MXR M89 Bass Overdrive Pedal Reviews
The MXR M89 Bass Overdrive pedal gives you the fat and gritty punch you want plus the control you need to make it work with the rest of your bass rig. Designed specifically to handle the added low frequency of your bass, the M89 Bass Overdrive just gets beefier the harder you hit in and will never get anemic the way a guitar overdrive pedal will. With a broad range of drive at your command, the M89 lets you dial in anything from a touch of grit to full-throttle fuzz. The Clean control lets you blend in as much clean sound as you like, allowing you to preserve your transients and fill out the bottom end. If you want punch, drive, grit, and control, then you'll be glad you grabbed an MXR M89 Bass Overdrive pedal from Sweetwater.
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Most Recent Reviews
MXR M89 Bass Overdrive Surprise!
After a recent disappointing experience with one of the current "marquee" bass distortion/od's getting all the heavy metal fanboy love, I found myself in a situation where I needed a reasonably priced and accessible bass od to cover me in a pinch. I was running a fancy (and very expensive) Finnish OD/DI that fell apart on stage, mere months out of the warranty period.
I swung by the Sweetwater showroom on the way to my next gig and grabbed an MXR M89 to get me through a few tour dates while I figured out what my next (and hopefully permanent) OD choice was gonna be. I gotta say, I am shocked at how great the MXR M89 performed! It sounds just as good, if not better than many bass ODs costing 2 to 3 times the price! And it is so simple to use.
I grabbed it on the way to a show, threw it on my board and was able to get a killer sound immediately during sound check. No hassle, no overly complicated knob twiddling. Just solid, easy to use and rich sounding OD in seconds from plugging it in. Sounded awesome in the full band mix and solo.
While not the most fashionable pedal to have on the board, I couldn't be happier with the sound, reliability and price. I think this will be my go-to bass OD for the foreseeable future!
Thanks Sweetwater and MXR!!!
Beware
I'm a MXR fan and I had high expectations for this pedal. Maybe mine was defective, but the 'clean' knob did not blend the OD with my dry signal. I can't say for sure what the 'clean' knob does but it certainly doesn't do what you'd expect. It acts more like a bass EQ boost. Was impossible to dial a sound that didn't sound dull. I sent it back. SW staff awesome as always.
Bassists get some pedal love...
Needed a good overdrive sound without loss of tone or definition. Blend knob did the trick!
Dang!
I bought the Darkglass Vintage Microtubes pedal because I figured boutique is best. I couldn"t get it out of my head that I should"ve at least tried this MXR overdrive first. I was right. I decided to buy it and try it and glad I did. I LOVE IT! The darkglass pedal was cool and all but this M89 bass overdrive was exactly what I was looking for... You can get everything from mild overdrive to a make the crowd put their fingers in their ears distortion. And a big shout out to my sales engineer José Gonzales.
MXR OVERDRIVE!!
Great overdrive sounds right away!MXR has another great bass pedal.
The drive is just enough w/o being in your face.I have the(other) yellow overdrive pedal and it has that ripping o/d that I grew to love ,but I think this one has just what I have been needing.
Plenty of tweaking with CLEAN TONE & DRIVE controls.I'm using a Mesa tube head and they compliment each other.
M89
This pedal very solid. It's sound has a great character, and it does not overpower your bass' tone. I absolutely love the range of sounds that I can get out of it--from warm and subtle to crunchy and in your face. The only qualms I have are that there's a slight volume drop and that once you're past about 1 o'clock on the drive knob there's not a huge difference in the amount of drive. (Varying the other three knobs brings helps to get around this pretty easily.)
Great pedal
I've used it with a Musicman and an SVT and the result is really powerfull for hard rocking sound. It has the option of mixing the clean sound, that helps to keep a solid definition.
Great pedal
Love the sound of this pedal. VERY creamy. Works very well with dynamics. (Growls more when you dig in).
Sooooo Pure!!
Warmest overdrive I've owned to date. Doesn't do the really heavy distortion stuff, but wow does that overdrive sound soooo pure!! The white LED is cool too, very distinct from my other pedals.
Amazing OD for feeding a tube amp
I tried out every Bass OD I could get my hands on and this was the CLEAR winner. The clean knob was the biggest reason, it allow you to dial in just the right amount of your clean tone, which in turn means a fantastic OD sound, without loosing your bottom end at all. I play mine through a custom hand made Class A tube amp, and digital pedals just don't cut it, they loose that warmth. This pedal however sounds and acts 100% analog.
I've got B O...
As in BASS OVERDRIVE! I've got TECH21 BDDI, VT, and LEEDS. They sound good BUT...Too many knobs, too many variables, too confusing! With the MXR M89 Less is More! Thirty seconds after plugging in I had the sound I wanted from my passive "P"eavey Fury USA Bass. If only they would include a battery door to eliminate the need to unscrew the cover to replace!
MXR Does it again!!!
This pedal is one of the best overdrives I've tried. I've played MXR's Blowtorch and several other ones by numerous companies that didn't do it for me, but this one NAILS it. What I was going for was a Mel Schacher (Grand Funk) meets Jack Bruce (Cream) kind of sound. Totally over driven tubes and speakers yelling "help" sound. This pedal does it and more. I've also noticed you could use it along with an MXR Bass Fuzz Deluxe and get some really out of control distortion that is focused and perfect for a metal player. If you want subtle distortion to over the top uncontrolled amp blowing overdrive, this IS the pedal. I can sum it up in one word, "BAD***!!!"
