MXR MC402 CAE Boost / Overdrive Demo Video

[isScoobyDooby]

Nice case!...but who really knows unless they play it themselves.

I say:Ethos overdrive, Hermida Zendrive (orig or 2) G2D Morpheus,Menatone None More Black,HAO Omega drive 16 Dark Side, Fulltone OCD,Catalyst & Fulldrive,

[kenjikitahara]

Thank you for making the demo. I just saved myself $150.

[HeavyMetalMasterSid]

Metal crunch, what the hell was The dick who made this smoking when he labeled it "metal crunch"... Its about as crunchy is soggy wafer ffs!

[bandmaster188]

i bought one of these and sent it back as i thought the overdrive was broken.

turns out they all sound broken!

[EGGJAZZ]

metal crunch- what a joke

[Mannnncho1]

How would this thing soung i I connect it direct to mixer and sound sistem without amp? anybody know??

[RoboRocker69]

@Mannnncho1 Without speaker emulation...like shit. This is not an guitar amplifier modeler. You need to have this connected to an amp to get a proper sound...it's merely and effect pedal.

[Whoelsewoulddie4u]

Ok... So how does it sound with od and the boost together???

[RoboRocker69]

@Whoelsewoulddie4u Like a boosted overdrive. If you are going into a clean channel, then they sound great when both on. It's essentially two pedals in one. Let's suppose toy are connected to a clean channel on your amp, use the distort for rhythm, then click on the boots for some extra gain ans sustain...the volume won't go up much since that's not the nature of any boots pedal. For that you would need a second master volume on your amp.

[TheMusicDude1997]

god I hate this guy... O_O

[ottozing]

1:16 pinch harmonic fail

[Divljina89]

@ottozing Not his fault. Just not enough "umph".

[NickMass35]

These pedals really only work well with an amp that is already over driven. Just to add a bit more of what you already have.

[progjazzfusion]

@NickMass35 - yeah for the boost part, but not the od section, which is just farty fuzz that ruins anything going thru it at any level.

[headbagger63]

does this guy always insists on having the mids on his amp turn all the way up

[pepachet]

@headbagger63 I reckon thats the SG giving that thick middy tone! Would like to hear it demoéd with a strat and Tele as well!

[headbagger63]

@pepachet dude its in all his demos listen to them. i said the same thing once. But its just him

[Gregrg7]

I saw this in a photo of Slash's touring rack.

[butterknucklez]

@Gregrg7 i just look his vulgar display of power section in the guitar world with jeff beck in the front and it shows that he has the one with only the boost

[acer993]

synyster gates use this pedal

[slugpumper1]

Guys - check out the Demo of this pedal at The Toneshack - sounds brilliant - through a tube amp.

Why cant the get the decals straight - every pedal I have seen the letters are down on the left hand side - that would bug the shit out of me.

[slashthebestone]

i have it! its really nice! you just can't use it with a Solid state amp like mine! THEN it will get very fuzzy and farty! and a OD pedal just makes YOUR distortion better..it doesn't create distortion! at least..it isn't supposed to..if you want a distortion pedal you should try another one

[crow66693]

wow,subtle blues sucked.

[conradlangley]

dont rate it

[mrboverbro]

metal tone is way to fuzzy

[burninganubis]

holy dude, nice hat and beard. if anything this makes me not want to use or buy this pedal because of said beyond beard and hat.

[jroldan6]

I bought one. The overdrive is a piece of c..p At the end of the sound there is a nasty noise. i contacted the manufacturer to inform them and see if i can repair it in some way: no response. The boost does color you tone! adds highs. Big dissapointment. There is no way i can return it. I live in Mexico.

[shkiddles]

I'm sorry but the word overdrive is in the title and I used to own this pedal. There are way better options out there. Sorry.

[shkiddles]

worst demo ever. And Worst Pedal.Metal Crunch My assssssss."Heres my clean (distorted to pieces ) Tone" He He.Man,if they spent the same money on the Marketing hype as they did on the developement of this thing,it might have been worth it.....

[mufc0794]

@shkiddles the idea of this pedal is not to be used as a standalone OD but actually to use it as a boost for a lead or to give you a tad more of sustain not to use it as an actual OD

[asianlydian]

ur gay

[EndlessMagic]

what's clean about that when he said "nice clean lead"????

[firegeek22]

Is this a line driver too like the individual pedal?

[progjazzfusion]

@gibsonfreak909 like I said, I compared the parts. mxr is a large company and these boards are made with generic lowest cost parts by automatic wave soldering. they are too large to substitute diff material caps and/or res to change sound like smaller places do. i;ve been building and modding pedals probably long before you or most others...way before the internet.. and again I've asked before, if anyone can prove a difference between the gtod and zw44 is, i'd love to know. they copy boss sd-1

[ranga5110]

if its so crap how come so many ppl use it, slash, syn gates loads of people

[geoPhaze]

@ranga5110 dude, it is called marketing.... people are paid to say i use it so you will think it is good.

[stratguy123456]

It seemed perfect until I heard that WHERES THE SUSTAIN?

[BlueBuddha]

sunglasses? really?

[8bigtubes]

Damn that sounded like shit!

Sorry but as much of a CAE fan that I am, that pedal sounds like you're plugging into an old Marshal 20-watt Valvestate combo. Grainy, fizzy distortion with no sustain whatsoever.

[EvaSlash]

@8bigtubes i know i had this its such a piece of shit. there is no sustain nothing at all. it sounds like bees in a tin can. i am selling it now

[theShowStopper321]

@EvaSlash I hate distortion pedals that sound like razor blade saws and bees. I like natural, organic drive and not razor blades

[dabc587]

I prefer Zakk´s.... and I think Zakk´s is better anyway

[Linkszal75]

what ever happened to the mxr double shot distortion???

did this replace it????

this demo sucked, he didnt combine them and he should have started clean so we could get a better idea on the pedals tune

[allemos]

It's not a good demo. The "bypass" is yet dirty enough... And how about the low drive settings?

[progjazzfusion]

uh, the "bypass" sound on this video is still overdriven...that's cheating using an amp already gained up to be able to tell the real gain of the pedal. I have this pedal and it sucks by the way. very farty and fuzzy, middy and compressed. it is total shit. not for metal or blues. maybe for shit amature grunge garage rock, and that's it.

[DAMAGE666INC]

isnt this meant for a BOOST

like those pedals are for boosting the overdrive in an amp for a more distorted sound

it isnt meant for the pedal alone

[progjazzfusion]

No it's not just a boost. it has a separate overdrive section meant to be used alone without the boost, and that is what sucks about it...terrible overdrive tone. The boost part is fine and clean and does it's job, but the od sucks very largely

[DAMAGE666INC]

i see i would expect an mxr to be a lot better quality

[zirkonflex]

@progjazzfusion

Actually its a Boost/Overdrive, its supposed to be an addition to your amp gain.

They even say its main feature is that it doesn't color your amp, it just gives more gain.

[progjazzfusion]

@zirkonflex - no it's not just a booster. it's a colored fuzzy overdrive too. one or the other. he says the OD part gives "classic overdrive"...uh no...classic overdrive is not fuzzy farty mush. the clean boost part is fine, but the overdrive part is major shit.

[mvbastosmusic]

@progjazzfusion it's suposed to be already overdriven... he's testing a boost pedal lol

[progjazzfusion]

@mvbastosmusic again I'm not dissing the clean boost part, but when he engages the OD part it's cheating if amp is gained up already. i owned this and it sucks.

[acer993]

@progjazzfusion i dont think you are using it right

[progjazzfusion]

@acer993 - uh yes I'm using it right...its not hard to use. it is 2 pedals in one. the boost part is ok, but the separate "overdrive" part sucks doggie doo. boost is not hard to do. the overdrive part is farty garbage and does not sound this way in real life thru a clean amp like most guys would do. to judge the overdrive correctly we need to hear the amp clean first, and his "bypass" sound is not clean. if someone wants just a boost pedal thay would not buy this, they buy this for the overdrive

[progjazzfusion]

@acer993 - the boost part is fine, the od part is farty fuzz, not od.

[headbagger63]

@progjazzfusion tihs is the first bad comment for this pedal i've seen was playing around with once i like the tone of it what settings did you have

[pepachet]

@progjazzfusion What kind of amp are you running through? If its an average amp to begin with then its just going to boost an average sound.

I run my 402 through an Egnater Renegade with the clean channel just shy of breaking up and the dirt channel at about half gain. This pedal just adds some nice grit to the front end of the amp and gets my toes curling!

Maybe try a Suhr Koko boost if you don't like this!

[progjazzfusion]

@pepachet - once again, i am not complaining about the clean boost section of this pedal, it is the separate overdrive section that is built in that sucks, and i use custom tube amps of all kinds, doesnt matter...sucky OD is sucky OD.

[pepachet]

@progjazzfusion I think he was definitely misleading by tell people it does metal because it really isn't that high gain. I run mine through a Egnater Renegade and I really like it!

I have heard the Suhr Koko is pretty cool too, have you tried one?

[progjazzfusion]

@pepachet - see new post by @n1ll3r - he got it. it doesnt even do overdrive is my point, much less metal.

And no i never tried those amps. No pedal's needed if your amp is good, pedals just degrade them in my opinion, unless you are just talking the boost part, thats fine.

[n1ll3r]

@progjazzfusion I just got this, and MXR should really rename this to "Boost/Fuzz". Ain't got shit to do with an overdrive. I have the MXR ZW Overdrive - THAT's an overdrive.. This is a fuzzy version of Boss's Metal Zone, with a boost.

[progjazzfusion]

@n1ll3r - glad we agree, yeah that's exactly what i was trying to warn people about this...they make it out like it will be some sweet boutique OD more like the mxr ZW or GT but better, and those are pretty good OD's, but the cae is just a farty loose fuzz at best (with clean boost added too, but that part is easy).

[steelwizard]

@progjazzfusion

I don't think it's cheating because pedals like this are intended to be used that way.

Did you use it in front of a driven amp or through a clean amp?

But yeah, a lot of those official MXR Demo videos aren't very good.

[RoboRocker69]

@steelwizard Very true...you can use this pedal on a slightly dirty channel and use the boost for added oomph during solos, or use the distortion to really saturate your sound. There are no rules. Can be used either way during a performance...adds incredible versatility to your live sound. I use it on both clean and slightly driven dirt channel on amp.

[hiway52]

Which pedal do you guys think would give a better, sweeter "classic" rhythm crunch... this one, or the green MXR GT overdrive? I'm using a gibson guitar and a 50 watt Marshall "plexi" RI.

thanks-- hiway52

[KittySniper37]

i need the exact same advice! :P but i think im gonna go with this it seems alot better and sounds great with more effects

[hiway52]

Speaking of, I recently came across a pedal that blew my doors off.... check out the HAO rust driver-- thru my plexi it's the next best thing to cranking it up!! Tight, punchy, full, crisp and sweet all at the same time. It's especially good for AC/DC or even Scorpions-type rhythm guitar sounds!

Wonder how it compares to the GT...

[theShowStopper321]

@hiway52 Which HAO are u talking about, the green plexi one with one knob and a switch for 3 modes?

[troyguitarist]

The GT for sure! This is almost like a fuzz but the GT is pure overdrive, nice and crunchy.

[progjazzfusion]

yes I agree!!! i had both, that's correct the cae is farty fuzzy and the GT tighter and classic overdrive how you want it. The cae is junk.

[belafarinrodisgod]

Ive got the GT-OD ! Its awesome!

[progjazzfusion]

the green mxr GT overdrive is GREAT! way way way better than this cae od boost! I had both. Totally different, you cant even compare them! p.s. the GT overdrive is suposedly the same as the mxr zakk wylde. it even says zakk wylde on the board of the green mxr GT od....they are very close copies of the boss super overdrive becuz zakk used that for years, but there are slight parts differences so they sound a bit different from the boss but not much.

[belafarinrodisgod]

The ZW and the ZW arent the same !

The ZW got scooped mids while the GT got boosted mids!

[progjazzfusion]

please prove they are not the same. i think they are the same. Can you play both in a video demo at same settings? I have the zakk od schematic in front of me and it looks same as the green GT od....near identical to the boss SD-1 which zakk used to use.

[BluPup8]

I've never heard anyone say they are the same but you.

[progjazzfusion]

That's because probably no one else looked inside and saw they use the same circuit board, or compared the schematics or parts. The GT-OD board says ZW-44 on it, the model of the zakk OD pedal. MXR does this all the time. There are others that are same from them as well but marked differently. Like the red mxr "distortion III" is the same as the black mxr "classic distortion".

[theShowStopper321]

@hiway52 Im in the same boat. Id think the GT-OD or the Distortion 3. Its basically a super overdrive more than distortion. I have a Marshall JCM 800 RI and I want a pedal that could be used as the main overdrive sound on the low input and as a driver on the high input. I want the early VH crispy sound from Fair Warning, 1984, VH2.  Not too heavy but very edgy and dynamic

[joel9039]

amazing