Category: At Your Feet

Pedals, pedalboards, and anything to do with these little boxes of joy :)

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Initial Thoughts On The Marshall Studio Amps vs Marshall Origin For Pedals

At Winter NAMM 2019, Marshall made a major announcement: they launched not one, but two 20W amps based on classic designs. The Marshall Studio Vintage 20 is based on the famed plexi-era amps, and the Studio Classic 20 is based on the JCM 800 – the amp of 80’s rock.

And, by all accounts, both of these amps absolutely nail those tones.

Where does this leave last year’s big new amp, the Marshall Origin? Will the Origin finally find its audience, or is it going to disappear?

Continue reading “Initial Thoughts On The Marshall Studio Amps vs Marshall Origin For Pedals”
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New Arrivals For January

The turning of the year can be a great time to hunt for new (to you) guitar gear. The second hand market is normally flooded with folks who are moving on gear they no longer want – or sadly can no longer afford to keep. And there’s Winter NAMM, where brands large and small drop announce new products.

I’ve been lucky enough to pick up some stuff that I’m interested in, and I thought I’d share it with you. Some of it is new to me, and some of it is me taking a second look at things I’ve had before but didn’t gel with. And there’s a few very special items too.

I’m going to do full articles on each of them, once I’ve had a bit of time with them. For now, here’s the very first impressions for you.

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Wampler Launches The Pantheon – Their King of Tone Alternative

It’s finally here – the Wampler Pantheon overdrive pedal. Based on the original Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal circuit, it aims to be an alternative to that legendary pedal: Analogman’s King of Tone.

As well as Brian’s own demo (above), there are plenty of demos from the YouTube pedal demo community and several retailers.

As is usual with Brian, he hasn’t made a straight-up clone on the King of Tone. There’s an extra – and active! – bass EQ knob, and external switches both for the amount of gain and the kind of clipping available.

The Analogman King of Tone is possibly second only to the Klon when it comes to restricted supply and hype-fuelled demand.

The KoT is still in production. To buy a new one, you have to send an email to Analogman to join the waiting list. Unfortunately, they don’t send acknowledgements, so you’ve no way of knowing if you’re actually on the list or not. Then you have to wait until you’re at the front of the queue. At the time of writing, the queue is around two years long.

As a result, there’s definitely demand for a KoT-type pedal that is easy to obtain, and easy to replace if it stolen or otherwise lost.

Please head over to YouTube and leave a like and a supportive comment on the videos.

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JHS Bonzai Pedal Demo

Fluff has posted a demo of the JHS Bonzai pedal. 9 Tubescreamers in one pedal!

If you like to get your dirt from your amp, the Tubescreamer is an essential pedal circuit to explore. The TS features a mid-range hump that can give your amp a boost and lift your guitar out of a mix.

There’s been many TS designs over the years, and that’s without counting all the third-party circuits! The JHS Bonzai puts 9 of these designs into a single pedal. And, by all accounts, each circuit is a faithful reproduction of the original.

Why would anyone need a pedal like this? Especially as the differences can be very hard to hear in a YouTube demo? Basically, it gives you flexibility – the ability to pick the TS circuit that best suits the guitar, amp, and music genre. If your rig and genre is static, maybe it’s overkill.

Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.

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Suhr Koko Boost Demo

Guitarist Magazine has posted a demo of Suhr’s Koko Boost pedal.

It looks like they’re running it into a Vox AC30’s normal channel? Whichever amp it is, the end result is a lovely Americana type of tone. Later on in the video, as they fiddle with the pedal’s settings, the tone starts to veer towards that classic Liverpool rock sound.

Very interesting!

Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.

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How Great Is The Laney Tommy Iommi Boost Pedal?

Henning has taken a look at the Tommy Iommi boost pedal by Laney.

If you prefer to get your filth from amps rather than pedals, boost pedals are an interesting way to get a bit more from your amp and shape the tone in the process.

The basic idea is that a boost pedal slams the amp’s input with a hotter signal. This causes the preamp to react differently. Exactly how depends on the boost pedal and the amp you’re using.

I own several boost pedals, but I don’t know much about them or how to use them yet. My mate Andrew has offered to lend me several more and teach me all about them. I just need to find the time to take him up on his generous offer!

This video is trademark Henning. It’s a good look at what the Tommy Iommi boost pedal sounds like through several amps set at different gain levels.

Please head over to YouTube to leave a like and a supportive comment.

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Marshall Origin And MIAB Drive Pedals

This week, we’ve been looking at the new Marshall Origin amp. It’s an affordable, vintage-voiced amp that can get close to a classic Plexi tone with a little bit of help from pedals. Today, we’re going to look at two pedals to do exactly that.

The two pedals I’m featuring today are both boutique pedals, with prices to match. You could buy all the Boss pedals I’ve featured so far, and all the TC Electronic pedals, for less than the cost of these two pedals. Will you hear the difference between them?

Carpe Diem

If you watch That Pedal Show, you’ve probably seen the Carpe Diem pedal by now. It’s a MIAB – Marshall-in-a-Box – and a firm favourite of Dan on the show.

I’ve had mine quite a while, and it’s spent most of its time on my pedal board acting as flavouring, rather than being a source of main drive tone. Origin prefers to act as the colour with any pedal, so will the Carpe Diem add enough texture to be a good choice?

Oh yes.

I have a confession to make. I threw this pedal into the demo pile because I was getting frustrated with folks on forums complaining that the Origin wasn’t Plexi enough. I was hoping that this pedal would get the Origin closer to that hard-edged sound of the Super Lead amp.

Boy, did it deliver. Compare it to the sound of a Super Lead clone – my Metropoulos Metro Plex.

The Carpe Diem brings the harder clipping and saturation that the Origin can’t do on its own. There’s still a difference in the mids between the two, but to my cloth ears it’s close enough for government work.

It’s an expensive pedal that’s become very hard to get – 2nd hand via eBay seems to be your best bet at the time of writing. Both budget and availability make it a difficult recommendation. But if that’s the sound you want, this pedal will get you there.

What about something a little less unobtainium?

JHS Charlie Brown v3

I picked this pedal because I happen to have it in my pedal cupboard. I got it at the tail end of 2015, and I’ve been using it for the last few months as my main Marshall-in-a-Box sound.

How well did it do? Judge for yourself:

If the Carpe Diem gets you 90% of the way to a Plexi tone, I’d say that the Charlie Brown is a good 80% of the way there. There’s just a little less of everything – a little less crunch, a little less aggressiveness, a little less saturation.

With the Carpe Diem, you dial it back. Maybe with the Charlie Brown, I just didn’t quite dial in enough when I made the demo.

That said, the Charle Brown is aimed at reproducing the JTM 45 sound, which isn’t quite as in-your-face as the Super Lead sound commonly associated with the plexi tone. I think it’s a perfectly usable sound, especially if you’re the rhythm guitarist in a band or recording group.

Origin + MIAB = More

Both of these Marshall-in-a-Box pedals work great with the Marshall Origin. Instead of trying – and failing – to overpower the Origin, they fill in some of the characteristics needed to get it closer to being a Plexi amp.

They cost a lot more than the other pedals we’ve looked at this week, but if you’re chasing that classic Plexi tone, you’ll be happier with one of these than with the generic overdrives and distortions.

These two particular pedals may be hard to find, but the good news is that there’s a lot of alternatives out there to suit any budget.

I don’t have any other MIAB pedals to try right now.  Based on how well these two have worked, I think there’s a good chance that other MIAB pedals will work also turn the Origin into a rock monster at reasonable home volumes.

Have you tried any MIAB pedals with the Origin? I’d love to hear how you got on, and what you recommend. Comments below!

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Marshall Origin and Boost Pedals

So far this week, we’ve looked at how the Marshall Origin compares to other Marshall-style amps, and we’ve looked at giving it a helping hand with affordable drive pedals from Boss and TC Electronic.

Today, we’re going to try and give it a helping hand using the oldest trick in the book: boost pedals.

Boost pedals work by overloading the amp’s input, so that the amp’s circuit starts to clip. The result is a natural-sounding overdrive that can sound saturated, with good sustain thanks to the compression that happens.

They’re a great choice if you already like the sound of your amp’s overdrive.

MXR Micro Amp

First up is the Micro Amp from MXR:

It’s marketed as a volume boost for quieter guitars, or for adding back lost volume at the end of a long cable run. But with +26db of volume boost on tap, it’s perfect for slamming the front end of an amp too.

Compared to the reference track, there isn’t much difference between the Origin’s own overdrive and what you get when you use the MXR Micro Amp. That’s exactly how clean boosts work.

Maybe the extra boost from the MXR Micro Amp is producing a slightly fatter, slightly more compressed tone. That could just be wishful thinking.

How will we fair with a different boost pedal?

TC Electronic Spark

The Spark is a modern boost pedal, made popular by its frequent use on Chappers and The Captain when it first launched.

One of the reasons why the Spark is such a popular pedal is that it isn’t just a clean boost. It’s got 2-band active EQ, a 3-way voice switch to shape the gain – oh yes, and it can provide gain too.

That provides more control over what the boosted amp sounds like. Being able to fatten up the mids and add a bit more saturation really helps with the Origin:

Again, compare it to the reference track to hear what this pedal brings to the party. To my ears, there’s a bit more drive and a fuller sound. It sounds fatter, and I think it’s an improvement over how the Origin sounds without any pedals.

Boosts = More Origin

If you don’t like how the Origin sounds, a boost pedal isn’t going to change your mind. A boost pedal is just more of what Origin already does. Yes, with the Spark we can shape it a little bit – the fatter mids are most welcome. But these pedals can’t do anything about Origin’s relatively soft clipping. They can’t turn it into a Plexi monster.

The other issue that they don’t really work at home volumes – not with Origin. It’s got such huge input headroom (the amount of signal it will accept before clipping) that I had to crank the amp anyway to get these tones with the boost pedals. You need both preamp and power amp to be providing the overdrive together to get this amp rocking.

For home volume levels, you’ll get more joy out of a traditional drive pedal like the ones I’ve already covered.

What do you think? Comments below!

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Marshall Origin and TC Electronic Drive Pedals

Yesterday, we looked at how well the new Marshall Origin sounds with affordable drive pedals from Boss. Today, it’s the turn of affordable drive pedals from TC Electronic.

TC Electronic are well known for their tone print pedals, especially the Hall of Fame reverb pedal and the Flashback delay. They also make a pair of drive pedals that you can find for around £40 each brand new at the time of writing.

For reference, here’s what the Marshall Origin can do on its own if you’ve got somewhere where you crank it loud:

Most of us are going to need pedals to get the amp singing at home volumes. Let’s hear how the TC Electronic pedals sound through the Origin.

The Mojomojo Overdrive

First up is the Mojomojo Overdrive pedal.

As an overdrive pedal, it gives us soft clipping with a fair bit of push in the mids. The active EQ is there to help you dial in this pedal for a wide range of amps.

The end result came out better than I was expecting.

Out of all the pedals I’ve used for this mega-Marshall Origin series, this was the only pedal I didn’t enjoy playing through. I wasn’t happy with how it felt or sounded during the recording. I’m unlikely to use this pedal again with my Origin 20W head.

The Dark Matter Distortion

The Dark Matter, on the other hand …

This pedal has been the one I’ve had hooked up to the Origin 20W the most. It doesn’t clip as hard as I was expecting it to – it’s almost soft enough to be an overdrive. It feels fantastic to play, really dynamic and responsive, and I think it counteracts the Origin’s brightness without sounding muddy at all.

Final Thoughts

The Origin is an opinionated amp, and any pedals you put through it are going to be very strongly flavoured by what the Origin sounds like.

For me, the Mojomojo didn’t suit the Origin at all – but the Dark Matter complimented it really well.

Those are just my opinions. Have you tried either pedal through an Origin amp yourself? How did you find them? Comments below!

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Marshall Origin: Great With Boss Pedals

Marshall’s new Origin amp is an affordable, vintage-voiced valve amp. Boss have been making a range of affordable drive pedals since the 70s.

And together, they sound pretty damn fine.

Reference: The Marshall Origin With No Pedals

As a reference point, here’s what the Origin can do without any pedals.

Thing is, if you’re playing at home, you’ll probably never hear your Origin sound like that. This amp needs to be cranked to deliver the dirt. That clip was recorded with both Master and Gain on 8. My 20W Origin head is just too loud to do that at home.

So, if you like what you’ve just heard, and you want that for yourself at home, you’re going to have to budget for some pedals to go along with your nice new Origin amp.

And that’s where Boss comes in. Their pedals are cheap (the most expensive one in this demo is the BD-2 at £85) and widely available (support your local guitar shop!). And they work really well through the Origin.

Overdrives: BD-2 Blues Driver and the SD-1 Super Overdrive

First up is the venerable Boss BD-2 Blues Driver.

It has the lowest gain out of all three pedals in this roundup, but don’t let that put you off. As you can hear in the demo below, if you’re playing the kind of rock that sounds best through this amp, you don’t need all the filth for rhythm work.

Next up, another classic Boss pedal: the SD-1 Super Overdrive.

This pedal will get you right up there, delivering the same amount of filth that the Origin can do on its own – only without having to crank the amp to do so. To my ears, the SD-1 sounds a little thicker than the Origin does, and maybe slightly softer clipping too.

Have a listen:

Distortion: Boss DS-1

The DS-1 is a legendary pedal.

Compared to the SD-1, it offers harder clipping and reduced mids for a more aggressive tone. As a result, the guitar will sound quieter compared to the other two pedals. Thankfully, the Origin has an immense amount of input headroom, so just turn up the pedal and rock out!

Setting Up Your Boss Pedal For The Marshall Origin

The common advice with these Boss pedals is to turn down the gain, and use them as a boost into the amp’s input to get the amp to naturally overdrive.

That doesn’t work with the Marshall Origin.

The Marshall Origin has a huge amount of input headroom. You have to crank a pedal well past its sweet spot to have any chance of getting the Origin to naturally overdrive at home volumes.

The good news is that you don’t need to. Turn up the gain on your pedal to taste, and then adjust the pedal’s volume until you’ve got the same volume when you turn the pedal on and off again.

As the Origin is a bright amp, you’ll probably want to start with the pedal’s tone control at around 10 o’clock. From there, adjust the tone control with your ears.

Final Thoughts

The Origin is one of those amps that has a big say in what a pedal sounds like. It’s very suited to pedals – like these three from Boss – that are designed to work with an amp’s existing colour.

I’d happily record with the Origin and these pedals. I think the results are very usable – especially for the money! And they felt nice to play through too, which is also important.

What do you think? Comments below!