Marshall – Page 2 – HomeToneBlog.com

3rd March 20232nd March 2023

First Impressions: Marshall DriveMaster Distortion Pedal

At the start of March 2023, I picked up all four of Marshall’s vintage reissue drive pedals, and I’m gradually working my way through each of them.

The DriveMaster is (basically) Marshall’s legendary The Guv’nor pedal, just in the same housing that they used for the Bluesbreaker and ShredMaster pedals.

And if you love the sound of Marshall amps, you’re going to want one for yourself. It’s that good. That’s what I think, anyway. Read on for a bit more detail in my First Impressions.

2nd March 20231st March 2023

First Impressions: Marshall ShredMaster Distortion Pedal

At the start of March 2023, I picked up all four of Marshall’s vintage reissue drive pedals. The original pedals are all legendary pedals, much revered in the guitar pedal community. Alas, that means that the original pedals also come with second-hand prices to match.

These re-issues are bringing these classic circuits back within reach of regular guitarists (just about …).

Regular readers might be wondering why I bothered with the ShredMaster at all, and why I’m posting about this pedal first. There’s a good reason for that. Read on for my First Impressions.

27th December 202217th December 2022

2022 Review: Pedal Platform Amps

Rather than do a ‘best of’ style post, every year I’m going to do a rundown of what amps I’m using for pedal platforms, and why.

Previous years: [2019] [2020] [2021]

14th June 202211th June 2022

TweedTalk #3: Mad Professor’s Little Tweedy Drive

Over on Twitter, my friend Alessandro asked for opinions about Mad Professor’s Little Tweedy Drive.

https://twitter.com/archeteer/status/1514520614270287873?s=20&t=BNtqZblmqcteuFbi4NBsVg

Yes, I have opinions about this particular pedal. I wasn’t a fan when I first got this pedal. Will that change, when I take a second look at the Little Tweedy Drive? Read on to find out.

18th April 202216th April 2022

Short-Term Review: The Fryette Power Station PS-100

Last summer, I bought a Fryette Power Station PS-100 as an emergency purchase, so that I could use my Tweed Deluxe at home volume levels.

Nine months later, how am I getting on with it? Would I buy it again if anything happened to it? And would I recommend it to you? Read on to find out.

6th February 2022

Second Bite: Wampler Paisley Deluxe

This photo shows two pedals on my pedalboard.

On the left is the Paisley Drive Deluxe, made by Wampler Pedals. It has two foot switches, one to activate each side of the pedal.

On the right is the Forest Green Compressor, by Mad Professor. This just has the one foot switch. — The Wampler Paisley Drive Deluxe and Mad Professor Forest Green Compressor

Back in March 2020, I picked up a second hand Paisley Deluxe (Paisley Drive Deluxe? Even Wampler’s own marketing uses both terms …), and really struggled with it. And that has bugged me ever since.

A lot has changed since then. Will that make any difference, or will it still be a pedal that just isn’t for me? Details below 🙂

27th December 202126th December 2021

2021 Review: Pedal Platform Amps

Rather than do a ‘best of’ style post, every year I’m going to do a rundown of what amps I’m using for pedal platforms, and why.

Previous articles: [2019][2020]

10th October 2021

Second Bite: Fender MTG:LA Overdrive Pedal, Through The Marshall DSL20HR

The photo shows Fender's MTG:LA pedal sat on my pedal board, next to an MXR Sugar Drive pedal.

This photo really brings out the brushed copper look of the MTG:LA, as well as the LED pipes that light up each of the adjustable control knobs.

The settings shown in the photo are the ones that I ended up settling on by the end of this blog post.

Top row: Tone at max, Treble at max, Bass at 12 o'clock, Tight at just after 3 o'clock.
Bottom row: Level just under 9 o'clock, Boost Level 12 o'clock, Boost Boost 12 o'clock, and Gain at 9 o'clock. — Fender’s MTG:LA pedal, sat on my board at home

I’ve had Fender’s MTG:LA overdrive pedal for coming up on two years now, and it’s fair to say that it’s largely spent most of that time sat in its box on the pedal shelf. It’s a pedal for Strats and Teles, but I play my Les Paul most of the time.

Last July, I had a go at using additional pedals to shape the tone of the MTG:LA, to try and make it work better with my Les Paul. While I liked the results, nothing really stuck, so the pedal went back onto the shelf.

Let’s give the MTG:LA another go, this time by trying my new secret weapon: the Marshall DSL20HR.

13th September 202111th September 2021

First Impressions: Mad Professor Super Black Pedal (Straight Into A Power Amp)

It’s not every pedal that gets not one, but two First Impressions posts here on the HomeToneBlog. In fact, I believe this is the first one that I’ve done this for.

How does the Mad Professor Super Black preamp pedal sound, when I run it straight into a power amp? Let’s find out.

11th September 2021

First Impressions: Mad Professor Super Black Preamp Pedal (Into The Front Of An Amp)

This photo shows a top-down view of the Mad Professor Super Black pedal.

The pedal is rectangular; slightly taller than it is wide.

There are two rows of control knobs. Each row has four knobs.

The top row says: "Bass", "Middle", "Treble" and "Gain". These are all in white lettering.

The bottom row says "Volume" and "Presence" in white lettering. Then there are "Volume" and "Drive" in orange lettering.

Below these controls, there are two toggle switches. The switch on the left says 'Bass Cut' in white lettering. The switch on the right says 'Compression' in white lettering.

There are two footswitches on this pedal. The foot switch on the left says 'ON/OFF' in white lettering. The foot switch on the right says 'ON/OFF' in orange lettering.

The controls in white lettering control the blackface side of the pedal. The controls in orange lettering control the Sweet Honey Overdrive side of the pedal.

Finally, we can see that this pedal has side jacks. The 'IN' jack is on the right of the pedal, and the 'OUT' jack is on the left of the pedal. — Mad Professor’s Super Black Preamp Pedal

I recently managed to tear myself away from my beloved Tweed Deluxe amp long enough to snag a second-hand Super Black pedal. And I swear that I didn’t realise this is (partially!) a tweed pedal when I bought it!