Which pedal for Marshall JCM800 in a Box? BB Preamp?

dr.barlo

dr.barlo

New member
Howdy guys,

Very original question. no? :smack:

Anyways, here are the details.

For my gigs, I am using a Blues Jr. having JJ tubes and a Celestion 12H30 speaker. It is a great amp. I have a Lovepedal eternity, which I am using to get semi driven tones, and I love that pedal. Sure its expensive and all but still, great overdrive pedal without any sacrifice on glassness and clarity.

Recently I have purchased a Zvex Box of Rock. That's a promising pedal, and I hope that it does those round thick but clear Marshall JTM45 kinda tones very well. We'll see.

Now the question is about getting more drive. Maybe I won't need it, because that BOR has the boost as well.

Should I be looking/buying a Xotic BB preamp? That's the question that's been hunting me for the last two weeks. It sure looks like a very good pedal, and I think that pedal with the others could get me where I wanna be.

BTW I have modded DS1's and SD1's (done by my forumbuddy John Spina). Those are geat pedals. But the ds1 sounds somewhat too scooped for my rig, and sd1 is kinda midheavy. Additionally, I could not get them nicely together with the other pedals.

But I definitely wanna hear what you guys think.

Thanks in advance,

Best,

B
 
Re: Which pedal for Marshall JCM800 in a Box? BB Preamp?

B!

Whats happening my man??

There are several Marshall in a box pedals out there now and several of them do the 800 thing nicely however this same question was recently brought up on The Gear Page and the MI Audio Crunchbox was the hands down winner!

I've listened to the sound clips and was quite impressed with them and best of all they are pretty cheep...I think $125 or so new...I've seen them as low as $85 used!

Good luck!

Here is the thread from TGP

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=354014
 
Re: Which pedal for Marshall JCM800 in a Box? BB Preamp?

Thanks guys. :beerchug:

Right on! Those two were the others I was thinking about. So the contenders are

1. Xotic BB preamp to drive the Eternity and BOR,
2. Wampler Ecstasy Drive, and
3. MI Audio Crunchbox.

I actually was thinking about those as well. Did not mention them, because seemed sort of an overkill. :) :smack:

Crunchbox is cool, not that pricey but the other two are like 185 USD! :banghead:

B :cool:
 
Re: Which pedal for Marshall JCM800 in a Box? BB Preamp?

What's up Doc ???!!!

I just grabbed a Box of Rock Vexter thru a trade. If I was you, I'd hold off till you get it & try it. I've got a Celtic Edana (JTM45) & it just smokes thru that amp !

I ran Strat-Monsterpiece Fuzz-BoR-Edana-2x12(V30/H30).........WOW !!!!!

FWIW, Sean @ Lovepedals just came out with the Purple Plexi 800, which is the higher gain version of his Purple Plexi.....it sounds pretty good in the clips, BUT:
1) it's pricey
2) I traded my Purple Plexi 100 for the Monsterpiece & BoR....it (the PP) basically did what a tweak of my amp could do.
3) I've had 3 Lovepedals so far & as much as the guys on The Gear Page fall all over themselves for them, I don't think they're all that.

Kinda' hyped up boo-teek cork sniffer kinda' thing :dunno:


OH.....the MI Audio sounds very promising. I've got an MI Audio Tube Zone that isn't half bad. If the Crunch Box is built as well, I'd grab one :bigthumb:
 
Re: Which pedal for Marshall JCM800 in a Box? BB Preamp?

Thanks for the reply man, appreciate it.

I checked out the Lovepedal Plexi 800. But would not go for it now, because as you've said, its pricey and I kinda thought it had not enough mids. So would rather wait for people to try them, and hear about what they think.

I am gonna be trying the BOR that I recently have purchased. It's in the mail you know. After hearing all these nice things about that pedal, I kinda have quite high expectations of it. That's why actually I was inquiring about the BB preamp. Because afterall its a boost pedal, and I could use it with the Eternity. But BB is kinda expensive, like 185, and the crunchbox which everybody says does the 80's marshall tones very well, is selling for 125.

So I think the best strategy now is to try the BOR together with the Eternity. I am thinking of putting the E infront of the BOR, because then I could use the boost of the BOR as well. I that gets me where I wanna end up, fine. If not, I guess it'd have to be either the crunchbox or the ecstasy drive. Or maybe the BB?

I dunno! :smack:

B :)
 
Re: Which pedal for Marshall JCM800 in a Box? BB Preamp?

dr.barlo said:
I am thinking of putting the E infront of the BOR, because then I could use the boost of the BOR as well. I that gets me where I wanna end up, fine. If not, I guess it'd have to be either the crunchbox or the ecstasy drive. Or maybe the BB?
B :)
Click to expand...

That's what I was gonna recommend....Eternity into BOR. Combined, it might be pretty darn badA$$ ! Make those EL84s COOK :D
 
Re: Which pedal for Marshall JCM800 in a Box? BB Preamp?

You can get a DS-1 to sound like an 800 in a box fairly easily. Check out the Feb issue of Premier Guitar magazine. There's an article from Brian Wampler on modding the DS-1 and one mod he shares is a JCM 800 type. I did it myself (aside from a different diode arrangement) with very nice results. To get more mids, drop R16 to 2.2k.
 
Re: Which pedal for Marshall JCM800 in a Box? BB Preamp?

I use a Crunch Box through a Blues Junior...they work well together.
 
Re: Which pedal for Marshall JCM800 in a Box? BB Preamp?

Just 2 more of my cents...

The BOR is a great box and I like it a lot...however it does not sound much like an 800 to me...the boost feature is AFTER the distortion so you only get a lever boost not a gain boost...

Also, not to just disagree but I have still never found any modded DS-1 that sounds all that close to an 800...

For the money a used Crunch Box is dang hard to beat...I really like that box too but to be honest it was a little more gain that I personally wanted, but if you really want JCM 800 in a box it's the ticket!
 
Re: Which pedal for Marshall JCM800 in a Box? BB Preamp?

the guy who invented fire said:
Also, not to just disagree but I have still never found any modded DS-1 that sounds all that close to an 800...
Click to expand...

None get the "exact" tone. Not even the high dollar boutique "Marshalls in a Box". It's the character that they can capture, even the cheapest of mods. The problem with the so-called "Marshalls in a Box" is that those that get them can naively expect them to sound like a cranked up Marshall. You and I both know that won't happen.

That all being said, I have found one DS-1 mod that is quite Marshally and it's the one I mentioned in my post. It surprised the heck out of me. Heck, even the Boss Fender Bassman pedal gets a cool Marshally crunch at full gain, and that was a pleasant surprise.
 
Re: Which pedal for Marshall JCM800 in a Box? BB Preamp?

ErikH said:
None get the "exact" tone. Not even the high dollar boutique "Marshalls in a Box". It's the character that they can capture, even the cheapest of mods. The problem with the so-called "Marshalls in a Box" is that those that get them can naively expect them to sound like a cranked up Marshall. You and I both know that won't happen.
That all being said, I have found one DS-1 mod that is quite Marshally and it's the one I mentioned in my post. It surprised the heck out of me. Heck, even the Boss Fender Bassman pedal gets a cool Marshally crunch at full gain, and that was a pleasant surprise.
Click to expand...

Cool deal bro...if it gets the sound you want roll with it but for me DS-1's modded or other wise simply don't cut it...FWIW, I was also far less than iompressed with that Bassman pedal...just proves once again that different folks hear things in a different way. IMO and to my ears the Crunchbox was a very good 800 type tone into several different amps...exact? Maybe not but surely closer than anything else I know of.
 
Re: Which pedal for Marshall JCM800 in a Box? BB Preamp?

the guy who invented fire said:
Cool deal bro...if it gets the sound you want roll with it but for me DS-1's modded or other wise simply don't cut it...FWIW, I was also far less than iompressed with that Bassman pedal...just proves once again that different folks hear things in a different way. IMO and to my ears the Crunchbox was a very good 800 type tone into several different amps...exact? Maybe not but surely closer than anything else I know of.
Click to expand...

Did you play the Bassman pedal through a clean amp? That's where it sounds best to my ears. If there is the slightest bit of breakup on the amp end, you lose it. It has to be squeaky clean, like JC120 or Twin clean.
 
Last edited:
Re: Which pedal for Marshall JCM800 in a Box? BB Preamp?

ErikH said:
Did you play the Bassman pedal through a clean amp? That's where it sounds best to my ears. If there is the slightest bit of breakup on the amp end, you lose it. It has to be squeaky clean, like JC120 or Twin clean.
Click to expand...

I sure did...I mean I didn't give it long it seemed really bland and flat sounding right away so I figured screw it...didn't care for the idea anyway to be hoenst!
 
Re: Which pedal for Marshall JCM800 in a Box? BB Preamp?

the guy who invented fire said:
I sure did...I mean I didn't give it long it seemed really bland and flat sounding right away so I figured screw it...didn't care for the idea anyway to be hoenst!
Click to expand...

LOL, that's fine. I started out with the typical starting point of any Fender I plug in to, everything on 6, and then adjust from there.

You also plugged in with a not so positive outlook on it from the get go so it's only natural for your mind to jump to the closest conclusion. That's just how the brain works.
 
Re: Which pedal for Marshall JCM800 in a Box? BB Preamp?

ErikH said:
LOL, that's fine. I started out with the typical starting point of any Fender I plug in to, everything on 6, and then adjust from there.
You also plugged in with a not so positive outlook on it from the get go so it's only natural for your mind to jump to the closest conclusion. That's just how the brain works.
Click to expand...

I disagree but ok...I just hate modeling in general that doesn't mean that some of doesn't sound good...I just thought that both the Bassman pedal and the Deluxe Reverb pedal sounded bland and boring...no real life to the tone
 
Re: Which pedal for Marshall JCM800 in a Box? BB Preamp?

Thanks Eric, will be looking into that mod. But modding pedals is something that I haven't got started yet. And am kinda shy... But still, maybe...

I think I am gonna be getting myself a Crunchbox, just to try and if it does not work out sell the thing.

Thanks fellas, that really has been helpful.

B :)
 
Re: Which pedal for Marshall JCM800 in a Box? BB Preamp?

Doc, I have had the Crunchbox and the BB Pre. The BB Pre was okay but still sounded like an overdrive, a fatter, smoother DS1. Not a Marshall in a Box in my book. I got a Crunchbox about two weeks ago and am pretty happy with it. Even through a cruddy solid state amp it's fun and somewhat convincing. I ended up rolling down the internal presence trimmer just a bit, initially it was a little harsh. It doesn't do low gain well at all, kinda breaks up and sounds a bit fizzy, but for medium-high gain, it's pretty good....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Rex_Rocker
Best 5150 in a box pedal?
Replies
19
Views
1K
Bill Dennis
B
misterwhizzy
NPD: Soldano SLO Plus
Replies
6
Views
822
Hsb
Hsb
Masta' C
Amazing Pedals For Sale!
Replies
2
Views
440
Masta' C
Masta' C
Z
What are your performance rigs?
2 3
Replies
59
Views
4K
Solarflares
S
Masta' C
Small Builders That Deserve a Mention
Replies
6
Views
598
ZachcNJ
Z
Back
Top