Variac On/Off switch: adds a “dropped voltage” dynamic compression to the feel and sound for that illusive Brown sound Each is a different take on the JCM800 - and some will prefer Larence's ear for tone over that of Dave Friedman and vice-versa. A stompbox rendition of channel 1 of the company’s Small Box, a compact Plexi-style amp. More nuanced and classic sounding than the popular Friedman BE Overdrive, the Smallbox features six controls, just like its big brother amp: Level, Gain and four EQ knobs: Bass, Mid, Treble and Presence. A toggle switch on the side panel changes the effect’s gain structure, delivering an extra push for a more in-your-face, high-gain Plexi tone.

Seconds after plugging in the La Grange I was hearing all the sounds I'd been looking for. It blends very well with the pokey midrange of the Swart but I think would be even better through a Fender Twin. Interesting how there were a number of Plexi + RangeMaster / Boost style pedals this year - not just the two here (PlexiRanger and The Engine), but also the Nabla Custom 1987 V2 - and I will probably do a roundup early next year and include the Bogner La Grange too! Through a dazzling number of (hand-wired!) controls, this preamp pedal puts at your toe tips the tone of 5 of the most popular Marshall amps: JTM45, JMC800, 1959 SLP, 1987 X, and JVM. Two gain and 4 EQ knobs are integrated by switches offering 4 tone and 4 gain options, delivering hundreds of sonic possibilities. The Asabi is identical to the El Guapo - bar for the addition of the modularity - so if you buy it by default - it's essentially the same pedal with a series of JCM800 voicings on the left-footswitch, and a series of Plexi voicings on the right - in fact 4 of each.If you do buy the Asabi - then you can switch out the distortion circuit - which is a JCM800 variety by default. To date there is just one other Module available - the Rat-style Large Mouse. Which is interesting, as one of the JCM800-side voicings is referenced as Rat-Style. A handmade pedal that uses the same circuit schematic (3-band EQ included) that you will find in the most famous British Amps from the 60’s, using transistors instead of vacuum tubes. V3 adds a three-voicing toggle switch and a I/II footswitch with a 6db boost difference, emulating the behavior of the classic JCM. A toggle named #34 activates a modded tone dear to Guns’n’Roses’ guitarist Slash. I bought this pedal for a covers gig of mainly marshall style guitar music. My amp is a Swart Atomic Space Tone Pro (6V6 tubes) and I wanted to get a mix of low gain to cranked Marshall sounds from it - it's a great amp but will not do the marshall thing by itself. I tried using a Sansamp GT2 which I had lying around but it just wasn't getting me there - far too scooped with no way near enough midrange. A pedal that responds well with a clean amp and gives you a classic distortion sound at a low price. Therefore, strictly speaking, JCM amps don’t belong to the Plexi family, but since their circuits are very similar we decided to include them in this article

A popular and highly regarded emulation of a JCM amp, from a builder that’s grown a stellar reputation for manufacturing great-sounding Marshall-style amps (the pedal is said to be a compact version of the Friedman BE100 amp). An affordable mini-pedal that nails the JCM 800 tone and offers a good amount of sculpting options through the Tone and Presence knobs. Personally found the Variac mode a little saggy for my taste. The Swart, when pushed already has enough sag so not required for me. The JCM800 side benefits from 4-Band EQ including Presence, while the Plexi side is controlled by more conventional Volume, Tone and Drive mini-knobs.Watts give you a lot of volume, but, for today’s standards, Plexi amps can’t really be considered “high-gain,” simply because they only had one volume knob (no preamp or gain stage), and could deliver lightly overdriven tones only when cranked up to ear-damaging levels. But don’t forget that distortion, in the ’60s, was a very new concept, and these were among the first amps designed to deliver it; the fact that they ended up in records by the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton is a testament to their importance. The “Plexi sound” was so influential that it became the signature sound for Marshall, inspiring a lot of the company’s post-1965 production – here’s a video with a rather comprehensive overview of many different models belonging to the Plexi category. Further "research" into solving said problems revealed the pedal wasn't truly bypassed. I had guitarfeak fix the issue (footswitch changed). This Chinese stompbox sounds like a dying Marshall that is turned up all the way with tubes that are fighting to produce a blissful dirty tone. It captures the essence of playing through a cranked amp.