An original MXR Innovations distortion plus pedal from 1979, block logo, without LED and battery-only operation (no AC Adapter).
MXR Distortion + on a guitar pedalboard. Distortion + is the yellow unit on front of the pedalboard.

The MXR Distortion + ("Distortion Plus") is a distortion pedal originally designed in the 1970s by MXR Innovations.

The pedal uses a single op-amp and a pair of germanium diodes to ground (parallel-push) for clipping in a very simple configuration with only Output and Distortion controls, no tone control; the pedal uses no discrete transistors. Turning up the Distortion control increases the amount of distortion and at the same time boosts the treble in the signal.[1]

The pedal's crunchy heavy metal sound was featured by Randy Rhoads in his work with Ozzy Osbourne.[2] Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead used this pedal exclusively for distortion in the late 1970s.[2] Bob Mould of Hüsker Dü also used the Distortion + as part of his trademark guitar sound.[3] Dave Murray of Iron Maiden has used Distortion + since the early 1980s.[4] Steve Wynn (musician) used it on the first couple Dream Syndicate albums. Thom Yorke of Radiohead has included the Distortion + for many of his signature distortion sounds, using a variety of guitars to achieve various tonal options. Rowland S. Howard (The Birthday Party/These Immortal Souls/Crime & the City Solution/Solo albums) also used this pedal across his career. Though typically not much of a pedal user, guitarist Slash has talked about using the Distortion + in his early guitar days to help define his tone.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "ElectroSmash - MXR Distortion + Circuit Analysis". www.electrosmash.com. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
  2. 1 2 Gill, Chris. "Out of the Box: Guitar World Celebrates the Time-Honored History of MXR Effect Pedals". Guitar World. Future plc. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  3. ↑ Cochran, Kevin. "Gear Blog: Bob Mould". Austin City Limits. KLRU-TV, Austin PBS. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  4. ↑ Bosso, Joe. "Iron Maiden: Out of Thin Air". Premier Guitar. Premier Guitar Magazine. p. 2. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  5. ↑ Marc Maron (20 September 2018). "Episode 952: Slash". WTF With Marc Maron (Podcast). Retrieved 19 July 2022.
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