The MXR Sugar Drive Pedal captures the essence of a legendary overdrive circuit that has reached mythical status among tone enthusiasts, offering everything from subtle signal boosting to full-blown tube-style distortion. This pedal recreates the magic of a rare and coveted overdrive unit, bringing its unique circuit design to players without the eye-watering price tag of vintage originals.
At the heart of this pedal lies its distinctive Drive control and voltage doubler circuit. Rather than simply cranking up overdrive intensity, the Drive knob starts with your clean signal and progressively blends in the overdrive effect as you turn it up, mimicking the natural transition of a valve amp moving from pristine clean tones to saturated drive. The voltage doubler increases headroom throughout the circuit, creating an open and dynamic response that sets this pedal apart from conventional overdrive designs.
MXR has enhanced the original design with modern conveniences that cater to different playing preferences. True bypass switching comes as standard, but players who prefer the original’s buffered bypass can simply engage the Buffer switch on the pedal’s side panel. Housed in MXR’s compact mini enclosure with a straightforward three-knob layout, the Sugar Drive offers maximum versatility while conserving valuable pedalboard real estate.
- Mini recreation of the mythical Klon Centaur.
- Volume, Tone, and Drive level controls
- True or Buffered bypass switching with indicator LEDs
- Power Requirements: 9 volts DC
- Current Draw: 18.5 mA