The Moog MF Drive is a filter-based overdrive pedal from Moog1. Unlike a conventional overdrive, its dirt is generated with synth-derived circuitry: Moog describes it as employing a Moog Ladder Filter, boutique FET amplifiers and OTAs in its drive section, making it highly reactive to picking dynamics1. It carries an MSRP of $1791. Dean Fertita uses it for gain in Queens of the Stone Age2.
What it does
The MF Drive sits between overdrive and filter pedals: it produces drive, but the filter shapes what survives. Moog's press release describes a panel with "a bi-polar tone control and sweepable filter that work dynamically with input gain," which the company says offers each player customizable sounds that retain the core timbre of their instrument1. In practice, that means the tone and filter controls respond to how hard you play, not just where you set them.
The filter side is a real part of the pedal's character, not an afterthought. In a 2017 rig rundown of Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Dean Fertita's board, EarthQuaker Devices' Aaron Rogers noted that the MF Drive's Filter function "keeps only the right frequencies in the mix," comparing it to the active EQ of the Monarch2. Fertita uses the pedal for gain on that board2.
If you want to hear how a filter-driven dirt box differs from a standard overdrive, the type pages on Overdrive Pedals and Filter Pedals cover the broader categories it draws from.
Where it came from
The MF Drive arrived as part of Moog's Minifooger line, positioned as a filter-based overdrive rather than a conventional dirt pedal1. Moog describes its drive section as employing a Moog Ladder Filter, boutique FET amplifiers and OTAs, making it highly reactive to picking dynamics1. It carried an MSRP of $1791, and Dean Fertita has used it for gain in Queens of the Stone Age12.
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Questions
What kind of pedal is the Moog MF Drive?
The MF Drive is a filter-based overdrive pedal from Moog's Minifooger family of analog stompboxes. It creates its dirt using a Moog Ladder Filter, boutique FET amplifiers and classic OTAs, and Moog describes the drive section as highly reactive to picking dynamics. It also carries a bi-polar tone control and a sweepable filter that work dynamically with the input gain.
Who uses the Moog MF Drive?
Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age uses the Moog MF Drive for gain, according to an EarthQuaker Devices rig rundown published in 2017. In that rundown, Aaron Rogers noted that the pedal's Filter function keeps only the right frequencies in the mix, comparing it to the active EQ approach of the Monarch.
Sources (2)
- Moog Introduces Minifooger Analog Effects Pedals, Premier Guitar, 2013-10-08
- Board to Death Ep. 10: Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age), EarthQuaker Devices, 2017-11-30
