Overdrive pedal similar to marshall tones

[devadam4]

Any advice for high gain overdrive pedal which has sound similar to Marshall amp tones ?

[Mikeo]

I'm not sure what you are using for an amp, but real Marshall amps are not really high gain.

They have a crunch to them.

You might dig this

 

I use one of these.. It's been on my pedal board for 10 plus years. I have a few other OD pedals, but this is my fav.

 

[Mr.Grumpy]

Ah, the ol' "Marshall in a box" question. OD pedals alleged to have "Marshall-ish toanz" include:

Zvex "Box of Rock"

Catlainbread "Dirty Little Secret"

Joyo "British Sound"

Tech21/Sansamp "British" (out of production, apparently. The Joyo is thought to be a clone or close copy of the SansAmp)

...and probably any pedal with "British" or "Plexi" in it's name.

I have no experience with any of these pedals, sooooo....good luck and happy toan chasing. 

Edited September 23, 2020 by Mr.Grumpy

[1001gear]

Or Chinese...

[Aceman893]

The Boss Power Stack is pretty decent.  

Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret would be my choice

Carl Martin Plexitone

Radial Tonebones Plexitube

 

[PowerTube]

The most accurate one I've heard is this one:

https://www.guitarfetish.com/NEW-DESIGN-Brownie-Classic-Distortion-Classic-Marshall-tones_p_1076.html

 

 

[daddymack]

what, no love for the Marshall Guv'nor?

[1001gear]

I heard the original and I don't recall what I heard it through but it was THE harshest tone I'd heard. Years later after learning that ODs are supposed to goose a good sounding amp, I think I probably shoulda paid the 50 bucks for it - although, Marshal tone is exclusively for those who can rock a guitar. So I call draw. Meanwhile, I got something called a Hot Chili by a seller called Mugig for 25 bucks and that rocks big time. I still don't but I gots da toan baby.

[WRGKMC]

There are several different versions of Marshall amps.  If you're looking for a Plexi Tone, 80's Marshall, or New metal you need a different box for each of those tones.  You typically need to compensate for whatever tone your amp produces too. Some pedals "might" be able to make a Fender amp sound like a Marshall if it has enough high end midrange to change the amps voicing. An amp (and speaker) with a wider Fidelity tone may need more compensation then another.  

Besides having several actual Marshall amps I have at least a dozen different single, multi effects and rack effects units with marshal tones.  I can say some do a better job then others. When you play through an actual Marshal amp its not just the tone that's important, its the string sensitivity and attack that makes a huge difference.  You may be able to get close to the tone using only a pedal, but it doesn't compare to the real thing.  

I typically use two amps, recording and performing and I'll use a marshal pedal to get the non Marshall amp to match closer the real thing.  I can typically get a Governor to match the drive and tone of the actual Marshal drive channel quite well.  Tone wise I may not bother as much. I often want the second amp to widen and expand the range of the Marshall instead of cloning it identically. Besides getting all the notes on the guitar to match may not be possible. There are too many differences not only in the frequency curve of the amp but the speaker too. You may get an open chord to sound identical, but as soon as you move up the neck some tones will drop or boost in loudness due to these frequency response curves.  

I will say I doubt any audience will know or care about the differences, but they typically aren't musicians with a set of advanced ears and finger tips either. The rule of thumb is, if it sounds good its good enough. 

It may be hard getting a pedal  to match the real deal if you have no A/B comparison to work with.  Some pedals have too much range and never really nail the tones to begin with.  If I were to recommend pedals, I'd give thumbs up to the actual Marshall pedals.  They manufacture the amps and who would know better.  The Governor is great for the 80's tone. The Blues Breaker is excellent for getting a Plexi or OR/20C tone.  I haven't owned a Jack Hammer but they supposedly nail the New Metal and grunge tones.   

The vintage Black box version of the Governor is supposed to be very good too.  There are many other pedals which nail the tones, and you simply have to buy them to try them and hope its a good choice.    

Another option I've used is a bit different.  Joyo and a few others make units designed to act as a voiced preamp. You put these boxes at the very end of your effects chain and tweak them as though you're tweaking a Marshall head.  You leave the amp after this box set for maximum clean fidelity and use the box for dialing in drive tones instead of the head itself.  Then you'd use your other pedals as if you were driving a Marshall head. I have several of these Pedals and I'm able to nail a Vox, Fender or Boogie amp as needed. I simply dial up the clean tone first then dial is a small amount of drive, always 50% or less drive. I'm able to get a really nice clean tone which sounds like the speaker is being driven hard. I'll use my other pedals to gain full saturation in steps as they are turned on.

Here's an example of that box. $39 new is well worth the cost.  Amazon.com: JOYO JF-16 British Sound Guitar Effect Pedal Amp Simulator - Bypass, DC 9V and Battery Supported : Musical Instruments

I can say this pedal can be used before others like reverb and echo or even placed as a normal drive pedal but I recommend you use it at the end of the chain. Then switch it on and off so there is no bump in volume, only tone and whatever gain you want as a backdrop to your other pedals. Get one of these then use a Governor before and you'll have two of the most favored Marshall tones nailed.  Amazon.com: JOYO JF-16 British Sound Guitar Effect Pedal Amp Simulator - Bypass, DC 9V and Battery Supported : Musical Instruments

Edited September 7, 2021 by WRGKMC

[wro]

Zvex distortron is pretty good for that; check out the ehx crayon as well

[1001gear]

Here's a new one that's already obsolete:

 

 

And a newer version that isn't:

 

 

 

 

[1001gear]

Continuing this Marshall quest, I fired up my ART Power Plant pre. I have always found this unit disappointing. I posted briefly about it years ago. There was a short in the tone stack and if it jumped just right, you got all this rich EVH rockin' tone. This time, having gotten a feel for the Marshall sound, I found the long lost magic setting and yes it's a setting not the short. Woot!11!!!!1 (wtf does that mean anyway?) Much joy this time around. Firing it up tomorrow for seconds.