A top-flight OCD alternative that sings at a very accessible price.
Wide range of overdrive and boost tones. Exciting higher gain tones. Clear but robust boost textures. Very forgiving to use.
Might sound a touch meaty for humbucker users chasing near-clarity in boost situations.
$129
MXR Super Badass Dynamic Overdrive
jimdunlop.com
The OCD, a hard-clipping MOSFET, op-amp-driven overdrive, was a success for Fulltone. It was also a great value, which may be why some larger manufacturers held off on building their own affordable versions. It’s unclear if MXR had an inkling that Fulltone would go on hiatus as a company. But with news that Fulltone would close up shop for the foreseeable future, the release of MXR’s excellent OCD-inspired stomp, the Super Badass Dynamic Overdrive, looks impeccably well timed. And for players that now face the inevitable price gouging that goes with Fulltone’s absence, the 129 bucks they’ll pay for this very capable OCD alternative looks like a pretty great deal. Best of all, it’s a very flexible overdrive that can sound and feel genuinely thrilling.
MOSFET Def
Anyone that has had a go with an OCD will be at home using the Super Badass Dynamic OD. Obviously, the controls differ little from a zillion other overdrives. And functionally speaking, the primary difference between the MXR, or any other OCD homage, and simpler overdrives is the midrange boost toggle, which here moves between boost and cut positions.
The clean, economical circuit is laid out on a through-hole circuit board, which is home to a Texas Instruments TL082 op-amp like that which powered many OCD units. As with the original OCD, however, the MXR’s secret sauce lives not in the gain stage but in the clipping section, where the MOSFETs perform the cool trick of generating hard clipping that is also exceptionally smooth.
Riding With the Tone Ranger
In terms of dynamics, the Super Badass Dynamic Overdrive works as advertised. Relaxing or increasing pick attack intensity yields many shades of sparkling-to-dirty tonalities. The MXR also registers tone shifts from picking position relative to the bridge with accuracy and sensitivity I don’t encounter in a ton of affordable drive pedals. Guitar volume attenuation also yields lovely results. The reduced output still sounds awake, robust, and alive with high-mid and high-frequency content. This is a real treat if you use single-coils without a treble bleed circuit and have grown accustomed to losing top-end definition at lower guitar volume.
The MXR is dynamic and flexible in other ways, too. The wide range in the pedal’s tone control, for instance, is an additional asset if you use guitar volume attenuation aggressively. It enables you to retain extra sparkle and high end in clean tones at low volume, and wails when you return to full volume without ripping your ears off. There is treble to spare here, but it tends to be of the smooth, singing variety, rather than the painful sort.
As a clean boost, the MXR’s output is full of body and adds little in the way of extraneous color to a fundamental guitar voice. It’s nearly as transparent in this context as a Klon or good klone, which are arguably the standard bearers for transparent boost/overdrives. But I actually preferred how the MXR sounded compared to my favorite klone in “clean boost” settings, because of the compression and extra mass in the low midrange that the MXR adds to my guitar’s voice. It’s not a truly transparent voice, perhaps. But frankly, what is? And I’d venture that the Super Badass Dynamic OD will be the ideal solution for a lot of players that think they want near-total clarity in a boost, but actually long for a thicker variation on their basic guitar sound.
The Verdict
The Super Badass Dynamic Overdrive is a very flexible way to add attitude, body, and color to any guitar and amp combination. Its rangy drive and tone controls and super-useful midrange boost/cut toggle make it easy to adapt to unfamiliar backlines or navigate switches between single-coils and humbuckers. To my ears it’s an especially dreamy match for a black- or silver-panel Fender amplifier. But I can imagine that the versatility afforded by the control set would make it a sweet pairing for British amp voices as well.
Single-coil pickups shine in its company. I loved how the MXR made the bridge pickup in a Telecaster sound like a more robust and meatier, yet still very lean and articulate, version of itself. And while humbuckers, predictably, tend to coax a more rockist accent from the MXR, the ample and smooth extra high end you can summon from the pedal makes more muscular tones pop with clarity that rarely gets bogged down in low-midrange mud. I suppose that transparency hunters might find the MXR’s voice a bit charged with gain. But I found that the Super Badass Dynamic OD walked the borders between clarity, body, and aggression with an unusual grace. Given the high quality and very accessible price, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend finding out for yourself how it fits into your world.
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The country virtuoso closes out this season of Wong Notes with a fascinating, career-spanning interview.
We’ve saved one of the best for last: Brad Paisley.The celebrated shredder and seasoned fisherman joins host Cory Wong for one of this season’s most interesting episodes. Paisley talks his earliest guitar-playing influences, which came from his grandfather’s love of country music, and his first days in Nashville—as a student at Belmont University, studying the music industry.
The behind-the-curtain knowledge he picked up at Belmont made him a good match for industry suits trying to force bad contracts on him.
Wong and Paisley swap notes on fishing and a mutual love of Phish—Paisley envies the jam-band scene, which he thinks has more leeway in live contexts than country. And with a new signature Fender Telecaster hitting the market in a rare blue paisley finish, Paisley discusses his iconic namesake pattern—which some might describe as “hippie puke”—and its surprising origin with Elvis’ guitarist James Burton.
Plus, hear how Paisley assembled his rig over the years, the state of shredding on mainstream radio, when it might be good to hallucinogenic drugs in a set, and the only negative thing about country-music audiences.
Tom Bedell in the Relic Music acoustic room, holding a custom Seed to Song Parlor with a stunning ocean sinker redwood top and milagro Brazilian rosewood back and sides.
As head of Breedlove and Bedell Guitars, he’s championed sustainability and environmental causes—and he wants to tell you about it.
As the owner of the Breedlove and Bedell guitar companies, Tom Bedell has been a passionate advocate for sustainable practices in acoustic guitar manufacturing. Listening to him talk, it’s clear that the preservation of the Earth’s forests are just as important to Bedell as the sound of his guitars. You’ll know just how big of a statement that is if you’ve ever had the opportunity to spend time with one of his excellently crafted high-end acoustics, which are among the finest you’ll find. Over the course of his career, Bedell has championed the use of alternative tonewoods and traveled the world to get a firsthand look at his wood sources and their harvesting practices. When you buy a Bedell, you can rest assured that no clear-cut woods were used.
A born storyteller, Bedell doesn’t keep his passion to himself. On Friday, May 12, at New Jersey boutique guitar outpost Relic Music, Bedell shared some of the stories he’s collected during his life and travels as part of a three-city clinic trip. At Relic—and stops at Crossroads Guitar and Art in Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania, and Chuck Levin’s Washington Music Center in Wheaton, Maryland—he discussed his guitars and what makes them so special, why sustainability is such an important cause, and how he’s putting it into practice.
Before his talk, we sat in Relic’s cozy, plush acoustic room, surrounded by a host of high-end instruments. We took a look at a few of the store’s house-spec’d Bedell parlors while we chatted.
“The story of this guitar is the story of the world,” Bedell explained to me, holding a Seed to Song Parlor. He painted a picture of a milagro tree growing on a hillside in northeastern Brazil some 500 years ago, deprived of water and growing in stressful conditions during its early life. That tree was eventually harvested, and in the 1950s, it was shipped to Spain by a company that specialized in church ornaments. They recognized this unique specimen and set it aside until it was imported to the U.S. and reached Oregon. Now, it makes the back and sides of this unique guitar.
A Bedell Fireside Parlor with a buckskin redwood top and cocobolo back and sides.
As for the ocean sinker redwood top, “I’m gonna make up the story,” Bedell said, as he approximated the life cycle of the tree, which floated in the ocean, soaking up minerals for years and years, and washed ashore on northern Oregon’s Manzanita Beach. The two woods were paired and built into a small run of exquisitely outfitted guitars using the Bedell/Breedlove Sound Optimization process—in which the building team fine-tunes each instrument’s voice by hand-shaping individual braces to target resonant frequencies using acoustic analysis—and Bedell and his team fell in love.
Playing it while we spoke, I was smitten by this guitar’s warm, responsive tone and even articulation and attack across the fretboard; it strikes a perfect tonal balance between a tight low-end and bright top, with a wide dynamic range that made it sympathetic to anything I offered. And as I swapped guitars, whether picking up a Fireside Parlor with a buckskin redwood top and cocobolo back and sides or one with an Adirondack spruce top and Brazilian rosewood back and sides, the character and the elements of each instrument changed, but that perfect balance remained. Each of these acoustics—and of any Bedell I’ve had the pleasure to play—delivers their own experiential thumbprint.
Rosette and inlay detail on an Adirondack spruce top.
Ultimately, that’s what brought Bedell out to the East Coast on this short tour. “We have a totally different philosophy about how we approach guitar-building,” Bedell effused. “There are a lot of individuals who build maybe 12 guitars a year, who do some of the things that we do, but there’s nobody on a production level.” And he wants to spread that gospel.
“We want to reach people who really want something special,” he continued, pointing out that for the Bedell line, the company specifically wants to work with shops like Relic and the other stores he’s visited, “who have a clientele that says I want the best guitar I can possibly have, and they carry enough variety that we can give them that.”
A Fireside Parlor with a Western red cedar top and Brazilian rosewood back and sides.
A beautifully realized mashup of two iconic guitars.
Reader: Ward Powell
Hometown: Ontario, Canada
Guitar: ES-339 Junior
I’ve always liked unusual guitars. I think it started when I got my first guitar way back in 1976. I bought a '73 Telecaster Deluxe for $200 with money I saved from delivering newspapers.
I really got serious about playing in 1978, the same year the first Van Halen album was released. Eddie Van Halen was a huge influence on me, including how he built and modded guitars. Inspired by Eddie, I basically butchered that Tele. But keep in mind, there was once a time when every vintage guitar was just a used guitar—I still have that Tele, by the way.
I never lost that spirit of wanting guitars that were unique, and have built and modded a few dozen guitars since. When I started G.A.S.-ing simultaneously for a Les Paul Junior and a Casino, I came up with this concept. I found an Epiphone ES-339 locally at a great price. It already had upgraded CTS pots, Kluson tuners, and the frets had been PLEK’d. It even came with a hardshell case. It was cheap because it was a right-handed guitar that had been converted to left handed and all the controls had been moved to the opposite side, so it had five additional holes in the top.
Fortunately, I found a Duesenberg wraparound bridge that used the same post spacing as a Tune-o-matic. I used plug cutters to cut plugs out of baltic birch plywood to fill the 12 holes in the laminated top. I also reshaped the old-style Epiphone headstock. Then, I sanded off the original finish, taped the fretboard, and sprayed the finish using cans of nitro lacquer from Oxford Guitar Supply. Lots of wet sanding and buffing later, the finish was done.
I installed threaded insert bushings for the bridge, so it will never pull out. The pickup is a Mojotone Quiet Coil P-90 and I fabricated a shim from a DIY mold and tinted epoxy to raise the P-90 up closer to the strings. The shim also covers the original humbucker opening. I cut a pickguard out of a blank and heated it slightly to bend it to follow the curvature of the top.
All in all, I'm pretty happy how it turned out! It plays great and sounds even better. And I have something that is unique: an ES-339 Junior.
ENGL, renowned for its high-performance amplifiers, proudly introduces the EP635 Fireball IR Pedal, a revolutionary 2-channel preamp pedal designed to deliver the legendary Fireball tone in a compact and feature-rich format.
The EP635 Fireball IR Pedal brings the raw power and precision of the ENGL Fireball amplifier into a pedalboard-friendly enclosure, offering unmatched flexibility and tonal control for guitarists of all styles. This cutting-edge pedal is equipped with advanced features, making it a must-have for players seeking high-gain perfection with modern digital convenience.
Key Features:
- Authentic Fireball Tone – Designed after the renowned ENGL Fireball amplifier, the EP635 delivers the unmistakable high-gain aggression and clarity that ENGL fans love.
- Two Independent Channels – Easily switch between two distinct channels, with each channel’s knob settings saved independently, allowing for seamless transitions between tones.
- Built-in Midboost Function – Enhance your tone with the integrated Midboost switch, perfect for cutting through the mix with extra punch.
- Advanced Noise Gate – Eliminate unwanted noise and maintain articulate clarity, even with high-gain settings.
- IR (Impulse Response) Loading via USB-C – Customize your sound with user-loadable IRs using the included software, bringing studio-quality cab simulations to your pedalboard.
- Headphone Output – Silent practice has never been easier, with a dedicated headphone output for direct monitoring.
- Premium Build and Intuitive Controls – Featuring a rugged chassis and responsive controls for Volume, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, and Presence, ensuring precise tonal shaping.
SPECS:
- Input 1/4” (6,35mm) Jack
- Output 1/4” (6,35mm) Jack
- Headphone Output 1/8”(3,5mm) Jack
- 9V DC / 300mA (center negativ) / power supply, sold separately
- USB C