Interesting Bitsįor in-depth analysis go to Electrosmash, I can’t do anything better 😊. For output pot – the larger pot value makes the output louder (not more distorted, just the volume is higher). But the pedal would work either way.įor distortion pot, the only real difference is in the level of control you’d have over distortion (which you won’t be able to see from diagrams, you’d have to try it out).

So I modified them in my version a bit, it made more sense, distortion pot value now matches gain pot value of Micro Amp.

After all, Micro Amp is based on Distortion + design, just undistorted.Īfter some more investigation, turns out that there’s a slight uncertainty on pot values on the original schematic. Since I built MXR Micro Amp (or at least breadboarded it) before, I knew that Distortion pot should be reverse-log. Output pot is easy – so far it has always been audio taper to control level or volume or, in this case output (whatever the label). The schematic did not have details of the pot’s tapers. I got the basic schematic from Electrosmash, here’s my version: MXR Distortion Plus Schematic (Click for full size image) And, I also have a chance to try out different mods, see if I like something better. This way I verify the basic design – schematics are sometimes wrong. I always do breadboarding for any effect I’m building. This is a very simple pedal, but also very easy to modify. There’s also a list of things to try-out. I’ll move on to put the effect on a breadboard and try it out. Here I cover the basic schematic for the circuit, cover some interesting details, there’s even SPICE simulation if you want to do some analysis yourself. Iconic, sounding great, yet simple, great for DIY effort 😆. A true icon, used by likes of Dave Murray, Randy Rhoads, Slash, Tom Morello and many many others. MXR Distortion + pedal has been around since 70’s and featured in many 70’s and 80’s rock and metal recordings (and many more modern ones).

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