Help me choose a Marshall-in-a-box pedal

[Tritium3H]

And I'm surprised nobody mentioned the PedalPal Fx PAL. I have the 800 and it's the real deal. Johan Segeborn agrees. I bought mine based on this video.

I did mention it, and provided a URL link to their site.

 

[Achilles]

I did mention it, and provided a URL link to their site.

Holy cow! Sorry about that. I have no idea how I missed your post when I first scanned the thread. Cool to find another fan of such a great pedal.

 

[Bob Zaod]

Just thought of another choice. The MI Crunch Box

 

[vino_buono]

So many good choices! The Tsakalis room #40 will soon be in my mailbox. It ticks several boxes for me: full eq, both plexi and JCM, single pedal format. Variac and boost as bonuses. Looking forward to trying it!

 

[jellodog]

So many good choices! The Tsakalis room #40 will soon be in my mailbox. It ticks several boxes for me: full eq, both plexi and JCM, single pedal format. Variac and boost as bonuses. Looking forward to trying it!

I really liked the sound of that one and nearly bought it after a great deal of research. I think you'll like it. I love the double volume knobs.

 

[Whizzinby]

So many good choices! The Tsakalis room #40 will soon be in my mailbox. It ticks several boxes for me: full eq, both plexi and JCM, single pedal format. Variac and boost as bonuses. Looking forward to trying it!

I really liked the sound of that one and nearly bought it after a great deal of research. I think you'll like it. I love the double volume knobs.

That looks awesome. It flew under my radar, but sounds awesome from the couple demos I’ve looked at.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Caline Englishman is really good if you don't want to spend any money lol


I'm not sure if the BE-OD really counts or not, but I am loving the one I just got

 

[Tritium3H]

Just thought of another choice. The MI Crunch Box

Already mentioned. But it certainly bears repeating.

 

[Riffraff]

I really like these. The Blue mini is more Plexi than the Eclipse. The Eclipse is PT100 in a box.

This older one is pretty damn good too and can be found on Reverb for about $80.

 

[Enchilada Jones]

I must say -- Helix has been killing my GAS. It does many things oh so well, and I'm not much into purchasing stuff I would not really use for rehearsal/live. That said, I would like to try a good Marshall-in-a-box pedal in my secondary board, using it as the main "amp" tone and using the HX Stomp for effects. I am looking for a vintage Marshall tone from mid gain to hard rock, no metal. It does not need to have loads of gain (I can and usually do buffer-and-boost the guitar signal), but the sound should be punchy and defined. I have identified a few contenders:

- Revival drive compact
- J.Rockett 45 caliber
- Bogner La Grange

All sound great, the Revival drive has an obscene price. Do you have any experience with them (or others)?

I have a revival drive compact and an HX FX and that works well Into an "FRFR".

However, I also have a BluGuitar Amp1 Mercury Edition and it is the better Marshall in a box (actually a pair of them JTM and JCM) AND it has its own 200 watt SS power amp. A really good sounding SS solution.
It loves the HX FX and you can send it to a real guitar cab and/or "FRFR".
It’s a little bit bigger but it brings so much more to work, honestly, for a small Marshall type rig nothing beats those two together.

 

[vino_buono]

I have a revival drive compact and an HX FX and that works well Into an "FRFR".

However, I also have a BluGuitar Amp1 Mercury Edition and it is the better Marshall in a box (actually a pair of them JTM and JCM) AND it has its own 200 watt SS power amp. A really good sounding SS solution.
It loves the HX FX and you can send it to a real guitar cab and/or "FRFR".
It’s a little bit bigger but it brings so much more to work, honestly, for a small Marshall type rig nothing beats those two together.

Interesting! I have always been curious about the Bluguitar and if I chose a fully analog guitar/cab sim that would probably be my first choice. The fact that the analog cab sim cannot be turned off throws me off a bit as it would be nice to pair it with an IR loader. But it is also nice to keep it all analog.

 

[laxu]

Interesting! I have always been curious about the Bluguitar and if I chose a fully analog guitar/cab sim that would probably be my first choice. The fact that the analog cab sim cannot be turned off throws me off a bit as it would be nice to pair it with an IR loader. But it is also nice to keep it all analog.

You can run the BluGuitar's main speaker out to a -20 dB pad and then use e.g VST plugins for cab sims. Even -10 dB pad (which is available in most audio interfaces) works but you have to keep the MV very low.

The Amp 1 Iridium does have a defeatable cab sim on its recording out but the amp is voiced differently. More high gain, less classic Marshall.

Another option is the BluGuitar BluBox cab sim. It has very limited adjustability but the IRs bundled in are mostly really good, just didn't care for the G12H and V30 options but wish I had made my own IRs out of the rest when I had the Blubox. Its a bit pricy for what it is so I'd only recommend buying it if you find a cheap one used.

Otherwise the BluGuitar Amp 1 Mercury Edition is a fantastic amp I can't recommend enough, as long as you are ok with its caveats like the shared EQ. Treat it more like a 1-2 channel amp with switchable voicings and it works really great.

 

[James Freeman]

I like the Super Crunch Box with the Tone and Presence controls (V2).
I guess the equivalent will be the JHS AT or Mosky Crunch Red.

 

[vino_buono]

Now, I received the Tsakalis room #40. I have had very little time to try it as I have been away on a business trip. I got back home just before rehearsal, quickly put together a preset with a clean amp (probably Cali Texas 1, don't remember exactly). At the end of the rehearsal I compared the Tsakalis (plexi mode) --> Helix clean amp --> Greenback IR with my regular preset using the Brit trem brt with the same IR. I (and all band members) thought the Tsakalis sounded better; I am impressed. I didn't have a lot of time to compare, but what sticks out is that the low end seems to be very well defined with the Tsakalis, not so much with the Helix. Before either Tsakalis or Helix I had my Source Audio Zio in low cut mode (it is not shy in the ways of low cut). Generally, I have the impression that the low end in the Helix amp models tends to be not very well defined (or, I can't get it to be well defined), which is the reason why I often do a low cut before the amp and keep the bass control on the amp rather low.

I will test more, but I am already drooling over an alternative all-analog (or at least analog dry-through) setup with Tsakalis into my Mark V 25 clean channel, with mid boost and delay in the loop, and DI out to "FRFR" or PA.

 

[Life Eats Life]

For me, the Pedal Penis turned vanilla.
I had v2,v3.
I always just kept it in one spot but would always
want to push it a bit more, more then not.
I did like the boost though in the V3, that was killa’.
This pedal here,is the DIAB.
Dick in a box.
The LPD 87 Deluxe

PS: -if you zoom on over by the telephone you’ll see a multi-colored logo (LPD) on a white box..
There it is posting up all
“the cat in the bird seat”on that damn
v3 Pedal Penis.
Word
The single adjuster pedal in the middle down there?
The Jay Strange “Purple Elephant” Brain Boost
pedal, “correcting” the PP.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

Bogner Ecstasy Blue (full size), Marshall reissue pedals, Tech 21 British. The Bogner Ecstasy Blue mini is good too, but not as good/versatile as the full size. The minis sound a bit thinner, while the full size sound thicker. That said, I am sure the trim pots on the bottom of the minis can correct this, but I don't want to mess with mine and end up hating the sound once I do.

 

[Tritium3H]

For me, the Pedal Penis turned vanilla.
I had v2,v3.
I always just kept it in one spot but would always
want to push it a bit more, more then not.
I did like the boost though in the V3, that was killa’.
This pedal here,is the DIAB.
Dick in a box.
The LPD 87 Deluxe

PS: -if you zoom on over by the telephone you’ll see a multi-colored logo (LPD) on a white box..
There it is posting up all
“the cat in the bird seat”on that damn
v3 Pedal Penis.
Word
The single adjuster pedal in the middle down there?
The Jay Strange “Purple Elephant” Brain Boost
pedal, “correcting” the PP.

Interesting deployment of the English language.

 

[la szum]

Bogner Ecstasy Blue (full size), Marshall reissue pedals, Tech 21 British. The Bogner Ecstasy Blue mini is good too, but not as good/versatile as the full size. The minis sound a bit thinner, while the full size sound thicker. That said, I am sure the trim pots on the bottom of the minis can correct this, but I don't want to mess with mine and end up hating the sound once I do.

I like that I can dial in the Mids with that parametric trimpot. Can't do that with the Big Box Blues.

Both are great, though.

Oh, and just use a Sharpie and mark where it is now, and then you can turn it wherever you want
and never lose the ability to go back to stock.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

I like that I can dial in the Mids with that parametric trimpot. Can't do that with the Big Box Blues.

Both are great, though.

Oh, and just use a Sharpie and mark where it is now, and then you can turn it wherever you want
and never lose the ability to go back to stock.

I don't have any reason to do that with the full size Bogner Ecstasy Blue, though. Plus the switches provide a lot more options.

 

[Blix]

The old big box Carl Martin Plexitone is killer.