9
This thing sounds awesome. Van Halen, Ozzy, 80s sound in a box. Connect to decent sounding, warm clean channel with a 4x12 cab (the cab is an essential part of this kind of Marshall sound - you don't get it from a 1x12 open back really), and you are set. This is more of a boosted plexi sound, 80s version of a plexi. Ignore the description mentioning is a metal beast.
I own two Marshalls, not solid state ones. And this 30 dollar petal arguably sounds more Marshall than what Marshall made after the 90s. Me, I like vintage and modern metal tones, and my 3 channel amp gets modern all day long, is always tight in the low end, but never crunchy, raw, and fizzy like an old Marshall.
This pedal has well known bugs. For one, the gain control doesn't really work. It's like the knob starts at 7 and ends at 10, and some say it's because Joyo messed up copying the circuits and put the wrong values. And then theres the issue of the pedal's lack of volume.
For me, with the tone at just under half or more, volume is a bit more than unity, which for my purposes is fine.
It might be more versatile with better gain and volume controls. I think though, it might sound worse with less gain, due to the way the tone changes.
Speaking of tone, the control is actually pretty useful. Straight up is pretty brown, and around 3/4 is getting pretty hair metal, Randy Roads, kinda stuff.
FWIW there is a simple mod out there to fix the volume issue, it involves "connecting 100k R between lug 3 of V and lug 2 of T." Basically, add one resistor, and get double the volume.
Over all I think it's pretty versatile because I could see doing any sort of classic rock up to 80s metal with it. It actually added a lot of chunk to the sound when I used it on an overdriven amp, which is pleasantly surprising considering I thought "bright marshall" pedal would sound like a can of bees into a OD channel. Not at all, very chunky.
So yeah, it works for me, sounds great. If my opinion changes, I'll update. I'm pretty picky about my tone, and this I just like. Sounded a lot better than the demos I heard, I guess because I have a pretty warm amp and it really gels with my 4x12.
I read some reviews on Amazon and they weren't positive but then again not than many guitar players use volume and tone controls let alone know how to dial in their tone.
Looking in YouTube demos were more favourable.
So I bought on and pleased that I did.
I mostly play through Roland Blues Cube to get that Fender tweed tone and normally for driven tones use the boost on that or my tube screamer clone. But for that heavier 80s Marshall gain sound this pedal hits the spot. It's quite scooped as expected with a thick and tight bass with a boost in the treble.
I find with the tone at 10 o'clock, distortion at 10 o'clock it captures that magic 80s Plexi tone just right.
But dial the distiortion back to about 9 o'clock and set the volume at 12 o'clock I can use this with my tube screamer clone to get a nice soaring tone with the mid range boost of the tube screamer and fatter bottom end of the Plexi for lead work as well as a boost in volume.
I used it at gig last night for leadwork and got complimented on my Plexi tone from the other guitarist in my band.
Product Description
JOYO Plexi Drive pedal has all the right stuff to achieve that classic rock lead tone. The best thing about the pedal, beyond its incredible affordability, is the range of tones you can get. From silky smooth distortion to raw fuzzface levels of thrash, this pedal competes with modern high-gain amps with dual gain stages. Meanwhile the noise floor stays quiet thanks to smart circuit design and quality components. And when the pedal is off, the true bypass wiring ensures that no tone gets lost.
The plexi drive pedal may be simple, but so is a tube amp circuit, at least when compared to a digital modelling amp. But sometimes when it comes to rock and roll simple is actually best. Step into the world of plexi tone, so you can discover a new take on your lead guitar sound - we love hearing from so many southern and classic rockers. Simulates the classic JCM800 amp, but with greater distortion and stronger output.
Box Contains
1x Effects Pedal Loop Switching System