artifex_adrift's Pedalboard

I swapped out the stock preamp tube with an Electro-Harmonix Gold-Pin 12AX7 High Gain tube, and this amp can give me perfect cleans for surf music or crank up to a very decent crunch. Decent enough to record with, and when layering tracks it sounds like a much more powerful amplifier. It responds very well to running distortion pedals through the front, and the FX loop is indispensable. Being able to run a reverb pedal in the loop on a sturdy 1x12 cab makes this amp sound larger than life, and at 20 watts it can certainly hold its own.

While this isn't the greatest amp of all time, it's still really good at what it does. It's a two channel, which doesn't matter much to me since I don't do the whole Kurt Cobain clean-distorted-clean-distorted-clean cycle while I'm playing. The clean channel actually sounds really nice, especially if you run a good reverb in the FX loop, which is foot switchable. I call that effect out specifically because the on-board reverb is a little lacking for my personal taste, but I'm sure it's enough for the average player.

The low power mode that brings the 5 watts down to 0.5 watts is an awesome feature to have. Especially if you want to drive the extra dirt on the tubes and get some interesting lead sounds. Otherwise the full 5 watts is what I prefer, because I like the extra headroom, it just suits my playing style and tonal preferences much better. The stock speaker is a Celestion Ten-30, so I wasn't scrambling to jam in a replacement speaker, I think it sounds fabulous, although the speaker-out option into a 1x12 Eminence Wizard gives this thing a whole other layer of tone you didn't know was there. 12 inch speakers always sound better compared to a weenie 10 inch in my opinion, especially since I like to drive the power up when playing, the additional surface area gives chords less of that "fart" sound and the voice coil is typically a little bigger, so you get more open output.

The 'tone shift' and 'deep' buttons are not necessarily an "always on" type of deal for me, but they are fun to experiment with, it definitely gives you some extended options that most combo amps lack. Remember also, this is a Marshall, not an Orange, so the treble starts to get really tinny at around 1 O'clock, but if you're going for a really shrill treble sound, this amp has it. I replaced the stock Marshall power tube (12BH7) with an Electro-Harmonix gold pin, and it put this amp in that class of shredability in terms of where my hands are expecting a certain amount of reactivity at different volumes.

This amp was purchased to have another smaller amp around my house for when I just want to shred a little, so I'm not running 16 effects pedals through this thing. I pretty much just play as-is, with the occasional exception of a Big Muff Pi pedal that I modded to get those syrupy, long-sustain guitar solos with some reverb to splash it around.

I bought this thing brand new, and it has a volume drop problem. I replaced all the tubes, and eventually troubleshot it down to a problem with the FX loop's relationship to the power amp stage. As long as I keep the footswitch plugged in and the FX loop turned off, I don't have any problems (at least for now). This isn't my daily driver or anything, so there's no urgency to rip it apart a second time and get into heavy diagnostics. I've actually heard a few players complain about this problem, so I suppose this is my "buyer beware" caveat.

This type of pedalboard is as basic as you can get, but it gets the job done. I tapped the mounting holes for a 9 Spot powersupply that fits neatly and perfectly to the undercarriage area of this little board. It allowed me to get a small yet fully-functional mini pedalboard setup to easily move between smaller amps around my home if I want to.

If there was maybe an off-set row of thinner punch-outs for pulling up power cable runs without removing too much Velcro surface area, that would be the only improvement I could suggest. I have no intention of using this pedalboard outside of my home, which is good because the travel bag does not offer a degree of protection for the pedals mounted to the board. Otherwise it comes with the essentials that you need to slap together a mini board without too large of an investment of time or money. It comfortably fits at least five 1590B sized pedals, but even more if you use a smaller form factor like 1590A.

The fact that this powersupply not only comes with mounting hardware and fittings but a drilling template is worth an honorable mention. This cam in particular handy when I was putting together a mini pedalboard using an On-Stage GPB2000. The clearance was perfect, and the number of power outputs is more than ample, even if you've got a mini board full of smaller form factor pedals like 1590A.

There is a good amount of variety for switchable power ratings using the DIP switches. Not just for 9 volt pedals, but you even have the options for two 12 volt and two 18 volt, which substantially increases the adaptability for use with "hungrier" pedals. The powersupply comes with plenty of cables and accessories, all you need is a small pack of Velcro cable ties and the means to mount this to a board and you're all set.

It's not too noisy, and features isolated power channels, so you don't get that hum and hiss you do with less practical options like daisy chain wall wart power supplies (please don't use those...). The main power cable is long enough to give you a good run off of wall or strip power, but not so long that you have anaconda of a cable to try to hide once setup.

5 stars, no questions asked on this one. It seems too simple to be useful, but the sound is perfect for those syrupy, fuzzy neck pickup solos that I like to play. Not so good for playing chords on the settings I use, but I have noticed I still have the speed and response when playing solos on the higher strings. After I heard George Lynch say something to the effect of "you can still play fast with fuzz if you use it right", I realized this pedal was he only one I had used that made me agree with that. A+, also easily modded, so that's a major win for me.

There isn't much you can milk and spin into a review about a pedal with one knob, but this pedal does its job really well. I like to run this pedal through the front of an Orange Micro Dark into a 1x12 cab with an Eminence Wizard in it. Turning the knob up to 8 O'clock and playing with the gain knob on the amp to find the sweet spot can give you that stressed Sunn Model-T sound that everyone likens the sound quality to. It is definitely an effect that needs some pampering while you play, because if you want a lead sound that doesn't sound breathless, you'll need to dial it in, but when you go back to playing those sludgy chords, it'll take some adjusting to get it back. Needless to say, find the one thing you want to get out of this pedal, and make it do its job well.

I purchased the 10 band version so I could have more granular control over the range of frequencies. That and a 'volume' and 'gain' setting make this pedal way more applicable for my purposes. It can get noisy when used with overdrives and distortions, but I found a fairly specific use for this pedal outside of that. The clean channel on my Marshall DSL5CR that has a really anemic, weak sound (especially with single coils) now has a great tonal characteristic to it when I use this EQ. I need a snappier, "pecky" type of sound for clean but pushed-sounding runs (like surf music), and this pedal does just the trick.

I also noticed from person experience, as well as from reviews I've read, that some pedals placed before this can cause the LEDs to freak out when both are engaged. Given that I essentially only use this as a clean boost with EQ shaping and cleanup, I don't really have to worry about that.

It's a great pedal, but not a "Swiss army knife of tone" like some EQ pedals are praised for being. It definitely has its limitations, but it works for my purposes.

Up until a few years ago, I refused to stray away from analog reverb tank-based units. I've never been a fan of digital pedals, because in the 90s everything I came across sounded really thin, anemic, and lifeless. Now that modern pedal manufacturers are leaning more towards the method of blending dry and wet signals in conjunction with higher quality digital technology, I decided to give them a shot.

I purchased one (and eventually two) MXR Reverb pedals, and was really impressed with them. Running a stereo amp set-up, having a pair of these in both amp's FX loops meant I could dial in different types and amounts of reverb to get really ethereal soundscapes. Then I got curious and wondered what else I could try, and that's when I eventually came across the Crazy Tube Circuits Splash Mark IV.

Full disclosure, I had to give it 4 out of 5 stars because some of the mode settings are a little too "digital" sounding, and when you're talking about reverb nothing bruises the signal like a fizzy, choppy sound. However, based on the various knobs that allow you to taper certain settings, there are modes that actually sound really great. The ability to plug in an external expression pedal to control aspects of the reverb, as well as a built-in switch, places this pedal in a higher class of modern reverb pedals. These are features that I have come to expect, and the versatility of the Splash Mark IV keeps this thing off the shelf and on a pedalboard at all times for me.

The decay setting goes from subtle to drastic, which I like. Some pedals have such a limited range on the settings, which is always a bummer. The mix and volume knobs allow you to get a good line level setting, as well as dry/wet blend so you can make the reverb sound way more organic than some cheaper alternative. The excite setting (complimented by a push button switch to swap between decay) is where you get the versatility here. Being able to press down on the excite switch to give your sound those long tails is a great way to have an otherwise usable, traditional reverb sound without it having that wishy-washy drowning effect where your playing just gets lost.

For the money, I say this is a great pedal. While all the modes won't necessarily be your favorite, there are still plenty of settings you'll be able to get some interesting reverb effects out of.

I bought this as a replacement in a Marshall DSL5CR, and it gave me more of the tonal characteristics and reactivity I was looking for. It doesn't give you that muddy, over-taxed sound that some tubes will give you, and it compliments the tone features of that amp really well. The 'deep' switch has a little less flatness to it, and the classic tinniness of a Marshall really shines through without sounding overwhelming when you start to crank the treble.