In just a few short years, Randy Rhoads revolutionized the art of the rock ‘n’ roll guitar player, merging fluid, classically inspired legato passages and melodies with searing, violin-like leads and super-saturated riffs. 

One of the most crucial components of this riveting sound was the MXR Distortion+—Randy harnessed its raw energy to slam his high-gain amplifier with a torrent of harmonics to create the sonic signature that would etch an indelible mark on music history. 

We celebrate his monumental legacy with this recreation of his own MXR Distortion+. For the first time in 42 years, the Rhoads family unveiled Randy’s pedalboard for the MXR design team at the family’s music school in Los Angeles—the Musonia School of Music. There, history was made as the MXR design team carefully opened the pedalboard, closely inspecting and documenting all they could from this rock ’n’ roll artifact. The engineers painstakingly spec’d Randy’s vintage Distortion+, with the direct involvement of sister Kathy Rhoads, and created this signature model to produce the same overdriven tube-like tones heard on Randy’s most beloved hits. And, of course, it’s only fitting that it comes with a custom finish inspired by Randy’s legendary Flying V guitar.

 

“We are very proud of and honored by this special signature pedal. It is a true tribute to Randy’s musical legacy.” —The Rhoads Family

Kirk Hammett, Zakk Wylde, and Phil Demmel joined our celebration of Randy’s legacy, with each reflecting on their discovery of his work and how it affected them as guitar players at the start of their journeys. Check it out below.

As bass players at Dunlop, we’ve covered lots of ground. We’ve played every kind of string through effects pedals, amps, and recording setups to get the performance edge and modern voice that our gigs—and our instruments—demand.

So when we set out to create our own bass strings, we were determined to create the perfect set for ourselves, our artists, and other bass players. Right from the beginning, we knew we’d have to do something new.

WHAT MAKES A MODERN STRING?

Carving our own path meant taking a fresh approach. Instead of relying on old techniques or studying what had already been done, we began by asking what was possible. Could we make a low-tension string that delivered a bright attack and warm mids? Could we make flatwounds that were more flexible, with a wide low end and a punchy midrange fundamental?

We decided that it could be done—if we put in the work and did it our way, from the ground up. This was the beginning of a multi-year adventure.

PUSHING THE LIMITS

While we were deep in the lab, two of the world’s best players came to us looking for a modern and more expressive string. Marcus Miller’s skills as a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and composer have earned him two Grammys and the esteem of critics and musicians across genres. He knows about carving his own path, too: After playing clarinet all through college and then switching to saxophone, he realized that he wanted to play bass—not the tall, old-fashioned upright, but the electric bass guitar he was hearing in R&B, funk, and soul.

I realized that’s the thing that was driving a lot of the music,” Marcus says. “I had to fight to get to it.

Like Marcus, Robert Trujillo started out on other instruments before landing on bass. He wanted to be a drummer, but it was only after a stint on a small plastic organ that Trujillo got his hands on a hollow-body 4-string that would set him on his low-end path. “I discovered that the bass had a strong presence in bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath,” he says. Today, Robert is world famous for bringing his aggressive, grinding grooves to hard rock’s greatest acts, including Ozzy Osbourne and, of course, Metallica.

Whether you’re changing strings or adjusting a truss rod, learning how to keep your instrument in playing shape is one of the most important things a musician can do. Having the right tools on hand ensures that you do the job right while making it painless enough to incorporate into your routine. Not everyone has the level of skill or comfort when it comes to tinkering with their prized guitars and basses, though, and that’s why our System 65™ Care & Maintenance line offers an assortment of tool kits to meet your instrument care goals.

Here are three of our must haves.

What is an EQ pedal? A tone shaper, surely. But they can be much more than that.

MXR® offers two great options: the Six Band EQ and the Ten Band EQ. Modern classics, both feature noise-reduction circuitry, true bypass switching, brighter LEDs for increased visibility, and a lightweight aluminum housing. The Six Band covers all the essential guitar frequencies, from 100Hz to 3.kHz, while the Ten Band EQ gives you control over a wider range, from 31.25Hz to 16kHz—perfect for bass players and extended range guitar players.

With these pedals in mind, we talked to the gigging and recording musicians on our team and collected a list of compelling reasons that show why you should have an EQ pedal at all times.

MATCH UP WHEN YOU MAKE THE SWITCH

If you use multiple instruments during a show, or even during a recording session, having an MXR Six Band EQ or MXR Ten Band EQ can save you a lot of time you’d otherwise spend reconfiguring your settings every time you make the swap.

Let’s say you’re switching from an active bass to a passive bass. Or from a guitar with single-pickups to a guitar with humbuckers. Or even from an electric guitar to an acoustic one. That’s going to change up the overall sound of your signal chain.

But with an EQ pedal, you can adjust the frequencies—and input and output with the MXR Ten Band EQ—as needed to keep a consistent sound. Just set the sliders where you need them to make the second instrument match, and then kick the pedal on when it’s time to make the switch.

The tremolo effect is a rock ’n’ roll staple. Varying the volume of a signal up and down at regular intervals, it has been used by many crafty songwriters to add texture and motion to their pieces, creating countless hits that feature the effect as a signature, defining element.

The MXR Tremolo welcomes the beloved effect back into its ranks, and it comes equipped with six different waveforms and a bevy of features for advanced players, from stereo operation to tap tempo and expression pedal functionality to attack-sensitive envelope tremolo. It all comes in a single MXR housing.

Check out the MXR Tremolo in action below. 

THE WAVEFORMS

The MXR Tremolo’s six waveforms represent the most popular methods used over the years to produce the tremolo effect—and then some.

MXR

The MXR Tremolo’s first setting is an exact recreation of the M159 MXR Stereo Tremolo. Originally designed to emulate the tremolo of vintage amplifiers, the rich tone and organic pulse of that pedal became a sought-after sound in its own right.

If you dig tremolo with a healthy side of distortion, then you’ll be well-served by the MXR setting. In this clip, we’ve paired it with the very versatile, highly responsive MXR Super Badass™ Distortion—listen to how those vibrant pulses respond to high-gain, rock-ready harmonic content.