Pedals for the Marshall tone

[infrared72]

What have you found are the best pedals for the Marshall tone? I know a little about the MI Audio Crunchbox as well as the Radial Hot British. Are there others out there I should check out? Post here if you've got one you like - i'm looking for a versatile pedal that does the Marshall thing and maybe some good lower to mid gain stuff as well.

 

[tc]

Re: Pedals for the Marshall tone

Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret. That's the only one I've tried/owned out of the ones people always talk about. Very amp-like. It's meant to cover both JTM45 and JCM800 style tones via the Rock/Rawk switch and the newer ones also have a mini switch on the board that switch from lower gain/sweeter to higher gain/raunchier. So you've got enough options to keep you satisfied. You can also run it at 18v instead of 9v. At least I was very satisfied with mine until I had to sell some stuff.

 

[Grandturk]

Re: Pedals for the Marshall tone

Plexitube.

 

[UberMetalDood]

Re: Pedals for the Marshall tone

The best I know about is Emma reezafratitz and Maxon Distortion master. I wish I had a DM.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Pedals for the Marshall tone

Wampler makes some of the most convincing Marshall toned pedals I've heard. I wish I had a couple, but just don't need them to be honest.

http://www.wamplerpedals.com/effect_pedals

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Pedals for the Marshall tone

Through the clean channel of my Fender HR DeVille 410, I quite like the Marshall Guv'nor II pedal. Its Deep control dials in some of that 4x12 cabinet low end thump.

 

[richard parker]

Re: Pedals for the Marshall tone

Try the Blackstar Drive. It's a valve based pedal running the valve at high voltage. Blackstar is run by ex-Marshall people and this is their Marshall in a box. It's got a good range of gain. I used it recently with a Jubilee half stack set to a mild crunch and the Blackstar for leads. It sounded better than the amps own lead channel.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Pedals for the Marshall tone

Our very own Neils' Plexitone (from Carl martin) is fantastic for the vintage plexi tones.

Tonebone Hot british/Plexitube is really good for late 1970s plus, but really excels at the late 80s to more modern Marshall tones.

Guv'nor pedal (original is better, IMO- smoother, less artifacts from hard clipping)

I've not messed with much of the boottek stuff- I'd reccomend checking out ProGuitarshops vids to get some ideas.

FWIW- IMO, the amp you are running them into is just as important- if your amp is decidedly "american toned " (i.e. Fenderish/some Mesas) they never sound all that great. Through a EL34/EL84 amp is where those pedals shine. This is blatantly obvious on PGS's videos when they switched over to the Fender DRRI-they re-recorded a couple of stompers-like the crunchbox, and it sounded lik @$$ comparitively.

 

[Simon_F]

Re: Pedals for the Marshall tone

You should definitely check out the Carl Martin PlexiTone: http://carlmartin.com/product plexitone.htm

Two channels, crunch & high gain, plus a clean boost that works on both channels or with the drive switched off. Very authentic Marshall tones - 60s/70s on the crunch channel, 80s on the high gain.

 

[Stratman]

Re: Pedals for the Marshall tone

1st place Carl Martin's Plexitone http://www.carlmartin.com/product plexitone.htm

2nd place Plexitube http://www.tonebone.com/tb-plexitube.htm

There is no other pedal that I like for this type tone!

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Pedals for the Marshall tone

I'm gonna say ZVEX Box of Rock or ZVEX Distortron...

The BoR is a JTM-45 in a box while the Distortron offers more different and higher gain sounds startihng wiht the BoR/JTM45 sounds.

Do a serach there are a LOT of posts lately on the BoR.

 

[macki]

Re: Pedals for the Marshall tone

Having not tried a lot of different pedals I do quite like my Blackstar HT overdrive too....not a lot of knobs to twittle but a really nice warm overdrive (I use it with my Marshall amp). The emulated output is pretty nice too....I prefer that over any of the built in overdrive/distortions on my Boss BR recorder.

 

[FretFire]

Re: Pedals for the Marshall tone

The CMATMODS Brownie cops that sound pretty well. It uses the BSIAB (brown sound in a box) circuit.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Pedals for the Marshall tone

So the MI Audio Crunchbox doesn't do the Marshall thing very well? There was a time where this pedal interested me....Another one that sounds really good on the YouTube videos,is the Tech 21 British series pedal...

I got tired of my Carl Martin Plexitone and sold it...I hade some feedback/oscillation issues with it also..

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Pedals for the Marshall tone

The CMATMODS Brownie cops that sound pretty well. It uses the BSIAB (brown sound in a box) circuit.

I built the BSIAB 2 and to me it's more on the lines of a high gain Mesa amp..The tone is compressed,dark,and lots of gain...I have this pedal but never use it...It's become more of a talk and show pedal for me.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Pedals for the Marshall tone

1st place Carl Martin's Plexitone http://www.carlmartin.com/product plexitone.htm

2nd place Plexitube http://www.tonebone.com/tb-plexitube.htm

There is no other pedal that I like for this type tone!

a BIG +1 on BOTH of these :cool2:

However, i prefer the Radial ToneBone Plexitube slightly over the CM Plexitone.

Then there is also the Hot British - might be worth a look.

http://www.tonebone.com/tb-hotbritish.htm

 

[FretFire]

Re: Pedals for the Marshall tone

I built the BSIAB 2 and to me it's more on the lines of a high gain Mesa amp..The tone is compressed,dark,and lots of gain...I have this pedal but never use it...It's become more of a talk and show pedal for me.

I didn't get that impression at all from the Brownie, except for the gobs of gain part. IMO it was very open and had a very usable tone sweep, I usually kept it rolled back around 11 o'clock. I thought it nailed that Marshall sound through my Classic 30. I just don't use that much gain so I sold it, I don't have much spare room on my board.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Pedals for the Marshall tone

Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret. That's the only one I've tried/owned out of the ones people always talk about. Very amp-like. It's meant to cover both JTM45 and JCM800 style tones via the Rock/Rawk switch and the newer ones also have a mini switch on the board that switch from lower gain/sweeter to higher gain/raunchier. So you've got enough options to keep you satisfied. You can also run it at 18v instead of 9v. At least I was very satisfied with mine until I had to sell some stuff.

Love all of this guy's videos and also loved the sound of this pedal...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr8dzLrc4xs

 

[tc]

Re: Pedals for the Marshall tone

I don't want to sound all Gear Page-y when I say this, but really the DLS had that amplike response thing in spades. I'm hoping later down the year I can get one again and hopefully an Analogman Sun Face. Then again, that's just hoping :lol:

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Pedals for the Marshall tone

I didn't get that impression at all from the Brownie, except for the gobs of gain part. IMO it was very open and had a very usable tone sweep, I usually kept it rolled back around 11 o'clock. I thought it nailed that Marshall sound through my Classic 30. I just don't use that much gain so I sold it, I don't have much spare room on my board.

I Liked the videos on this pedal(Gearmandude)....Seems looser than a vintage Plexi type tone...It's also darker and yes has alot of gain...More of a modern Marshall meets Mesa tone to my ears....