16 Iconic Amps and their preferred Pedal Equivalents - 2024 Edition

Controls - Master Volume (Gain), Boost, Volume, Bass, Mid, Treble, Boost Footswitch, Bypass Footswitch.

The competition here is really tight nowadays - with the recent arrival of the Origin Effects Deluxe 55 certainly stirring things up a touch. I'm still backing the superb Tubesteader Eggnog though for the foreseeable future as that is already killer too! And it's a properly authentic Tube Preamp - with all the dynamics and verve of the original. I will still be getting the Origin Effects Deluxe 55 in the new year - as I really love the sound of that too. For now the Tubesteader Eggnog holds onto this slot!

Controls - Presence / Middle, Bass, Treble, Level / Gain.

This Boss COSM type is one of the best of that modelling technology. Obviously a close collboration with Fender at the time - so standards were particularly high for these dual-branded pedals. The Bassman is one of the most important amps of all time - being the original basis for the earliest of Marshall Amps too!

Controls - CHANNEL 1 } Gain, Volume; CHANNEL 2 } Gain, Volume; UNIVERSAL } Tone Cut (hi-cut on top), Bass, Treble, Channel 1/2 Footswitch, On/Bypass Footswitch, Channel 1/2 Remote port on side (1/8").

Now my all-time favourite Vox-in-a-box pedal - this is head and shoulders above everything else for me - not just delivering a fully authentic Vox AC30 soundstage - with that immediately recognisable chime and jangle, alongside beautiful crunchy and searing distortion. This doesn't just look and sound the part - it also totally feels the part - matching the touch sensitivity, dynamics and feel of the original amp - with exceptional guitar volume cleanup. There's only 3 pedals in my collection which fully meet the requirements of this category - this ROY, the VS Audio Jangle Master, and former favourite - the Menatone TBIAC. Each of those has a second Footswitch for you to ramp up to Top Boost on-the-fly! And of those 3 - the ROY delivers the most joy!

Controls - CHANNEL 1 } Volume, Tone, Drive, High Gain switch (+25%), Hard Clip switch, Soft Clip switch, Presence, Channel 1 Right Footswitch; CHANNEL 2 } Volume, Tone, Drive, High Gain switch (+25%), Hard Clip switch, Soft Clip switch, Presence, Channel 2 Left Footswitch; INTERNAL VOLTAGE : 18V (High Headroom) / 9V (Stock).

Now my preferred JTM45 / BluesBreaker Overdrive - a really smartly evolved dual-channel overdrive which builds on the Analog.Man King of Tone - adds a number of new features - a later version than mine also has an FX / Insert Loop for bringing other pedals into the mix. Just a superbly conceived and executed Dual Channel BluesBreaker - while I have around 10 favourite BluesBreakers - which all shared the limelight at various different times. The Hail To The King - just gives you more options and stacking abilities in a smaller enclosure - genius really - and the circuit looks so tidy on the inside - and perfect symmetrical!

Controls - Level / Gain, Treble, Bass, Vibrato / Reverb.

The second of the Boss/Fender collaborations is even more expansive than the first - adding a secondary modulation / reverb into the mix. Another tasteful COSM project for sure and a perfect all-in-one Fender Twin Reverb pedal. The two Boss/Fender pedals featured I this selection really are the best of what Boss's COSM DSP technology managed to produce - as not all those varieties work as well, or play well with other pedals stacked in sequence!

Controls - Master, Variac, Vol II [19] / Body [22], Mode 19/22 : Plexi/JPM & JCM800, Vol I [19 & 22], Presence, Bass, Middle, Treble, and Internal Trim-Pot for Boost Level.

Another category where I'm spoilt for choice - while the Room #40 is still the most granular and potent of the lot - there are several others that give you amazing Marshall voicings - including from PedalPalFX and Formula B - I have at least a dozen pedals that could happily reign in this slot, while I feel that overall the Room #40 with its 10 controls should be allowed to continue its reign.  Another possibility here was the Colombo Audio Eruption EVH Variac Distortion - which is currently on the board, and in fact the OneControl Andozied Brown Distortion 4K is absolutely superb - I'm really spoilt for choice! Which the Room #40 is the most expansive and granular of those varieties - and still a worthy winner here!

Controls - Volume, Brilliant Gain 1, Normal Gain 2, Bass, Mid, Treb, Power Gain, Internal Amp Match Trimmer (Gain Refine).

I've just recently reviewed the MenaWatt and what a killer pedal it is - right up there as a rock'n'roll classic - but with its own bold and distinct sound - however Marshall-esque it can sound. And Brian Mena has really eked out ever ounce of tone from his circuit - it sounds phenomenal. The MenaWatt and Wreck'T are two of the very best pedals in my references collection - and they both got added at the same time - definitely worth an investment. The Hiwatt / Menawatt is distinct from the Marshall sound - while it also delivers those superior rock and roll textures a little bolder and louder than the nearest Marshall!

Controls - Gain, Volume, Tone (Post-Gain Passive Hi-Cut Filter), Voice (Pre-Gain Mid Frequency Filter), Mode / Voicing switch on side : Red - Marshall / Blue Dumkudo / Green Dumble.

The Demon Pedals Kondo-Shifuku and Tanabe Zenkudo are easily my 2 favourite Dumble Drives - while there are again many superb examples of this genre in my reference collection. For my current taste the Zenkudo is the reigning champion - just the liveliest of Dunble ODS Soundscapes that I've heard to date - a fabulous sounding pedal with superior dynamics!

Controls - Gain / Volume, Treble / Bass, Middle / Reverb, Speed / Depth, Modulation : Vibrato / Chorus.

My original post has garnered over 6,000 likes on Instagram - seemingly still not enough to make Roland / Boss manifest my creation! It still makes so much sense to me that there should be such a pedal - this would have been the perfect 50th Anniversary collaboration for Roland - and I feel this pedal is eminently feasible from an engineering and technical perspective - there just needs to be a willingness to push this thing forward. Please feel free to nudge any Boss or Roland contacts you may have - towards making this a reality! I very much feel it will happen some day! And I will continue to gently persuade my own Boss colleagues and friends that this creation is absolutely the right move!

Controls - Volume, Top End : Modern / X / Vintage, Low End : Full / Tight / Medium, Gain, Destity / Core EQ : Dark / Poweramp / Bright, Gain Structure : Low / Medium / High, Gold Era Filter : 1987X / 1959SLP + High Gain / 2203 JCM800, Presence, Gain : Green / Orange / Red, Treble, Mid, Orange Saturation : ++ / 0 / +, Red Saturation : ++ / 0 / +, Bass.

I've waxed lyrical on this pedal plenty of times to date - still overall my favourite distortion pedal, and definitely my most favoured MIAB pedal. I really believed the MGAT-1 had to be the pinnacle of engineering prowess for this series, but no - the MGAT-1 Golden Era is incredibly even better - Mr Wu miraculously found yet another gear. We get a new one of these every couple of years, and Mr Wu somehow incredibly is able to continue to make this format better and better. Considering how magnificent this current one sounds - I just can't conceive that there could be further improvements possible!

Controls - Level, Drive, Gain, Mid, Bass, Treb, Hi-Cut, Presence, Internal Hi-Cut Trimmer Adjust, and Amp Match Dip-Switch.

This was the second of 2 pedals that Brian made for me recently - alongside the also excellent MenaWatt Hiwatt take. While somewhat marvellously the Wreck'T is even more impressive than the MenaWatt. As far as I'm concerned it takes that classic Marshall Plexi sounds and makes it bigger, bolder and fatter. This really is a Marshall Plexi Hot Rodded to the next level. And Brian's take conveys all that visceral big room feeling of that extraordinary amp - full of vim and vigour and with those proper amp-like dynamics. One of my very favourite preamp pedals for sure.

Controls - Volume, Presence, Gain, Treble, Middle, Bass, Deep (right-edge).

This one is really interesting as Mike Soldano has just released the expanded 2-Channel SLO Plus pedal - which adds in the Normal Channel too. I'm keeping the original single pedal in this spot though - as I feel that it already best conveys the nature of the SLO 100 Amp. I've still to decide whether I'm going to acquire the SLO Plus Pedal at some stage - and how much I would likely use the 2nd Normal Channel. I own and love the original SLO pedal - which his already perfect for my needs. While I reserve the right to acquire and update this reference with the SLO Plus should I finally decided to add that to the collection and make full use of it. 

Controls - Gain, Presence, Level, Rectification : [T]ube / [B]ridge / [D]iode, Bass, Mids, Treble.

The Aura Amps Diamond is still the most authentic Dual Rec sounding Preamp for me - while I do still feel it could do with a little more output volume. In terms of pure texture and character it really does sound fantastic - it's been beautifully calibrated, while I sometimes feel the need to apply a post clean boost to raise it up a notch or two on the output side - you can't dispute how fantastic its core timbres sound.

Controls - Bass (Active), Mid (Framus Cobra-like Mid-Cut), Treble (Active), Gain, Punch (Input Gain and EQ) : Less Lows / More Defined Lows / More Body / Mid-Punch - for Solos, Bite (Clipping and Mids / Mid-Cut Profile) : Rect (MESA/Boogie Dual Rectifier), B.Red (Bogner Ecstasy Red) / 515 (Peavey 5150), Gain, Volume.

The Tone Ink Raven is one of my very favourite High Gain Pedals - and while I mostly tend to deploy this on the Bogner voicing, its 5150 voicing is also killer - and to date my favourite take on the 5150. In fact it sounds so good to me that I'm not too much tempted to get in the recent UAFX Anti 1992. There are truly some great 5150 voiced High Gain pedals out there - while my current favourite for that is still most definitely this Tone Ink Raven - note that it needs to be powered at 18V to reach its peak prowess!

Controls - Gain, Volume, Bass, Mids, Treble.

Another one of my favourite High Gain pedals - delivers the perfect degree of RockerVerb style crunch. A really beautifully textured preamp with extensive range - both in terms of Volume and Gain. And a fantastic take on the original Orange RockerVerb 100 amp - it really does sound the part, while it has a somewhat extended range that allows you to touch on various other High Gain flavours too! The OneControl Fluorescent Orange is also amazing - while the Red Mist is the one with extra verve and range!

Controls - Gain, Solo, Presence, 5-Band Graphic EQ ±15dB : 80Hz | 240 Hz | 750 Hz | 2.2 kHz | 6.6 kHz, Volume, Gain Footswitch, Solo Footswitch.

This is such a cool project - where I suggested to Tim at Bardic Audio - that he could modify his 2-Stroke Beaver format to accommodate the MESA/Boogie MKV topology. I even came up with the name 'Rival' while Tim and his designer carried the lion's share of the task in bringing this pedal to fruition. It does a great job at covering the MKV - while I've always felt it could do with a little more volume for standard operation. With Solo boost applied it sounds magnificent, while without it - the volume doesn't quite get to the levels I need it too. I'm very proud of the part I played in making this pedal a reality though! And props to Dale Atkinson's superb artwork that really brings everything together! (@a_cautionary-dale).

As is always the case - on a slightly different day I might have made different choices, and I may still review and revise some of these choices at a later stage, while right here right now - these are the perfect ones for my preferences!