# Marshall in-a-box pedals in front an amp (OCD vs Angry Charlie)



## B.M.F. (Feb 9, 2020)

The other thread on gain stacking pedals got me intrigued on this, and I fell down a rabbit hole of thought. The idea of using a "Marshall in a box" style pedals, in front of my amps clean channels as a new extra flavor of tone, to use when gain stacking with other pedals. To get any where from those nice semi-clean Marshall tones to more 80s metal, fusion and shred Marshall tones, for example. I have a 6505+ and Fireball 100. I ran my Keeley Compressor+ into the Keeley Super Phat Mod on the ENGL Fireball 100 clean channel, it got a great blues tone at low volume using the Comp as a clean boost into the BD2-like Keeley Super Phat Mod (comp level was set to 1 o'clock to push it.) I have a Keeley TS9, Super Phat Mod and Compressor+ in my arsenal. I remember TS9 into OCD sounding really killer.
The new PG-14 & Angry Charlie sound great, and previous experience I had with the Fulltone OCD (when I didn't know about pedal stacking, 7 years ago) had me thinking about this. What is the best Marshall style pedal, Angry Charlie, Suhr Riot, Wampler Plexi-Drive, Fulltone OCD to use in front of an amp? I know an OCD is not 100% like a Marshall but an Angry Charlie is not 100% like a JCM800 either. Curious what others who like the sound of these pedals think.


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## Bearitone (Feb 10, 2020)

The Super Crunch Box from MI Audio is supposedly an amazing Marshall in a box pedal


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## USMarine75 (Feb 10, 2020)

I have all of those (and many more) and they’re all different flavors lol.

The term “Marshall tone” is very broad: Super Lead 100, JVM, JTM, Bluesbreaker, JCM800, 87, 2204, etc... all the way up to modded JCM like Fortin, Randall, KSR.

E.g. My VFE Blues King sounds VERY different than my Carpe Diem, no matter how I tweak the knobs. 

Some of those pedals are more all-in-one (e.g. Wampler) while others are more of a one trick pony (e.g. One Control Anodized Brown).

It all depends on what tones you’re looking for, what amp and cab they go in front of, etc. Also whether your amp is high headroom clean, at break-up, or already dirty. Is it scooped like a Fender Twin or more midrangey like a Marshall clean. Then you stack with a pre or post boost, compressor, etc.

Some great references:



How amp choice affects your pedal:


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## Bentaycanada (Feb 10, 2020)

I recently had both the MI Effects Super Crunch Box V1 and the JHS Angry Charlie V2. 

They were both amazing, and as good as each other. The MI Effects was slightly more versatile and tweakable. The JHS was slightly thicker and sweeter.


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## Alex79 (Feb 11, 2020)

I had a Wampler Plextortion (based on JCM800) and I didn't like it.
I have the Joyo clone of the OCD and I don't like it either. 
My amp is an ENGL Ironball. 

I'm beginning to think that only a real Marshall amp will get you a proper Marshall sound.


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## KnightBrolaire (Feb 11, 2020)

if you're chasing that 80s highgain/scooped Metallica/every thrash band of that era kind of sound, the soundcake sandman is very solid for under 50usd new. It can do solid lower gain and non scooped sounds but it excels at the high gain scooped vibe imo


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## Roadsterjosh (Feb 11, 2020)

The MXR superbadass distortion is actually pretty damn good at british flavored tones. Not marketed as a MIAB pedal, but it gives a wide range of gain and feels amp like. I use it in front of my mesa to get a british flavor when I want that. The EQ is pretty flexible, and is easy to find useable tones. The gain goes from extremely mild OD tones to very saturated, but seems to stay pretty clear up to more extreme settings. It stopped me from buying a friedman dirty shirley, and saved me a lot of money in the process.


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## Spaced Out Ace (Feb 11, 2020)

Told you n TGP I believe and I'll tell you here. Tech 21 British with the cab sim bypassed.


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## budda (Feb 11, 2020)

My buddy swears by his PAL800 (russian pedal?) for marshall tones from a Fender amp.

I loved my OCD dearly when I had it - feeding a clean JCM800 2203, cranked .

The pedals will probably prefer the 6505.


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## Spaced Out Ace (Feb 11, 2020)

budda said:


> My buddy swears by his PAL800 (russian pedal?) for marshall tones from a Fender amp.
> 
> I loved my OCD dearly when I had it - feeding a clean JCM800 2203, cranked .
> 
> What are you putting the pedals in front of?


The PedalPalFX 800 is from like Argentina or something like that.


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## PRS_Baritone_Vito (Feb 24, 2020)

Have you checked out the new Diamondhead from Seymour Duncan? It has some extra features like a saturation switch and a built-in boost switch to get you some of the other tonal options you're looking for.


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## wakjob (Feb 26, 2020)

Original big box with the built in power cord
Carl Martin Plexitone.

Best JCM800 & 1959 Marshall crunch in a pedal.
Real full size caps & resistors. No SMT or digital chips.

^ That DiamondHead sounds great also!


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## Elric (Feb 26, 2020)

The OCD is MIAB? News to me... I just use it like a regular overdrive on a dirty channel... There're like a million MIAB kinda pedals that are actually designed to be a MIAB pedal. So I would gravitate to something else, myself. 

The Plexitone is a great suggestion. 

I've always wanted to try the old Tonebone series. Hot British, Plexitube, Tri-Mode those made a huge splash when they were introduced people raved about 'em and you can find them cheap... they have s special power supply IIRC which kind of frustrated people but they were tube and run with proper plate voltage so it kinda makes sense.


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## Spaced Out Ace (Feb 26, 2020)

wakjob said:


> ^ That DiamondHead sounds great also!


It's all SMD though if that matters to you.


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## wakjob (Feb 26, 2020)

Spaced Out Ace said:


> It's all SMD though if that matters to you.



Sure does...now I hate it.


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## Spaced Out Ace (Feb 26, 2020)

wakjob said:


> Sure does...now I hate it.


I was surprised to find out my 805 and Forza had plastic shaft pots for the gain and level knobs. Maybe they changed that, but with the plastic jacks, it's kinda cheaply made.


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## sirbuh (Feb 26, 2020)

Alex79 said:


> I'm beginning to think that only a real Marshall amp will get you a proper Marshall sound.



Pretty much my experience, Marshall or a modeler.


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## PRS_Baritone_Vito (Feb 27, 2020)

Spaced Out Ace said:


> It's all SMD though if that matters to you.


SMD?


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## USMarine75 (Feb 27, 2020)

All these experts shitting on SMD probably typing it on their iPhone or Galaxy.


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## Spaced Out Ace (Feb 27, 2020)

Good luck repairing an SMD component when it goes out. Tell me what purpose SMD serves in pedals or amps.


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## USMarine75 (Feb 27, 2020)

Spaced Out Ace said:


> Good luck repairing an SMD component when it goes out. Tell me what purpose SMD serves in pedals or amps.



Happens all the time. How many SMD's failed in your computer, phone, or TV that get used far more frequently than any pedal. How many failed in your Axe-FX, Kemper, or Neural Quadwhatever? PTP>SMD is just a corksniffing myth for 99% of use. 

And for many reasons SMD actually work better for devices like a guitar pedal.

Only legit reason for not using SMD is if you want to mod your pedal (@VESmedic ).


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## Spaced Out Ace (Feb 27, 2020)

Amps and pedals are not computers and phones. There's not much advantage to using SMD such as there is with computers and phones.


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## budda (Feb 27, 2020)

Spaced Out Ace said:


> Amps and pedals are not computers and phones. There's not much advantage to using SMD such as there is with computers and phones.



Both of those things are computers these days


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## Spaced Out Ace (Feb 27, 2020)

budda said:


> Both of those things are computers these days


Then what OS is a Mark V running?


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## USMarine75 (Feb 27, 2020)

Spaced Out Ace said:


> Amps and pedals are not computers and phones. There's not much advantage to using SMD such as there is with computers and phones.



That is literally a nonsensical argument. You were arguing SMD sucks, no? Saying what purpose does it serve and how can you repair it? I’m saying it doesn’t break (equal to or less than handwired). And now you’re arguing there’s not much advantage? It’s cheaper to manufacture and as reliable. No leads. No human error (bad soldering jobs). Easy to test. Only issues are heat (pedals are low voltage DC) and they are susceptible to damage from twisting of the board (not an issue in a hard pedal casing). And the cost of hand wired labor with similar markup means you can enjoy your $300-500 Rat pedals.

Meanwhile, back to logic. How are all those high failure rates in AxeFX, Kemper, Helix etc doing? You know, because SMD breaks and you can’t fix it. 

Daqfuq I can’t do this.... sniff away at them corks, bruh. I’m going to go back to playing my PTP handwired 5150. 

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id...ource=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q=Smt&f=false


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## Spaced Out Ace (Feb 27, 2020)

I was arguing that some people dislike SMD. Some like to be able to repair/mod their amps and pedals over time.

You're getting upset over what you are inferring and need to chill out, seriously. If someone has an issue with SMD, then they might like to know that prior to buying a pedal.

My gripe is more that SD put out pedals where the jacks were plastic, and so were the shafts on pots you'd assume were full sized pots. Obviously the mini pots are plastic.


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