MXR M-103

Bluebox Octaver

A truly extraordinary effect by MXR. Basically, the "Blue Box" is a kind of octaver, but there is already the MXR Bass Octave. The Blue Box is more for people who prefer something special or anything else: the guitar signal is first distorted and then lowered by 2 octaves. The balance between the dry and the effect signal can now be adjusted. With a discreetly used effect more typical octaver sounds are possible, especially if one plays rather high notes on the guitar; The higher the effect percentage increases, the more natural it sounds. Try it out!

Robust metal casing
Slip resistant rubber pad
Adds a two octave lower signal to the original signal

30 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

3 3-Year Thomann Warranty

Available since November 1999

Item number 140174

Sales Unit 1 piece(s)

Effect Types Octaver

$106

The shipping costs are calculated on the checkout page.

585

Sales Rank

in Miscellaneous Guitar Effects

59 Customer ratings

5 26 Customers 4 27 Customers 3 5 Customers 2 1 Customer 1 0 Customers

4.3 / 5

handling

features

sound

quality

Review guidelines

33 Reviews

MXR M-103 - Blue Box

Oliver W. 214 10.09.2013

MXR M - 103 Blue Box is a quite interesting pedal. Unfortunately I haven't really found any use for it. It's a really easy to use pedal with only two knobs. Unfortunately the features aren't that great. There is just a blend knob and a volume knob, which means there is just one knob to control the octave effect and the fuzz/distortion effect. The sound is pretty good, but you can't get a clean or a cleaner sound together with the octave effect. Whenever you use the octave effect the sound is very distorted and it's quite hard to actually separate different notes, because of the heavy distortion and fuzz, additionally you can't hear any chords unless you turn the blend knob up, which means you don't actually use the octave effect. So if you turn the blend knob up then you won't hear any of the octave effect and if you turn it down then you only get a very weird, dirty and muddy octave sound. If you turn the blend knob to the middle you will get a mixture of the fuzz/distortion and octave effect but it's still very dirty and muddy. It works quite well though as a dirty fuzz pedal when you have the blend turned up. Unfortunately this pedal didn't meet my expectations.

handling

features

sound

quality

Report

Do you believe this rating to be inaccurate or unacceptable for some reason? Please give us the reason for your assessment in the following text box and – if possible – your e-mail address for further questions.

The intersection between bitcrusher and octave fuzz!

Brian95 07.03.2021

This pedal goes between pure octave fuzz and a glitchy bitcrusher that is brilliant for creating unique lead sounds. The pedal is monophonic so dont expect it to track chords but for lead lines it can make some beautifully glitchy and unique sounds!

handling

features

sound

quality

Report

Untamed fuzz suboctave crazyness

ptr 01.06.2013

Ok, Jimmy Page used it once, but it's got much more going for it than that. Leave the Output knob up ay full - it's useless anywhere else. With the Blend knob at full, it's a gnarly fuzz. With it rolled back, it's a fuzzy minus 2 octave glitch monster. And I mean that in a good way! So pick your spot between the two, and go mad. You'll need to experiment with which pickup and guitar tome setting to use to get the most out of the -2 octave.
If you're even just a bit handy with a soldering iron, I'd recommend putting a sqitch on the C11 capacitor, which brightens the sound up a bit. Also, a switch to flip between -1 and -2 octaves is a good and easy mod to do. i've done both (first modded pedal I've done), and it improves the pedal 100%. There's a bit of bleed-through on the dry signal. At the moment I'm just yanking out the power cable to remedy it, but I might buy/build a bypass looper to solve it. Modding it for true bypass might me a little more than I can handle. It benefits from an overdrive in front of it. Or be The Melvins, and just use it and a Rat (or Moorer Black Secret) and fuzz out!

handling

features

sound

quality

Report

Brilliant Vintage!

Maheem_20 29.03.2020

Just put a light overdrive behind it and you're golden.

handling

features

sound

quality

Report

Read all reviews

MXR M-103

Bluebox Octaver

59 Customer ratings

You have to be logged in to rate products.

33 Reviews

Smart Navigator

Recently Viewed Products

Shop and pay safely

Your benefits

Service

Served with love!

MXR M-103

Bluebox Octaver

Accessories & matching items

59 Customer ratings

You have to be logged in to rate products.

33 Reviews

Compare options

Smart Navigator