Name: Ernie Ball MVP Most Valuable Pedal
Brand: Ernie Ball

MusicRadar Verdict

Plenty of players could find a use for this Ball in their signal chain.

Pros

+
A good idea. Flexible in application. Solid construction.

Cons

-
Expensive for a volume pedal.

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This is no ordinary volume pedal; Ernie Ball's MVP includes a whopping 20dB boost to up your gain for solos, while the treadle allows you to cut the volume back for rhythm playing.

"It's a great idea, and the built-in boost works brilliantly"

It's a great idea, and the built-in boost works brilliantly, offering an organic way of wringing extra dirt from your amp, as well as full control over your gain levels.

You can use the MVP as a regular volume pedal, too, if you like, thanks to the provision of individual controls for the heel-down and toe-down settings.

At this price, the Most Valuable Pedal certainly lives up to its name, but plenty of players could find a use for this Ball in their signal chain.

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.

Richard Patrick of Nine Inch Nails performs shirtless with electrical tape over his nipples during the industrial-rock band's set at Lollapalooza 1991. He plays a single-pickup G&L electric guitar.

“Chiropractors and doctors were like, ‘How long did you play college football?’ I’d go, ‘It wasn’t college football. It was Trent Reznor’”: Richard Patrick says Nine Inch Nails’ 1991 Lollapalooza run broke his body – and trashed $40,000 of guitars