What Pedals Did Randy Rhoads Use?
Randy Rhoads's pedalboard was small, purposeful, and almost entirely in service of a cranked Marshall JMP rather than a substitute for one. Four pedals covered his entire recorded output with Ozzy Osbourne — no sprawling board, no elaborate signal chain, just specific tools each doing one clearly defined job.
The Core Pedalboard
1. MXR Distortion+ — The Essential Pedal
This is Rhoads's most important pedal, and the one most misunderstood by players trying to recreate his tone. Used in front of the Marshall JMP 50W, it wasn't there to add raw distortion — the cranked Marshall already supplied plenty of that on its own. Its actual job was compression and smoothing: the germanium diode clipping stage in the Distortion+ softens and evens out pick attack, adding sustain and clarity to the top end of solos without pushing the amp toward a heavier, more saturated character.
This distinction matters enormously for anyone recreating the tone. A player who reaches for a modern high-gain distortion pedal, assuming "more gain equals more Randy Rhoads," ends up with a tone that's both wrong in character (too smooth and modern, missing the amp's own natural breakup texture) and wrong in function (adding saturation where the original signal chain was adding compression instead).
Settings: Output at unity or slightly above, Distortion around 2 o'clock — a moderate setting, not maxed out.
Modern alternatives: An MXR Distortion+ reissue (~£80) is the direct, accurate choice. A Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive set to moderate drive gets reasonably close in function, though the specific germanium clipping character differs slightly from the original's diode circuit.
2. MXR Phase 90 — Subtle Shimmer, Not Deep Warble
Used for modulation on clean passages and to add movement to sustained notes — audible on tracks like "Dee" and several clean intro passages across the Ozzy catalog. Rhoads's use of the Phase 90 is notably restrained compared to how the pedal is often used elsewhere in classic rock: set at a medium speed, it produces a refined shimmer rather than the deep, dramatic warble associated with, for example, Eddie Van Halen's "Eruption" use of the same pedal. This is a genuinely useful detail for recreation — the same pedal, used with real restraint, produces a completely different musical effect.
Settings: Medium speed, moderate depth — resist the instinct to push it toward a more dramatic setting.
3. Dunlop Cry Baby — Used Sparingly
Rhoads was not a wah-heavy player. The Cry Baby appears on specific dramatic passages rather than as a constant lead-guitar tool, and it shows up more often on live recordings than in the studio catalog. Treat this as an occasional color, not a default part of the rig.
4. Roland CE-1 Chorus Ensemble — Dimension for Clean Rhythm
The CE-1 (the original rack-adjacent Roland chorus unit, predecessor to the more common Boss CE-2 stompbox) added a three-dimensional shimmer to clean rhythm parts, particularly on the Gibson Les Paul Custom used through his Quiet Riot years and early Ozzy recordings. This is a detail worth getting right specifically: the CE-1 has a distinct, more elaborate circuit than the later CE-2, including a vibrato mode the CE-2 lacks, and its chorus character is subtly different — warmer and more spacious.
Modern alternatives: A Boss CE-2W (which includes a CE-1-emulating mode) is the most direct modern route to this specific chorus character, closer than a standard CE-2 alone.
Signal Chain
Jackson/Charvel Concorde V (or Les Paul Custom for earlier recordings) → Dunlop Cry Baby → MXR Distortion+ → MXR Phase 90 → Marshall JMP 50W (channels jumped) → 4x12 cabinet with Celestion G12-65 speakers
The Roland CE-1 was used more situationally for specific clean and rhythm passages rather than living permanently active in the main lead signal path.
Why the Distortion+ and Not a High-Gain Pedal?
Rhoads wasn't trying to maximize gain — the Marshall JMP, run at full volume with both channels jumped, already supplied heavy, harmonically rich saturation on its own, particularly in its 50W configuration, which produces more compression and sag than the 100W version he'd used earlier in his career. The Distortion+'s role was refinement: tightening pick attack and adding sustain without pushing the tone toward the harsher, more scooped-and-saturated character that later 1980s and 1990s metal pedals would introduce. Understanding this — that the amp is the primary gain source and the pedal is a smoothing tool in front of it — is the single most important conceptual shift for anyone trying to actually get this tone right, rather than just owning the right pedal names.
Building a Randy Rhoads Pedalboard at Different Budgets
Under £200: An MXR Distortion+ reissue and a budget phaser (MXR Phase 95 or a clone) covers the two most essential, most frequently used pedals. Run into any amp capable of a cranked-Marshall-style breakup, even a modeling unit with a JMP-style profile.
£200–500: Add a genuine Dunlop Cry Baby and a Boss CE-2W (for its CE-1 emulation mode) to the core Distortion+ and Phase 90 — this covers all four pedals in Rhoads's actual signal chain with reasonably accurate modern equivalents.
£500+: Vintage or boutique-reissue versions of each pedal (an original-spec MXR Distortion+ script-logo reissue, a genuine MXR Phase 90 script version, a period-correct Cry Baby), paired with a real Marshall JMP-style head or a high-quality profile/model of one — the closest a modern rig gets to the actual 1980–82 signal chain.
Common Mistakes
Using a modern high-gain pedal instead of the Distortion+. This is the most common error in recreating Rhoads's tone — a high-gain pedal adds the wrong kind of saturation and misses the specific compression-and-smoothing role the Distortion+ actually plays in front of an already-driven amp.
Turning the Phase 90 up too far. Rhoads's phaser use is subtle and refined, not the deep, dramatic warble associated with other classic-rock uses of the same pedal — a heavy-handed Phase 90 setting moves away from his actual sound, not toward it.
Treating the wah as a constant lead tool. Rhoads used the Cry Baby sparingly, for specific dramatic moments — a wah engaged constantly through lead passages doesn't reflect his actual playing approach.
Skipping the amp-driven saturation entirely. No combination of pedals alone, however accurate, replicates the tone without a genuinely cranked Marshall JMP-style amp underneath — this is fundamentally an amp-first tone with pedals playing a supporting role.
ToneStakr's Take
The detail that separates a convincing Randy Rhoads recreation from an unconvincing one is understanding that this is a four-pedal, amp-first rig, not a pedal-first one — the Marshall JMP cranked and jumped is doing the majority of the tonal work, with the MXR Distortion+ specifically refining and compressing that signal rather than adding to it. Get the amp genuinely driven first; the pedals are refinements, not the foundation.
If forced to prioritize a single purchase for this tone, the MXR Distortion+ is non-negotiable — it's the pedal most directly tied to the character of his lead tone, and its specific compression-not-distortion role is the detail most other guides miss.
Frequently Asked Questions
What drive pedal did Randy Rhoads use?
An MXR Distortion+, run into a cranked Marshall JMP 50W with both channels jumped. Its role was compression and smoothing rather than adding raw gain, since the amp itself already supplied heavy saturation.
Why did Randy Rhoads use a distortion pedal with an already-distorted Marshall?
The MXR Distortion+ wasn't adding significant additional gain — it was softening pick attack and adding sustain and clarity to the top end of solos, complementing the amp's own saturation rather than stacking more distortion on top of it.
Did Randy Rhoads use a wah pedal?
Yes, a Dunlop Cry Baby, but sparingly — for specific dramatic passages rather than as a constant lead-guitar tool. It appears more often on live recordings than throughout the studio catalog.
What chorus pedal did Randy Rhoads use?
A Roland CE-1 Chorus Ensemble, used for three-dimensional shimmer on clean and lightly-driven rhythm parts, particularly on the Gibson Les Paul Custom during his Quiet Riot years and early Ozzy recordings. It has a distinct, more elaborate circuit than the more common Boss CE-2 stompbox that came later.
What amp did Randy Rhoads use with his pedals?
Primarily a Marshall JMP 50W (1980–1982), and a Marshall JMP 100W earlier in his career (1978–1980) during his Quiet Riot years and early touring. The 50W version, run through a 4x12 cabinet with Celestion G12-65 speakers, produced the more compressed, harmonically rich breakup heard on "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley."
Can I get Randy Rhoads's tone without an MXR Phase 90?
Reasonably close, yes — the Phase 90 adds a subtle finishing shimmer to clean passages rather than defining the core lead or rhythm tone. The Distortion+ and a genuinely cranked Marshall-style amp matter considerably more to the overall character.