MXR unleashes EVH Modern High Gain Distortion Pedal - based on the EVH 5150 III Amp's Red Lead Channel

Most are familiar with this format by now - as it’s near enough the same as MXR’s 5150 Overdrive. Obviously this Red edition is the 3rd Channel - the Red Lead Channel from that EVH 51510 III Amp.

Apart from the extra gain, sear and saturation we also have a new Bass Shift control - which gives you two options of the Bass Centre Frequency.

Controls - Gate, Output, Bass, Bass Shift : 55Hz / 80Hz, Mid, Treble, Gain, Boost.

I wonder how much this was influenced by the equally red Anti 1992 High Gain Preamp Pedal from Universal Audio. I guess this is sort of MXR’s answer to that.

I’ve always liked the sound of this series, but I don’t really like the format! With a single footswitch - there is no reason why this can’t be a more pedalboard-friendly vertical edition - for me it eats up to much space. And since this is like an SMT circuit - I’m pretty sure they could have put that circuit in a more compact enclosure. A number of MXR pedals have fairly evolved control topologies - and I’m sure these EVH variants could be easily shoehorned into more compact boxes.

Pricing for the EVH Modern High Gain is $270 in the USA, and £279 at Andertons in the UK.

I like most everything about this pedal except the format. I have plenty of compact high gain pedals to not need this one. I wish this one could be a touch more pedalboard-friendly. The pricing here is pretty right, but not the format for me!