Dunlop MXR Distortion Plus vs JHS Charlie Brown
The Dunlop MXR Distortion Plus and the JHS Charlie Brown are both pedals sharing compressed, mid-forward, saturated. The Dunlop MXR Distortion Plus leans warm. The JHS Charlie Brown leans transparent and full.
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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.36% — somewhat different
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Genres both listings are associated with.- Classic Rock
- Rock
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Derived from overlapping tonal signals across both listings.- compressed
- mid-forward
- saturated
Dunlop MXR Distortion Plus
Dunlop · pedal
JHS Charlie Brown
JHS Pedals · pedal
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Citation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.The MXR Distortion Plus is the original MXR distortion pedal, introduced in 1973 and one of the most influential hard-clipping distortion designs in the history of the electric guitar. The circuit uses a single op-amp with hard germanium diode clipping to produce a compressed, warm distortion character with a distinctive midrange voice. The Distortion Plus is strongly associated with Randy Rhoads, who used it with Ozzy Osbourne, and with Slash on early Guns N Roses recordings. It delivers moderate-to-high gain distortion with warm, natural compression and a mid-voiced character that cuts well in classic rock contexts. The design has been extensively copied and remains in production as the M104.
The JHS Charlie Brown is an overdrive voiced to capture the tone of a cranked mid-1960s Marshall JTM45, delivering thick, chewy, old-school British rock crunch. With a three-band EQ it ranges from a near-transparent boost up to full, dimed Marshall-style saturation, producing copious chunky crunch just short of high gain and rich lower-gain overdrive with a thick shot of sustain and musicality. It adds a touch of compression and midrange and reacts much like a real tube amp, which makes it both a satisfying standalone drive and an excellent candidate for stacking with another overdrive. The V4 adds Marshall-style tone controls that help it mate with a clean amp and dial in the exact JTM45 character. It is especially suited to 1960s and 1970s blues rock and classic rock tones.
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Genres this gear is documented as being used in.- Alternative Rock
- Metal
- Hard Rock
- Blues Rock
- warm
- transparent
- full
- crunchy
- sustaining