Electro-Harmonix or EHX is a well-known brand for making some of the best quality looping stations, amps, and other accessories for enhancing your guitar experience.
They also manufacture equipment that can go along with other musical instruments too. Basically, their products are top-notch, and they help you to enrich your performance.
When you play your guitar, you want the best sound output that is crystal clear, loud and optimized. This depends on how you work with the strings of your guitar.
If you want the kind of sound output like a cranked-up amplifier, you should use an overdrive. Many overdrive pedals are used to make a clean tone that can stretch into a crunch.
These devices can also enhance your signal and boost your amplifier’s output and overall volume.
EHX-Crayon is a series of overdrive pedals manufactured by Electro-Harmonix for electric guitars. They have a wide frequency range that helps to filter out any distortion you might get and clarify the overall sound output.
These are top-of-the-line overdrive pedals that are a must-have for any electric guitar owner. You should definitely invest in one, especially if you plan on performing professionally.
The wide frequency range of the EHX-Crayon overdrive pedals makes the devices well-suited for any type of music you might wish to play on your guitar.
Some models are more popular than others, like the Crayon 76 and the Crayon 69. You might think that since both belong to the same series, there won’t be much difference in their performance but that is not the case.
There are minor differences that can make a difference for a professional guitarist.
Differences Between EHX Crayon 69 vs 76
| Features | Crayon 69 | Crayon 76 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $73.40 | $81.94 |
| Performance | Good | Better than Crayon 69 |
| Frequency Range | High | High |
| Versatility | High | High |
EHX Crayon 69
The entire EHX-Crayon range is quite versatile. Their overdrives have independent Treble and Bass controls. The frequency range is wide enough to suit different types of music
It is an excellent alternative to the older overdrive pedals which were center-focused. It comes with a 9V battery. You can also use a power supply unit of 9V. The price is quite affordable at $73.40
Tone
The EHX Crayon 69 will completely control the dirty boost tone you want to produce. The independent controls for Bass and Treble enable the user to contour their own overdrive tone.
This overdrive pedal is your best bet if you need a midrange boost that can literally cut. It adds a lot of air to the highs and beefs up the bottom end. It can provide all the distortion that you could need.
Performance
The primary use of overdrive is to give you smooth performance, and this gadget does that perfectly. The device gives you a lot of control over the sound output.
That is great for a professional guitarist because you don’t want the sound to quiver or be different from how you imagined it.
Clarity
When the audio signal comes out of your guitar and gets converted within the cable for output, there is a drop in clarity. The overdrive helps in covering up for this loss of clarity.
There is an analog circuit that is located under the hood. The type of audio that it produces is mono which can be a downside for many guitarists who enjoy EDM or want to play some rock n roll, fast music.
EHX Crayon 76
When you first look at the Crayon 76 you will feel like you have seen this device before. The resemblance to the Crayon 69 is uncanny.
You might feel like they are the same devices, but there is some difference in their graphics and colour scheme.
Design
The positions of the control knobs on the Crayon 76 are the same as those on the Crayon 69. They both have four knobs. They are Treble, Bass, Gain, and Volume knobs.
A footswitch also helps you switch between these knobs or for easy use of the overdrive pedal. It has similar output and input ports to that of its predecessor. It also has a 9V battery, or you can use a 200-mA adapter externally on it.
Sound
All these features make the Crayon 76 experience a smooth one, and you will enjoy using it with your guitar performance. It will enhance your sound output to feel even more confident about your skills.
Except for a slightly improved output and input experience, the Crayon 76 is the same as the Crayon 69. They both are the same under the hood, including the analog circuit.
There is no support for stereo audio type, so if you are looking for that, you should invest in some other option.
Conclusion
This is a tough one to decide because both the products are from the same range, so they obviously have a lot of the same features.
However, the latest is always a better buy-in in such cases because the company made a newer model. So why should you purchase something they made before?
The Crayon 76 is priced at $81.94, so there is no significant difference. It is a sensible decision to buy the latest version so that it will last you longer.
The lack of support for stereo audio type is also a significant drawback. So you need to overall see if the device is a good match for your requirements or not.