MXR Carbon Copy

ManualsBrandsMXR ManualsDelay/Echo PedalsM169 Carbon Copy Analog Delay

118 Guitarist July 2008

MXR PEDALS

£159-£219

EFFECTS

MXR Carbon Copy,

’74 Vintage Phase 90,

Stereo Tremolo

£199, £159 & £219

MXR continues its program of recreating sounds from the past

with a modern twist by Trevor Curwen

XR has been busy with

new releases this year.

The EVH Wah features

in this issue’s Quick Test pages,

and here are three new

stompboxes from the company:

an analogue delay, a custom shop

reissue of what is probably the

company’s most revered pedal,

and the new Stereo Tremolo.

Carbon Copy

When all the makers of digital

delay pedals are adding features

to make the sounds of the repeats

more ‘analogue’, it’s pretty

obvious that there is a demand

for echo repeats that are not just

pristine clones of the original

sound. The time must be ripe,

therefore, for enterprising souls

to dust off the old BBD technology

and create some new versions of

the real thing rather than a digital

reproduction of it. MXR is the

latest to introduce a new-build

analogue delay with the Carbon

Copy that has, er, echoes of the old

MXR Analogue Delay

(discontinued in the eighties) –

not least in its three control knobs

and greenish colouring, albeit in a

much more spangly metallic shade

this time around.

It looks very smart indeed, the

same size as other MXR pedals

such as the Phase 90 but packing a

lot of control into a small space by

utilising a triangular knob

configuration. Those knobs

control the delay time (20ms up to

600ms), the number of repeats

(regen), and the volume of the

repeats via a mix knob that goes

from a totally dry sound

increasing the volume of the

repeat to a maximum setting

where the first repeat is slightly

louder than the dry signal. A small

‘mod’ switch (with blue status

LED) brings in a degree of

modulation – a slight up and down

pitch shift – to add flavour to the

repeats. Two internal trim pots,

which are accessed by removing

four screws and the pedal base

(the same for battery access),

adjust the width and speed of the

modulation applied. The idea is

that you experiment to find your

ideal sound and then just leave

them set.

Sounds – Carbon Copy

The first thing you notice when

you stomp down on the Carbon

Copy is the sheer brightness of

the blue status LED associated

with the on/off footswitch,

which may be no bad thing on a

dark stage. Soundwise the pedal

does everything you would

expect of an analogue delay,

including the regen knob that

sets off self-oscillation for dub

and spacey effects when turned

past midnight. The sounds range

from springy metallic reverb at

very short delay times through

Elvis-style slapback and on to all

types of rhythmic and ambient

delay – revisiting Edge and

Gilmour up to the maximum

600ms – which is much more

The new Carbon Copy is reminiscent of the discontinued MXR Analogue Delay

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JESSE WILD

GIT304.rev_mxr 118 16/5/08 13:52:20

Summary of content (3 pages)

PAGE 1
MXR PEDALS £159-£219 EFFECTS MXR Carbon Copy, ’74 Vintage Phase 90, Stereo Tremolo £199, £159 & £219 MXR continues its program of recreating sounds from the past with a modern twist by Trevor Curwen M XR has been busy with new releases this year. The EVH Wah features in this issue’s Quick Test pages, and here are three new stompboxes from the company: an analogue delay, a custom shop reissue of what is probably the company’s most revered pedal, and the new Stereo Tremolo.
PAGE 2
MXR PEDALS £159-£219 EFFECTS The separate stereo and mono outputs than a lot of vintage and some new build units with a maximum delay time of about 300ms can do. Tonally, the repeats have clarity combined with a dark warmth and a natural sounding decay that seems to work well between guitar and amp. Now the Carbon Copy has pretty much the same knob controls as any other analogue delay – vintage or new – out there but the modulation adds more scope.
PAGE 3
MXR PEDALS £159-£219 EFFECTS silky quality of the phasing that is the real deal here. From the slowly shifting tonality at one extreme to the fast bubbling at the other, this is organic phasing that seems an integral part of the guitar sound rather than something slapped on top of it. The original Phase 90 always had a mellow quality that just worked with guitar and this reissue is the same.