Marshall-in-a-box?

Maynehead

I'm looking for suggestions for pedals that can give me a classic Marshall overdrive sound into a clean amp.

Now I'm not a pedal person, and always prefer amp drive. However, playing in a covers band with a Dual Rectifier means that there are certain songs where I just have to admit defeat and use a pedal instead, because the tone of my amp is practically at the opposite end of the spectrum to the intended tone.

So the idea is to add a fourth "Marshall" channel to the 3 existing channels of clean, hard rock and 90's heavy metal tones I currently have set up, by running the pedal into the clean channel, which is set to a fat clean.

The tone I'm after is a classic overdrive, think along the lines of Free, Cream and Led Zep, so more Plexi than JCM800.

I know the Xotic SL Drive is the obvious choice, but are there any other (preferably cheaper) alternatives that are just as good? I'm not looking to spend more than around £80 for something used.

Jalapeno

See if you can get hold of a s/h TRex Moller !

hugbot

I was in the shop the other day looking for the same thing pretty much. I tried a box of rock, distortron, wampler plexidrive, j rocket the dude, sl drive, and Bognor burnley.

eventually I went for the burnley as I wanted a pedal that could do the plexi loose low end and it does that well with the fat switch on, but it can get more classic with it on tight. the dude is extremely amp like and fun, and despite its goal of sounding like a dumble does a decent plexi.

The sl drive is good. Th box of rock is great too, the distortron sounds very much like a bor but with a bit more gain and maybe a hair less authentic sounding. I didn't like the wampler pedals one bit.

simonk

Mooer Cruncher is pretty handy for very little coin.

meltedbuzzbox

Marshall guvnor? They can be had on eBay for fairly cheap. 

There was a big plexiglass shootout on the pedal show the other week. Might be worth a look

the_twin

There's a Barber Direct Drive in the classifieds for £75

leerocker

The Be overdrive is very good with the gain backed right off for that type of sound 

shuikit

I remember seeing a super crunchbox in the classifieds not long ago.

nick79

Marshall Guvnor 2. Cheap as chips and sounds ace, seriously. 

ICBM

You should be able to get a good Marshall sound on Channel 2 of a Dual Rectifier set to Vintage, with solid-state rectifier selected and (useful but not essential) EL34s. I managed to set up my Trem-o-verb so well A/B'd with a Marshall 2203 that you couldn't tell the difference through the same speakers. Volume and mids up, gain and bass down and dial it from there.

If that's not practical in combination with the other sounds you want, try a Marshall Guv'nor Plus. It's easily one of the best Marshall-in-a-box pedals out there at any price and it costs peanuts.

Maynehead

Thanks for the suggestions so far, interestingly not a lot of overlap in the suggestions, just shows how many of these pedals are out there!

ICBM said:

You should be able to get a good Marshall sound on Channel 2 of a Dual Rectifier set to Vintage, with solid-state rectifier selected and (useful but not essential) EL34s. I managed to set up my Trem-o-verb so well A/B'd with a Marshall 2203 that you couldn't tell the difference through the same speakers. Volume and mids up, gain and bass down and dial it from there.

If that's not practical in combination with the other sounds you want, try a Marshall Guv'nor Plus. It's easily one of the best Marshall-in-a-box pedals out there at any price and it costs peanuts.

Yeah, not practical unfortunately as I need use ch2 vintage with more gain as my main sound for a lot of the hard rock songs, anything from AC/DC to Ozzy to Foo Fighters.

I did take a long hard look at swapping my Dual Rec for the Roadster, with 4 channels it could have been perfect for my needs. However, taking into account the extra weight and cost, I didn't think it was justified, when a pedal could give me what I needed.

Just to clarify, I only need a pedal that gives me the very specific lowish gain Plexi sound, with enough gain to handle Led Zeppelin at most. Any higher gain I'd use my normal ch2 sound instead.

I'll check out the Guv'nor though as it has come up more than once.

meltedbuzzbox

Look for a marshall drivemaster as well. Very similar pedal and possibly cheaper to get hold of

JohnPerry

accept no substitute

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyOlQTrNcdE

Beexter

PM'd.

peteri

I think you get a lot of answers because MIAB means a lot of different things.

For example I have the Guv'nor I've had since I was a teenager in the 80's - just found it again and it's (to my ears) spot on where I hear MIAB, which is basically Jubilee/JCM 800.

If you want a bit more choice, the Thorpy Gunshot - sounds like the Guvnor but also has more depth and changes to the tone.

MI Audio Crunch Box - JCM 800 again

Wampler Pinnacle - hot rodded Plexi/JCM 800.

Zvex Box of Rock - JTM 45

etc.

vasselmeyer

I have a couple of boards and the pedals I settled on for the MiaB sound are the Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret and the Wampler Plexidrive Deluxe.

ICBM

peteri said:

Zvex Box of Rock - JTM 45

I haven't tried the Box Of Rock, but I did try the Distortron (same as the overdrive section of the Box Of Rock I think) and I thought it was dreadful. Nothing like a JTM45 - or any kind of Marshall - at all.

To be fair, the JTM45/Plexi sound is *much* harder to get out of a pedal than the 2203/Jubilee/900/DSL type of sound. So much of the original sound relies on sheer volume and pushing the speakers hard, and you'll never get that from a pedal.

Also to be fair it's not the only 'sounds like an amp' pedal I've ever heard of which doesn't, unless it's already going through a similar amp in the first place...

therose789

Big fan of the box of rock and the Angry Charlie!

simonbeckwith

Ramble FX Marvel Drive all day long, especially the V3 that has the charge pump switch jobbie up to 18v on the outside

markj

JohnPerry said:

accept no substitute
Got one its superb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyOlQTrNcdE

pintspiller

Almost any boost pedal on your "classic rock" sound should be Marshally? The likes of Boss SD-1 would probably do, or even HM with low gain. Or cough a Metal Zone.