Featuring a ton of features, the Dunlop MXR M75 Super Badass Distortion Pedal covers a full spectrum of analog distortion from early 70s gain to modern metal and every shade between. This distortion pedal review will take a look at the pedal in more detail.
Picture of the MXR M75 Super Badass Distortion Pedal
Features of the MXR M75 Super Badass Distortion Pedal
The MXR M75 is a mounted in standard MXR-style case and has true bypass wiring and five control knobs. The knobs include an overall Output volume, a Distortion knob and a 3 band equalizer. This lets you dial in the amount of distortion you need and then customize the equalization of the sound using the Low, Mid and High knobs. It also has an LED (on/off), a 9v battery compartment and a standard mounted bypass switch. Again, a complaint is that the led is directly above the switch so if you hover your foot, it’s not really possible to see if the distortion is on. I would have put the light between the output and distortion knobs.
Sound Quality of the MXR M75 Super Badass Distortion Pedal
A lot of distortion pedals like the Boss DS-1 or ProCo Rat are really good at making one distorted sound. The MXR M75 shines because of its active 3-band eq which lets you control the sound from a bit of clean country-ish twang right up to a scooped metal sound with every eq setting in between. The pedal is great for the guitarist who really likes to tweak the eq to fit perfectly into a mix. Using the Distortion knob, you can go from a nice clean tone to a gritty saturated distortion rich with harmonics.
The mid control is especially useful in providing vocal-like tones without any of the nasal overtones. The pedal can nearly reproduce any famous guitar tone … everything from Brian May to Boston to Pantera without much overall noise. It is extremely versatile and not “stuck in a rut” like a lot of standard distortion pedals. For the price, the pedal is a great bargain.
Summary Review of the MXR M75 Super Badass Distortion Pedal
In summary, I would suggest the pedal for someone who is looking for a unique high-quality distortion pedal with a cool name and decent features. Although the pedal isn’t super capable of reproducing specific classic tones like a Boss DS-1 or ProCo Rat, the pedal is versatile enough to add to your existing rig. The three band equalizer knobs are highly functional for those who like to tweak their distorted sound and the pedal produces a high quality sound and distortion. I would strongly recommend giving the MXR M75 Super Badass Distortion Pedal a try. Guitar World calls the pedal the best in MXR’s history.
Video Reviews of the MXR M75 Super Badass Distortion Pedals
Below you can see a couple of video reviews of the MXR M75 Super Badass distortion pedal so you can hear the pedal in action yourself: