MXR M-124 Blue Face Dual Fifteen Band EQ
MXR has long been overlooked in favour of better-known brands like UREI, Klark-Technik and TC Electronics, but the Rochester, New York-based manufacturer turned out a wide range of high-quality studio outboard and effects pedals
MXR made the MXR Pitch Transposer - an early Eventide Harmonizer competitor - a delay line, chorus, stereo flanger, the rare stereo compressor and a range of graphic equalisers
The graphics were probably the most often-seen items of MXR rack gear, partly because they are very eye-catching with white caps on the EQ controls
MXR rackmount gear all came in the same 2U case with cast rack ears, pressed steel top & bottom panels and a front panel sandwiched between the two. Front panels were either bright blue or black
The Dual Fifteen is a 15-band equaliser with frequencies at less-than-octave spacings. It's great for finding problem frequencies & pulling them back, or for pushing narrow frequency bands. Each filter is narrower than the UREI 10-band graphic, so is tight enough to pull out or accentuate a very specific frequency band
Used with care, a graphic EQ can be a surgical tool or a very subtle tone shaper - particularly when used to pull out frequencies to leave space in a mix. Like the UREI, this EQ will be great on guitars
It definitely sounds crunchier and more focussed than plugin EQs and can be as subtle or as lairy as you like, depending how far you push it
I think the MXR range is due a resurgence in popularity and believe their vintage gear will appreciate, just as other brands have. It has lots of sonic character and a very American design aesthetic. As a newcomer to the pro audio industry, MXR looked to their guitar pedal roots and came up with a design for rackmount gear that was fresh, memorable & very colourful. The later black-face designs may have been an attempt to blend in with other manufacturers but, when I think of MXR, I think of the blue-face units
| MXR EQ Filter Centre Frequencies
|
| 1 |
25 Hz |
| 2 |
40 Hz |
| 3 |
63 Hz |
| 4 |
100 Hz |
| 5 |
160 Hz |
| 6 |
250 Hz |
| 7 |
400 Hz |
| 8 |
630 Hz |
| 9 |
1 KHz |
| 10 |
1.6 KHz |
| 11 |
2.5 KHz |
| 12 |
4.0 KHz |
| 13 |
6.3 KHz |
| 14 |
10 KHz |
| 15 |
16 KHz |
Technical
Inputs & outputs are on jack sockets and the unit works at a nominal 0 dBm level. Inputs are high-impedance and are also suitable for use with guitar & keyboard patched directly in. EQ boost & cut is ± 12 dB. The front panel has output level controls for each channel, a single in / out bypass switch and a power switch. Mains is switchable between 110 and 220 Volts via a rear-panel switch and power input is via a standard IEC connector, a modification which has been carried out at some point in the past
Summary
Vintage Analogue outboard gear in really good condition is rare now. Most equipment of this age has been out on tour, shuffled between studio racks, stored in damp basements for many years, or all three. Finding something in excellent condition, like this Dual Fifteen, is unusual
In superb condition, unmarked apart from odd tiny scratches. The case is in remarkable condition
I have a pair of MXR thirty-one band graphics in another auction
