By now you probably already know how much we love the MXR Carbon Copy, but Dunlop has decided to give this pedal a new flavor with the MXR Carbon Copy Bright!

If you haven’t already, be sure to read our original Carbon Copy review to get familiar with the pedal, as we’ll mostly just be covering the differences between the two in this article, rather than covering the same ground twice.

Tone:

While the terms “dark” and “moody” no longer apply to this iteration of the Carbon Copy, the terms “warm” and “lush” still hold a place in our vocabulary. The Bright model has a beautiful vocal quality to its repeats, sitting in a finely tuned midrange that sounds like a natural extension of your instrument.

It’s pretty impressive to me how the repeats can be sitting in a higher tonal range – much closer to the original sound of the instrument – without creating a sense of clutter or muddiness. Your repeats and original tone stay crystal clear throughout the spectrum of settings.

It’s imperative to remember that the model is very specifically called Bright because that’s what it is. It’s not pristine, it’s not perfect, and it in no way is meant to cover the same ground as a digital delay. So, if you have a digital delay already (and maybe even a darker analog delay like the original) there are still plenty of new sounds here for you to explore.

On that note, we should also reiterate this is still a fully, 100% analog delay circuit and features the same self-oscillation fun as the original.

With the modulation switch engaged it shifts from it’s older brother’s lush and thick chorus sound to almost a shimmery, silky chorusing texture on the repeats. It’s not the kind of shimmer that will replace your Strymon pedals anytime soon, but instead, it gives a beautiful color to the upper register. It can best be described as a sense of “air”.

Features:

With identical features, we still have the same nitpicks (and praise!) here as with the original. 600ms is not a ton of time for those who like to get a little adventurous with their delay pedals, but as we said in our last review it just isn’t an issue for 90% of applications.

Our other issue was lack of tonal diversity. While the musical options you have with the knobs give you an immense amount of application versatility (ambient pads, country slapback, soaring metal solos etc.) you’re still somewhat limited to the tonal niche of the pedal.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, however. As we said, it is only an issue if we really had to be picky. The narrow tonal options are easily forgettable in so many musical scenarios that it’s unlikely the average player will complain.

Final Thoughts

Although I was skeptical going into it, I can firmly say that the Carbon Copy Bright is its own creation. It is not just a tiny tweak to the original, but a well-designed extension of it that doesn’t feel like a redundant repackage or cash grab.

Whether you have a dark analog delay, a bright digital delay, or both already, the MXR Carbon Copy Bright still finds its own unique niche, giving ambient delay nerds the comfort of knowing they aren’t purchasing the same pedal twice.

The price is definitely right, even if you’re a casual delay user. If the 600ms delay time isn’t an issue for you and the tonal palette tickles your ears in just the right way, you really can’t go wrong here.

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