MXR blue box?

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Thu Mar 31, 2016 11:51 pm

Anyone got one and could you give me your opinion on it?

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Fri Apr 01, 2016 8:36 am

It's one of the few pedals I've ever hated: flipped the day after I bought it. The sub octaves just sound wrong to me, and not in a so-wrong-they're-right nasty fuzz way. Made me feel a bit carsick.

You can pick them up for cheap (there was one on thefretboard for Â£30 the other day), and they're quiet (but a simple cap snip makes them louder).

Haet, though.

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Fri Apr 01, 2016 9:27 am

Sounds as though you could be as well off with the Behringer Ultra Octaver...

Thom · Post by **Thom** » Fri Apr 01, 2016 1:49 pm

Was close to picking one up, then tried one out in a shop....fucking awful...

Freethenoise · Post by **Freethenoise** » Fri Apr 01, 2016 10:43 pm

I got one as a lend for the better part of a week. I ended up giving it make to the guy a few days before I was meant too.

Nah, not a huge fan.

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Fri Apr 01, 2016 10:50 pm

With those glowing reviews I think I'll definitely have to get one...

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Sat Apr 02, 2016 1:05 am

I actually like them, but every time I try one I pass on it, because they really don't like more than one note at a time like most older octave type effects. If I played leads in a band with two guitarists I'd definitely have one on my board.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Sat Apr 02, 2016 2:59 pm

They seem to work best for single note riffaging (e.g. Led Zep, RATM) or lead playing high up the board... much like the Octavia/Green Ringer (octave up fuzzes) you seem to get nothing but bad side effects unless you play to the pedal's strengths (and you can actually do slightly more with the Blue Box, though it is a different sound).

Due to the prevalence of actual octave pedals that now track really well, most people playing Octavias and Blue Boxes these days probably aren't actually after OCTAVE effects, per se... like how not a lot of people track down a working Sinclair ZX81 to do some programming in BASIC (protip: there's an app for that), they just want to do an hipster Pac Man or something (protip: app for that too). So if you go in with realistic expectations/a bit of background on the pedal and stuff like it, there's nothing to stop you enjoying it in the subjective sense.

However, as someone who's amassed more pedals than he knows what to do with (and most of them fuzzes) I can safely say if you haven't heard/tried a pedal yourself and thought "holy shit, I need that for reasons A, B and D", odds are you're about to waste some money.

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Sat Apr 02, 2016 4:38 pm

Still not decided, might pick one up at the right price. It might be the sort of pedal I like as I have a sort spot for pedals that do one sound but a sound I Really like... so I'm not a versed to a one trick pony as long as it's the best pony in the field.

Had one of those wee danelectro octave fuzz's the turquoise one that everyone seems to love and hated it... not sure if that changes anything.

71Smallbox · Post by **71Smallbox** » Mon Apr 04, 2016 3:09 pm

dezb1 wrote:Still not decided, might pick one up at the right price. It might be the sort of pedal I like as I have a sort spot for pedals that do one sound but a sound I Really like... so I'm not a versed to a one trick pony as long as it's the best pony in the field.

Had one of those wee danelectro octave fuzz's the turquoise one that everyone seems to love and hated it... not sure if that changes anything.

Roland S Howard always used a blue box in front of a Distortion+. The Danelectro was an octave up fuzz, a fox tone machine clone.

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Mon Apr 04, 2016 3:41 pm

71Smallbox wrote:
dezb1 wrote:Still not decided, might pick one up at the right price. It might be the sort of pedal I like as I have a sort spot for pedals that do one sound but a sound I Really like... so I'm not a versed to a one trick pony as long as it's the best pony in the field.

Had one of those wee danelectro octave fuzz's the turquoise one that everyone seems to love and hated it... not sure if that changes anything.
Roland S Howard always used a blue box in front of a Distortion+. The Danelectro was an octave up fuzz, a fox tone machine clone.

So I like my octaves going down...

71Smallbox · Post by **71Smallbox** » Mon Apr 04, 2016 5:41 pm

dezb1 wrote:
71Smallbox wrote:
dezb1 wrote:Still not decided, might pick one up at the right price. It might be the sort of pedal I like as I have a sort spot for pedals that do one sound but a sound I Really like... so I'm not a versed to a one trick pony as long as it's the best pony in the field.

Had one of those wee danelectro octave fuzz's the turquoise one that everyone seems to love and hated it... not sure if that changes anything.
Roland S Howard always used a blue box in front of a Distortion+. The Danelectro was an octave up fuzz, a fox tone machine clone.
So I like my octaves going down...

I like octave up fuzz, and I like the blue box when I've heard it. It's all subjective with guitar sounds anyway. If a pedal can make Eric feel carsick, then that definitely sounds like a pedal to own!

mezzio13 · Post by **mezzio13** » Mon Apr 04, 2016 6:42 pm

The sub octaves just sound wrong to me, and not in a so-wrong-they're-right nasty fuzz way. Made me feel a bit carsick. I love it.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Tue Apr 05, 2016 6:12 pm

I used to use them a lot. Actually a decent gated fuzz with the octave effect switched off.
The octave is glitchy and struggles to track notes, sounds horrendous on chords, a nasty pedal (in a good way) but not very loud. I removed a cap to boost the volume, C9 mod I think it was, didn't make a huge amount of difference to be honest.