The highly anticipated MXR Randy Rhoads Distortion+ has finally been released, and it pays tribute to the revolutionary electric guitar player who merged classical-inspired pieces with super-saturated riffs.
The distortion pedal finally arrives after months of anticipation and a series of lengthy delays that pushed back its originally forecasted release date by a year.
First teased in December 2022, the Distortion+ fell into obscurity until January this year, when it was announced the pedal was still in the pipeline. A further development earlier this month finally gave it its long-awaited release date.
At the time, Kathy Rhoads D’Argenzio – Randy’s sister, who was closely involved in the project – called the process “a long journey and a labor of love”, with the stompbox now finally coming to fruition after years of development.
The pedal was crafted after the late guitarist’s family unveiled Randy’s pedalboard for the MXR design team to inspect. This in-depth analysis took place at the Musonia School of Music – the family’s music school in Los Angeles – and lead to the exact replication of the parts that could be found in Rhoads’ original Distortion+.
It was there that “the engineers painstakingly spec’d Randy’s vintage Distortion+” to reproduce Rhoads’ signature tone, collaborating with Rhoads’ sister on the design.
In terms of the specs, the small-footprint pedal features two knobs – output and distortion – and a true bypass footswitch.
Despite its outward simplicity, it promises to recreate “the overdriven tube-like tones” associated with Rhoads. As fitting for such a pedal, the custom finish is inspired by the guitarist’s black and white polka dot Flying V.
“I was really blown away by how Randy Rhoads’ guitar sounded, how great of a guitar player was. [With Ozzy] I was expecting someone like Tony Iommi, more traditional, more like Black Sabbath,” comments Kirk Hammett in a Dunlop interview accompanying the release.
“But he had had this classically-influenced style that wasn’t overtly classical. He was using all the latest guitar techniques, and he was able to incorporate all this into his sound and really just make it his own.”
The Ozzy Osbourne guitarist’s “chip pan” pedalboard was stored in a flight case and featured at least eight switches and nine control knobs, but what they exactly controlled remained an enigma. However, the MXR Distortion+ was key to his tone and remained one of his staples throughout his career.
42 years after his passing, the MXR team was granted access to the pedalboard, after which it was returned to a secure location. These extra measures were taken because Musonia was broken into in 2019, with several of Rhoads’ instruments and memorabilia stolen.
MXR Randy Rhoads Distortion+ is now available for $169.99.
For more information, head to Dunlop.
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