MXR M-171 Dual 2/3 Octave Graphic Equaliser (Refurbished & Recapped) #4

This M-171 has been disassembled & cleaned & the power supply upgraded with larger reservoir caps and additional decoupling. Electrolytic capacitors in the audio path have been replaced by higher-value, bipolar Panasonic caps. The slide pots have been cleaned & lubricated and new white caps fitted

MXR has long been overlooked in favour of better-known brands like UREI, Klark-Teknik 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

This 2/3rd Octave unit 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 a 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