32 Shades of Marshall style Fire Power - Personal Compact MIAB Reference Capsule Collection

Controls - Bass, Middle, Treble, Volume, Presence, Gain, Bass Boost Switch (Up for JTM45, Down for Super Lead), Bright Boost Switch (Up for JTM45, Down for Super Lead).

I've had 2 editions of this pedal - the V1 and V1.5/2 - the updated edition just tweaked the EQ and gain range a touch - giving it further upward extensions - where it now reaches Hot Modded Plexi levels. The core profile of this pedal though leans a little more into the JTM45 side of things - in fact not dissimilar to the Victory V1 The Sheriff. Lots of controls at your disposal and plenty of range on the EQ side - while Gain levels are relatively moderate. I still feel we could do with a tiny bit more on the output volume - but a really solid performer! I much prefer the later V1.5/V2 edition which delivers a little more overall for me!

Controls - Level, Fat/Tight Switch, Gain, Tone.

The Rupert Neve designed onboard transformer adds a lot of dynamics and harmonic texture to the output. In some ways this is a more organic and slightly thicker sounding Suhr Riot - so kind of Brown Sound territory really. There's a little bit of fuzz in that voicing too - which I really like, but several do not. I have the Bubinga Wood facia editions of 4 of my Bogner pedals - which I feel well reflects their organic super harmonic textural profile. You can really feel the impact of that Neve Transformer. For some reason though the Suhr Riot is the one that is perennial more popular - while this has turned out to be more of an outlier. Both are superb - and depending on mood I could go for one or the other - while on balance I probably prefer the mote distinct textural profile on the Burnley overall!

Controls - JHS } Level, Tone, Drive; } Level, Tone, Drive, Mode : JHS | Boss | JHS/BOSS | J>B | B>J | Parallel.

This fantastic Boss x JHS collaboration keeps slipping under the radar - but where the Boss Blues Breaker combines beautifully with JHS's Angry Charlie JCM800 style circuit - both stalked together in parallel simply sound amazing - and very much greater than the sum of their parts. The combination of those 2 circuits delivers one of the best Brown Sound distortions out there - with and incredibly richly detailed texture. You can totally enhance the profile of both core voicings in how you combine them - it's totally a genius pedal - and I sincerely wonder why Boss didn't roll out further versions of this format - I did an article on extrapolating that format - which in the end Keeley sort of picked up on with its 4-in-1 series. I feel Boss has missed out there - as this format really works superbly!

Controls - Level, Bass, Treble, Sound : Crunch > Drive > Ultra.

Another somewhat unsung and under-the-radar Boss staple. It needs careful dial-in to deliver the best Plexi and JCM800 stack output - can sound a little dense on occasion - where the magic is in the combination of Sound and EQ controls. You need a little extra due diligence and patience to get the most out of this - some element of 'safe-cracker' too!

Controls - Gain, Level, Damping (Low Frequencies), Tone.

Obviously as the name suggests - firmly planted in EVH Brown Sound territory - pretty decent all-round, while not as instantly satisfying as the Colombo Eruption. Relatively easy to dial in, and gets you nicely into the appropriate territory. The Damping control is a little unusually named - while it largely targets the low frequency part of the output profile.

Controls - Treble, Middle, Bass, Master, Pre-Amp, Internal Super Lead / Super Bass switch.

There have been a number of iterations of this pedal, and some say that the earlier editions were the best of the bunch. I always felt that the Super Lead / Super Bass switch should be external - say as a side-mounted slide switch or similar. Has decent range, but can sound a little flat if you don't dial it in just right. An earlier version of this is supposedly Andy Martin's favourite Marshall style pedal. I bought this supposedly limited edition which was supposed to be a special limited edition at the time, while it was not long later released as the mainline release - with just different coloured knobs!

Controls - Volume, Gain, Variac (< Classic Plexi | Instant Eddie >), Tone.

This is so instantly spot on and consistently satisfying - totally sounds like the EVH Brown Sound - with the absolute minimum amount of effort. The MI Effects Super Crunch Box is another excellent Brown Sound variant - but that required a little more finesse on the dial-in. Other pedals in this immediate vicinity include the Bogner Burnley and Suhr Riot most obviously! The Eruption is very much my favourite EVH style pedal currently.

Controls - Contour (Mids), Tone (Highs), Master, Preamp.

This Rob Chapman favourite has long been a target for me - and I picked it up at the same time as the Colombo Eruption. This is a fantastic classic Marshall voicing - a little fiddlier to dial in than the Eruption, and slightly less instant, but still very decent. I'm kind of spoilt for choice in this category - while this is most definitely top tier for its tones - as I mentioned - it requires a little more delicacy in the dial-in than some of these others, but still a fairly simple pedal to deploy. I'm delighted that this is finally in the collection after sitting on the wishlist for so many years!

Controls - Volume, Gain 1, Gain 2, Modeling (Presence), Bass, Mids, Treble, CH1/CH2 Footswitch, Bypass Footswitch.

This is another of those instantly satisfying MIAB pedals - it has exceptional tones and textures from the get-go, and with everything at noon, and then just gets better! Great to have those 2 channels too - and it will easily get you into Plexi, JCM800 and Brown Sound styles - even thought it's mostly billed as a JCM800 Preamp. Just all-round really satisfying.

Controls - Bass, Treble, Presence, Volume, Mid, Gain, Tight switch on side.

So the max 2 pedals per brand rule means that the Friedman BEOD misses out here. Ever since this Dirty Shirley materialised with an improved control topology and 3-Band EQ I've always though that the BEOD should have followed suit - it does so on the later BEOD Deluxe model, but the BEOD still lacks that improved topology. The Dirty Shirley is a great Plexi-voiced MIAB - somewhat unsung and under-the-radar nowadays, but really decent, sounding as most Friedman pedals are. It most definitely has the perfect complement of controls - and I don't understand why the BEOD has not been updated to the same standard!

Controls - Bass, Treble, Presence, Volume, Mid, Gain, Gain Structure switch on side.

My favourite Friedman pedal to date - this is a fantastic cross-over pedal which straddles both Dirty Shirly and BEOD voicing with a slightly looser, more open, and in some way more searing tonality. Not quite as high gain as the BEOD, but the best sounding of the trio as far as I'm concerned!

Controls - Volume, Gain, Tone.

A beautifully Crispy Crunchy Marshall voicing - doesn't quite have the extension or granularity as some of these others, and I feel it would be much better served by a 3-Band EQ. Still pretty much does what it needs to. It did't hit quite as impact-fully though as some of the demos hinted, it's decent for sure, but for my preferences could do with a little refinement and extension.

Controls - JCM800 } Volume, Presence, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble; PLEXI } Volume, Tone, Drive | Distortion Footswitch, Drive Footswitch.

My acquisition of this pedal is well documented, and happened in the wake of my fallout with Jackson Audio. It was the only 'freebie' I received from that brand - via a convoluted route and mostly involving Andertons in the UK - my thanks to Andertons for handling this so well, while I'm still mystified by JA's treatment of me overall! This Mateus Asato signature distortion pedal is actually a dual-channel drive/distortion - with a main 6-controls JCM800 voicing, and a secondary 3-mini-controls Plexi Voicing - which are both really decent, and sound excellent together. Funnily this specific edition was challenged by Mojo Hand FX who already had an 'El Guapo' pedal of their own - so the El Guapo was rebooted as the Asabi - with an additional 'Large Mouse' switchable Rat module. I've since acquired the Asabi too - and use that specifically for the Large Mouse module - which is kind of decent, but not as much as the core JCM800 voicing. This is actually a really decent pedal - which in either guise seems to be slightly under the radar at the moment, and where the Asabi model seems to have disappeared from most UK dealer channels for some reason - in fact Jackson Audio coverage in the UK is looking somewhat pathcy at the moment. I guess they're focused more on the Fulltone revival these days!

Controls - Volume, Wattage / Gain Structure - 25W / 100W / 50W, Drive, EQ, Air / Presence, Boost, Bypass Footswitch, Boost Footswitch.

I had long wanted the Andy Timmons signature JHS Distortion - in fact I had the earlier version on the wishlist initially. I finally got my act together last year as part of my Andy Timmons coverage - and snagged the rarer Black edition of that pedal. I still have 2 further Andy Timmons signature pedals to secure - the GNI  Music OctaFuzz, and the Black Country Customs Spiral Array Chorus - one of those is obviously much tricker to get a hold of. As for the @ MKII - this sounds really decent, and particularly if you deploy It in the style of Andy Timmons - who doesn't tend to have to much gain - he much prefers to stack a few pedals in any case - which means those are typically set with lower gain. I typically prefer my Marshall pedals with 3-Band EQ's while this @ MKII is really decent in its own way, and for its intended applications - nice to have it onboard at last!

Controls - High, Mid, Low, Gain Structure : Low / High, Level, Presence, Gain.

I only own a few LPD Pedals - where I've always intended to get more - but these are typically pretty tricky to get hold of. My friend Steve at FX Pedal Planet currently has two in stock - the Seventy-4 and larger Eighty-7 Deluxe. Where I might just pick up the Sevent-4 (Plexi) at some stage. I've always found that these pedals render a little darker and denser than the norm, and tend to be generally more suitable for single coil guitars - white optioning differ. I long since deemed that the Eighty-7 (JCM800) was the best of the bunch for me and that's the more I prioritised. Requires a little diligence on the dial in - but the 3-Band EQ and extra Presence gets you to where you need to be. Lawrence Petross makes great pedals - but typically in very small time-limited batches - and the timings rarely seem to sync with my buying cycle - often with pedals materialising near the. end of the month - when that month's budget has already been blown! A really cool brand - which is much more accessible to American - while now that it's finally available at FX Pedal Planet things are looking up for us UK customers!

Controls - Treble, Bass, Mid, Level, Gain, Boost, Presence, Voice : 1 / 2 / 3, Brits Footswitch, Boos Footswitch.

This is an interesting one as I have 2 compact variants of Menatone MIAB pedals - the King of the Britains here - which has a separate Boost Chanel, and just `The King' - which has slightly different controls and includes 2 Gain knobs - Level, Drive, Gain, Hi, Mid, Lo - where the Mid frequency is further refined by a Modern/Vintage switch, and a variable era mini dial - which takes you though 60's > 70's > 90's flavours. I really like both models but found I got slightly better results with the King of the Britains - which compact model looks to be discontinued currently - with The King one being the one promoted nowadays. I kind of fell out with Brian as he promised to do a couple of things for me - and I followed up every other month for more than a year. He always said he was too busy to meet his commitment to me - where he was really just making himself busy with other tasks. He should have long since told me that he wasn't going to honour his commitments - but he kept me on the hook for over a year - alternately ghosting me or telling me he was too busy. I'm a little sad I've cut ties - but I won't be made a fool of. I feel I've supported Brian pretty well through the years, but I won't be doing it any more following what I consider a betrayal. My word is my bond - and I expect the same of others. There has to be mutual respect or I'm not interested! Note that no demo seems to have been made for my edition of King of the Britains - and so I'm using a demo of the older larger model with the same controls!

Controls - Volume, 3-way Clipping switch, 3-way Mode switch, Gain, Presence, Hi, Mid Low.

For the longest time this was my absolute and main powerhouse Marshall / Brown Sound pedal. I still really love it - while it's not the easiest to dial in, but patience and due diligence is always rewarded. I'm a huge fan of Michael Ibrahim's pedals - and the Super Crunch Box and Megalith are still all-time favourites for me. Back in those days I had a lot less options - while my corresponding Marshall and Metal Distortion Pedal selections are both pretty immense now - both in numbers and impact! In any case the MI Effects Super Crunch Box V2 is a stone cold classic for me!

Controls - T.S. Tone Structure : Standard / Tight / Tight with Extra Low End Response, Master Volume, Active Presence, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, Internal 'Master Tone' trim-pot.

The first of the 2 PedalPalFX pedals - in gain order! PedalPal's Luis is fantastic Marshall circuit expert, and has design his own JFET arrays for his superb sounding circuits. Each of which very authentically and accurately recreate those prime Marshall tones. The PAL987 is one of the very best Plexi style distortions - with exactly the right complement of controls and superbly easy dial-in. One of those 'instant satisfaction' pedals!

Controls - Mode : #34 Slash Mod (More Sizzle + Brightness) / JCMII (Rhythm!) / #007 More Gain Mod + Attack, Master Volume, Active Presence, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, Internal 'Master Tone' trim-pot.

The second of the super PedalPalFX pair - this time the JCM800 variety is currently has a bit of an edge for me versus its sibling. While I flip-flop between favourites quite regularly, Obviously I've got the PAL800 dialled in just perfect at the moment. Like its PAL987 Plexi sibling this is a totally accurate custom JFET replication of the amp circuit - with JFETs in place of Tubes obviously. Luis has built up quite a reputation over the years - and this was exactly the right time for me to get involved - with these compact editions. I had the larger 1590BB editions on my wishlist for the longest time - and I'm really glad I waited it out - because I much prefer this newer form factor. As I've said before - both those varieties are very much at the top of their game!

Controls - Level, Clip : Ge>LED, Drive, Tilt EQ, High Pass Filter : 700Hz>30kHz, Boost.

Another one of my long-term perennial favourite - I have one with the Klon Germanium Diodes Mod - which sounds superb. In fact it takes a lot to beat my Pettyjohn Gold II + Chime II combination - both with the extra Harmonic Mods for superior texture. Pettyjohn pedals are typically built with the finest components - and you can clearly hear that in richness of the output - obviously you need to select the most appropriate options - or Mods for your own tonal preferences. I always lean into the fuller harmonic flavour - and both my Pettyjohn pedals are superb. The Gold II is very much Plexi in profile - its really clever controls - including a Tilt EQ - which I love!

Controls - Bass, Middle, Treble, Volume, Aggression, Blue, Off, Red, Gain.

I love my Trifecta of REVV pedals - the G2, G3, and G4. Lots of people, Ola Englund included - tend to favour the more modern Mids-forward G3 variety, while I prefer the phat vintage output of the G4 - which is closest for me to that slightly scooped and saggy Vintage Marshall Tones - covering both Hot Modded Plexi and JCM800 territories. The G4 is potent and wide-ranging enough to take you through to higher gain Rectifier and Diezel VH4 style voicings - I entirely play at home - so I like a little more oomph in my core signal. The G4 has long been one of my all-time favourite pedals - particularly for more higher gain duties.

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.

And so to my all-time favourite distortion pedal - which just happens to be a Marshall all-rounder too. The MGAT-1 Golden Era takes you through 19 Gears / Levels of Gain - from Marshall Cleans - all the way up to the heaviest JVM style distortion - with every flavour and stripe of Marshall amp covered in-between. A truly 'immense' pedal with exceptional dynamics and feel - it has that amazing liveliness and vibrancy - almost identical to the real amps, but in a much much smaller package - an essential for sure!

Controls - Level, Clipping : II (More Harmonics) / I, Drive, Scoop (Mdids), Tone.

This is yet another perennial favourite of mine - a sort of Fuzzy Marshall voicing - quite superb really. Andy has promised me a deluxe edition which will be called the Snarla - that's been on the cards for a while - and I'm not sure it's going to happen this year! In any case this is such a distinct voicing - with exactly the right degree of harmonic texture and sizzle. I always felt that the 'Wuffy' moniker let down the side a little - hence the replacement name 'Snarla' is far more apt, and more descriptive of the output of this pedal. It's a little bit like how used to set up my Empress Effects Multidrive - in combining the Fuzz and Distortion Channels - I really love fuzz-edged tones - hence my love of Dumble Drives, Expandoras, and any an all Fuzzy-Drives and Fuzzstortions. For me this is very much a Marshall voicing at its core just combined with extra fuzz goodness!

Controls - Distortion, Voice : Organic / High Gain / Vintage, Level, Tone.

I acquired both the Burnley Bogner and this Suhr Riot at similar times - and hence I always associate one with the other. The Burnley is slightly thicker and more textured, while the Riot is more cutting and searing. Each of those have a loyal following, while it's usually one or the other. While for me I really like both - and it depends on mood and application as to which on I favour at the time. Both are fantastic and both kind of lean into that Brown Sound texture and tonality - with 2 quite distinct takes!

Controls - Volume, Drive, Texture (Intermodulation Distortion / Feedback), Mode / EQ Shift : High End Focus / Neutral / Low-End Accent, Tone, On/Bypass Footswitch, Tone Stack Bypass / Boost Footswitch.

I've fatured both The Bunker and The Gunshot quite a lot on this side, and my favourable opinions of each are well known. I identify them slightly differently to Thropy - at least per my preferences. He says that the Bunker is based on the Plexi and The Gunshot on the JCM800 - while I have them the other way around in terms of how I dial them in. The Bunker is a little more modern, and aggressive sounding, a little more searing. While The Gunshot for me has a much broader lower gain extension, is a little warmer and softer and overall a little more range. Both of those are excellent Marshall voicings - and it really depends on how you deploy them - if you crank up the Texture you really get an aggressive JCM800 style of sound - which The Gunshot can't quite match. Both are fantastic Marshall voices - while each requires a little delicacy on the dial-in.

Controls - Gain, Tone, Volume, Calibre.

The second of the Thorpy pair is the one I marginally prefer. It's slightly softer and warmer overall than the Bunker but with a greater gain range, and much better lower gain extension. This is the very first official Thorpy pedal created and it really deserves it legendary status, while it's a little unsung overall, and I have to admit I have other Thorpy favourites above it overall in the ranking. While much like the Thorpy Warthog - the combination of Gain, Tone and Calibre delivers some wonderful in-between tones - the Calibre control is really quite unique - and takes a wee learning curve to master - which once you get it really delivers!

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

Another special pedal - with a superb combination of Plexi, JPM and JCM800 flavours and featuring that essential EVH Variac control. With all those controls it's not always the easiest to dial in - but a little perseverance and due diligence will deliver superior tones. This is a great wide-ranging MIAB, and was top of the tree before the 2 Sinvertek MGAT varieties arrived on the scene - still a wonderful all-rounder MIAB type - with exceptional granularity and range extensions.

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

Essentially the third Thorpy designed pedal in this listing - which for me is a little reminiscent of the similar range of the Bispell Audio Saxon - which also leans a little more into JTM45 territory versus Plexi, and doesn't have the upward extension into JCM800 territory. It's a little softer in profile overall - but sounds really decent - as you would expect. It's not quite as vibrant a Marshall voicing as I expected, and as Thorpy warned me. This pedal obviously has a lot of Victory / Cornford influences - being co-designed my Victory head honcho Martin Kidd. It's not exactly the same as the Bispell Audio Saxon - which is overall a little more focused, they both have similar gain ranges though!

Controls - Volume, Bright Switch, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, Mode : Std / Pre / Cab.

I didn't exactly get on with this pedal - as in fact has been the case for all the NuTube pedals that I own - there's something about those fluorescent style valves that kind of 'blankets' and dulls the output a touch - to do with inherent fizzle of that 'bulb' style technology, and the necessary damping you need to apply to cover that up - which often dulls the output - hence the existence of the Bright Switch. The recommendation here is to run the pedal in Preamp rather than Standard Mode. That lifts the dullness a touch, and you can then combine the 3-Band EQ with the Bright Switch to elevate the tonality to mostly where you need it to be. It doesn't quite match the very bests in this rundown - but it can deliver very usable tones.

Controls - Input Gain, Presence switch, Output Master, Bass, Middle, Treble, Bypass, Lead.

I only picked this one up recently along with the Jangle Master Top Boosted Vox AC30 launch - and it's a pity I waited quite so long as this Marshall Silver Jubilee style preamp really sounds superb. The Silver Jubilee was originally launched in 1987 to celebrate 25 years in the amp business - it is a darker and hotter version of the world renown JCM800 2203 and 2204 varieties. And the Platinum Preamp is exactly that - a darker and hotter JCM800 with plenty of gain and volume extension - a slightly different timbre to most every other JCM800 in this selection - and a very worthy addition. I also own the Alexander Pedals Jubilee Silver variant of this kind of circuit - while that version is not quite as potent as this VS Audio Platinum - which I really love!

Controls - Tone, Mid Contour, Volume, Voicing : Modern / Vintage, Gain Structure : Gain Boost / Standard Gain, Gain.

This is actually another really great Brown Sound specialist type - which doesn't quite get as much love as some of these others nowadays although it is widely revered. I always quite wanted the Pinnacle Deluxe - which adds a Boost Footswitch and Control and extends to 3-Band EQ - while I feel that the Standard Compact edition is probably best suited to my needs - I have plenty of killer boost pedals already in the cain typically! As I keep saying - I'm really spoilt for choice on all these different variant types - and certainly have plenty of alternative fantastic Brown Sound Distortions - some of which I prefer. There's no disputing though that this is a great Brown Sound candidate, that is favoured by many. I kind of settled on the more aggressive Marshall style pedals - while I also have the very decent Marshall all-rounder 'Sovereign', I never got to acquiring a Plexi-Drive yet though - I was kind of stuck in option paralysis for a while on whether to get the Compact or Deluxe variety, and now there is a Mini variety too - which I quite fancy - but I'm not yet convinced as to what would be my best option there, and which variety I would end up using the most. I have to admit I'm kind of leaning in to the Mini version at the moment - but have still to make a final decision!

Controls - Volume, Voicing : Vintage / Modern, Gain, Treble, Mids, Bass.

A slightly fatter and tighter profile than the Pinnacle - which is overall a little more vintage and saggy, possibly a little more saturated in places too. I only realised recently that there was an even rarer and more potent Plextorion variant - called the Super Plextortion - which I have to get my hands on too - that has even more aggression and a greater gain range. The Plextortion though is pretty perfect as is - not particularly gainey - but sounds pretty fat and juicy all of its own!