Distortiion

The PastFX DISTORTiiON is a compact recreation of the vintage mains-powered MXR Distortion II (MX-142), famously used on the Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream recordings. Running at 18VDC without an internal voltage doubler keeps the noise floor low.

Five controls and two switches shape the sound: Filter adjusts high frequencies, Resonance adds a peaked low-bass boost (mixing two clipping types in parallel as turned clockwise), Drive controls gain (with increased range over the original), and Output sets volume. A Symmetrical/Asymmetrical clipping pushbutton selects distortion character, while a 3-way low-frequency toggle selects the resonant frequency hump center (55Hz/78Hz/120Hz) that becomes more prominent as Resonance increases. A Q pushbutton smooths out the peaks of the selected frequency hump.

True bypass, 112 x 60 x 31mm enclosure drawing 55mA at 18VDC center-negative. No internal voltage doubler. Handmade in Brisbane, Australia.