NEW PEDAL DAY!!
Well, actually, I’ve had this one for a while but it was just granted Velcro Rights (placed on my pedalboard).

I know some of you have to have bought one of the green MXR M-66 Classic Overdrive that has been exclusively sold at Guitar Center on a few different occasions (usually related to holiday sale). I got this one (with a coupon) for $35.
Simple controls, similar to an Ibanez Tubescreamer: Output, Tone, Gain.
Cool-looking lime green satin finish with hot rod pin striping around the footswitch.

Sound:
Using my modified ’62 reissue Stratocaster (loaded with Pete Biltoft SP90s), my modified ’95 Tele Special (changed out the neck humbucking pickup with a Mighty Mite P90, added 4-way Tele switching) and my 1980 G&L F100 (dead stock) for tonal comparisons through a ’63 Re-issue Vibroverb and an old solid state Gibson G-20 amplifier.

Depending on where the knobs are tweaked, the sound ranges from clean boost to some pretty nasty and toasty grit. Online, several people have said this was just a MXR GT-OD overdrive pedal with different packaging, but I haven’t played through one of those so I don’t know. Sonically, it seemed to be a TS9 Tube Screamer on steroids (and I mean that as a compliment to both the TS9 and this new “Classic Overdrive” as well). I did a side-by-side comparison of my re-issue TS9Tube Screamer, and the M-66 is a bit meatier.

It compares favorably to its’ sister pedal, the MXR M-86 Classic Distortion. The M-66 Classic Overdrive works a bit better for single coils (not bad for humbuckers, though), while the M-86 seems to be voiced for humbuckers. For my playing style (and the fact that I use single coils more), the M-66 Classic Overdrive was a better fit; it has, at least temporarily displaced the M-86 Classic Distortion.

Very tuneful and tough-sounding; this machine ain’t for wimps, especially as you turn the gain knob clockwise. But it isn’t one-dimensional or solely for grit or grind. I would compare it as a mixture of SRV and AC/DC. You can go from blues to gritty punk to rock & roll very easily. Lowering the gain and upping the volume makes for a great creamy-clean boost that would sound good for funk on the bridge pickup of a Telecaster. The sweep of the tone knob goes from heavy to bright but never gets too extreme in either direction.

If you get on-line and do some digging, it’s pretty easy to find out about the internal setting switch that changes the personality quite a bit. The stock/factory setting is a bit brighter (not shrill or thin, just brighter) and more akin to the Tube Screamer family; as I mentioned earlier, one person said this was just a MXR GT-OD overdrive pedal, but I don’t know. The second setting is ever-so-slightly louder, as well as heavier, deeper and thicker (one person posting on this subject compared the second setting to the MXR Zakk Wylde overdrive; I have never played through that pedal, so I don’t know about that). The setting differences are almost enough to make it “two pedals in one”; there’s enough change in tonality to notice the difference immediately. The second setting can be used for all the styles mentioned above, but can even veer in to some deeper, harder-edged metal tones with the gain dimed.

I modified my pedal (removed internal slider switch and installed an external toggle switch so I can change the setting from “Stock” to “Modified” at the flip of a switch). I’m not a world-class solderer and this mod was fairly easy. Without this modification, I liked the pedal a lot; with the external switch, I love it. It is becoming a great tool and another awesome color for my tonal palette.

I bought two of these pedals (at different times) and plan on leaving one of them stock and holding it back in case it becomes a collectible oddity in the future.

_________________
Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

C'mon, somebody at least congratulate me for getting a new pedal!!

_________________
Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

Congrats Nice board I have the same but I have alot more room

Hey Great job, and a great looking board as well

Bill

_________________
Hey, Boy Blue is back!

Thanks...I know it looks like a lot of pedals, but I can get every sound from our recordings with this board and whatever amp is nearby. It's an addiction, I know. I like to change the sonic "texture" from song to song.

You need to get more pedals if you have room left!

_________________
Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

Congrats! Man that's some setup. I'd be lost. I don't even like a lot of buttons to adjust the seat in my car. I know if they moved at all I'd never be able get back to "the" spot.

_________________

Now on Facebook Too

Nice pedal man. I reckon you are a MXR fan, love the pictures. Good luck and post some sound samples if you can. We would like to hear it in action.

Nice. Good Info. That's Why I Like This Board. When I Buy My New Amp I Should Have The Right Info You Dont Always Get Online Or At The Store. Enjoy.

_________________
Vintage Hotrod '57 Strat, 81 G&L L2000 Series E Bass, Fender Musicmaster Bass Amp.

Congrats on the newest edition to that awesome pedal board.

_________________
RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

I guess my brain just works that way—I love to tweak the sound, depending on the song or track. That’s why so many of them are marked with particular settings. The marks probably wouldn’t make sense to most people, but they mean something to me.

[quote=”fendermandan”]Nice pedal man. I reckon you are a MXR fan, love the pictures. Good luck and post some sound samples if you can. We would like to hear it in action.[/quote]

Yes, the MXR love affair began with the Phase 90 (it’s a late 70’s block logo w/o LED that I put some custom labels on, as you can see). I bought it about fifteen years ago at a pawn shop for $20. It even had the box and manual with it!
I need to put some sound samples or some recordings of my band on Youtube or something. Hmmm…

_________________
Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals