“All the ingredients I needed to make the soup”: MXR celebrates 20 years of partnership with Zakk Wylde with 5 pedals that promise his Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society and Pantera tones
Three pedals have been unveiled to launch the lineup, and two more are in the works. As Wylde says, these are the pedals that have been on his pedalboard “forever”
(Image credit: MXR)
2023 marks the 20th anniversary of Zakk Wylde’s partnership with MXR, and as such, the pair have rekindled their partnership for a run of celebratory stompboxes.
In total, the drop is made up of five pedals – three of which have been released to spearhead the range – which each bring to the table a flashy new-look chassis to house some of Wylde’s go-to MXR effects.
In MXR’s own words: “Each of the five pedals in the series captures all the glory and hellfire that Wylde is famous for, from his legendary recordings and performances with Ozzy Osbourne and as part of his own band Black Label Society to his current run with Pantera.”
It’s a rather select and exclusive lineup, which has been curated with the intention of providing players a broad spectrum of Wylde’s main sounds, spanning his Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society and, now, Pantera repertoire.
New-look versions of the MXR Wylde Audio Overdrive, Chorus and Phase pedals have been released first, with Wylde himself saying of this new launch, “They’ve been on my pedalboard forever. This is definitely all the ingredients I needed to make the soup.”
(Image credit: MXR)
Each pedal pays homage to their predecessors with expanded throwback aesthetics. The Phase, for example, extrapolates the red-and-black buzzsaw design to cover the whole face. It’s a similar case for the bullseye-style Overdrive and psychedelic Chorus.
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Aside from the new cosmetics, the pedals are identical to their forebears. That means the Phase has a sole control knob for Speed, while the Overdrive offers parameters for Output, Tone and Gain.
The Chorus is slightly more comprehensive – but still intuitive – with the presence of Low, High, Level, Rate and Depth knobs.
(Image credit: MXR)
The pedals are yet to make their way onto Dunlop’s website, but they have cropped up on a handful of retailers, such as Sweetwater.
Price-wise, the Chorus is the most expensive new release, weighing in at $149. The Overdrive and Phase, meanwhile, have price tags of $129 and $119, respectively.
As we mentioned above, there are two more Wylde Audio Series MXR pedals on the way. What are they, you ask? The MXR Wylde Audio Rotovibe, and Zakk’s custom Cry Baby Wah.
Keep your eyes peeled on Dunlop for future Wylde Audio Series updates.
Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.
