NPD x3: Xotic SL Drive, MLA Magician, Marshall Bluesbreaker II

[glasshand]

A triple NPD post! I wasn't really intending to get three distortion pedals in quick succession, but sometimes you just run across stuff. I've been using a Rat for a while, and while I like it, a Rat is very distinctly its own thing and not always what I'm looking for, and it's also huge and I like to keep a smaller pedalboard.

PXL_20250621_144205664.jpg

I'd heard nothing but good things about the Xotic SL Drive, so I picked one of those up from CL. It is tiny but feels very solid and well-made. And the sound - well, there's a reason these are so well-known! It does a really good Marshall impression with its very small feature set. Maybe it's annoying that the DIP switches are on the inside, but my feeling is that you're probably going to play around with them and get your preferred tone once, and then you're not likely to mess with them frequently after that.

I'd seen some reviews of the Missing Link Audio "Magician", and it sounded right up my alley - 1970s riff-rock distortion, with built-in boost function! The fact that it looks cool as hell doesn't hurt either. They're pretty uncommon, so when one showed up on FB Marketplace, I grabbed it. Unfortunately my feelings about the sound are not quite as positive. It has kind of a thin fuzz-box quality that I'm having trouble dialing in to where I like. I will hurry to say that it sounds a lot better in a band situation, and through a big amp at band volume, than it does by itself at home - we all know that a lot of great guitar tracks sound kind of weird by themselves, but great in context. I also wish it came with a manual, or some better instructions and labelling. I mean, the buttons aren't even labeled as to which one is on/off and which one is boost! The toggle switch is kind of a low-end EQ shift, and "attack" basically seems to be a presence control. I was hoping the boost was post-gain, but it does not seem to be. It does make the pedal a bit louder, but not to where I was hoping would be useful for solos.

And then while I was dragging my wife to every guitar store in Ireland (it's OK, she dragged me to every woolen-goods store), I ran across this Marshall Bluesbreaker II, and I got it on a whim. It's definitely more gainy than I expected, and the usable gain range is not that wide IMO, but it is definitely an amount of gain that I like. It also has a kind of lo-fi quality to it that I like.

So far I am leaning towards using the SL Drive, keeping the BBII, and selling the Magician, but I'm going to give them a bit more of a trial before I make a final decision.

EDIT: Meant NPD not NGD, of course.

[Spike]

Nice, congrats!

[golem]

You are not the only one to call the BB2 lofi or grainy. That sounds odd to me simply because none of those things are how I'd describe BB style circuits I'm used to.

The SL is a classic. I'll admit I haven't tried it, but the Friedman I picked up is based on a Super Lead which is what I take the pedal is going for sonically.

[Tonray's Ghost]

I had an Xotic boost I think years ago, I remember regretting selling it for a long time. Can't seem to remember the exact model though it was candy apple red.

[glasshand]

You are not the only one to call the BB2 lofi or grainy. That sounds odd to me simply because none of those things are how I'd describe BB style circuits I'm used to.

The SL is a classic. I'll admit I haven't tried it, but the Friedman I picked up is based on a Super Lead which is what I take the pedal is going for sonically.

When I call the BB2 lo-fi, I mean that it has a kind of "boxy" quality, a bit like you're hearing it over a small transistor radio. I know that doesn't sound very flattering, but at the same time it has sort of a classic feel, reminiscent of being a kid and hearing music on the radio, and it also sits in a mix very well. Maybe the BB circuits you're used to are more BBv1 style? Apparently the two are quite different and the BBv1 has a lot more fans.

So far the SL is kicking everything else's butt...basically anything that the other two can do, the SL can do and in a smaller package too.

[golem]

@glasshand I'm more familiar with clones of of the BB circuit than the original. I find that I prefer modded BB circuits to originals. I vaguely recall demos of the original sounding ok but having a more narrow usable range of EQ. And I particularly like having more control over EQ and clipping. This reminds me that I may need to talk to @mozz or @andrewsrea about building a few pedals for my brother in law.

[tlarson58]

Great reviews! Thanks for posting them.