Marshall flavored dirt?

[tuj]

The MXR 78 is basically a clone of the DS-1 with the Keeley mods. It will make you sound like how Nirvana sounded live. Nirvana didn't use Marshalls (only Marshall cabs). I am not saying it isn't a good distortion, I'm just saying I don't think it sounds like MIAB.

The Box of Rock and the newest Gen3 Distortron are different enough that I would get the Distortron with the toggles on it in a second. I think you would be really happy with it.

[t-rey]

Cool, thanks for elaborating on those

[Dandolin]

Here's some other options you could look for:

Blackout Effectors Mantra (OCD with different tone stack apparently)

These may sound similar to some people--but I've got both, and looking at their guts, the circuit topologies are totes different. As for the pedlols in action, OCD gets a lot of press for being sensitive to picking dynamics, and my experience lines up. Mantra to me is similar in the lower gain ranges but is just way squishier at higher gain settings, and the gain becomes quite fuzzy/less amp-like or "natural" at the top of the gain range. Merhumblegrumble, I hate this terminology. Hopefully you're able to try some of these and draw your own conclusions.

Anyway, I had good times with both--I feel like the Mantra has more variability in feel and personality. Honestly, though, despite copious references from others to the contrary, neither one screamed Marshall to me; but I'm a lower-gain Marshall guy (JTM era) and I can't speak for how they compare to late 7Ts Marshall tones and beyond because I've never been very interested in those tones.

I agree about Tristan's earlier statement about the Direct Drive--he really knows his stuff and has a critical ear so is very helpful for these kinds of questions. I wouldn't spend too much time on the Direct Drive, myself.

The Direct Drive Low Gain, otoh, gets a lot closer to the early non-hotrodded Marshall tones in my book--I enjoyed DDLG infinitely more than the OG DD--though, and I think this is a signature of many Barber pedals, the overall feel is somewhat "tight" even within the super-tweakable parameters provided by Barber. I enjoyed that quality quite a lot, but it might not be your cuppa. And the pedal is not an explicit amp simulator by any means, so criticizing it for being "tight" when your definition of "Marshall" isn't is kinda beside the point. Again--who knows if it floats your boat, but it might be worth checking out, or the current Barber alternative. At least they ain't super pricy/unobtainium despite being discontinued....

Others that I've enjoyed for lower-gained but still crunchy Marshall tones are the Box of Rock/Distortron and Menatone Working Man's Blue.

[Tristan]

Agreed with you duder, I was totally hearsay about the Mantra, OCD with Baxandall tone stack is what I read more than a few times.
Barber is indeed kinda tight usually, the Bogner XTC pedals are as well but a notch less than the Barber stuff.
HM-2 is tight and can get Marshall but in a weird way type tones in my experience.
It all depends on whether you want a more loose vintage / old school rock sound or something that steers away from that in a way.

[Dandolin]

Agreed with you duder, I was totally hearsay about the Mantra, OCD with Baxandall tone stack is what I read more than a few times.
Barber is indeed kinda tight usually, the Bogner XTC pedals are as well but a notch less than the Barber stuff.
HM-2 is tight and can get Marshall but in a weird way type tones in my experience.
It all depends on whether you want a more loose vintage / old school rock sound or something that steers away from that in a way.

Right on, man--those Bogner are interesting to me. Turns out I like Marshallesque tones for musical punctuation/dynamics in parts of songs, but I don't live there--so these latter day MIAB pedals, although probs not a solution for the true Marshallyte, are extremely useful on my board. Always interested in a new flava myself....

Also--don't know if it's been mentioned, but I quite like a Reezafratzitz for the "Marshall moments"....

[sylnau]

The best one I've tried for this sound is:

[lordgalvar]

What about the Plimsoul...that is supposed to be in the OCD+ category right? (sorry, not really a marshall guy, just came to ask the following thing:)

Just a side note: how does the Sovtek Mig 100h stack up to a marshall? Isn't it based off of the JCM800 or something? I've never played through a marshall or never been in a band with somebody that had one (or fender for that matter) (just carvins, sunns, peavey, kustom, acoustic, crate, and randall around my hometown usually...probably cause we are cheap...oh, lots of mesa/boogie for the rich guys). I mean I have heard them live and stuff, just curious from somebody that has used both. I always felt the Mig 100h was low-mid muddy and was always trying to bring more treble into the mix, but that's me (the bass/low end just wasn't as tight as a sunn in my opinion). Sorry if it is a dumb question...

As for the CB DLS, I feel like all CB pedals are kinda half way there. They sound alright in the situation they were designed for, but either get kinda lost or weak in other situations. Like I felt the Echorec didn't sound good with fuzz at all (just got kinda muddy) and the Karma Suture was so weak it needed a boost or other dirt to give it some grit. maybe that is what other people look for? They either don't have enough gain or are kinda too regular in the digital world. Give me boss stuff over them any day.

[frigid midget]

Probably havent tried enough miab peds to really make any sort of judgement, but based on my extensive experience with pretty much every major Marshall type amp, I'd say the Plexortion came closest to sounding somewhat 'natural', whatever that means.

The ones I like most though: Suhr Riot. Couldn't get it to work for my sound though, but if you're into glamy/hardrock high gain tones, like in the vein of a hot rodded JMP, there's a good chance the Riot won't dissapoint. Especially for leads/solos I guess. I guess the looks, brand, price tag and target demographic kinda give the Riot a status that us ILF'ers associate with cork sniffy TGP blues lawyers and douchy shredders though
To be honest, as tempting as I think the Riot Reloaded seems, there's just too many other rrrrreally nice half as pricey pedlols out there to really take it into consideration

Really liked the Mooer Crunch Box I briefly had too. Their OCD clone was okay too, but it sounded a bit harsh to me the time. When I switched amps, it was the way around

An OCD paired with the right amp is the shit imo, but I'm not even sure I'd say it sounds very marshall-y

Catalinbread dirty little secret: Not nearly enough gain for me. It's supposed to sound great stacked with other dirt, but imo it's kinda lame to spend >$100 on "half" a MIAB pedal.

Always been curious about the Zvex Distorton. Based on the clips, description, and reputation for making awesome dirt pedals that are incapable to dissapoint, I'm pretty sure I'd get along with the distortron.

[Dandolin]

I'm not an expert LG, but I used to play in a band with a guy with a Mig50--it had two inputs--one was dark, bassy, maybe muddy depending on what you stuck in it--it sounded great with a treble booster. The other input was quite a bit brighter. They are in the Tweed Bassman/JTM-45 neighborhood, somewhere in between (I think they use 6L6es f'rinstance, not EL34s). Not sure if the 100 is the same? I do know some of those old single channel amps could be quite dark--thus the original impetus for the treble booster.

In use and by what I know of their rep, the Migs are usually leaning slightly Fender from Marshall, so darkness is not a universal descriptor. FWIW, I think the Migs were once awesome deals used, but the prices lately don't line up with my memory of how they sounded...it's happening more and more with older amps--the second and third waves are being priced like the legends used to...it's like colleges--there's now a hundred colleges (or more) that charge Harvard money....

Also--Plimsoul I never got--doesn't seem like the OCD--it always sounds slightly more subdued or muffled to me. Maybe someone else has different/better experience with that one? I borrowed a friend's once and it honestly was one of the least attractive overdrive experiences I ever--but I do dig the OCD....

What about the Plimsoul...that is supposed to be in the OCD+ category right? (sorry, not really a marshall guy, just came to ask the following thing:)

Just a side note: how does the Sovtek Mig 100h stack up to a marshall? Isn't it based off of the JCM800 or something? I've never played through a marshall or never been in a band with somebody that had one (or fender for that matter) (just carvins, sunns, peavey, kustom, acoustic, crate, and randall around my hometown usually...probably cause we are cheap...oh, lots of mesa/boogie for the rich guys). I mean I have heard them live and stuff, just curious from somebody that has used both. I always felt the Mig 100h was low-mid muddy and was always trying to bring more treble into the mix, but that's me (the bass/low end just wasn't as tight as a sunn in my opinion). Sorry if it is a dumb question...

[lordgalvar]

I think the mig50s were fender or plexi based (i've heard both and I think there are different models and the Mig100s were JCM800s with the 100h being the highest gain mod of the three of the 800. If I ever get it back up and running, I'm going to try the treble booster thing (they wern't nearly as common as they are now back when it was all I had...). The treble booster sounded good into my Beta Lead actually too. Actually, thinking about it, I used to run the MT-2 boosting treble and cutting mids and bass a bit running at mid gain but high volume (it was all I had).

Good information on the Plimsoul. Wasn't thinking about it anyway, but will really stay away anyway (good information for the thread though...gotta have the +/- on stuff).

[waltdogg]

The 50 is a '59 Bassman/JTM45

The 50H is a 50 watt JCM800

The 60 is a 50 watt JMP

The 100s are all JCM800 variants.

All of 'em sound pretty close, but are a little harsher than the real deal. I was able to A/B a friend's MIG 100 and another friend's JCM800. Notably the MIG100 sounded more aggressive than the JCM800 but the JCM800 was on the leaner or thinner side tone-wise.

Oh shit. the Hao Rust Driver is a good one too. That's touted as a MIAB for sure and I could say it gets pretty close to the tone in front of any amp. Three voicings and one gain knob. That's one pedal I wish I bought when I had the chance for cheap.

[lordgalvar]

The 50 is a '59 Bassman/JTM45

The 50H is a 50 watt JCM800

The 60 is a 50 watt JMP

The 100s are all JCM800 variants.

All of 'em sound pretty close, but are a little harsher than the real deal. I was able to A/B a friend's MIG 100 and another friend's JCM800. Notably the MIG100 sounded more aggressive than the JCM800 but the JCM800 was on the leaner or thinner side tone-wise.

Oh shit. the Hao Rust Driver is a good one too. That's touted as a MIAB for sure and I could say it gets pretty close to the tone in front of any amp. Three voicings and one gain knob. That's one pedal I wish I bought when I had the chance for cheap.

Thanks for that man. I couldn't remember and thanks for the notes. Guess I do know the marshall sound then, haha. Never got a chance to play an actual Marshall so it is good to know I have something pretty close. It was loud and agressive, but I felt like if I fed anything other than just treble boost from an EQ then it got really muddy in my band (which is why I never really used fuzz into it I guess). Need to get the fuse cases replaced (somebody lost the caps in my studio at the time). Thanks again.

Hao Rust Driver is a good one. Forgot about it.

[waltdogg]

No problem. Yeah I was never able to get the MIG100H I had to really cut through in a band either especially with a fuzz or fuzzlike pedal in front of it but damn did it sound sooooo good on it's own.

[lordgalvar]

No problem. Yeah I was never able to get the MIG100H I had to really cut through in a band either especially with a fuzz or fuzzlike pedal in front of it but damn did it sound sooooo good on it's own.

Totally agree, man. I really just used the MT-2 to kinda give the ring mod some grit. The ring mod was all I used with it. I gave up on pedals (except the ring mod) and just used it. The guy I got it from kept trying to get it back from me after haha(sold it to me for 200 way back in 2003).

[waltdogg]

Yup The MIG was why I gave up on pedals too, far out. Haha.