MXR M75 Super Badass '75

The MXR M75 Super Badass '75 is an analog distortion pedal from MXR, released in 2013¹. Its aim is British amp crunch: Delicious Audio calls it "a pedal inspired by the British tone associated with the EL34 tube (read: Marshall and Orange amps)"¹, and Guitar World says "the M75 has a default voice that speaks in British EL34 tube crunch"². Where many distortion pedals give you a single tone knob, the M75 carries a full three-band EQ, which is the feature reviewers returned to most.

A British-style crunch from an analog distortion

The M75 is a fully analog design. At launch, Guitar Interactive Magazine reported that the pedal "puts decades of 100% analog distortion at your feet"⁶, and Guitar World's 2026 distortion buying guide likewise lists it among pedals that "produce versatile analog distortion"².

Its character, as reviewers describe it, sits firmly in the British camp. MusicRadar's Michael Astley-Brown found that "with everything set to 12 o'clock, the Super Badass's basic voicing is tight and crunchy - firmly in the British distortion" camp⁷. The pedal ships in MXR's familiar compact enclosure, which Guitar Interactive described at launch as coming "ready for the road with the sturdy housing and durable components that MXR is known for"⁶, and Delicious Audio cites its "rugged metal housing"¹.

The manual includes a set of sample settings that hint at the range MXR intended³:

These four names come straight from the manual's suggested settings section³.

The controls: Output, Distortion, Bass, Mid and Treble

The M75 has five knobs: Output, Distortion, Bass, Mid and Treble²⁵. Two set the gain structure and three shape the tone, which is what separates it from most single-tone-knob distortions.

All control functions and EQ figures come from MXR's manual³. The manual calls the EQ "highly tweakable," and Premier Guitar's reviewer agreed, writing that "the separate bass, mid, and treble knobs are powerful and enable control over a very wide frequency spectrum"⁸.

The Mid knob deserves special mention because it is the control that lets the pedal cover two very different eras. Delicious Audio notes that "the dedicated Mid knob allows for scooped tones (good for metal) or the more mid-rangey distortion in vogue in the '70s"¹. With 12 dB of cut or boost available at 500 Hz³, a player can pull the mids down for a modern scooped metal rhythm, or push them up for the mid-forward crunch of 1970s British stacks.

The pedal is also quiet for a high-gain design. The manual specifies a signal-to-noise ratio of 93 dBV, A-weighted, with all controls at their mid positions³, and Guitar World's guide lists "low noise, large output" among its pluses².

How it compares to the M78 Custom Badass '78

The M75 is a follow-up to the MXR M78 Custom Badass '78 Distortion. MusicRadar notes that MXR, "not content with one Badass (the M78 Custom Badass '78 Distortion), they've one-upped it with the M75 Super Badass Distortion"⁷. The M78, reviewed by MusicRadar's Trevor Curwen, is built around "a classic distortion circuit"⁹ and, like the M75, is an all-analog, true bypass design according to Pedal of the Day¹⁰.

The practical difference for a player is the EQ. The M78 takes the simpler classic-circuit approach, while the M75 adds the separate bass, mid and treble section with a wide frequency spectrum of control⁸⁷. Current list prices also differ: Jim Dunlop lists the M75 at $139.99 and the M78 at $125.99⁴.

What reviewers said

Published reviewers were broadly positive, with some caveats at the gain extremes.

• Premier Guitar (2021) listed as pros: "Powerful, flexible 3-band EQ. Touch-sensitive responsiveness. Can go from modern metal leads to simple lead boosts." Its main con: "Most available tones have a trace of modern distortion color." The reviewer also found that at lower gain settings "I got a brawny overdrive similar to the output from a TS9. However, unlike the Ibanez, which has a rather restrictive EQ," the M75's EQ is more flexible⁸.
• MusicRadar concluded that "MXR now has a Best Buy Badass on its hands"⁷.
• Guitar World's buying guide credits it with low noise and large output, but found it "unconvincing at low and high gain extremes"².
• Delicious Audio flagged it as "rather weak in the low gain range"¹.

The low-gain criticism is the one that recurs: as a boost or light overdrive, reviewers found it less convincing than it is as a mid-to-high gain distortion. At its core setting, though, the British crunch voicing is what the pedal is for¹²⁸.

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