Marshall GV-2 Guv'nor Plus

Getting a good sound out of it is easy. The pedal is pretty much straightforward device. What you see is what you get...gain, eq (bass, mids, treble) and volume. With this great thing called "Deep" pot (it was one of the reasons why I bought the pedal after being through bunch of reviews - it adds the deep stage-moving resonance).

I opened the manual once, just to see what's in it. There is a number of presets shown which could be a good starting point for getting your sound out of this pedal.

The only thing which I don't like is the access to battery compartment but if you're using power adapter it wouldn't be a problem...I mean, it ain't that big kind of trouble, it can just be annoying getting to the pedal's guts - that's all.

Actually, I'm writing this review because I just came back from a gig with GV-2. It was a sort of jump in the fire considering that I didn't care to try that pedal before the gig. I bought it two days ago...just based on Harmony Central reviews. I have been through every Boss OD, distortion pedal, modified Boss pedals, this and that, trying to nail as close as possible that Marshall sound...so it was an impulse buy. Eventually I was planning to finally settle on Fulltone's Fulldrive 2 but when I saw the price tag and reviews for GV-2, I decided to give it a shot.

So, back to the story - the amp which was set up on my stage place was the ugliest little piece of no-name device (It was little gig for friends mainly so I (again) didn't bother to bring my amp) and the first thought upon seeing that thing was "If this pedal gets halfway through what I read in reviews - it's going to be great. I plugged it in (pedal pots on 12 o'clock) and that was it! The Marshall sound!! After 36 seconds fiddling with pots on the pedal my sound was there, fat creamy overdrive with a bit of grit without hiss and noise. Mouthwatering bliss. I was stunned.

So, if you're looking for the JCM800 sound out of the pedalboard, this is the thing! If it behaved great on the above mentioned unknown amp, imagine it on the better amp. Another important aspect is that the pedal responds dynamically to your playing, from huge sounds of power chords to subtle overdrive on quiet passages...just depending on your picking dynamics. "Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee." (to quote the Great One). Overall, it kinda acts like a boutique pedal, plays along with you, and looks great on your board as well.

So now my pedalboard goes like this: VOX wah>EHX Small Stone>Marshall GV-2>Boss GE-7 Equalizer (used as solo booster). Guitar which I used was my Epiphone Crestwood. Now I just can't wait to try it with my SG, being much more darker sounding guitar than Epi it will be fun to hear the outcome.

Oh yes...works great with other pedals, wah and phaser go like butter through Guvn'or...and don't forget - this pedal will cover anything from blues to hard rock. Metalheads - run to the hills! You'll need something more aggressive (supposedly Marshall Jackhammer). If you're into grunge I believe you will love it (primarily because of the "Deep" pot). Blues, blues rock folks - go and get it! NOW!

After the gig, my band mates were talking about my new marshall-y genuinely natural rock sound. Complements nicely with the sound of the other guitar player who prefers to be on the "cutting sharp" timbre (Strat and DS-2 - imagine). I personally like that fat, thick layer of overdrive (and GV-2 delivers) which during solo (with the little help of my EQ) transforms into a bit louder and sharper sound.

It is built like a monster, heavy like a brick. Despite its "gold" pots and curved edges it ain't no toy and I definitely believe it is a trustworthy, dependable sidekick on gigs and on the road.

I got used to being betrayed on stage by pedals in most awkward moments but I don't expect it to happen with this one. Rock solid, simple construction - the only thing which could go wrong on stage with this pedal is if it magically self-combusts and evaporates. Other than that, I don't think even a straight blow with the hammer would kill it.

I would gig without a backup, definitely. Just feed it with electricity and off you go! You've got your own cranked up JCM in the stombpox.

Haven't dealt with Marshall people. Don't know, but they must be wonderful people because they supply us mortals with gadgets like this.

I'm somewhere between the blues, MC5, The Black Crowes, Stooges and The Rolling Stones. This is a Rock'n'Roll pedal and it covers that ground great. I've been through many of them and this is probably the best stompbox out there considering the price tag and overall quality.

It definitely stays with me, no matter what. Little overlooked gem it is. If it were stolen...well for this price I don't believe anyone would steal it. Why? Because it's a steal already when you pay for it in the store. I would definitely buy another one or eventually in that situation (staying without overdrive) buy Fulldrive, that's the only thing which can replace Guv'nor on my pedalboard. Before that I would find the guy who stole it and use the pedal on him (it is built like a brick I told you already).

Concentric pots mean more control in a smaller space.You will get used to them quickly.Strangely dual gangs can be moved quite intuitively with one hand after a while.The controls behave like an amp but with more range.Good stuff.Be MINDFUL of the gain ;small movement = noticable change.In truth this is as much to do with the small diameter knobs 'high geared turning ratio'...oh...you know what I mean.

JCM 800/900 in a box...honest i have the 50w 900 combo...but you can achieve the same impression of authority at lower volume.Drive a single ended Champ alike amp(EL84 or 6v6 circuit) just on the edge of break up with the Guv and you will NOT get any better for real recording at around 6 watts.YOU are not STUCK with ONE sound..we can have Mesa weight or Fender stinging Bassman blues.Incredibly versatile.

Rock solid.No noise issues.

No need to use them

This is a first class device.Superb value.

Its been a great pedal for 3 years,Listen -you have to play it through a clean or semi overdriven amp to get the sound you want, it is not a super distortion pedal, it will crunch your rhythms, and sing your leads, i have a digitech Bad monkey in front of the guv'nor, and play thru an Orange AD-15, with a 2-12 purple vintage 30 bottom, its woman tone baby!

I use George L's for patch cables, and Monster rock guitar cables, and all my guitars are shielded, absoutely No hum or buzz, period, amps , a Orange Ad-15, Reverend Goblin 5/15, Roland BC-60 Blues Cube, 1964 Gibson Skylark, Epi Vj head, 2 cube 30's, and a Vox pathfinder, guess thats it, I play pro, dumped all the loud amps, im 53, been playing 41 years, fave artists Clapton, Alvin Lee, Ronnie Montrose, Johnny Winter, i still piss off the bar owners, the first 3 amps i put up they do not make anymore,I have a 91 Les Paul(RIP LES) a 2000 G@l asat classic semi-hollow, a Reverend Slingshot custom smoked chrome with 3-P-90's, and a Ibanez RT-450 With a real cool TV Jones Classic plus pick-up on the bridge, and i can play 'em all and quite well thank you(:

Yes i can depend on it, i'm 6foot6 and weigh 320 pounds, i always bring back-up amps, and i have a solid pedal board, Bad Monkey-Guvnor-Aphex Guitar exciter-on all the time, Dan-Echo-on slapback all the time, and a Boss Super shifter mostly for 12 string sounds, it works for me, the longer ya play the more you know, trust me yunguns(;

No

i've done it all, i like to rock up older music, and watch the look on the young kids faces, they crap their panties-41 years-started with a Sears Silvertone electric guitar Christmas 1968, never looked back, owned so many amps and guitars i could start a music store, as i said play the Guv through a clean or semi-drivin amp--if you put it up against your amps distortion, it sucks, man you dont need all the fuzzy crap, i never took a lesson, but i listened, and i am well known, and play a very fiery axe, Hot Bluesy, and quick, keep it movin brothers and sisters!

one thing worth mentioning here is that I noticed that the EQ knobs almost respond like the marshall tube amp would, so don't be afraid to use extreme settings here such as completely cutting or boosting the high, bass etc.

If you're looking for a marshall sound, this is a 10 but if you're looking for anything else, do yourself a favor and look elsewhere. I love this Pedal but to me it seems like it's a one trick pony (which is not a bad thing at all). The marshall sound to a large degree is the definitive sound of hard rock and some early metal also. I noticed some early reviewers hated what they called the layer of fizz on top of the sound that they couldn't deal with! Well those who like the marshall sound call that hair, so it sounds hairy! That's a good thing for sure.
This pedal tends to warm the sound siginficantly which could be good or bad, so for clean overdrive this pedal won't compare with any decent overdrive pedals as it doesn't have any sparkle (if used for clean overdrive. For heavy drive this pedal is magnificent but don't go past 7 or eight on the drive knob as it seems that you would be adding more noise than anythig else.

A very important thing to note here: when the pedal is baypassed it still colors the sound significantly which means it will mellow out your high frequencies significantly, but let's face it, in hard rock there really is no need for crystal clear sound.
In a nut shell if you don't like to play marshall amps, you want like this pedal. This pedal doesn't do clean overdrive; its usable range of sound is from dirty marshall overdrive to heavy saturated hairy distortion when used with an amp that's breaking up.

Seems solid so far

Don't know

The way marshall marketed this pedal as capable of heaviest distortions known to man etc is misleading. This pedal will give you a thick overdrive/distortion and will push your amp over the edge. If you want a verstile overdrive look elsewhere. don't buy this to get SRV or Buddy guy sound. Make no mistake about it though, this pedal does one thing extremely well. It gives you the marshall tube distortion sound. If you want a convincing marshall hard and heavy distoration sound but don't want to buy an amp, this is your ticket!

Six knobs to tweak. Pretty easy to find what you're looking for once you've played with it a while. The bass knob is overkill, and gets muddy fast. I keep it dialed back about 10:00. The deep knob helps fill in the tone nicely, making up for the fact that the overbearing bass must be dialed back. Plenty of mids on tap. Treble needs to be cranked.

I just spent that past few hours comparing this pedal to the dirty channel of the Slash signature Marshall at loud jammin volume. It gets close. Real close. The pedal is a little muddy in the lower mids and a bit harsh on the top end. It doesn't get that sweet, hollow sound of the real tube distortion. But it gets very close. Absolutely nobody would be able to tell in a live situation. That was using the pedal through the clean channel of the Slash head. The tone becomes somewhat fizzy when played through my 65 blackface Fender Dual Showman, using the same 4x12 cab as when testing the Slash head. Some tweaking of the knobs after changing amps got me back in the ballpark, enough that the Slash head is up for sale. This pedal is that close.

no issues, but i haven't played it out or do any regular gigging anymore.

dunno

I have to say, this is probably the best distortion pedal I've used to capture Marshall tone. It gets a person in the ballpark with non-Marshall amps, and allows a person to get Marshall distortion through a Marshall amp at lower volumes. This pedal is a no-brainer if you're looking for Marshall tone in a box. Better that Rat, Keeley DS-1, Dano Fabtone. Great value for the money.

okay people, i've read lots of reviews here saying 'stacked pots are hard to use', or, 'there's too many controls.' these people are morons. the ultimate sound is one you find by tweaking that lets you be you. itis easy to find the sound in your head (as long as it's a marshall rock sound). just centre in on the sound and it's there.

i also read reviews saying stuff like, 'i play a (insert name of crap cheap guitar here) through (insert name of cheap generic multi fx etc) into a (insert name of cheap, crappy amp)', or 'this doesn't do metal' and 'the deep is too muddy'.
if you play through rubbish guitars and amps, any pedal will sound awful. if you play this through a decent guitar and a nice tube amp or pretty much any marshall, it'll sound killer.
if you want to do metal, buy a bloody metal distortion, not a heavy rock overdrive! marshall have never been about metal, they got famous doing rock, and they're bloody good at it!
as for the muddy deep knob, some amps and effects sound good at bedroom volume but really nasal when competeing with drums and a band. the deep can counteract this. plus, just because you don't happen to want a darker, sludgier tone doesn't mean no one will. i can't believe people are marking down for having extra versatility of sound and tone!
as it is, this is a quality, rich marshall sounding od that gets into mid distortion range and reacts well with a good set up whilst being pretty tight and controllable. if you have nice equipment, this pedal will repay you and let you save money compared to some over priced boutique effects, and take it from me, after trying 30-40 od - distortions in the last year ranging from cheap to quite expensive, this is a good one for a good price.

these things are built to last. there can be an issue with batteries - i don't know if it's just mine, but if you have a battery in and choose to use an adaptor, if the battery dies, it doesn't work even with the adaptor in. i have to remove the battery to get the adaptor to power it, but that's not a problem cos i rarely use batteries.

no idea

it's a good workhorse of a sound and a decent pedal to have in your arsenal. in front of a clean amp it's works well, if you hang back a bit on the gain it's good used with an amp with a bit of overdrive, it likes good equipment, loves marshall amps and is dead cheap.
also, if you don't have a lot of experience of effects, don't go leaving rubbish reviews for something you don't understand because this doesn't deserve bad reviews, it's great.

the double potis are a bit tricky first, but after some minutes I have the sound i want.

Strat, Paula, Tele over a Engl screamer + 1x12 V 30 cab or original 69 Plexi with a 4x12 Greenback cap.
Holy Grail - Digidelay ( old ) - Visual Sound Route 808 - Marshall Guvner - Crybaby Fasel - Korg Bitchblack.
I love the "old school" sound I can get with the Guvner. That is the true sound. Yes I love it ! The Plexi alone with anything up sounds unbelivable pure amazing, that can only get a 10. But I dont play in Football Arenas so at a normal Gig volumen I need some Stompboxes, ( its a 100 Watt Plexi and I dont give a **** put two valves out ).
So the Guvnor is a good 8.
Hes fat, crunchy, punchy without noize or to "steril" compression, I cant belive it sometimes how great this cheap little bastard is.
I play something influenced from; Hendrix, Slash, Aerosmith, Soundgarden, AIC, Pearl Jam, Metallica. And the Guvnor works for that sound.

Have it since 4 years without any Problem.

?

Yes I buy another the next days just for a backup.
I compared it to my other "Overdrives" that are gone on ebay like :
Maxon Od9, Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde, Boss OD3, Fultone 69, etc.
And for 59 bucks the Guvnor beats them all. 9 Points.
I play since 15 years, have experience in Studio and Live situations.
The only situation it dont works is a s a booster.
No, It dont helps my spirit, its just a tool.

Not that easy to use difficult to see and make minor adjustments mid gig due to fiddly double adjustment knobs adjustment knobs. Manual is pretty good but you have to get your set up right before the gig or just fiddle in the break

I use a Blade Strat and A Gibson Les Paul through a Marshall 40w JCM 2000 DSL 401. Using the pedal its been difficult to get exactly the right sound i want as it always appears too muddy and no crunch. Ive tried to adjust to suit but ive just got an average sound at the mo. I also use the Bluesbreaker pedal which is actually quite good but not heavy enough distortion wise. All in all i was alittle dissapointed.

I dont know why but i dont trust these pedals at all. Ive done a few gigs with pedalboard full of 6 marshall pedals and theyve let me down three times. Once they all just switched off for some reason and after the gig decided to work even though the power supply was ok. Also the reenerater pedal decided to stop working at practice the other night. I removed it from the pedal board and opened it up with no visible faults. Plugged it back in and it worked. Weird! As my mate uses Digitec and Boss his set up never lets him down maybe thats a lesson for me.

I did e-mail Marshall once with a question and they did get back to me within three days. I think thats exceptable.

I play in a covers band and we do generally cover a wide variety of different songs i.e blues, rock, indie etc. I do use the pedal every gig but if it broke i certainly wouldnt buy another and would go for a boss next.

The pedal has a gain, deep, bass, mid, treble, and volume knob. Easy enough to adjust those to your liking. They are a bit close together, so you've got to watch you don't move other knobs when adjusting one. If you know what you want, it shouldn't take long to find that sound. If not, you may be fiddling around for a bit before you find it. Once you find that sound, it's more than likely going to be good. This pedal runs off of either a 9V or a 9V barrel adaptor. The manual that came with this had a description of what each knob did and a list of suggested settings.

I use this with a Washburn X-50 Pro Q, a Peavey Predator Plus EXP with a GFS Power Rails in the bridge, and an Agile Ghost III with a Power Rails in the bridge. All those go into a Vox Pathfinder 15R.

All the controls work well in terms of having an effect on the incoming sound. Gain knob can go from a blues style crunch to screaming metal. The gain is never muddy unless you have the deep on. The deep control really flattens and eats up your bass and mids. Does mud up the tone a good bit. I tried to get it to work without those side effects, but in truth it's better to just leave the deep at 0 and the pedal will sound great. The bass, mid, and treble controls all work well with each other. You know what those do to the tone and they act just like any other eq's, nothing special.

Pretty much, with the right settings and a good set of peikups, this pedal should be able to cover anything. From AC/DC crunch, to Van Halen, to ZZ Top, to Dethklok distortion, it's all in there.

It's never given me any problems. The switch feels a bit so so, but no problems as of yet with it. The knobs are all smooth when turned. The pedal is made out of metal. As long as your not smashing it off of concrete, it'll last you.

As of now, I have no backup pedals. So I've had to play without backups to this but I've never worried about it.

Never dealt with customer service. If something were to go wrong with it, I'd just fix it myself. Unless the case cracked in half or something.

I play old school metal and rock. This pedal matches perfectly for me because it does what I want and sounds good doing it. I listed what I've got up there and as for how long I've been playing, I don't remember. I really am considering buying 2 more so I can have one for each guitar, since I use different ones for different styles. If it were stolen, yeah, I'd buy another no question.

I really love how it sounds, really captures that JCM 800 sound while keeping your amps own character intact. I just don't like the deep control. It's just no good for the tone. I looked at some Rat pedals when figuring out what to buy. I got this based on price and reviews. It's got all the features I could want in a pedal. Definately is a key part in my music. It sounds good, so it makes me want to play.

Very easy to get a great sound out of this pedal. Great sound with my marshall jcm 900 and 4-12 cabinet !! Real Marshall Distortion~

I play a deluxe Strat, a Tele (Am. Stnd), and a Les Paul. The Tele and Strat zing like screaming women. On the bassy pickup settings, and with a little bass boost from the unit, the Tele can sound like a Strat. Left alone, though, you get a Telecaster sound like no other. Especially in the mid switch position. No bumble bee fuzz, but a nice clean and decisive crunch.

The tone controls on the Guv'nor (stupid name, mate) are very sensitive and well done (and deceptively sophisticated). This is Brit technology at its best. The Les Paul, wonderful entity that it is, praise be to Gibson, goes way over the top with this thing. What a sound! It really has that old Marshall crunch and thump.

Fender Deluxe (Ash) ==> BOSS TU-2 ==> Ibanez TS-9 ==> Marshall GV-2 ==> BOSS DD-3 ==> Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 100

This is one tough pedal. Very Heavy. All metal constrution.

Never had any trouble with Marshall products~!!

This is as close as anything I know to a "Marshall-in-a-box", not more or less... there are even less op-amps in this thing than in a JCM900 "tube"-amp. Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Whitesnake, AC/DC, Badlands etc...

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.

Straightforward pedal, has Gain, Lows, Deep, Mids, Highs, and Volume controls. All controls are very responsive. My only complaint about this pedal is that the controls are difficult to read and the knobs are a little crowded, therefore I rate this 8 out of 10.

I don't know if this pedal is for everybody, but if you love that classic Marshall tone, you will love this pedal. I have used it through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Marshall DSL401 (clean channel), Epiphone Valve Jr head, and Peavey Bandit and you can get a good Marshall tone through them all. It does sound better through a tube amp than solid state in my opinion. I use pretty basic settings, Gain about 1/3 to 1/2 up, Deep about 1/2, Lows about 1/2, Mids up to max, and Highs about 2/3 up. I get a great crunch tone, similar to old Bad Company, Free, AC/DC, and ZZ Top recordings. This pedal can get fairly high gain tones, but I love that old Marshall crunch. My guitars are a Gibson SG and LP, but I've also tried single coils with my Fender Strat and Tele. Sounds better with humbuckers, but it rocks pretty good with single coils too. I have not experienced any noise, but I keep Gain pretty low. This is the first pedal to really give my Hot Rod Deluxe some "balls". I like this pedal so much I took an old 80's ProCo Rat off my pedalboard and replaced it with the Guvnor. The Rat is great but a little too fuzz tone for my tastes. The Guvnor sounds like an old JCM800 cranked with real bite. I do not like Deep over about 1/2, seems to muddy the tone a little too much for me. Because this pedal will bring out that great Marshall tone with any amp, I give it a 10.

Seems very rugged, only owned it a few months. So far, so good.

Can't really give an opinion here, I am careful with my gear and rarely experience problems, so I've never had to contact support. The manual has some suggested settings, so I'll give it an 8.

I play in a Classic Rock band, but we do some modern tunes too. I love the great Marshall tone I get with this pedal. I would definitely buy this pedal again if it were lost or stolen. When it comes to Rock, Marshall is "the tone". This pedal will get you there.

Slightly more complex then a Big Muff, or other distortion pedals, but more controlable. Level, low, mid, high, deep, and gain control. 9v jack works with Boss type pedals.

Knowing that Marshall's been using a solid state boost circuit in their JCM900's and JCM2000's, I asked the sales manager (a huge Marshall aficionado) for a pedal that could duplicate that. This is what he recomended. I use it for highgain distortion on my bass rig, but have tried it on guitar as well. This pedal works great. Enogh bottom and the highs can scream. The other pedal I was contemplating was a Sanamp Classic, and the Gov'nor II was quite capable of reaching that level of sound quality. It may not sound "just like" a Marshall all tube head, but it definitely has the flavor of the overdrive circuit.

I'd heard negative things about how well this pedal's built, but mines been going for 5 years now. The only downside I've found is that the stacked pots don't move smoothly when adjusting them individually, but not too big of a deal for me, I could see it being a problem for making quick changes in live situations.

Great pedal for a great price. I wouldn't recomend running it if you're already running a good all-tube highgain head, but then again, why would anyone pay the price for a all-tube highgain head and run a distortion pedal through it.

Easy to use, just follow the examples in the manual and work from there. Pretty simple controls, not to complicated. The manual is brief but it sets you off in the right direction, after all you don't want to sound the same as everyone else who has the same pedal!

Thin Lizzy tone is a sinch with this pedal, IMO this pedal covers most bases when it comes to rock, probably not going to suit a metal head but it is an overdrive pedal at the end of the day! I use this into the 0db channel on my laney 30W valve combo, it kicks major ass. A little noise is to be expected with this pedal when running thru a distorted channel but not really noisy.

Metal skin and metal switch, I don't think it will be breaking anytime soon! I carry a pod 2 and floorboard as my backup, I play semi pro so can't afford a breakdown at the venue but saying that I don't ever worry about this pedal breaking.

No problems so can't comment

I play pop/rock covers and original rock. This pedal delivers all the tone I need covering a wide range of styles. Whether I use for a lead boost or as a rythym sound it never lets me down. I've been playing for 14 years
My gear :
Laney LC30C tube combo
1.Gibson LP std

2.Ibanex RG570 with Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates HB bridge and Dimarzio PAF JOE in the neck

3. Fender Mex Strat

Pedals: Jim Dunlop crybaby, Marshall Guv'nor pre in front of the head with a Boss DD3 delay and Boss CE-2 chorous in the fx loop.

If I lost this pedal I would definately replace it. I love the way this pedal makes my 30W combo sound like a Marshall stack! Only complaint is the silver dials are hard to see on a dark stage :(
I prefered this to the jackhammer, i find it easier to dial a decent tone with this pedal.

It's relatively cheap, sounds great and is easy to use. Great tone at an affordable price. Well worth a look.

Basically a Marshall OD channel in a stompbox. 3 band EQ with a Deep knob(thick bass!)

I love using this pedal into the clean channel on my Marshall AVT150 half stack. It has more control and sustain than the OD channels onboard! Bought it to use with my Orange Crush 10 and it made a little 10watt SS amp come to life!

You step on it.... It'll probably break eventually, made of metal to delay this

Sounds great with my Epiphone Les Paul Jr, and with my Fender Strat with Noiseless pickups. If you need a good distortion pedal pick it up for sure!

Many distortion stomp boxes have only a "tone" control and that usually means high mids/treble. This one, like all other Marshall pedals, has an entire EQ stage: Treble, mids, bass plus a "Deep" control. The latter is meant to simulate the bottom end of a full amp stack with 4x12 cabs, regardless whick kind of amp it is actually used with. The controls are effective, maybe a bit difficult to use for players with large fingers, as they are small and stacked in pairs of two. They also influence each other. It takes some time of experimenting to find out which setting is best.

Very typical Marshall sound with less gain than the Jackhammer or the old ShredMaster but more than the original GV-1 from the 90ies.
The sound quality you will hear heavily depends on the amp used.
I tried it through a Peavey solid-state and it sounded awful: Buzzy, trebly, harsh, absolutely unplesant. I played it through an old SoundCity/Dallas-Arbiter tube combo (1971) and it sounded a lot better, but with a 50 watts Laney tube head (master volume) it was marvelous to play into the high sensitivity input with the preamp halfway up. Obviuosly it works best to overdrive the front end of a tube amp, so that there is a sort of good mixture of the amp`s and the pedal`s distortion. It has but very reduced treble with gain set low.
Difficult to rate it with results so different.

Rock soild, no plastic parts apart from the rubber on the backside.
Seems reliable.

Have never dealt with them.

Good pedal if you know how to apply it correctly. Needs an amp that is about to distort slightly and will give you wonderful crunch rhythm and singing lead sounds then.
A bit more difficult to use than the good old ShredMaster and not that versatile.