The Black LTD. Distortion is a high gain distortion pedal from Mr. Black, offered as a limited edition run of just 50 pedals. Mr. Black describes it in characteristically blunt terms: "Balls out high gain heaven. Three simple controls, lots of tone." It is a Jack Deville original design, sold directly by the maker at a list price of $179.95 USD.1
This pedal is long gone from production. Mr. Black's page marks it "SOLD OUT 09.02.2015 6:28PM PST," so the only route to one now is the secondhand market.1
What it does
The Black LTD. Distortion is built around a simple idea: a lot of gain from a small control set. Mr. Black's product page describes "Three simple controls, lots of tone," though it does not name the individual knobs. For a player, that points to the familiar distortion layout of level, drive and tone-style controls rather than a multi-mode circuit.1
As a distortion pedal, it sits alongside the rest of Mr. Black's gain lineup, which has included the Thunderclaw and the CAT Distortion. See the site's wider guide to Distortion Pedals for how the type works and what the alternatives are.
How it was demonstrated
Mr. Black backed the pedal with sound clips recorded, in the maker's words, "with an SM57 and a Mesa/Boogie Mark V:25 set squeaky clean." That is a useful reference for anyone trying to judge the pedal from the maker's demos: a Shure SM57 microphone in front of a Mesa/Boogie Mark V:25 amp, with the amp's own gain kept low so the pedal supplies the distortion.1
Availability and price
The pedal carried a regular price of $179.95 USD on Mr. Black's own product page. As a limited run of 50, it sold out on 2 September 2015 at 6:28PM PST, according to the same page.1
Videos
Eric Ferguson
Questions
Is the Mr. Black Black LTD. Distortion still available?
No. Mr. Black built the Black LTD. Distortion as a limited run of 50 pedals, and the maker's product page marks it sold out as of 2 September 2015 at 6:28PM PST. It is a discontinued, limited edition pedal, so it only turns up secondhand rather than at dealers.
Who designed the Black LTD. Distortion?
Mr. Black describes the Black LTD. Distortion as a Jack Deville original design. Jack Deville is the designer behind the Mr. Black brand, and the pedal was sold directly by Mr. Black as one of its limited edition releases.
What kind of pedal is the Black LTD. Distortion?
It is a distortion pedal aimed at high gain sounds. Mr. Black's own description is 'Balls out high gain heaven. Three simple controls, lots of tone,' which points to a straightforward three-knob layout rather than a feature-heavy design.
Sources (1)
- Black LTD. Distortion, Mr. Black, 2015-09-02
