Best MIAB pedal...

jfraze5150

I’ve just not found one that does it for me... ideally I want a pedal that does the JTM thing all the way up to a JCM 900, high gain, Van Halen, Guns n Roses sorta sound. I’m interested in a lovepedal Purple Plexi right now... any opinions?

smudge_lad

I also struggled to find one that did it all, and one of the best I tried was the old Wampler Super Plextortion with the 3-way gain toggle switch. I always regret selling that!

The Ramble FX marvel drive is pretty awesome, and the Carlinbread DLS Mk3 was also really great! I didn’t try the Purple Plexi, but I did have a clone of the Lovepedal Superlead and remember it also being fantastic!

smudge_lad

Also, the big box Carl Martin Plexitone was brilliant. There’s one in the classifieds just now too

jfraze5150

I’ve heard good things about the Carl Martin. But I’ve got a minimalist pedal board and it doesn’t suit. Ive had the DLS a couple of times but it just doesn’t have enough gain. There is a Ramble FX for sale in the classifieds too that I’m well tempted with. 

jfraze5150

I think one of the issues is that pedal makers have done an awesome job over the last few years of making low and medium gain pedals sound very amp like. I’ve yet to find a high gain pedal that comes close to my mates 5150 head cranked. 

thermionic

https://images.tcdn.com.br/img/img_prod/414764/812_1_20170526185019.jpg

smudge_lad

thermionic said:

https://images.tcdn.com.br/img/img_prod/414764/812_1_20170526185019.jpg

I actually have two of these....one modded and one stock. They are brilliant and the only MIAB pedals I kept from my stash. The only reason I didn’t mention them, is because I don’t think they do low gain very well. The medium to high gain sounds are phenomenal though!

smudge_lad

jfraze5150 said:

I’ve heard good things about the Carl Martin. But I’ve got a minimalist pedal board and it doesn’t suit. Ive had the DLS a couple of times but it just doesn’t have enough gain. There is a Ramble FX for sale in the classifieds too that I’m well tempted with. 

Was it a DLS Mk3 you tried? I found I didn’t like the Mk2 very much at all, but the 3 was a completely different beast

Some of the Wheebo pedals are really great too btw!

meltedbuzzbox

Marshall shredmaster.

vasselmeyer

smudge_lad said:

jfraze5150 said:

I’ve heard good things about the Carl Martin. But I’ve got a minimalist pedal board and it doesn’t suit. Ive had the DLS a couple of times but it just doesn’t have enough gain. There is a Ramble FX for sale in the classifieds too that I’m well tempted with. 

Was it a DLS Mk3 you tried? I found I didn’t like the Mk2 very much at all, but the 3 was a completely different beast

Some of the Wheebo pedals are really great too btw!

It's odd how people react to different pedals. I have the Mk II DLS and love it but I didn't get on with the Mk III.

Matt_McG

I found the DLS MKIII, which is the only DLS I've tried, to not have enough gain for me, and to be too bassy and flubby in the bottom end. It did pair really well with fuzz, though, and I think it was pretty representative of a certain kind of Marshall tone. It just wasn't the Marshall tone I wanted.

The J Rocket Caliber 45 is fantastic for low to medium gain plexi/JTM45 type tones, but doesn't get very gainy. To my ears it nailed Malcolm Young, though. I sold it, but not because I didn't think it was good.

jfraze5150

Matt_McG said:

I found the DLS MKIII, which is the only DLS I've tried, to not have enough gain for me, and to be too bassy and flubby in the bottom end. It did pair really well with fuzz, though, and I think it was pretty representative of a certain kind of Marshall tone. It just wasn't the Marshall tone I wanted.

The J Rocket Caliber 45 is fantastic for low to medium gain plexi/JTM45 type tones, but doesn't get very gainy. To my ears it nailed Malcolm Young, though. I sold it, but not because I didn't think it was good.

That’s exactly what I found with the DLS. On Superbass mode it made my ‘69 fuzz sound amazing. That just didn’t justify it’s space on the board though. 

Grumpyrocker

A Marshall Guvnor and a Jackhammer do a pretty good job. 

Dan_Halen

I've got a Ramble Marvel Drive and think it's great. Brett Kingman's demos of it give a pretty good idea as to what it can do.

Did have a Lovepedal Purple Plexi but found it had too much gain. Obviously, you can turn the gain down a bit but it just felt like it had a narrow sweet spot. The Ramble seems to cover more ground for me and sounds great for high and lower gain stuff.

mburekenge

Box of rock for plexi tones into a fender

Aidanspaghetti

Another vote for the original Guvnor here.. Amazing pedal

rico

Aidanspaghetti said:

Another vote for the original Guvnor here.. Amazing pedal

Another vote here. Watch out with the jacks though. Bit prone to breaking!

TimmyO

It always amazes me how much  people find to pick over with MIAB pedals when once you're playing them loud they all sound so similar.

ZVex Box Of Rock is fab
Guvnor is good 
Carpe Diem is great 
The MI Audio orange one (forget the name) also great 

Jonathangus

rico said:

Aidanspaghetti said:

Another vote for the original Guvnor here.. Amazing pedal

Another vote here. Watch out with the jacks though. Bit prone to breaking!

Yeah, the jacks are definitely a weak point.  Had all three on mine replaced a year or so ago, and they've all just crumbled.  Don't think I had enough slack in the patch leads.  Great pedal, though; want to try and get it fixed properly.  But I preferred it mixed with a bit of amp crunch.  As a MIAB pedal into a clean amp, I think the GV-2 is actually better.

Also worth a look is the Boss ST-2.  It's a modeller, but it's designed to change voice as you wind up the gain - from Plexi, through JCM 800, up to hi-gain Marshall.  It does get a bit noisy at higher settings, though.

Wazmeister

Bearfoot Model H, Bearfoot Dyna Red, Barber

smudge_lad

Isn’t the Model H modelled after a Hiwatt? 

Still.....insanely good pedal!