Small Plexitone review

Pierre

Stratologist
Because there aren't enough, especially here :naughty:

This pedal is basically packed of features, yet surprisingly simple, well designed and thought of FOR US GUITARISTS! You just KNOW this has been designed by a player. Well of course, WE know but you get what I mean.

There are 2 gain channels and a clean boost.
The level control is master for both channels, you may not like that, but more on it later.
Single tone control for both channels too.
Gain 1, gain 2, boost.
Input
Output
Included power cable.

And that is it. Yes it takes one power plug but trust me, that's not even a price to pay for it.

First things first... Set the tone at halfway, find unity gain, set both gains around 9 oclock and try channel one...


This is the most harmonically rich pedal I have ever tried. Some pedals need some mods, or to be pushed a little, same with some amp channels, valve or not. But this baby right here... this is the real deal folks. This is GOOD. The gain is pleasant to the ear, the overall tone is also quite bright but not badly so.
Channel 2 sounds exactly the same, but with a tiny bit more gain.

I set channel one at 9oclock and 2 at 2 oclock. Channel one is just that little bit less loud, but not badly so. It's not an inconvenient. Less gain and it would start to be though. But you have a clean boost ;) So it's possible to set her up to have 2 very different gain levels.
The pedal is also very responsive to dynamics and CLEANS UP VERY WELL!! That was the NICE surprise about this. I got a very nice clean tone with the volume lowered on the guitar on channel 1. Quite useful.
Channel 2 has more than than most people should need as well. I can chug on it, so you can chug on it ;)
Pinch harmonics are way easier than with any other pedals, especially on the unwound strings.
The tone control is very well designed. Takes you from bassy and big to bright and cutting, as opposted to bassy and muddy to bright and obnoxious ;) There isn't a bad position.
Oh... the pedal is very bassy. Not much in the mud or that annoying overwhelming bass, but more in a kind of growl that's very...well you get what I mean of course.

Basically no matter how hard you try to be picky, there isn't any real flaws in either channels. Sure you could add level trimpots, individual EQs and whatnot but that's not the point. The point is to have a professional, simple but versatile unit that reacts like an amp, and wow, kudos for that!

Oh the boost is dangerous, don't step on it :D :D

Hehe joking. But it gets very loud. Now I'm picky about boosts but this one feels perfectly transparent to me. I set the level to 9 oclock for a little level boost.

I use the pedal as a preamp :)
If it's in your pedalboard you can still use it as your main sound through a PA or poweramp or whatever you want.

To sum up: :naughty:

PS: Lack of comparison with any other famous pedal, amp or anything is totally voluntary, I can't judge on that. But I CAN say it's a fantastic pedal and fantastic tones.
 
Re: Small Plexitone review

PPS: Some people complain about the switching system being confusing. I haven't had that problems. On the opposite, with it you can know instantly which channel is going to be put on when you step on the bypass (buffered ;) ) switch. Which I personally find very handy.
 
Re: Small Plexitone review

Nice review, thanks Pierre.
Hehe yeah I always was alittle puzzled by the minor complaints over the switchlayout.
It is like using a channel switching amp...
Here you can preset the drive for either low or high.
 
Re: Small Plexitone review

Thanks for the review dude, very interesting looking pedal. Good luck with it!
 
Re: Small Plexitone review

Nice review Pierre.

Man, there are a few very interesting pedals out now (I'm not much of a pedal guy)... this is getting dangerous... ;)
 
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I like the higher gain switch being next to the boost. One big stomp and you are center stage!
 
Re: Small Plexitone review

My Plexitone is an incredible pedal. I actually had to stop using it when jamming with some guys because even though I wasn't near their volume, the presence of my bassman and Plexitone overpowered their SS Marshalls. How SWEET is that? We were playing some Iron Maiden I remember, and when I wasn't playing we sounded like mush. As soon as I kicked in the Plexitone, I swear it came SO close to the original recordings as far as sound. I've said it on here so many times that a Plexitone and a good cheap tube amp like an old Univox will give you THE tone without THE $$$, lol.
 
Re: Small Plexitone review

I pretty much build my sound around my Plexitone prototype these days, even rolling back my guitar's volume for some cleans rather than turn it off!
 
Re: Small Plexitone review

;)Well it likes amps that are British or more neutral in nature.
Pedal reacts differently to the various setups, but good ampage is always a good idea!
By the way saw that you have posted it at TGP, Pierre how did the review go at corksniffer palace??hehe
They are prolly crying over no troo mypass and other funny things:D
 
Re: Small Plexitone review

Yeaaah CM tends to not be that popular there for some weird reason? Probably because they look too good to be booteek :D:D

There are a couple of brands which do some decently priced stomps that seem cool though I'll admit it. But to me, any simple three knobs OD in that tiny box isn't worth more than 150 bucks. And it better be good! I can understand the price of all the R&D but I gotta eat too :D And tone is only worth so much. Live I doubt you can hear the difference between bootik 1 and buteek 459.4 anyway.

Subdecay pedals = :32:
 
Re: Small Plexitone review

Hehe...they are like mad HI-FI nerds in the pedal forum...the clips and amp ones are really good, but the pedal forum is a real twillight zone, always makes me chuckle, some of them sound like voodoo priests to me:D
Subdecay pedals are cool!!!
 
Re: Small Plexitone review

Yeah they seem cool... only some Subdecay and them Xotic AC and BB pedals really tempt me now. I'm actually happy with my rig for now :D
 
Re: Small Plexitone review

me still loves my plexitone Rid! i like the distinct low end and midrange!
 
Re: Small Plexitone review

I've been playing my Plexitone a lot this weekend - it's such a great pedal...

I don't understand where the criticisms of the switching system come from - it's a brilliant combination of simplicity and versatility. Three foot switches - one selects between the two overdrive modes (crunch/high gain), one switches the overdrive on/off and one switches the boost on/off. You can easily select between clean (drive off), crunch and high gain, and you can add a clean boost to any of them. Works for me!

I played mine through my JMP 2204 (set for clean) and through the clean channel of my Roland Cube 30 today. With a little tweaking of the tone knobs it sounds excellent through either.

75LesPaul - interesting what you say about Iron Maiden. I was thinking today how the PT's high gain mode nails the "Live After Death" tone!

And the crunch mode does yer Bluesbreakers, Zep, AC/DC etc......

:bigok:
 
Re: Small Plexitone review

All these "funny" reviews I have read(not this one) never had any impact on the sales.....lol
I guess we just do not appeal to the corksniffer crowds...the people who buys our stuff is more interested in playing, than going through piles of pedals...
They "test" them in strange ways, sniffs around for small things they can "discuss" and get worked up over;)
Hehe most other normal players just looks for what fits into their schemes, I am a practical being, if it works then I am ok, I am not drawing up a big golden plan, on how to get my sound to work in some ideal way.
And people still think that I molded the pedal over a JTM45...no...I molded the sound after the tones I heard when I was a kid, those old amps that was getting whipped into submission, hotrodded with extra this and that, but still had that oldschool roar and slight nasty bite, the first prototypes where alittle more aggressive and slightly more compressed, then the first run of production where alittle too smooth and dark...50 pedals or so, we changed it to assymetrical clip and one different input cap, and we also changed the boost to be less extreme(that was the last change)
But all in all they all sound pretty much alike, no huge strange changes.
It is my first baby on my own...and I am still amazed that so many likes it!
Makes me feel quite happy and gives me reason to belive that we are on to something right!
I make pedals that I like the sound of myself, I rarely dabble with stuff that is not my taste, the AC-Tone is an exception...had a few Voxes and I liked the tones, but it is not all my thing, anyways that one does well too...
Hehe anyways I try to make stuff that I like, and I am mostly aiming for simple and workable, and can cover the wide tastes I have, while being easy to use.
I play my stuff....that is the whole deal behind it:)
Lol this was a rather long post about very little!?!
Hehe
Niels
 
Re: Small Plexitone review

Niels,

You are definitely on to something right!

I'd be interested to hear who the bands/players were who inspired you to create the sounds of the PlexiTone - crunch and high gain.

You made the boost less extreme? Wow.... it's still pretty HUGE :D
 
Re: Small Plexitone review

Actually, the lack of true bypass is what would keep me from buying or using one.

In defense of the "cork sniffers" on TGP - a lot of those guys spend thousands on their rigs and even use low impedance cables to get their sound. If you're not building your entire tone around the Plexitone (re: have it turned off once in a while) all of a sudden that delicate, expensive balance is thrown off.

I've actually sold pedals I really liked the sound of simply because they colored my amp tone when turned off. The tone my guitars make through my amp is *my* tone and anything that changes that when it's not supposed to goes bye-byes post-haste.
 
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