Surgical tool for rhythm guitars and modelling amps, but sounds weak for lead guitars. Not a perfect pedal by any means.

So after a long while I decided to give the Precision Drive a try to see how well it holds up against the Mud Killer when it comes to boosting the Friedman HBE.

Sound-wise, the Precision Drive works as advertised. It boosts the Friedman HBE very well, the guitar tone sounds punchy, tight and bright, and held up very nicely against the Mud Killer overdrive. However, it's not a perfect pedal by any means. This pedal does have some flaws when compared against other options such as the Mud Killer overdrive.

I’m not a fan of the noise gate on the Precision Drive, as it isn’t tweakable as compared to an ISP Decimator ProRack G. You have no control over the threshold of the noise gate – the gate knob acts more like the response speed of the noise gate, to adjust how fast the noise gate reacts. Now, I do understand that this pedal was mainly marketed towards djent and metalcore fanboys who use modelling solutions; however, if you’re using a tube rig with a dedicated noise gate, my suggestion to you is to turn it all the way down. Even then, I can still tell that the noise gate isn’t truly bypassed all the way through, which does tend to affect the lead playing at times compared to the Mud Killer that allows long notes to sustain with minimal problems.

This pedal was mainly designed with extended range guitars and modelers in mind. The problem that many Kemper and Axe-FX users had was that the overdrive FX blocks in those modelers were rather subpar compared to the real deals, and the original tube screamer pedals sounded flubby with certain amp models, not to mention the problems that guitarists had to deal with in terms of the noise that the overdrive pedals produced.

The Precision Drive, IMHO, was designed as an answer to those problems, specifically as a surgical tool for those who don’t want to give up their digital amp tone but at the same time don’t want to bust their bank for a full-on tube amp rig with analog pedals.

Does it work with tube amps? Of course it does. However, is it so great that it would replace the Mud Killer Mark I in my guitar rig? Probably not.

Another thing that might be a turn-off for some people is the Attack knob. Sound-wise it works as advertised; however, functionality-wise, the Attack settings are fixed to 6 settings – no in-between. With the Mud Killer, you can dial in the perfect setting that you want to dial out unwanted mud from your guitar tone; however, with the Precision Drive, you may have to live with a setting that forces you into a compromise one way or another.

Oh, and caution – handle the Bright and Gain knobs with care. The Precision Drive was designed primarily with extended-range guitars in mind – anywhere beyond the 1 o’clock position on the Bright knob will start to make 6-string guitars tuned above Drop C sound harsh on the high’s. Dial this knob carefully.

All that being said, is the pedal reliable? Yes. The construction of the Precision Drive was outsourced to MXR, and as such I would expect nothing less than a perfectly designed pedal in terms of reliability. However, this pedal won't be replacing my Mud Killer completely anytime soon. If anything I'll most likely be using this as a surgical tool for rhythm guitars while delegating lead guitar boost to the Mud Killer.

Preferred Settings + Usage:

Basically a modern TubeScreamer +

This is basically a clinical tube screamer style pedal. Minimal built in gain, and tonnes of tonal shaping and a solid noise gate.

Yes it can do the djent thing when paired with a suitable gain stage, but it can also totally do the TS thing into any amp. I really like it and keep it on my board instead of my JHS Bonzai. The controls are different to a TS circuit so once you get the idea of what each one is actually doing you can actually do more with this than a traditional tube screamer.

It's a one-trick pony and works well with very few amps.

It's literally a one-trick pony and it works well with very few amps. Thankfully what I use is compatible enough that it's a keeper, and it does help clean up all that low end build up, but be prepared for the harsh Marshall-esque nightmare you're about to hear. The Drive does almost absolutely nothing so I have no clue why that's even there, the Attack knob is pretty helpful (albeit not to the extent you need it for!) but the Bright knob seems to boost all the wrong frequencies and not the right frequencies like, ever, and the Volume, even when it's at maximum setting, is still quite underwhelming to hear by the time you hook it up to an amp. The only real net positive is the built-in Gate.

Look for the Fortin Grind instead, much better low end control.

Preferred Settings + Usage:

Can make about any amp suitable for metal

The Precision Drive is an awesome boost. Flubby amp? No attack? Get a precision drive and call it a day. Really can do wonders. I keep it in my pocket just in case. 😁👉👉

Great sounding and very functional noise gate but...

Mine kills the low end on my amp a bit. Just turn up the bass and it should sound better. Otherwise sounds very good and solid noise gate in one pedal.

Tight

I use a Carvin Legacy Tube amp and Guitar Rig, and both have their quirks. The tube amp is buttery smooth, but it loses clarity if you crank up the second and third channel. This pedal has single handedly solved that issue, and opened up my amp to a world of new tones. With Guitar Rig, it takes the normal, trashy digital sound and gives it life. I was hesitant about buying this, but I shouldn't have been.

A metal players dream

This pedal is by far one of the coolest sounding overdrives in my collection its great for metal the built in noise gate is impressive especially through my marshal jcm 800 its tight. Has lifetime warranty but its built like a panzer tank. misha perfected something every metal player should have in there rig.

A genuine gem

Brings clarity to your overdrive, filtering out the muddiness. Built in noise gate without screwing up your long sustain. Great for all genres. I use it for metal, electronic rock and for recording. Really great stuff! Thanks to Misha and the MXR department.

Instant djent tone!

This pedal will put that mind-blowing vibe to your tone, packs that tight and clean stops thanks to its built-in noise gate. Best overdrive pedal I have.

From Gear Setup

Amazing

Brings any amp to life--my Dark Terror, already completely brutal, was driven (if you will excuse the pun) to a whole new level. This pedal completely tightens your sond--no more flubby bass. I cannot recommend this pedal enough.