MissoulaGriz
03-15-2012, 08:11 PM
I just got the MXR 78 Custom Badass and played if for awhile to make sure it wasn't the honeymoon phase that was making me giddy about it before I reported on it. Overall, I've gotta say that I'm highly impressed with this pedal. I'm running it through an Egnater Tweaker 15 with a Rebel 1 X 12 cabinet. My other pedals are a tuner, Boosta Grande clean boost and a TS9. My guitars are an ASAT Custom Classic 52 blonde Tele, AVRI Jazzmaster, Gibson LP Classic, 1987 American Standard Strat and a Gretsch 5120.
What I really like about this pedal is that when I A/B'd this with the TS9, the M78 really sounded transparent to the true tone settings and voicing of the amp. When I play the TS9 in comparison it almost sounds like there is blanket over the amp. I thought this was really interesting. What I am enjoying and will experiment more in a live setting is putting the M78 after the tuner, first in the chain for my overdrive then using the TS9 to boost it and give me a little more gain for solo work. That gives me a really nice mid-hump boost to get over the mix and gives me more gain and sustain.
The pedal can be very bright if the tone knob is past noon so I keep it at about 10:00. I like more of a gritty crunch type of overdrive and this pedal delivers it perfectly. I run the gain knob at 11:00 and it is incredible how responsive it is to my picking attack. When playing lightly on the strings it is nice and clear, just dig in a little and the crunch begins. Very nice.
The pedal does really well with both humbuggies and single coils and all guitars sound great with this pedal through the Tweaker. Yup, overall I'm really happy. I bought my TS9 back in 1985 or 1986 and the thing has been a rock the whole time. In my opinion, this M78 seems to me like it will at some point reach that "classic" overdrive pedal status that the TS9, 808 and RAT all seem to have. So, for $80 bucks it seems to be a no-brainer. I'd also say that the MXR demos with "James" gives a great representing of what this pedal sounds like with a Tele. Check it out.
What I really like about this pedal is that when I A/B'd this with the TS9, the M78 really sounded transparent to the true tone settings and voicing of the amp. When I play the TS9 in comparison it almost sounds like there is blanket over the amp. I thought this was really interesting. What I am enjoying and will experiment more in a live setting is putting the M78 after the tuner, first in the chain for my overdrive then using the TS9 to boost it and give me a little more gain for solo work. That gives me a really nice mid-hump boost to get over the mix and gives me more gain and sustain.
The pedal can be very bright if the tone knob is past noon so I keep it at about 10:00. I like more of a gritty crunch type of overdrive and this pedal delivers it perfectly. I run the gain knob at 11:00 and it is incredible how responsive it is to my picking attack. When playing lightly on the strings it is nice and clear, just dig in a little and the crunch begins. Very nice.
The pedal does really well with both humbuggies and single coils and all guitars sound great with this pedal through the Tweaker. Yup, overall I'm really happy. I bought my TS9 back in 1985 or 1986 and the thing has been a rock the whole time. In my opinion, this M78 seems to me like it will at some point reach that "classic" overdrive pedal status that the TS9, 808 and RAT all seem to have. So, for $80 bucks it seems to be a no-brainer. I'd also say that the MXR demos with "James" gives a great representing of what this pedal sounds like with a Tele. Check it out.