Mxr Bass D.i.+

I started playing bass 6 years ago.
I now have 9 basses and over 20 pedals of which I have weeded out the average ones through research, buying and selling.
When I first started looking at bass gear, the knowledgeable bass guy at the music store said he has only 2 or 3 main pedals now and one was the MXR M80 Bass DI.
He said he only uses it for one thing really - the colour switch.
I have found his advice to be sound, for if I want a bass to sound like I want it to - I just press that little blue colour switch and life is good again.
And if you want life to be great - add an Aguilar Tone Hammer after it - the combo is incredible. I’m surprised every time!

I've owned, recorded, & gigged with this pedal for the last decade. It's been the foundation of my bass tone & even if i do some recording straight into amp, this pedal is never far to reach if needed.

It's a dual channel D.I. Box that can run either in effects signal chain to the amp, or as its own amp into a P.A system. Controls are basic, 3 band EQ of Bass, Mids & treble. A volume for each channel, Blend, trigger, & gain controls on the distortion side. Colour switch on the clean channel to engage or disengage the mid scoop tone. I don't personally use it much on the clean channel, though it's great for slap, funk players for sure, or just someone who wants a fatter bass response. Dirt channel can be tricky to dial in at first, starting with everything at noon does help, as you should set the amount of Gain first, then dictate how much of it you want peeking through with the blend knob. Though i do wish the blend acted as a clean blend rather than deciding which channel you favour more on the dirt circuit, it's easy to overlook.

Another thing about the dirt channel is when active, the colour switch is automatically engaged. Given the distortion can be pretty wild if the blend & gain are at max, it's understandable. Though it would've been a good feature to have it selectable on/off as is on the clean channel.

The phantom/ground switch only works when using the XLR output, & this enables the pedal to be powered via the mix board - NOTE: the board itself must have a 48V phantom power switch for this to work. Otherwise, you need to use a 9v adapter, or 9v battery. There is a parallel output, & this is used in conjunction with the XLR output if ever you were running some effects after the D.I., or if you simply want to run into an amp that doesn't have a D.I. (such as my old 70's solid state heads). I've not yet used this feature, as i rarely use the XLR out. Mine is set into my fx board running the In & normal output of this pedal in the chain.

I would recommend this pedal if you're on a budget & would want something other than the classic sansamp Bass Driver (which although good, i favoured this MXR over it due to the switchable channels & better overall distortion tone). It's very reliable, efficient & straight to its point.

I never leave home without it, that's how good i find it, & how much i love this pedal.