Carl Martin Plexitone

Very simple layout, easy to use under live conditions. The switches are placed far enough apart to allow changing modes without doing the pedal dance.

The Plexi-Tone nails the vintage Marshall Plexi vibe. The best combination I have found is my Gibson Les Paul standard R9 through a Marshall JTM-45 reissue head and a Marshall 4x12 cab loaded with greenbacks. The amp has enough power and headroom to just barely stay clean at preformance levels and starts to break up slightly if you really dig into the strings. The Plexi-Tone matches beautifully with the Marshall rig to deliver very warm tones from a slight blues crunch up to a pretty high gain singing solo tone. It really does the vintage blues/rock tones well but may not be what you are looking for if you are into heavey metal. The solo boost is great for placing your solo level above the band. Use some caution though because it has a lot of gain. I have also had very good results with a Stratocaster through this same setup.

I have been using it for over a year now with no problem and it came from a friend of mine who used it for over a year befor that. It seems to be very well made and reliable.

I have never had a need for repair service but I have asked several questions via E-mail about other products and got back quick responses.

I have been playing now for over thirty years and have owned a great deal of very high end equipment throught that time. I think it is a great pedal for getting the natural tones of a good Plexi amplifier. It allows me to get the tones I want and to be able to get them at real working levels. Having the ability to produce clean, crunch and high gain tones from a non master volume tube rig is great. The tones are warmer and more organic without the buzzy top end that I have experienced with master volume rigs. And because your amp is still running clean you can place modulation and delay effects after the Plexi-tone. If you are a blues player, or classic rocker you will most likely be pleased with the Plexi-Tone.

It's got five knobs and three buttons which are pretty self-explaining. You won't need a manual at all!

Anyhow, it takes a little bit of experience to dial in a good tone. First of all, the TONE knob acts like a presence circuit, so you wouldn't want to turn it all the way up. In fact, you won't ever get past a 12 o'clock setting. Also, you shouldn't use it with a very bright setting on the amp's equalizer.

But with any knob on 12 o'clock, nothing can go wrong!

Well, well, well - this little box sounds killer! The tone can be described as Marshall Plexi (Crunch) and Marshall JCM 800 (High Gain). It doesn't have a "distortion-box" sound to it at all (which is the "key" problem of many BOSS pedals); if you run it through a decent amp (not your little practice amp), it will sound "real" - perhaps more original than the original.

I use it in connection with a Gibson Les Paul Standard (equipped with a DiMarzio PAF Pro (treble) and a DiMarzio Humbucker From Hell (rhythm)) through either a Hughes & Kettner TriAmp Mk. II Head (cleanest channel with almost flat EQ!) or a Engl Fireball Head (clean channel - almost flat EQ again!) connected with a Hughes & Kettner CC 4x12 box (Celestion Vintage 30 speakers). I personally get a slightly better sound with the 6L6-equipped Engl than with the EL34-equipped Hughes & Kettner.
The noise created by the engaged box is minimal, even with cranked settings.

You will get the basic British tone that can be heard on numerous recordings of the 70s and early 80s. If you add a MXR ZW-44 Wylde Overdrive in front of the Plexi Tone (booster setting!) you'll get what I'd call a hot rodded Brian May tone.

Once turned on, it's really hard to turn off that pedal!

It's been on my pedal board from day one and I never had any problems with it!

Didn't need it until now!

I've been playing for almost 10 years now and my band does cover tunes from any decade. Since I don't use any modeling amps I need quite a few (distortion) boxes to create the tones I need. The 2A channel of my TriAmp (which sounds similar to a JCM 800) is set for a 50s tone so I needed another pedal for the actual JCM 800 sound (the 70s department, as it were). And what can I say - perfect match!

I love the exquisite tone of that little monster. As I said, it's hard to turn it off (only if really clean tones are needed). I'd rater roll down the volume!
If playing solos I add a little boost from a MXR Wylde Overdrive since I need a little more sustain than the pedal alone can provide.
I don't use the boost funtion of the Plexi Tone for kicking my solos. Instead I use it to get more input signal for my amp tones (more distortion) - a really great clean boost that doesn't chance/modify the tone of your amp like a Tubescreamer does.

If you happen to own a one channel vintage amp, the Plexi Tone adds two "channels" AND a solo boost! Great value for money!

Some of you might miss a three-band EQ - I don't!!! The pedal is voiced perfectly for my needs.

The tone is really inspiring. It really makes you wanna play all day (and night) long.

It's not the cheapest pedal on the market but then again you get three (!!!) pedals combined: a two-step distortion unit and a clean solo boost. Go buy three BOSS pedals that do the same (e.g. Blues Driver, Distortion and Equalizer) and you'll spend the same amount of money. But in terms of (sound) quality, the Plexi Tone is way ahead of Boss pedals. But again, you shouldn't compare it to BOSS - completely unfair!

Easy to use. The manual is helpful. But alas, I didn't end up keeping it for the reasons below.

I really, really, really wanted to like this pedal. It sounds pretty good. I was using it with a 1987x reissue plexi. The pedal has a bit of scooped mids to it. It has a pronouced amount of bass and treble, and to my ears, it was a bit much. It sounded a little harsh -- not buzzy, but close. If it had a tad more in the mids, and a tad less in the bass, it would be awesome! The boost was great and didn't pop when engaged.

Seemed very sturdy and reliable.

I ended up returning it. Very close, but no cigar.

I play old-school heavy metal/rock/hard rock, blues and some progressive stuff on the electric. I own a JCM-800 head with Metaltronix 4x12" cab by Lee Jackson. I've been searching for this sound for six years now or something, since I started to understand what sounded good. I like the kind of mixture of van Halen/Malmsteen/Blackmore/SRV/Hendrix sound with a little kick like on it like on Gary Moore or Michael Schenker recordings. Since I play Ibanez Rg-s they have humbuckers like Moore and Schenker for example and it differs alot from the Blackmore/Hendrix sound since they play Stratocasters mostly. I used to own a TS-9 witch I liked alot,and I got all the noise I needed for electric blues playing but it wasn`t nearly as versatile as Plexitone and used to cause a real loud humming wiht Marshall. I got the sound a little tighter wiht an MXR 6-band E.Q. but something was missing. Since then I tried more modern pedals with no success untill now. I haven't even tested it with Marshall but I tried it with a 60 watt Peavey transistor with really dry clean sound without any overdrive coming from the amp and it just hit me right to the chest! Both, the crunch and the hihg-gain sounded absolutelu incredibly good and you can really get alot of different variations of the overdrive. I could just listen it for hours and hours. I also tested Plexitone with a Fender combo (tube) and I was blown away imediatly. The search was over. If you're looking for the "real" sound you need to seek no more. I think it'll sound even better with a singe-coil pick-up strats if you're just into that SRV sound.

With three different uses, this is an outstanding pedal to play with. First, you get a boost. Great for kicking up during a solo! Then you have the level which sets the volume for the whole pedal, a tone knob, and your drive settings for crunch (plexi) and high gain (70s JMP or JCM 800). Really easy to use and quite a few uses.

You HAVE to use a british, or Marshally type of voiced amp. This comes straight from the man who designed the pedal. My own experience says that the speakers you use make a big difference as well. I bought this pedal to use with a custom made 59 Bassman circuit amp I have. This amp is in a 2X12 housing like a Bassbreaker. When I put the Plexitone through this amp is sounded horrible. I was going to sell it when I figured I'd try it through an old Univox U1246B bass head I have that I was going to sell because it wasn't living up to its advertising as a "cheap plexi". On a sidebar, I found out that the Univox doesn't drive a 4X12 that well, but through a 2X12 it's a plexi sound to the bone. Anyways, I've got a 4X12 with V30s and G12H30s in an X pattern. I put the Univox on that cab and tried the Plexitone and OH MY GOD! Okay, I've owned five plexis--two real ones and three reissues, so I know the tone. This pedal nails it to the T. Even better, it's at controlable levels. Even better than that, this whole setup costs less than half of a plexi head, and you get the amp, cabinet, pedal and two distinct Marshall amplifier sounds AND A BOOST! If you're a collector, yeah, you're gonna get a real plexi. If you're a schmuck like me who loves Marshalls for the tone, and not the collectibility, this setup does the job in spades.

Here's the kicker now. That Bassman amp I was talking about had Celestion V12-60 speakers in it. I swapped them out for a Celestion G12H30 and Eminence Cannibus Rex and now with the Plexitone it sounds ungodly. Just as good but different than the Univox. I've also put the Plexitone through a Univox U45-B, Gretsch 6150, Bogen CHB50 and an old Gretsch amp from the late 40s, early 50s. It sounded great through everything but the Bogen. Nothing matches it through the Univox through the 4X12 or the Bassman. Now when I put the Univox through an Earcandy Buzzbomb 2X12 (V30 & G12H30) it sounded like a real Plexi by itself but not good with the pedal. Go figure!

Match this pedal up with the right setup, take your time and set the tone and you will easily be able to justify the cost. Don't just plug it in and think it sucks. It doesn't. You've got to find the tone, so be prepared to experiment a bit. By the way the guitars I've used were a 75 Les Paul Custom with Duncan antiquities, 73 LP Deluxe with a Duncan Brobucker bridge, 68 Epiphone Casino with a Duncan JB and a 77 Gibson double neck with a Seth Lover in the six bridge. No, I'm not rich, just old LOL. Paid under $4k total for all four over the years, and that includes the pickup swaps!

Built like a tank. I have no problem not using a backup.

On the Seymour Duncan forum, the man who designed this pedal posts regularly and he is the most helpful, friendly cat you can imagine, as is everyone else there.

I play mainly old school metal, metal, hard rock & blues. Been playing 27 years since I was 15. I've got a lotta stuff, again accumulated over the course of time. The Plexitone to me is the ONLY way to go if you don't have a Marshall, or if you have one but can't play it as loud as needed to get the sound. Plenty of people have old non-master Marshalls and they use the Plexitone through them to get the Marshall sound at a reasonable level. I sold all of my Marshalls for that very reason. I never played them anymore because I moved to a suburb and that was that. They were even too loud to practice with or play out as well.

I love this pedal!!!
Actually simple to use it. It's almost like an amp. NO LCD MENU HERE! PURE OLD SCHOOL SOUND! Drive - High Gain - Tone - Master Volume - Boost with knob control (+20db) - REALLY AWESOME!!!

Sounds great!
I'm using it for small venues live shows without amp. Yeah, It Rocks!!!
My small venues rig is:
::ROCK BAG
::BOSS Tu-2
::PLEXITONE
::CABTONE (Digital Music Corporation)
::GUITAR EXCITER 1403 (Aphex)

I play with an AC/DC Tribute (www.icebreakker.com) so I don't need effects like chorus, delay and so on. Straight to PA Console and man... it works!!! GREAT Sound with no noise overall. Great dynamics, great bottom, always clear. I give it a 9 only because there is no little crunch tones from the pedal. Gain is always rough, also at 2 drive setting, but you can simply roll off your guitar volume and the crunch you're looking for will be stunning.
I have some great amps like Marshall Plexi modified, Wizard Modern Classic, Roccaforte Custom 80, Marshall with Greenback cabs... I played in the past with a lot of stuff including Soldano, Mesa, Marshalls, Fenders, Steavens, Peavey... but believe me: this pedal with the cabtone is terrific!!!

One year on the road and have never had a problem!
It's built like a tank. The switch buttons and blue lights are very good too. IMHO It's one of the best overdrive pedals I ever had. And it sounds good in front of an amp too! Only the boost quality worth the whole price of the pedal.

I never had a problem but every time I need some info they mailed me back. Very good customer care!

Highly recommended for every Marshall big fans. I play mainly hard rock and rock-blues tunes and I tried EVERY pedal out there.
I have good amplifiers and some good guitars too, but this pedal is incredible and night after night rock hard with the band. It nails JCM800 sounds and beyond. Now I can carry on my bag, a pair of guitars and forget about the rest and you know what I mean. For small venues show It's simply perfect.
I recommend it with cabtone and aphex exciter directly into a PA console: you don't believe your ears, guaranteed!!!
If you need some other info or tricks contact me or go directly to my band site at http://www.icebreakker.com

A single drive with an extra highgain feature, simple buisness to use.

Tried it on a Fender BF 65 Super reverb, no match, then I switched to my 67 Marshall 100 watts head, perfect setup!
The normal gain channel sound alot like the amp at 7 to 10 with both volumes mixed(had mine modded so I can use both volumes without the usual small patch cable)
I had no balance troubles with neither channel, the sound on the first is like the amps own voice, clear and glassy, got a nice bite, but still with that vintage sweetness, the mids was dead on Marshall!
No lack of lows on either setting, that was THE selling point as well as the tone of the unit.
The second channel, well that is the mean one, slightly more dark but that is due to the different value of the pot, the sound is really the same, just with a much wider gain range, and that ads a very small amount of spongyness that compresses the whole signal oh so slightly, but just enough for that sweet singing leadvoice, now that is nifty.
I use the excellent cleanboost to drive the amp sometimes, just for variations sake.
This pedal is dead on old Marshall, and it works awesome on my amp set on glorious cleans, Hendrix chimes and others alike, and then just hit the plexi overdrive and it roars with authority.
It makes no more noise than my amp at full blast, I use it mainly with a LP equipped with Duncan Seth Lovers, and a superstrat with a maple body and a Screamin' Demon humbucker, plus a tele and a EJ strat.

Got no troubles, nice build and solid.

No dealings.
But on this pedal alone I will make it a 9!

Use your amps as the foundation, I tried it on my Super Reverb, but I already knew that it would not work but I just had to try, it sounded best with the LP, got some Dumble like tones, but that was not what I was looking for, neat anyways.
But on the Marshall, now that delivered on all accounts.
It sounds like the amp, no further praise is needed here, a great pedal for those with big Marshalls that are not allowed to play it loud and proud, this pedal will help you out in a very commanding way, one should think that a mere pedal could do this, but it does.
Kudos to CM for a topnotch product.

Fairly easy to use; the hardest thing to do is to balance the levels between the two overdrives properly. A concentric knob that would allow you to set both overdrive channels independently would be a nice addition without changing the form factor of the box.

With crunch, high gain, and boost 'channels' in one box, the PlexiTone is a jack of all trades. It also means that it's a master of none, but that's the tradeoff you usually make. The crunch channel is decent, with plenty of drive. I keep it set with the drive either all the way down or nearly down, depending on the guitar I'm using, with the level control set for just a hair above unity gain. The high gain channel is rather 80's, but useful when I want over-the-top gain. I only use it a few times a night. I find the overall tone a little bright, so I keep the tone at about 10 o'clock. The boost is excellent at about 10 o'clock--it gives my clean channel a big kick in the pants and my amp's drive channel a smaller boost in volume.

I find it about average in terms of the noise that it adds to my signal. If there are any bits of hum or noise elsewhere in your system, the boost will amplify them, just like any other boost would. I am confident it makes less noise than running two separate overdrives and a boost in your pedalboard.

I use the Plexitone in my main pedalboard, Punch Factory compressor > Strobostomp tuner > Budda wah > Plexitone > H20 > Budda Superdrive > effects loop with Boss DD-20 and RC-20XL. When used with the clean channel, the crunch channel is useful for a slight boost with a little bit of hair (which can be cleaned up by backing off the volume). I find the the high gain channel to be too harsh with my clean channel, but it's fine as an extra effect with the amp's drive channel. The boost is great with both channels, the only caveat being the boost dB difference between the two channels of my amp.

I would rate the individual sounds about a 7, but the flexibility of combining them all as an 8.

I've had it for a year or so with no problems. All the components seem to be of good build quality.

Never dealt with Carl Martin. I hope I don't have to since that means my PlexiTone will keep working fine.

Considered as a single overdrive pedal, the PlexiTone is pricey. Considered as three separate effects, it's a decent value. I would like it better if it had a warmer overdrive, especially when driving a clean amp. I'll give it an 8 for its versatility, though.

Easy and quite versatile at the same time.

It is a very clear and natural sounding pedal, good variables in gain and the tone should be renamed as precense.
Almost works the same way.
I use it with my old metal panel JMP 100 watts Marshall head.
Use it with two different cabs, depending on where I am playing, a 2x12 with Celestion blues for low volumes, and a Marshall 1967 cab with 30 watts greenbacks.
It gives a fantastic overdrive, more plexi sounding that my JMP really, quite fun.
I just set my amp for a good fat chimey clean, and the plexi takes more than good care of my overdriven sound, no more earbleeding gigs, that alone is a major achivement.
Even at loud volumes does the pedal sound clear and defined, the bottomend is firm and has that spongy feel, not modern and tight, but you can get there with some different eq'ing, like an additional eq pedal or rack unit.
It all can be dialed in from the amp, the drive will just follow the foundation on which it rests, so let the amp be the tone shaper and then use the drive for dirt.
That was the selling point for me.

It works well, no breakdowns or funny sounds.
Wellmade.

Had not spoken to CM.

If you have different highpoweramps with different sounds, and just want that extra drive from gnarly crunch to some good screamin' British hotrod tones, this pedal will deliver, just do not use it with amp with Fender voicing, if you do not mind then no worries, well if you want it to sound like a British Plexi, then use British sounding amps, that is the secret for this pedal.
No wonder they seem to have some succes with this one, very well made and the sound is great.

Easy to use but as others have written, be careful of the sensitive chicken style knobs. Manual is ok but too brief and suppose it's left to the user to find their tone - fair enough.

Setup is 2005 Gibson Jimmy Page Custom Authentic Les Paul, JCM800 2203, Marshall 4x12 handwired cabinet. Unit is disappointingly noisy even with settings at 8 o'clock - put this unit through a transparent guitar and amp and the noise is obvious. On clean tone, lower frequencies pickup a multiplexed overtone with hiss.
Surprising, if you can believe it, at these prices the unit is NOT true bypass and the s/n ratio is only 58db. Carl Martin is off my list of future pedals.