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Tony_H
Copper Member
Czech Republic
18 Posts |
 Posted - 05/31/2006 : 21:37:45
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Hello all,
I just acquired three of the old Marshall pedals - the ShredMaster, DriveMaster and BluesBreaker. I started comparing them and found that there are great differences between them in terms of output volume.
Maybe I should say first that what I look for in an OD/DIST pedal is output volume, first and foremost. I prefer a slightly gritty tone on my amp, which I then kick into overdrive with pedals. I don't like turning gain past 12 o'clock on most of my OD/DIST pedals.
Now out of the three old black pedals, only the DriveMaster has an output level I like. The BB and SM are pretty low on volume, and I have to crank the gain control past 3 o'clock on either to get any serious tone out of them. As much as these old fellas are now preferred and fetch big bucks on e-bay, I favour the newer series - the BB2 and the Jackhammer, as they pack gobs of output and the tone is fine, if different from the older ones.
Can anyone help me find resources with info on those old Marshall pedals? I mean, something like "such and such serial numbers are good because they used such and such components". You know, something like bossarea.com.
Thank you. Hopefully I can offer some insights too.
Tony |
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Dingus
Silver Member
USA
472 Posts |
Posted - 06/01/2006 : 05:36:02
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Tony,
Unfortunately I don't think there is any resource out there like BossArea especially for those pedals, but I have all of them, and I'll give you the run down as best I know it.
It all started with "The Guv'nor" which is Marshall's first effect pedal, not counting the old Supa Fuzz, that someone else did for them in the 60's or 70's. The Guv'nor I should mention is also my favorite of the old Marshall MK1 (Mark One) series as they are called, or old black pedals as you put it.
The general concensus is that the pedals made in England (others are made in Korea) sound better. But I have a "The Guv'nor" pedal that was made in Korea and it sounds fantastic. I can't give you any info about what components make which ones better, just that general thought that the Made in England versions are better. Now a quick run down on each.
The Guv'nor - this one started it all, and damned if it doesn't rock, they have it emulated on the Boss OD-20, but that thing doesnt come close, this is probably my most favorite non-Boss distortion pedal ever. People describe it as being very Transistory.
The Bluesbreaker - this one is supposed to emulate the sound that the old Marshall Bluesbreaker Amplifiers had, that Eric Clapton used on is earlier recordings, and on his cd with John Mayall entitled "John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers" I really like this pedal, but it took a while for me to get used to it. It is currently being hyped up by John Mayer, as he claims it to be a great overdrive that is still somewhat affordable. John Mayer used it when trying out different overdrives for his blues band "The John Mayer Trio".
The Drivemaster - This pedal was the last one of the series that I had left to collect, it's not bad, it's definitely got a different feel than The Guv'nor, but it comes the closest to sounding like it. I enjoy this distortion, but it's really different as far as distortion pedals go, I think as everyone says it's like a Marshall JCM800 in a Box, and that's kinda what it sounds like, the pre-amp of a Marshall JCM800.
The Shredmaster - This is the most hyped up and overpriced pedal I think I have ever come across. It does have a very low output volume, and it's very bassy, just really strong in the low-end no matter how you try to tweak it. I bought one because I had heard good things about it, and knew I wanted the whole collection and this was the priciest piece of it. It was a real letdown to me, and if you look around here I have a thread on it. I will say though that because of how much low-end it has and not a whole lot else, it blends really well with some other pedals. The most famous combination mentioned is that of the Shredmaster and the Boss SD-1, which Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead uses. There were rumors that Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine used one, but those were just rumors started by Guitargeek who got the facts wrong (it's not like it's the first time) But I posted more about that in the same Shredmaster thread, here on Bossarea.
Useful Links:
http://www.blamepro.com/pedals.htm (at the bottom of the page are the old ones, this is useful if you dont have the manuals for them and want suggested settings)
http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~gmarts/ampovdrv.htm (toward the middle/bottom of the page there are schematics if you wanted to build or modify any of the series pedals)
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Edited by - Dingus on 06/26/2006 19:53:41 |
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Tony_H
Copper Member
Czech Republic
18 Posts |
Posted - 06/01/2006 : 10:31:30
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Hi Dingus,
Thanks a lot for your info. I read your thread on the ShredMaster, and I too was disappointed by its low output.
The mandolin player in my band uses my former Guv'nor (the old black one) and I am thinking about trying to persuade him to sell it back to me. Tonally, I like the Guv'nor best of the whole series.
My DriveMaster and BluesBreaker both have the silver labels saying Made in England, but the ShredMaster has no label, nor even a trace of it. Does this mean it was made in Korea?
Thanks
Tony |
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redzone
Copper Member
United Kingdom
35 Posts |
Posted - 06/01/2006 : 12:52:55
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| I have a made in Korea Guvnor which has a metal battery access plate, I believe the Made in England pedals have a plastic plate instead, is this right? |
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Dingus
Silver Member
USA
472 Posts |
Posted - 06/01/2006 : 14:18:09
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that sounds right to me, as my Korean Guv'nor has a metal plate, and my English Drivemaster has that awful plastic cover. But I will check more thoroughly when I get home.
p.s. does anyone else hate that foam stuff on the bottom of some of them? |
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Tony_H
Copper Member
Czech Republic
18 Posts |
Posted - 06/01/2006 : 20:01:40
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Well, if the "plastic battery door = Made in England" equation is true, then all of my pedals are MIE. The ShredMaster had the plastic door but it broke on me, just days after I bought it; the DriveMaster still has it; and the BluesBreaker apparently had it too but someone replaced it with a really stiff cardboard door that's held in place with a small screw (not a vintage-savvy mod, eh?).
Anyway, I did some testing and comparing since my first post yesterday, and found that the BluesBreaker and ShredMaster actually go quite well together - the first one for mild crunch and the other for more saturated lead tone. Similarly, the DriveMaster goes well with my Danelectro Daddy-O - they complement each other well. I am starting to appreciate their tonal differences. It may take me some time to figure out what to do with them.
Thanks for your contributions everybody, I really appreciate it.
Tony |
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Dingus
Silver Member
USA
472 Posts |
Posted - 06/01/2006 : 20:52:04
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Something else that is of important note about these pedals is that "The Guv'nor" is not really part of the series. The box is of a slightly smaller dimension than the other ones are, and it came out a year or two before the other ones which came out at about the same time.
I also want to speculate that it's entirely possible that all of the "series", the "Drivemaster, Bluesbreaker, and Shredmaster" were Made in England, but it's very hard to figure that out for sure, I'll have to look at many more auctions.
Also of note, is that the terrible foam stuff on the bottom was a choice on the Guv'nor and possibly a choice on the other pedals as well (http://cgi.ebay.com/MARSHALL-THE-GUVNOR-OVERDRIVE-PEDAL-ENGLAND_W0QQitemZ7414828948QQihZ016QQcategoryZ41416QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 06/30/2006 : 03:35:31
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dingus or tony h.....did you ever try your guv'nor pedal with a guitar with active pickups and did you have any 'drop in volume' issues..?i.e your clean volume is brillant but when you kick in a over/dist it just drops... i have a strat with the clapton system in it and the boss overdrives/distortions etc just don't like it...i played at a wedding a while ago for a friend and the other guitar player had a clapton strat and was using one of the new guv'nor pedals and told me afterwards he never had any problems ....do you think marshall pedals have a bigger output than boss ones...? or could you reccommend a overdrive that would do the job, i would love to just drive the amp but it works out too loud on gigs..well some gigs are big enough but the smaller places are a pain in the arse...!!! |
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Dingus
Silver Member
USA
472 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2006 : 19:17:07
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Sorry, I just now saw your reply to this Franzoni, months later.
I think that your Mid-Boost Clapton Active Kit is messed up. That is my judging from other posts you have made about it and how it responds to things. But most of us aren't playing with active pickups, so we can't really tell you. |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 09/10/2006 : 13:45:11
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| i don't think so dingus....i've done a fair bit of reading up on this problem and it seems i'm not the only person with this issue.seymour duncan,analogman and and few other pickup makers have faq's on their sites about this....i know i have gone on a bit about this but i use a line 6 pod xt pro for recording at home and the active pickups work very well with it... i also saw some threads by other musicians saying these devices work best when driven by a hot guitar/bass etc....i think my main problem is the midboost (which is 25db)is a little too much,maybe 15 or so would be better i think fender did have a 12db in an earlier version and thats where clapton got the idea from...maybe i will retire it to the home studio for recording cause my usa strat and my yamaha sg2000s are my main gigging guitars now anyway..... |
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visserman
Platinum Member
1072 Posts |
Posted - 11/27/2006 : 13:05:45
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Can I just add one more pedal to this series??
It is this one here:http://www.chrisguitars.com/marsh-drp1.jpg
Does have same plastic battery cover and also does have foam at the back. Think it came out around the time the Gov'nor came out.
Great versatile pedal, but when you want to use it for live situations you may want to put it through some kind of A/B box as the pedal does not have an on/off switch.
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Edited by - visserman on 11/27/2006 13:06:56 |
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Black Marshall pedals - where do I find more info?
