stompboxes reviews is that there are too many variables such as; amp, guitarist skill, pickups in a guitar, neck bowing, and so forth.

[PrsFenderJackson1980]

No tone control? Man people are greedy. I figure the amp eq or an eq pedal would help with that.

[imfunpeople]

le veo la cara y ya no me lo banco a este gil.que horrible test por dios,no me voy a cansar de decirlo

[SuperWilliamOld]

this guy must die.