TEST: MXR MC402

 In recent times, it has become more than just popular to bring together two or more well-known names in the music field and thus take advantage of the universally known synergy effect. MXR, itself one of the founding fathers and big names in the field of ground effect devices has decided in the course of this development to cooperate with a no less famous name in the guitar field. We're talking about Bob Bradshaw, probably the most famous designer of custom guitar pedalboards on the planet. According to the company, Bradshaw's company Custom Audio Electronics (CAE) wanted to make his products accessible to a larger circle of interested parties and reached an agreement on this with the MXR company.

Bradshaw himself has a wealth of experience in the field of guitar pedals, as he has built custom control centers for countless illustrious and wealthy names such as David Gilmore, Steve Lukather and Eric Clapton, which can connect and combine just about any amp with any cabinet and any FX device. With artists like Gilmore, as seen on the last Pink Floyd tours, stage systems can come out that fill a 7.5 ton truck to the roof with equipment.

Funnily enough, Bradshaw recently attracted attention as Steve Lukather's guitar roadie. A prototype sound system was to be tested live during a tour and was supervised by Bradshaw himself, taking on the job of guitar tech at the same time. Lukather will probably never do this arrangement again, all trade magazines only wanted to interview Bradshaw, Lukather himself went almost empty-handed in terms of interviews during this tour ;-)

The booster / line driver MC-401 and its variant MC-402 extended by an overdrive are available for testing.

Construction:

An overdrive pedal in the classic sense will probably be familiar to every reader, it is after all the simulation of an overdriven tube, but what please is a booster / line driver?

Let's briefly put ourselves in the situation of a guitar signal, which is sent from a passive pickup on the journey towards the amplifier. The high impedance signal first passes through a higher or lower quality instrument cable before it has to pass through a few other floor or 19" effects, which are also connected with higher or lower quality cables or connectors, to finally reach the input of the amp. In addition, there may still be some classics of the Tretminen guild in the effects chain, which do not yet have true bypass and send the guitar signal through the entire on-board electronics even when deactivated. I myself have never used a floor tuner live until the introduction of true bypass / respectively bufferamp, despite the practical use, simply because no tuner of its time released the guitar signal without sound loss.

What is still present at the amp afterwards is sometimes only a tired copy of what the pickup has fed into the signal path several meters of cable before. Especially with inferior cable goods (spend 3.000,- € for a Paula and then wire everything else with 5,- € discount cables....) the result sometimes turns out to be a thin, treble-damped and undynamic sound, which nips any playing pleasure in the bud. For a realistic retro sound (I remember a Hendrix backline where 3 Marshall heads were connected in series with ultra-thin patch cables stretched tightly across the stage.....) this adventurous mixture may well have its appeal and raison d'être, but the majority of artists will be rather averse to this sound.

This is where our colleague Booster comes in, whose field of application is twofold. Switched between guitar and amp, it is able to increase the level of the guitar signal and to "blow" old-school all-tube amps (keyword "without master") properly. (No, we're not talking about Jenna Jameson....), which increases both the subjective pressure, the inherent compression and also the distortion. Switched behind the effects chain, the booster acts as a catch-up amplifier, giving the signal back some of the tonal sparkle it lost in advance on its way through the pedals' innards.

MXR floor pedals have always had something of "unbreakable" about them. These representatives also leave an extremely solid impression. A massive, black metal housing and stable plastic controls are very tough and forgive even the most impetuous processing with such shoes. The devices are operated either with a 9V battery or an external power pack, the standard connections are on the front or side. Massive switches round off the overall impression and give hope for a long life expectancy. The two switches are designed as true bypasses, i.e. when deactivated, the guitar signal is routed around the internal electronics.

The classic MXR knobs have a narrow strip on the top for better control of their setting, which fluoresces in the typical green-yellow color in dimmed light. The markings don't glow particularly brightly, but they don't require any power supply either.

Practice:

OK, then let's put the devices into operation. Oh my goodness, does anyone have sunglasses? That's not an LED on the top of the case, that's a headlight! I've never seen an LED this bright in my life, and a very attractive blue that lights up the booster section when activated. The LED of the overdrive section, on the other hand, comes in a standard red with no glare, these two lights are really easy to tell apart even in poor lighting conditions on stage.

At 0 db boost, the volume of the signal does not initially change, but the signal is already "refreshed" as mentioned above. The signal becomes clearer, richer in treble and cuts through the band context much better, especially with clean sounds. With increasing boost, the downstream amp slowly begins to distort, depending on the type of amp with a very dynamic, interactive crunch. I used a VOX AC15 in the sound samples, here you can see very nicely how, in addition to the degree of distortion, the compression of the signal also increases with increasing boost.

If you take the overdrive into play, the sound changes significantly. MXR has developed a typical "American" overdrive with Bradshaw, the semiconductor configuration of which is in stark contrast to the British overdrive. Bradshaw can't deny his time in the eighties and has given the MC-402 the typical "softener" that adorned countless platinum rock productions almost 2 decades ago. While the British overdrive is almost always accompanied by a touch of scratchy and sometimes acrid sound, the American variant is clearly less aggressive in terms of aggressiveness and places its emphasis more on a sustained, rather flattering sound.

If you are looking for the typical MXR sound a la distortion + or similar, you will not find it here. Bradshaw has put his own unmistakable sound stamp on the devices, which remains clearly audible in every setting. Trying out is the order of the day, as an FX pedal always has to be tested in a personal setup. What produces phenomenal results in one configuration simply sounds pathetic in the next equipment park.


Conclusion:

Noun is omen! Wherever it says Bradshaw, there's sound culture in it. The MC-401 is an unobtrusive but effective sound enhancer, and I really liked the "bellows" it had. Plug in the vintage amp, crank it up and push it with the right boost level, done. If you still sound insignificant, you should look for a capable guitar teacher. Anyone looking for a moderate solo sound in the direction of Lukather etc. will find a suitable partner in the MC-402 combination.

Additional Informations:

Bob Bradshaw Audio: Pioneering Custom Guitar Systems for Professional Musicians
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