Prior to the release of Walk this Way, most folks would have expected a collaboration
between Aerosmith and RUN-DMC to be a bad idea. But somehow, the collaboration
shot hip-hop into the pop music lexicon and rescued Aerosmith from addiction and a
floundering career. On the same front, a collaboration between “competing” effects
companies seems just as ill-fitting and unlikely. But 2015 saw two such collaborations
with equally fantastic outcomes. First, MXR partnered with Ryan Ratajski, founder of
Fuzzrocious Pedals, to create the MXR Bass Distortion. Harnessing Ratajski’s knack
for low-end grit, MXR created a pretty fantastic bass distortion pedal. Second, DOD
partnered with Mark Wentz of Black Arts Toneworks to create the Boneshaker—a heavy
(and heavy-duty) distortion pedal with some serious tone-shaping capabilities. In both
cases, the collaborations brought some “indie cred” to mainstream effect makers and
helped to spread the name (and great circuit designs) of two small builders.
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TONE TALK //
8 Ways the Pedal Game Changed in 2015