MXR M78 Custom Badass '78 Distortion Pedal Reviews

I put an MXR Timmy in front of this and Bam! Every Rock Tone from the 70's thru the present is achievable with clear note definition, massive sustain, and a defined silky character that words alone can't quite describe fully.

This pedal is outstanding despite it's low cost.

This is my second distortion pedal and it takes the cake! I was looking for that B.B. King style distortion and I didn't expect this to deliver but it definitely did!

What an awesome pedal. Excellent quality, excellent sound!

Sweetwater rocks as always... why buy your gear anywhere else. Nobody can touch Sweetwater.

I'm a little shocked at how good this pedal is for the price. It's very versatile, offering everything from a light bluesy drive to full on distortion. It has excellent tonal clarity (way better than say my OCD or Plumes), even with heavier distortion. I find I get diminishing returns beyond about 12 o'clock on the distortion knob. But everything to the left of that is very useable.

This pedal also stacks really well. It sounds great when boosted by my Sugar Drive or Snouse Black Box. The crunch button adds a bit of harmonics and really helps the tone cut through a mix.

In short, this might be my favorite distortion pedal. I wasn't expecting much, but it's got a permanent place on my board now.

This pedal has a nice distortion and tone, works well for blues.

Badass pedal.! Perfect to add crunch to my Marshall clean channel..

Very happy with this pedal and Sweetwater.

This is a really great pedal. You can get nice warm blues or crushing metal. I love it.

I have a tubescreamer, an OCD, an MXR 108 fuzz and the Super Bad*** Distortion. You'd think I'd have my basis covered... but so far I'm really digging the 78 Custom! I use a Vox AC10 and mainly play on the middle pick up on my strat (noiseless single coil). I like the clean tone, but I wanted some gritty distortion that didn't get too flabby. This gets the job done! Increasing the gain gives you a great lead tone. I think the tone knob gets a little too dark when you lower it. But other than that, I think it's a keeper got sure!

Great distortion pedal! In my opinion, it is crazy fun, early 80s distortion tone and plays well with all of the best MXR/anaolg pedals of the day. The distortion effect is creamy and predictable, meaning that you can count on it to be consistent in front of various boost/OD pedals - I use several. It's simple to use, sounds great, very affordable and one of my all time favorites. It will always have a home on my pedal board.

This is really a versatile distortion pedal. It can crank out the old school fuzz perfectly! I love it!

I am very satisfied with this pedal. I have a variety of distortion pedals and some work well for certain genres and/or groups. This pedal works well for Classic Rock. I especially like to use it for songs from AC/DC and early Kiss, so far. The controls are pretty straightforward and simple. It also takes up very little space on my pedal board and is very solidly built. It even works well when combined with other overdrive or distortion pedals if you want to use another one with it just for a boost, when doing lead solos.

I have a few other MXR pedals and I am happy with them all. I think the price for this one is very good too.

Great pedal everything from mild grit to all-out metal

If your into Classic Rock, then this is a great pedal to have. It's not Metal sounding at all. You can even "boost" the pedal by simply engaging the "Crunch" button. So, it's very versatile. And, with 3 knobs to work with, it's very easy to shape the sound that resonates with you. When combined with an Overdrive pedal, the "'78 Distortion Pedal" really comes alive. I'm very happy that I purchased this pedal & it's a definite keeper on my pedalboard.

After consulting my rep Andy about two or three pedals, I went for the '78. Four years and several pedals later and I'm still in love with this thing. What you probably don't see in the pictures, when you open the box, you see what appears to be a brushed metal enclosure finished with clear cherry red lacquer - pretty darned classy. This is for people who already love the sound of their guitars and amps but want an "11", or even a "15" setting for your amp whether you have channel switching or not. No tube Screamer mid bump, so if that's your bag, look elsewhere but this does have a subtle tone coloration, more of a "sheen" than a boosted frequency - hard to describe, but it makes it hard at times to turn it off instead of just back the guitar's volume down. The "crunch" button doesn't seem to do anything at all, although I've read different explanations of what it actually does, but as far as I'm concerned it just engages an obnoxious blue L.E.D. (I hate those) that makes it impossible to see your settings. And yes, there is a hint of a "'78" Marshall tone coloration, just to add a bit of garlic to the sauce but not enough to get in the way, not like the boutique pedals designed to imitate classic amps and BE your tone. It's okay at doing the clean boost thing, but that's not what it's built for - don't forget it says "Distortion" right on it. A great, great pedal.

I've never owned a distortion pedal, really have never had any effects pedals. I have a crate gfx65, and the distortion on the amp itself is either not enough on crunch or wayyy too much on overdrive. This pedal through the clean channel is what I'm after, good, articulate distortion without taking it too far. Nice thing about having Sweetwater within ten minutes of the house, I can buy and play the same day!

This pedal rocks sounds so good plays everything bluesy and hard rock from ACDC to ZZ TOP it really makes the sound come alive rather than some pedals don't sound like a plexi amp

Before this pedal, my favorite mxr drive/distortion box was the GT-OD. I really hated this pedal at first. I could not quite get a good sound out of it. As I am leaning towards getting a Blackstar HT METAL 100 amp, something was beckoning me to just break out the red badass in front.

Turns out this is a monster of an overdrive/distortion pedal! There is a learning curve with this, though. As you increase the drive, it is best to turn down the tone. It's kind of a balancing act, but once you get used to it this pedal will sound great. Otherwise, it will sound very shrill, unmusical and piercing! It's meant to be a more amplike version of the distortion +. The addition of the crunch knob definitely cuts down on the fizz and adds much more body to the tone.

Needless to say, I am impressed with this lil red hot rod. It will now be my main overdrive pedal, as it just screams when you are playing leads and solos. This is, by far, one of the best distortion pedals I have ever demoed and it will definitely end up on my board and replace the GT-OD!

I have used literally every overdrive/distortion pedal on the planet. I can say without a doubt that this pedal is full of nasty gritty grungy sort of distortion in other words in ROCKS!

This is my first distortion pedal and I must say this pedal is outstanding for the money.With the Tone knob at 1:00 , the Dist. knob at 10:00 , Output at 8:00 and the amp's settings all at 12:00 sounds like a really good OD pedal.Now the Dist. knob all the way the Tone knob turn back to 9:00 and the thing ROARS!!! I've had this pedal for about a month and half to get different tones out of it,but when I received it on very first day I was blown away.

This was exactly what I was looking for in a distortion pedal. It has the growl and the punch and is one of the pedals that inspires.

The '78 Distortion pedal is one if the best distortion pedals made by one of the best pedal makers. It has a very harmonically rich sound that warms up beautifully on the low end of the tone. The high trebly part of the tone spectrum is pleasantly high without losing tonal character or becoming shrill. Turning on the "crunch" button takes away some of tonal transparent qualities of the pedal and replaces it with a bit of a boost (not too much) and adds a lot of tonal color. This pedal sounds great with humbuckers and single-coils alike. For me, the pedal sounds especially well with the tone at 10 o'clock with a maple neck, alder body strat. It brings out a beautiful warm "woody" character. The distortion turned all the way up is very very smooth without "flattening" or squashing the tone. The construction of the pedal is solid. It's a nice looking pedal too. I have owned and played several distortion pedals over the years and this one is one of the best and is a really great value for the money!!

My boyfriend loves everything retro so this was an ideal gift for him. He loved it!

This is the best distortion pedal that ever pased through my hands, and lately i have the chance to compare this to a zvex distotron, a digitech hardwire valve distortion and another mxr, the GT-OD and this one beats them all, (and if you compare the prices is even better) if you want to get classic rock, hard rock distortion or just some boost ... this is it !!!!

Thanks to Jorge Fernandez, my sales engineer for the fantantic job that he does, he was always there to answer the questions that i have

I am not real big on distortion and my Mesa amp does the job.
But wow, this little, and inexpensive pedal blows you away with the
great distortion sounds and ease of adjustment to dial in exactly want
you want and need. No-brainer, look no further...get one.

If you like Blues or southern rock this pedal is sweet.

I have been playing for over 30 years and this is the first Distortion pedal ive found that really gives you a sound you can make your own any overdrive you put in front of it will help to add o the badass sound. Or go it alone without and you still will make a sound all your own this pedals controls are very reactive to change. Move the tone up and you get a screeeming lead tone move it back and your in blues love land. The badass is the first pedal where every control really makes a different. The price is very good not low like the boss ds1 which i still think is like playing thru a tin can and if thats what you want thats fine. But when your ready to move up to a pedal that will help you shape your own sound this is it. I cant wait to see what else MXR has in line but they have done a great job here dont spend 200 or 300 on pedals that will leave you broke and asking where the sound the Badass is the pedal for you give it a try you will like great job MXR keep it up.

I've spent too much money on pedals just trying to find the right tone for myself. I know the typical pedals that sound great, but wanted to try something unique. I am very particular about my tone. This pedal literally blew my mind man! It doesn't matter what your settings are! There are so many tonal options with this pedal it's fantastic! I bought this and plugged it into a '48 Gibson Amplifier with a '52 Telecaster and it smoked! Next, I used the Gibson SG - and it smoked! If you play nice and soft, the pedal responds nice and soft. Really get into your thing and the pedal will sing for you! I'm more of an overdrive guy, but this is definitely worth having! I think it's a must for anyone for any style. Dig it man!

This little pedal is great, Gives great tones. It nails ac/dc to van halen to def lep. Has real clean tones to dirty but not to muddy higher gain distortion tones. A versatile pedal too But stays in check on your lower notes also. Plays great with seymour duncans. Or any les paul style guitars. It's not a metal zone type pedal or a fullbore. It is a little more inspired by old school distortion sounds on countless records. I was playing bad company all the way to early style whitesnake with ease. It's another pedal where they nailed the distortion sounds of early rock and roll. Thin Lizzy would be proud! I love it, it's fun and different! If your a strummer it is great for chords! It is gaining ppopularity and has great reviews in most mags and online shops!

This pedal does what it needs to do and more. I own at least 6 OD pedals and have never been able to click with a Distortion, but this one gives me so much control I can go from blues to full blown distortion rock with the twist of a knob. The price coupled with the versatility makes it a must have pedal for any tone junkie like me.

There is a tremendous amount of versatility with this pedal. Each adjustment can have a significant impact on the overall tone and effect. From classic rock to 80's metal, this pedal can cover it.

Great sounding pedal! I bought it to get that Randy Rhoads plexi type of tone out of my little Classic 30. I did more then that! This is like having all of your favorite tones ever at your feet. Sweetwater is also the only place I will buy from now! They got this to me in a week, and even a thank you note/pamphlet in the box with it, along with free candy! Thank you!!!!!!

I'v been trolling the net for a distorton/overdrive because I have two pedal boards. One, "The Mothership", with large fairly pricey pedals, some with two footswitches etc. and a small one, "The Spaceshuttle" with mostly MXR sized suff that fits into a lap-top bag. This one had an Electro Harmonix LPB-1 as a lead button and it worked real well with my Vox AC30C2 ut was very noisy. Also I wanted to add some OD to the boosted signal. The MXR '78 is a GREAT pedal that left my expectations i the dust! With a strat and Les Paul special with P-100's it lays itself down beautifully in the sound of the Vox with more fire power than I'll ever use. People these days expect a dist/OD to also searve as a clean boost which is silly. If it says "distortion" right on it, so judge it as one. Well this box does that too - I consider that a bonus. The distortion sounds natural as can be whether the Vox is crunchy or clean. On an almost clean setting on the vox and the '78's dist at 4:00, tone at 12 and output at 9:00-careful, there's a bigger jup in volume with a clean amp-my Les Paul really get that '70's Brit tone in spades. Add more amp crunch an "5" the knobs for a great Americana Strat grind, only with a juicy power pnch for leads that supports that tone instead of changing it. On a dead clean '78 Deluxe Reverb - yep the CBS engineers got to it by then, sadly - crank the Dist for a satiny overdrive that sounds like a real amp. Maybe just leave it on for the whole gig but careful, this got some volume and treble that'll take your head off. And it does all this wit a minimum of noise (applause....)!! I was prompted to buy this 'cause of the Dunlop video, and it sounds 20 times as good in person - and the price is half of a Fulltone OCD or Plimsoul. Who'd've thought I'd be nuts over an MXR when I never look at thier stuff twice, never cared for any of thier old stuff. They say it's first of the Badass series? I CAN'T WAIT to see what comes next. STELLAR job, MXR!

Two years ago, I bought the yellow MXR Distortion+ which I love, but I often felt it was a little anemic. When I heard that MXR was introducing the Custom 78 I was very intrigued by it. I plugged it in today and WOW! I hit a power A chord following one of the suggested settings in the manual (with the crunch button off) and it was like my yellow Distortion + box was finally pushed the way I always wanted it to sound. Add the crunch button and I was pushed into the stratosphere. The only thing I noticed is that with the crunch button on, my EVH wah pedal tends to be drowned out, but without the crunch button, the wah wah really sings. I think I might have to adjust the tone knob a little to make it go the way I want but I know anything is possible with all my other MXR pedals (EVH wah, Classic Overdrive, EVH Phaser, EVH Flanger, MicroChorus) to make it work!

Everything about the pedal from the candy apple red box to the name lives up to the stellar MXR standard! If you are looking for classic tight hard rock distortion along the lines of vintage VH, Aerosmith, KISS, Guns N Roses, Thin Lizzy, vintage Ozzy (think Rhoads) Dio era Black Sabbath (think Mob Rules) and a countless list of other bands of the seventies and early eighties, then this is the pedal to get!

It is like two of the best distortion pedals in one box.
Just using the basic controls you get a great buttery distortion,
perfect from adding a bit of dirt to your rhythm parts to a singing
lead tone. String to string clarity is amazing and chords sound
full and powerful, not muddy. Add the drive button and your dynamics
really pop and leads really have a full bodied tone. This pedal isn't
priced like a boutique item, but it could be. It is a great pedal.

This badass fits its name. In a world were everyone wants a fat srv tone, its approachable here. Typical guitarist will tend to view it as a regular sounding OD. But if you really compare it to the greats you can hear a hot rodded maxon OD808. Now this Isn't one of those dist boxes that is super smooth; dial in water tone u can think of (typical guitarist that wants one pedal to do everything). IT'S A COMPLEMENT DIST BOX. Not to mention if you have a CLEAN AMP!!!!! You can sure get nice Tubey stray tones by tweaking your amp and this pedal. The crunch button is phenomenal if used right don't be cliche and try dimeing the help out of it, you'll get a fuzz arbiter thin sound OD sound. Overall it's Good at what it does compliment your tone by giving you a full stack sound.

This pedal sounds alot like a Keeley-modified Boss DS-1, but with a little more botom end. With the crunch mode on, it's like flipping the switch to the Ultimate mode, with the increased volume and bottom end. The drive knob goes a long way before you start getting the super-saturated sounds, there are a lot of inbetween settings before the knob is turned all the way. Sounds good going into my Fender '59 Bassman RI and really good feeding into my '80's Fender Super Champ, with the mid-boost on on the normal channel, gain on 5-7, so the amp is just staring to break up. In any case a wide variety of usuable tones in this box, amp-like breakup, killer 70's distortion tones.

The MXR Custom Bad-*** '78 is exactly what the pedal says it is, no more/no less. It does what I want it to do which is get AC/DC's 70's tone(R n R Damnation/Hi-Voltage) as well as some Zeppelin('Since I been..')Stones sounds as well('Monkey Man'/'Undercover'. A one-trick pony it may very well be, but that is the trick I want it to do !

It is also an MXR Pedal so its built-well and is pretty much bullet-proof.

It does what it says it will do. Well made. Lots of fun to use

I use distortion sparingly, and this pedal is perfect for anyone who does not have to have death metal. It gives you what you want without muddying your mix. Really well done pedal, and yes, if you want, it can blow you away. Great controls, great response. Well done, MXR!

I got this pedal,thinkin ok bad ***,not close,but ok sounds the same on all settings to me,going def I pedal,SweetWater,Stock this stomper!!

I've wanted this pedal for years and finally got this last week. I A B'd against two distortions that I already use, the One Control Anodized Brown Distortion and the EBS Black Haze. The intention was to replace the One Control which I was bored with. I found the MXR to be mediocre. It's not a bad distortion but it just didn't move me. I found it to be weak in the distortion department and with the crunch.......well there wasn't any. I probably would have liked it much better if I had gotten it years ago. What it really did for me was to prove the One Control is killer and the Black Haze has the crunch and sizzle I want before going full fuzz (Vick Audio '73 Ram's Head) and I realizedI that the distortions I already have were more suited to my taste. I'm going to hang on to it and rotate it in my line up again....it may move me. It does stack well with the O/D's I use from time to time (Prince of Tone and MXR il Torino Overdrive). So I would say if it's gonna' be your first budget friendly distortion......go for it. If you already have some great distortions......don't bother with it.

Don't buy if you use high output pickups, stack another pedal before it or expect higher gain specially on a clean amp. Compresses/creates whammy like sound if input is driven hot (very sensitive) and its one of those pedals that hands single-coil much better than humbuckers.

Boosts a pedal or amp very well (good harmonics), has a nice od sound when dist. knob set around 10.

The videos made me think this pedal would be nothing short of amazing, but I was very disappointed when I plugged this pedal in. Looks pretty cool, good price, crap in a metal box. I had to have the distortion set from 3 o'clock to dimed out to get in the territory I was after. You know, the territory they got into in the demos. If I were to crank my amp to the point of breakup and then engage this pedal, it might actually be "badass" but I'm running all my pedals thru a clean amp with zero breakup, so this won't work. I would've given it 1 star, but I did get a nice sound out of it, just not what I was after. I wanted this to be my heavier overdrive. oh well. I went with the mesa throttle box. Now that is a "badass" distortion pedal that can be as tame as the eagles and bad company all the way to metallica.