SmallAxeMusic.com Blog

Since trying to copy Jerry Garcia's tone by buying vintage MXR pedals (It didn't work), I learned that many popular 1970s and 1980s guitar stomp boxes ran on 9V batteries only and couldn't accept a wall power supply. Sure, the owner of a 1974 MXR Bud Box Script Phase 90 could drill or modify the case to accept 9V power. Then, again, that might damage the pedal and it would surely slash the value of a rare pedal that might be worth $400 to $500. As a result, I was constantly scrambling to find or buy 9V batteries. Inevitably, I...

  Greetings, tone seekers. I know it has been a while but I appreciate all of the visitors to the site over the past five years. This site is a hobby for me, a mediocre guitar player at best, so I don't get to spend as much time here as I would like.  Over the years, this blog  article (Script versus Block Logo Debate) has been by far the most visited content on the site as vintage guitar pedal lovers all over the world continue to debate over MXR Script versus Block Logo pedals -- which have gone way up...

If you are into vintage, classic guitar pedals, chances are you have run into the debate over "Script" versus "Block" MXR pedals. MXR, of course, is the legendary maker of an array of high-quality pedals behind a lot of great music and artists in the 1970s and early ‘80s. Randy Rhoads (Distortion +), Jerry Garcia (Distortion +, Phase 100, Analog Delay), Jimmy Page (Phase 90), Eddie Van Halen (Phase 90), David Gilmour (Phase 90), and the list goes on. You get the picture. While the MXR brand is still around and quite relevant, like many pedal companies over the past...

There are certain products and designs that are so radical, innovative and revolutionary -- providing a step change in performance and quality -- that it becomes clear to the consumer and the world at large that they are witnessing something special and unique. An idea so futuristic that it is easy to imagine it leaving the past behind and standing the test of time. Maybe people had that reaction when they saw the first Airstream trailer, or Mercedes Gullwing, or the first laptop computer. I’m only guessing but I am betting that might have been the case with the first...