MXR unleashes a mighty Shoegaze style effect courtesy of its Layers Stereo 3-Layer Harmonic Sustainer / Freeze Pedal - which comes with a host of smart hidden features

It took me a while to process this ones - it’s a similar Tardis / Iceberg to its Joshua Ambient Echo sibling - with as many as 3 functions to each control. I loved the Joshua on first encounter - and this seems to have a similar magic about it! I really should have had the Joshua in already - but other priorities and commitments have gotten in the way so far this year. The Joshua and this Layers pedal are most definitely on my acquisitions list - and will hopefully be in the Reference Collection before the end of the year. I don’t have any contacts at MXR, and obviously to a degree go where I can best collaborate and get some assistance - always trickier to do with the larger brands, especially since I’m already somewhat embedded at Boss!

Like with the Joshua - you really need to read the manual for this one, and there’s definitely a learning curve to it. Which is why I do these detailed visuals - to better understand what the pedal is about, and whether I would have use for it and how - which definitely seems to be the case here.

I dithered a little on the recent MXR Distortion+ Randy Rhoads cash-in, but that seems to be a proper special edition with an assortment of full-size components in the mix - not just an EHX-style ’re-skin’ - so I will be doing a feature on that one too very soon!

The Layers effect though seems to be pretty unique for me in how it operates - it functions very distinctly and quite Differently from both the EHX Freeze / Deep Freeze and TC Electronic Infinite Sample Sustainer - and seems to really excel when paired with fuzzes - which makes it perfect for me then!

Controls - MIX [Wet Level][+Single=Mod Amount][+Sub=Mute Dry], SINGLE : 3-Layers / Single Layer, TRIG [Auto Layer Trigger Sensitivity][+Single=Delay Time][+Sub=Delay % Dry], ATTACK [Layer Fade-in Time][+Single=Mod Blend : Chorus > Tremolo][+Sub=Sub Root], SUB OCT [Sub Octave Transpose][+Single=Tap Tempo], DECAY [Layer Fade-out Time][+Single=Diffusion][+Sub=Stereo Output], [Single + Sub Oct = Restore Defaults], FOOTSWITCH } Engages Layers / Hold to Freeze Layer / Double-Tap clears all layers!

You can also engage Sub Oct to transpose new Layers one Octave down - which yields kind of synth-like tones.

I would mostly be using this to enhance Fuzz and Distortion tones as I feel that’s where it would have the most impact for me and my rig. It most definitely seems to deliver superior Shoegaze tones and textures - so that would be my likely starting point. Seems like a genuinely innovative approach to sustain and freeze - I look forward to getting stuck in - once I’ve ploughed through my various prior commitments!

The MXR Layers Harmonic Sustainer M307 Pedal is available already at US dealers - where it goes for $229, it’s also listed at Guitar Guitar in the UK for £249, and seems to be priced at €269 for the EU.