Review: MXR Sugar Drive Pedal

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Let me get this out of the way—I love the name of this pedal. The MXR Sugar Drive? Are you kidding me? Yes, please! I’ll take two. Maybe three. Just like a spoonful of sugar in my coffee, I can’t get enough of its overdriven sweetness! But wait, I haven’t even told you whether this thing is good or not. Well, then, let’s get right to the point: The MXR Sugar Drive is pure confectionary hard rock and blues in a mini-chassis pedal. It can whip up a full-bodied clean boost to “amp in a box” granulated crunch so refined it might send you into a diabetic coma.

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Paul Riario has been the tech/gear editor and online video presence for Guitar World for over 25 years. Paul is one of the few gear editors who has actually played and owned nearly all the original gear that most guitarists wax poetically about, and has survived this long by knowing every useless musical tidbit of classic rock, new wave, hair metal, grunge, and alternative genres. When Paul is not riding his road bike at any given moment, he remains a working musician, playing in two bands called SuperTrans Am and Radio Nashville.

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