MXR Sugar Drive Overdrive Pedal

Based on a rare and elusive circuit, the MXR Sugar Drive provides a diverse range of clear and transparent overdrive tones, from sauced up boosting to blown-tube distortion.

The MXR Sugar Drive provides a diverse range of clear and transparent overdrive tones, from sauced up boosting to blown-tube distortion. Its based on a rare overdrive pedal that has acquired a mythical reputation among fanatical tone-seekers thanks to its unique circuit design.

The key elements of that circuit design are the Drive control and something called a voltage doubler. First, the Drive control on this pedal doesnt just increase the intensity of the overdrive pedal. It starts with your clean signal and then blends it with the overdrive effect as you turn it up, replicating the smooth transition of an amplifier going from clean to dirty. The voltage doubler increases overall headroom, which opens everything up nicely.

Of course, we had to put the MXR touch on this circuit. If youre all about true bypass, then youre in luckthis pedal uses it by default. The original used buffered bypass, though, and we know theres a lot of players out there who dont want to fix something that isnt broken. Theyre in luck, toojust flick the Buffer switch on the side of the pedal to enable buffered bypassing.

With a simple three-knob setup and an MXR mini housing, this is the go-to overdrive to have on your pedalboard. Its versatile and it saves space, and unlike the original pedals its based on, it wont cost you thousands of dollars.