Marshall GV-2 Guv'nor Plus

The Guv'nor GV-2 Plus has 4 knobs; Gain, Bass + Deep, Treble + Mid, and Volume. It was pretty easy to get a good sound pretty quickly out of it, about 10 minutes of fiddling and I had my preffered sound. I bought mine second hand so there was no manual, but I've been playing for around 13 years so it wasn't an issue not having a manual. The positioning of the knobs wasn't that great, the words are at the top of the knob which makes it harder to read due to the angle the pedal is viewed at while standing. They (the knobs) are spaced quite close together too, not good for big-ish fingers.

My version has been modded by Dextermods in New Zealand, so the sound is different than the stock gv-2..the high mids have been refined, and the deep/bass is clearer than before (a common complaint with this pedal). Also the clipping section has been changed for more dynamics, and a bright blue led has been added. I had a Keeley modded DS-1, got sick of the 80's tone it had, and after much research got this...waaaay better in my opinion. It really does sound like a cranked stack, it's the kind of overdrive you just want to hear more and more of. I'm running an Atlas custom w/slash alnico 2 pro p/ups - dimewah - G2D morphous - Guv'nor 2+ - Keeley modded TS9 - boss TU-2 tuner - Fender Hotrod Deluxe, and it sounds fantastic and crucnchy, the quality is good. I want to get the treble adjusted though, for some more sparkle, however i'm getting that with the morphous too, i think it may be my slash pickups, dunno. Can go from bluesy breakup to Alice in Chains-ish grind.

Very solid metal housing. The switch is dodgey (another common complaint with these), i'm gonna get a true bypass with a better quality switch installed in it. The knobs are on a lower shelf which is good, it means you can't really stand on and break them. However the knobs themselves are gold w/black position markings, not good for visability. The blue led is way too bright (no fault of marshalls; that's part of the mod) so i'm gonna get that changed so I can actually look at the knobs.

Never dealt with them, and anyway if I ever have a prob with a pedal, I just take it back to Beggs musicworks in Nelson, nz (if i've bought it new). However I did look at their site, which had some great samples to listen to, I think that counts as, what, pre-support? :) I better no-opinion this one though.

Sounds great, if you buy the stock just get some mods done and replace the stock switch and your away laughing!

Very user friendly. Guitar in/guitar out to amp, set the volume, gain, low bass, bass, mid-range and treble to your liking and presto...you are in O/D heaven. The ONLY sad item about using the GV-2 is the control knobs are a shiney gold plate and your setting is extremely difficult to see. Personally, I generally use only one setting anyway so once it's set, it's just a matter of the on/off switch from that point on.

I use an Epi LP w/DiMarzio puppies and a Carvin DC135 thru all Carvin amps. The GV-2 is absolutely fabulous with the Les Paul and those DiMarzio HB's but sounds a little too thick with the Carvin (it has the twin blade HB's). I have found, though, that if I reset the GV-2's preamp, viola, we have a whole new world to bang heads in.

I have been playing now for thirty nine years now and I don't think I have ever heard a better sounding O/D stomp box. This GV-2 gets you from creamy blues to helicopter-head metal and everything you can possibly imagine in between. The beauty is in the preamp. Low bass, bass, midrange and treble controls bring out all the articulation you desire.

Another Marshall pedal built like Fort freakin' Knox. 'Nuff said

Soundclips and manual are all downloadable on their website- big++++.

I play mostly Christian rock and this pedal is extremely useful for this AND other genres as well. I am a big classic rock fan and you will be amazed at what you can do with that. I've used the Bad Monkey, the EH Muff, Tube Screamer, yada, yada, and other asorted O/D boxes but I've never used anything that sounded this good. I "discovered" it kinda by accident. I was challenged by some Marshall fans to go to GC and try some Marshall amps. When I went in, I couldn't get to the amps because all the kids were trying them so I went to the counter and was talking to a guy who had previously sold me an amp. I looked down and saw the Guv'nor 2+ and got REAL curious and while I still wasn't real impressed with the Marshall amps (cost vs effectiveness kind of thing) after my little Marshall test I liked the Guv'nor 2 so much I bought it right then and the rest was history.

If it were lost or stolen, I would be getting another today. Again, the only real problem with this unit is the control knobs, very difficult to see but personally, I'll trade the viewability for the small footprint any day of the week.

I give this section an 8 because I don't like how this pedal has the two knobs in one (like on bass and treble, you have two things to turn . . . . it's annoying). I just like basic controls. Other than that, they are pretty basic though.

I play a lot of Hendrix, a bit of Nugent, a bit of EVH, and a bit of Vai. Hendrix, Nugent, and EVH sounds can be gotten from this pedal, but Vai's over-the-top distortion can't (I don't really ever play with that type of distortion anyway . . . . it's kind of ridiculous). You can get the bassy, bluesy "Hear my train" electric version from Hendrix. I can also get some of Nugent's smoother, warmer tones (think free-for-all). And then, by turning down the bass a tad and turning one of the two trebles up, I can get EVH's tone--it reminds me a lot of his tone on the VHII album.

Overall, this pedal is meant for warmer, smoother tones. It can be backed down a lot to achieve that old, cranked out but slightly distorted tone of an old Marshall. But, on the other hand, you can have this thing push the crap out of your amp to get a very tube-like distortion.

I personally play a Crate Palomino half stack--this thing sounds great through this amp. It sounds a lot like the stock distortion for the amp, which is brilliant in it's own right. For anybody that wants true tube distortion, this is the pedal. This is isn't a cheesy pedal like all of those digitech's.

It seems to be built like a rock, but I don't know. I've only had the thing for a few weeks.

Never dealt with them.

This pedal is great. A lot of companies (like BOSS and Digitech), in my opinion, make a bunch of useless, low-end distortion pedals that aren't worth even trying. But Marshall has done a great job with this one. They know what a vintage stack sounds like. And they know how to create that sound.

pulling great sounds and alternate tones from this unit is a breeze, the manual is a tad brief to say the least, but then again how much literature do you need with a distortion/overdrive unit?

as with most pedals(95%) the tone or sound quality of the pedal is directly proportionate with the quality of the tone of the primary amp, IE. a great pedal may only sound average through a really crappy amp, but this pedal amazingly sounded great through solid state (high and low end) modeling amps, and tube amps, with the exception of a small few. i personally think that the marshall shredmaster was one of the finest distortion pedals ever made, and since it left the market i have searched for one comparible to it, i felt that the jackhammer was more than sufficient in it's amount of gain, however it severely lacked the character and tone of the shredmaster, but now tone is where the gov'nor plus shines, what it lacks in gain structure (which ain't much, it has a very good amount of gain) it more than makes up for in tonal charisma, to my ears it is marshall tone personified

all metal construction, gives it that built like a tank feel, but i would have prefered a f.e.t. switch

have not needed it

i have played guitar as a club musician, and a hobbyist for well over 17 years. i have played everything from metallica, to motley crue, and from zodiac mindwarp to slayer, and everything in between. i have also owned more pedal than i care to remember like tone works-real tube 2, boss-ds-1, boss super overdrive, boss turbo overdrive, marshall shredmaster, dod-yjm, proco-turbo rat, and the list goes on and on, but out of all of these the guv'nor plus has but one rival, and that is the marshall shredmaster.
this pedal is a tone junkies wet dream, if you choose sound quality and tone over distortion this is definitely the pedal for you, there are a lot of products on the market that will produce more raw distortion than this unit, but i promise you there are few units out there that have as pure a tone as this stompbox does

Tried it out for 20 minutes at a music store. In addition to the self-explanatory controls (gain, bass, mid, treble, volume), there's the "deep" knob, which (as other reviewers noted) makes this pedal hard to use. It adds a boomy low bass frequency to the signal, sort of like the "bass boost" or "loudness" on a car stereo. With a lot of fine tuning, you can almost get the boominess to go away.

This pedal has a nice warm distortion, like the tube preamp in a guitar head. I used the pedal to drive a clean Mesa Dual Rectifier, then compared it to the amp's high-gain channel, and while it had a different sound (of course -- Mesas don't sound like Marshalls), it was similar in quality. The problem was getting rid of the sloppy, booming bass of the "deep" effect.

Don't know. Don't own it.

See "Reliability".

If Marshall offered this pedal without the "deep" effect I'd buy one. Actually, if it had just volume, tone and distortion (like a Boss DS-1 or a ProCo Rat), or even just volume and distortion (like an MXR Distortion+ or various vintage overdrive pedals), it would be one of the best distortions on the market.

If you play through a solid-state amp of less than 50 watts or so, this might be the perfect pedal for you, since your amp might not reproduce the unusable "deep" bass. Otherwise... well, check it out and see if you can make it work with a setup you like. That goes for any equipment. Don't buy this pedal online without a chance to try it out first, though. For $99 (what these typically retail for), you could buy a DS-1 and have it modded.

Easy to use, with a lot of filter possibilities.

Excellent sounding pedal. Organic and powerful. Marshallish tone, not for smooth sustain. Absolutely no nasal tendencies. Very good bass response as well. I use it with a Marshall 4100, and sometimes at home with a Vox Pathfinder. With both humbuckers and single coils. Never heard anything as good. A bargain.

Very heavy built. I would trust it without a backup.

No contact.

I've been playing guitar for 36 years, mainly heavy rock.
This pedal is by far the best I've tried for my purpose.
If this pedal were stolen I'd definately replace it.

There are 6 controls, EQ Gain and Volume. Very simple to use. There is a manual which shows different settings etc plus a briefing from Mr Marshall himself.

I am in the quest for that definitive Marshall sound in a box, or just a great distortion which works for my intensive style. The comparisons are (both of which I use now) Marshall AVT50 combo drive channel and Danelectro FAB Distortion.

I played a custom Telecaster with humbuckers into Guvnor Plus then into Marshall AVT50 on clean channel.

Ok the pedal DOES deliver some of the Marshall-amp character. Good crunch, and almost transparent EQ.

I tried to get more treble as it seemed to sound a little muffled. I turned the treble all the way up and it still didnt match the clean (bypassed) treble response. I then tested the Treble conrtol by turning it all the way down then all the way up. The treble control is pretty useless.
Bass response seems very good. Mids too. The pedal doesnt have a great ammount of gain when turned all the way up but palm muting riffs remain tight.

Great construction on these pedals. I use others in this range. Id gig these and not worry.

Never dealt with them but Seen the dvds. Jim Marshall and co seem like a very dedicated and friendly bunch.

I like to play heavy metal and shredder-type rock. My fav players are Steve Vai, Zakk Wylde, Nuno Bettencourt, John Petrucci- you get the idea.
SO I like my distortion to be heavy, with lots of sustain and Gain on tap. The main pickup I use in nearly all 6 of my electrics is called Bill Lawrence L500XL. DIMEBAG pickup. I need the distortion to be pretty transparent in EQ and show off the great dynamics and treble response this unit delivers.

Some people on Guitar Geeks recommended this pedal to be a 'Marshall in a stomp box' so naturally I wanted to try it. Im actually surprised I never tried this range for gain pedals before since theyre kindof 'the name' associated with all things ROCK.

Im afraid I was disappointed with the pedal which had GOOD distortion performance but fell behind because the Treble was useless and very lacking. I had to turn the Treble up on the amp fully to make it cut through.

When I switched to the amp's drive channel and compared my treble returned. Same deal when I placed FAB Distortion back in the chain.

Its a shame the pedal didnt do it for me and that it was bettered by a cheaper unit. The lack of gain I could deal with because I usually combine with an OD box anyway. Id say this pedal plays the 'Overdrive' role better. but as a stand-alone unit I wouldnt recommend it.

It has four concentric tone controls which is quite a lot, otherwise straightforward distortion pedal.

Bleedthrough:

The distortion section is the same as that of the old Guv'nor pedal. The passive tone control section is similar, with an added "Mid" control.

It also has an electronically separate "Deep" control; and this is where things go wrong. For some reason, Marshall engineers added the circuitry for the "Deep" control AFTER the volume control!

According to the circuit diagram, if you turn the volume off, there should be no sound coming out of the pedal at all. But in fact, a large amount of fizzing can still be heard! This is the distortion bleeding past the tone and volume control into the "Deep" section.

You can reduce the fizzing by turning the Deep knob up full (this sets the "Deep" knob to zero ohms), but not everyone wants to have the "Deep" on full all the time.

The bleedthrough fizzing is so strong that it competes with the desired sound set by the user. The higher the gain is set, the more dominant the bleedthrough becomes in the overall sound. This is a design fault.

Tone Suck:

There are no FETs switching the sound on and off as in most modern pedals, but there are a lot of inductors and capacitors around the switch to reduce clicking. This may cause loss of tone. I have had no problems with my guitar, but then, I have high-gain pickups.

all-metal robust construction, good quality pots, solid on-off switch.

When I ordered this pedal I fantasized about all the great sounds I could get with four tone controls. Unfortunately, the bleedthrough sound reduces the tonal effectiveness dramatically. At high gain (distortion) settings, setting the volume to match the clean level, the fizz is nearly all you hear.

I am surprised this has slipped by the Marshall quality people. This pedal could be so much more.

So easy to get good sound that it's ridiculous. The guy that designed this this knows what I needed! I dont want to spend a lot of time tweaking!

I've been playing for 21 years and have never met a pedal that loves tubes more than this one. I set my Boogie to a hot crunch and dial in the eq's at 12 o'clock, changing only the distortion and volume on the pedal. Man, does this this ever send the sound into turbo mode. Unbelievable sustain, transparency and heat. If this was the UFC, this guy would be the undefeated champ, because I've had virtually every other guy in my corner at one point or another. Very responsive to volume control and how hard you are playing. It's as if it was another set of controls on my amp, and I bought it used for $39. HOLY CRAP! My strat suddenly has balls! I could gig with this pedal alone, seriously. Gary Moore meets Blind Melon! I'll keep my arsenal of pedals, but I think I will be dusting them more than playing them now.

It seems to be built like a tank. I would trust it without a backup, but my Boogie has a boost channel as well, so I am covered either way.

Have not dealt with the company, but love their product!

It's an extension of my amp, very natural. I certainly would buy this pedal if it were lost or stolen, and pay whatever the asking price was!

Very easy to use. Really no need even for the manual.

I was very surprised at how good this stompbox sounds. I'm very picky about stompboxes, and have tried MANY of the ones out there including boutique. I have several modified TS9's/808's, modified metalzone, Blues Driver, Rat, etc., and the guvnor has become my 'go to' pedal. For live shows, it really delivers what it's designed to do (provide a marshall type sound).

Seems very reliable so far.

not dealt with

Our band plays 80% country and 20% rock, and my rig is a Twin Reissue and Strats/Tele's. The Guvnor is a great addition in this set up for adding the thicker grinding sound where needed....works great both on the rock and the country. I find myself using the TS9 so little that I could even take it off my pedalbord despited it being a more expensive pedal. I'd definitely recommend this pedal.