MXR blue box

[Rowan]

Anyone ever use one of these? It seems very interesting. I just recently picked up an MXR phase 90 and I'm impressed with MXR pedals so far.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxfnHch4Rc0

 

[thespricket]

Re: MXR blue box

Jimmy Page used it very tastefully in the solo on Fool In The Rain off of "In Through The Out Door". I'm a pretty conservative user of effects, but I would love to have one of these.

 

[lex666]

Re: MXR blue box

...just listened to LZ's "Fool in the Rain"...

great sounding effect, however I'm convinced that Jimmy could make anything sound great...

if you've got the need and room on your board, get it.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: MXR blue box

Im not sure what "randomized" means and I don't know what "Atari-core" is but the Blue Box is a very old school synth effect. It doubles the note you are playing one AND two octaves down and adds a really synth like fuzz but keep in mind the fuzz effect is gated in a way so there is little to no sustain unless you really crank the amp and even then it can cut off longer sustained notes.

I've had 3 over the years, one original and 2 reissues, the reissues don't sound as good as the originals IMO (like almost all new MXR stuff) but for the price of an original Blue Box the reissues are plenty good enough plus for a pedal like that Im not sure it even really matters...

The controls are prtty limited...you get an over all volume control and a blend control that tunes in or out the octave signals so all the way up you get your guitar signal, max fuzz and max sub octaves and all the way to the other side you get your guitar signal and max fuzz but no lower octaves.

As for the Jimmy Page example...he use of the Blue Box would have been a lot better if Jimmy wasn't such a sloppy player...analog octave effetcs (be them upper like an Octavia or lower like the Blue Box) require a tighter playing technique that Jimmy displayed in the later days of LZ. I say this not to start a disagreement but simply to say that if you listen to Fool in the Rain just understand that if you are a tighter player you won't get all the glitchy stuff you hear Page getting...just some of it!

It is for sure a one trick pony but make no mistakes, it's a trick that nothing else does!

 

[Rich_S]

Re: MXR blue box

The Blue Box goes great with a Phase 90 or 100 - listen to Pat Travers' live version of "Makin' Magic" off the Go For What You Know album. It reminds me a bit of Ernie Isley.

I don't think I could find room on my pedalbaord for one, but I'd like to have a Blue Box around for fun.

 

[Rowan]

Re: MXR blue box

Thanks guys! I'm thinking I'll pick one up in the near future. I want one for a certain solo I play but I'm also thinking it could come in handy as a sound effect application for hip hop/dance type stuff. (See Ratatat)

 

[ES350]

Re: MXR blue box

It usually will generate a unison, sub-octave, or fifth, which is hardly random...that's what most people seem to be playing anyway, hmmm? Anyway, Norman from the Swans scared the c**p out of people for years with one of these through a V4 or an SVT...

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: MXR blue box

It usually will generate a unison, sub-octave, or fifth, which is hardly random...that's what most people seem to be playing anyway, hmmm? Anyway, Norman from the Swans scared the c**p out of people for years with one of these through a V4 or an SVT...

WOW!

Nice to see a Swans reference here! Good call!

 

[WhoFan]

Re: MXR blue box

Jimmy Page used it very tastefully in the solo on Fool In The Rain off of "In Through The Out Door". I'm a pretty conservative user of effects, but I would love to have one of these.

i'd love a Blue Box just for that solo sound alone!!! cool messed up tone!

 

[Rich_S]

Re: MXR blue box

Thanks guys! I'm thinking I'll pick one up in the near future. I want one for a certain solo I play but I'm also thinking it could come in handy as a sound effect application for hip hop/dance type stuff. (See Ratatat)

Good call on Ratatat. I love their stuff.

Anyway, Norman from the Swans scared the c**p out of people for years with one of these through a V4 or an SVT...

I don't know about scaring people. I think a Blue Box through any big Ampeg would simply cause an involuntary release whether you're scared or not.

 

[J Moose]

Re: MXR blue box

Buzz Osbourne (aka King Buzzo) from the Melvins is another well-known Blue Box abuser...

 

[ES350]

Re: MXR blue box

Oh yeah...I saw the early Swans in NYC on numerous occasions in the 80's and it did scare people...think Pharoah Sanders meets a metal shredding machine at 130+ dB.

 

[B2D]

Re: MXR blue box

I played one one time and I don't think I was really using it right... I'd like to try it again.

I've got a pretty standard setup on my board right now but I'd like one "weird" effect as a noisemaker.

 

[PVFan]

Re: MXR blue box

Jimmy Page used it very tastefully in the solo on Fool In The Rain off of "In Through The Out Door". I'm a pretty conservative user of effects, but I would love to have one of these.

I've always wondered what he did there, never would have guessed it was the blue box. Saw one in the store a couple of years ago and had to ask what it was because I had never heard of it. They said a weird fuzz, and I said oh, and forgot all about it. That is the 100% extent of the blue box crossing into my life. Never seen one, heard one, read out about one, nothing, yet always wondered how Page got the fuzzy octave thing on that Bonham/Jones showcase, Fool in the Rain. I love that album. Carouselambra makes me jog in place, All of My Love, I'm Gonna Crawl, ahhhh Hot Dog! Anyway, cool, the blue box. Thanks!