Open Box MXR M236 Super Badass Variac Fuzz Guitar Effects Pedal Level 2 197881375980

Most Liked Positive Review

Dirt chasing is over

I have been on a quest for a versatile dirt box. I have tried the BOSS DS-1, Fulltone OCD, EHX Soul Food, EHX Big M*ff (apparently you can't write that word in these reviews) and enjoyed all of those but they didn't quite get me where I wanted to be. I now, have finally found just the sound I was looking for with this fuzz pedal. At first I thought I wanted overdrive, but couldn't get the thick bite I was looking for. Then I thought distortion was what would suit my playing, but it left me with thin sounds. the MXR M236 Variac Fuzz is capable of cleaning up really nicely for some compressed distortion but can be pushed to the most brutal, filthiest limits of gain. To give you some background, I've been playing guitar since 1999. I run this pedal through my VOX AC10-C1 playing on a Gibson Les Paul Studio 2013 left handed. The pickups on the guitar are Gibson coil-tapped 490R and 498T. This pedal sounds great through both the humbucking and the "single coil-esque" tapped state. I enjoy playing music in the style of Thin Lizzy, T. Rex, David Bowie, The Black Keys, and Blue Oyster Cult. I can imagine you could also use this pedal for more doom-related rock styles. The tone adjusts the high frequencies by adding (clockwise) or cutting (counter-clockwise) them from the mix. The output knob gives you a boost in volume, especially at lower voltage settings. The gain knob allows for more or less compression depending on your needs. Where this pedal really stands out is the Variac knob, which allows you to adjust from super thick dirty fuzzy goodness of 5V all the way up to the more "clean" distortion-like tones at 15V. At 15V, the variac knob provides a little more headroom. It gives a lot of variety without sounding harsh or shrill. The chassis is a very sexy dark purple with glitter and would look great on any board. On the website it looks more red/burgundy but in actuality, it is purple, albeit dark purple.