Abasi Pathos Distortion vs MXR Super Badass Distortion
The Abasi Pathos Distortion and the MXR Super Badass Distortion are both pedals sharing tight, harmonically rich, transparent. The Abasi Pathos Distortion leans high gain and smooth. The MXR Super Badass Distortion leans crunchy and warm. Current prices: $189.99 vs $99.
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Blended from circuit-archetype lineage, dynamic feel, tone-signal overlap and tone-vector distance — the tone vector itself is derived from editorial description text, not a measured acoustic signal, so this reflects how similarly the catalog copy describes the two, not a lab measurement. Shown only within a gear class, and only where there's enough evidence to be meaningful.45% — somewhat different
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Genres both listings are associated with.- Metal
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Derived from overlapping tonal signals across both listings.- tight
- harmonically rich
- transparent
- sustaining
Abasi Pathos Distortion
Abasi · pedal
MXR Super Badass Distortion
MXR · pedal
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Citation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.$189.99via Reverb
$99via Reverb
The Abasi Pathos Distortion, designed by Tosin Abasi and Brian Wampler, is built to capture the character of a driven American-style tube amp channel rather than a typical stompbox distortion circuit. Its Smooth and Edge voicings range from an emotive, singing crunch to a scorching, tightly controlled high-gain distortion, shaped further by musically tuned EQ shelves and a dedicated mid control. It works equally well as extra grit pushed in front of an already-driven amp, as a full distortion channel in front of a clean amp, or as a boost into a digital modeler. It suits progressive and modern players wanting amp-like distortion character with real tonal shaping rather than a single fixed voicing.
The MXR Super Badass Distortion is a versatile analog distortion with a three-band active EQ and a wide gain range, designed to cover decades of dirt from one box. With the distortion low it produces a bold, beefy clean boost and light crunch, and as gain increases it moves through classic-rock midrange grind into harmonically rich, saturated, scooped-mid metal roar. The Bass, Mid, and Treble controls reshape the voice dramatically, going from thick and beefy to bright and aggressive while staying tight rather than flabby. Notes remain clear and dynamic, responding to picking. Suited to rock, blues, punk, and metal, it is praised as a do-it-all distortion with warm, sustaining tone. Its only real coloration is a trace of modern distortion character across its range.
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Genres this gear is documented as being used in.- Classic Rock
- Rock
- Blues
- Punk
- high gain
- smooth
- mid-forward
- crunchy
- warm
- dynamic