MXR

Keith Barr and Terry Sherwood started out repairing audio gear from a basement apartment in Rochester, New York, and by 1972 had turned that into MXR, one of the pedal companies that shaped what a "stompbox" was meant to be. The Phase 90, Dyna Comp and Distortion + all came out of that first decade and are still in production today, largely unchanged in circuit even as the enclosures have been refreshed. MXR stopped production in 1984 and was bought by Jim Dunlop in 1987, who has run it since as a line of reissues and new pedals, including signature editions for players like Eddie Van Halen and Zakk Wylde. We cover MXR mostly through its history and its place in classic pedal-effect guides. Here's what we've written.