The original concept of the "Talk Box" goes back to the 1930s when Alvino Rey debuted the song "Singing Guitar." For the next few decades, session musicians crafted devices to emulate that vocal effect, and players like Bill West even infused these unique sounds into their stage sets. But in the 1970s, players like Joe Walsh and Peter Frampton made the Talk Box a permanent fixture in the Classic Rock toolkit.
The Talk Box is a classic effect. You hear it on some of the greatest songs ever recorded—across genres and time—from funk and '70s rock to hard rock and metal. The traditional Talk Box is finicky and tricky to work into your rig. But fortunately, the MXR Talk Box redesigns the Talk Box for modern gigging convenience. It contains its own amp and speaker driver, and it functions much like any other pedal on your pedalboard. With Volume, Tone and Gain controls, you can shape and add texture to your Talk Box voice for maximum impact.
This MXR Talk Box shows some scuffs and signs of use (see photos), but it functions 100% as it should. One of the four rubber bumpers is missing from the bottom panel. While it includes a non-original tube and the clip for a microphone, it does not include a power supply. It runs off of any 18V power supply (we recommend the 1-Spot CS7).
The MXR Talk Box is compact and pedalboard-friendly. Unlike the vintage units, you don't have to lug around a separate rig or patch into your amp's speaker output, but you still get that unmistakable Talk Box sound.