Marshall Guv'nor

My model is an early 90s model; black slanted box with red stripes. Looks dated now!!
Op amp design with LED symm clipping.
Very easy to use - standard in/out jacks and bypass switch. Vol, Gain, Bass, Mid, Treble controls.
Pedal also has a "loop" stereo jack so you can run other pedals into the Guv'nor and switch then on/ff globally via the Guv'nors bypass. Sounds great but I've never used that particular function!!

I bought this pedal over 10 years ago when I was just startin out playing electric guitar. I used to use it to beef up a crappy Zoom FX unit, and it did a very commendable job (IIRC!!). I put the Guv'nor in the cupbard when I bought my Laney 50w combo, as the Laney provided my main distortion.
I've dusted the Guvnor off recently - plugged it in a was really..... dissappointed. It sounded flat and fizzy compared to any other pedal I've used. No matter how I set the Gain and EQ, it kept the same weedy, thin base sound. I couldnt get a pleasing sound from it. Instead of adding to natural tone of my amp, it robbed it of all warmth and made it sound like a cheap tranny amp.
Not sure what else to say. My amp loves pedals; I've got several OD units including many "standards"; Boss SD1, 0D3, DS1, TS clones, MXR Dist+, Big Muff, Rat etc. The Guv'nor is the worst of the bunch.
I dont think is malfunctioning, but I am gonna open it up and take a peep to make sure.
I will add here that I have never owned a Marshall amp, and therefore if Marshall are trying to model a classic Marshall sound I aint gettin it !!

The sound is poor but the unit has been dependable. I gigged with it though my early teen and it worked fine then and still does now. Never used a backup.
It still works after being put away for a number of years. Pots were ceased but nothing a drop of lube won't fix.
I was always vary about the cheap jack sockets - but they have last the test of time so far.

Nothing to report - never had to deal with Marshall.

The Guv'nor is heralded as a classic... but I don't think it delivers. Lots of people still own the original "blackies", but I wonder how many of them (like me) have woekn up to realise that this pedal is ok at best.
I wonder whether the newer gold guvnors are better? May be worth a shot considering the price.
I reakcon I'll check the circuit, and if it's working I may mod it to breathe some life into it, or build a new pcb based upon a bluesbreaker for a change.
If all elase fails it'll end up on ebay.

This is a very easy product to use as are most pedals, the only negative comment I can make is that the two double knobs (for bass/deep and middle/treble) were slightly hard to tell the difference between what controls what but I overcame that after a couple of days by quickly looking in the manual. One thing I like is it is very easy to change batteries on the pedal, because you can use a pick of coin to open and close the compartment, instead of having to go and look for the right screwdriver.

I play a Les Paul into this and it sounds excellent with the treble up and the bass and deep pulled right back I compare this setting mostly to an early Eric Clapton in the Bluesbreakers and in Cream. But with the EQ controls you can archive the likes of AC DC and a lot of classic rock. You can push it to the max and you'll get something similar to the early metal bands of the 80s like Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne and Iron Maiden. I mainly play blues and I've played strats and teles through it and it has the power and thickness that every fender player wishes for. My only bad point here is only that it is at times too thick for humbuckers.

This is a robust metal solid unit I wouldn't expect it to break, but I did get a lead stuck in it that was a bit of a scare but it wasn't this unit's fault it was my fault as the lead was broken and snapped off into the pedal.

I play blues and occasionally rock and Hard Rock and this is the perfect pedal for me. It has the right amount of gain, but if your a metal freak I wouldn't buy it there is not enough gain for that stuff. It's basically three pedals in one an EQ, overdrive and boosting unit. Been playing for 4 years, and if it broke I would get another one asap. I love the EQ control as it is unique and you can control if you wanna drive the treble mids or bass. I compared it the the bluesbreaker pedal, Boss SD and a danelectro pedal and chose it because of the eq setting and the high amount of gain compared to the SD and BB but the BB is a better boost pedal. The Danelectro is nowhere as good. I couldn't wish for anymore.

The Guv??nor is a 5 knob Overdrive/Distortion Pedal. With the EQ you have a lot of possivilities, but it`s also a spoilt for choice. I wish this pedal had more lowend. The Loop is a good idea but you need a special cable.

I use the pedal with a Les Paul or a Strat into a Hiwatt or a Marshall and it always sound great. I use it for a light crunch. It gives a very natural overdrive.

Never a problem.

Perfect for light overdrive. I just with it had a little more bottom.

Very easy to get get a good sound out of this unit. gain, bass, middle, treble, and level knobs.

It is exactly like an old Marshall 50 watt plexi cranked! You get note separation even at higher gain volumes, and at lower gain volumes you can pick through clean and get your dirty when you dig in. it's seriously a little amp in a box, and although it sounds best through a tube amp, it still has fabulous tone through a solid-state. plenty of headroom for anyone.

i play a epiphone sheraton II, and a gibson les paul standard through
ernie ball EV-pro volume pedal, boss TU-2 tuner, electro-harmonix LPB-1 linear power booster, ibanez tube screamer, marshall guv'nor, seymour duncan shape shifter tremolo, boss CE-2 chorus (japanese made silver pin series), boss DD-5 digital delay, and a line 6 echo park delay. and all of this goes through either a 72' fender pro reverb or a twin.
the LPB and the tube screamer give me plenty of grit, but the guv'nor is what i go to for leads, its perfect!

i got it off ebay from a gentleman in europe who had not taken it out of the box. it was still in it original packaging, so i dont expect it to crap out on me any time soon.

i've never dealt with marshall, but this pedal isn't made any more so i dont expect to.

i play mostly classic rock and blues, but i am doing indie stuff now and it works great with almost anything. if i lost it or it was stolen i would hunt down another one of these little treasures.
it's a lot like a pro-co rat in the sense that it can get down right nasty, but the rat will never sound as good. when i play try to be as tasteful as possible with leads and hooks, hence all the other drive pedals, but when i do use it i never really want to stop.

With most pedals you get a Gain, a Level, and a Tone control. The tone control usually just changes from dark to bright. With the Guv'nor you have a 3 band EQ, which actually makes this pedal extremely versatile and usefull. It is easy to get a wide variety of sounds from this pedal.

I built a clone of the original Guv'nor from scratch and added a few slight differences.

One difference was in my use of a 100pF Gain capacitor instead of 120pF. I could only find a 100pF. This should mean my pedal build is slightly brighter, and possibly more "fizzy" than a standard Marshall unit.

Second, I added a switch to go from the standard LED clipping diodes to 1N914 diodes and back. The 1N914 are less gainy, but I tend to prefer the switch on the normal LEDs like Marshall uses.

As far as sound, the Gain control seems to be very sensitive on the last third of it's sweep. Between that small area a lot of different shades can be dialed in though - from warm overdrive, to insane heavy metal crunch. The EQ can change the entire character of the pedal. You can go from a thick, throaty, growl with the Mids turned up, to a scooped Pantera metal sound (Treble and Bass maxed and Mid turned all the way down).

There was little noise until really cranked up, which is normal for distortion pedals. It amplifies single coil hum as well, which is also normal. I plugged this pedal into a few of the tube amps I've built and used my Les Paul Junior and my '57 reissue Les Paul Custom. They sounded great in a Fender tweed Deluxe (5E3) clone I built!

To really appreciate this pedal, you have to play with the tons of combinations the Level/Volume, Gain, Treble, Mid, and Bass can give you. The controls interact with each other to give you a lot of sound options.

I built this myself with parts from a local electronics shop and RadioShack. I got a schematic and went from there with my soldering iron. I couldn't tell you how the Marshall pedal's reliability is.

Homemade clone, so I have no opinion on Marshall's support. Their amps have never died on me, so that says something.

This pedal can cover a lot of ground. I build my own tube amps and have about 12 now. I wouldn't need it with my Marshall-ish builds, but this pedal is great for bringing to jams where you're not sure what you'll be playing. I've also built a Mosfet clean boost, a Rangemaster clone (a warmer Germanium boost that kicks the treble up a bit), and a TS808 Tubescreamer clone. I like the TS808 for more subtle Blues-Rock or Classic rock stuff, but the Guv'nor can do that decently, as well as many other styles. It is the most versatile distortion pedal I've used or own.

I generally plug my guitar straight into the amp and dislike using a lot of effects, but this pedal is usefull for all kinds of music projects - live or recording.

The only perfect 10 as far as pedals go for me.

Not much to say in this category. I mean, it's pretty hard to screw up with a distortion pedal. Insert a battery or adapter, connect it to your rig and flick the amp from standby to on.

The only thing that one may bat an eye at is, due to the limited space, the deep and mid controls are positioned behind the bass and treble controls (sounds wierd, but difficult to explain). Otherwise, as simple as it gets.

Let me start out by listing off my favorite artists / influences

Obviously, I have to start with the Beatles, everybody does.

I take alot from Jimmy Page; he's slightly slower-handed than most, but he can make one note mean more than 10 coming from anyone else.

Hendrix. Nuff said.

I'm actually one of the few who willing say this, but the White Stripes? Killer band. Jack White is my personal guitar hero.

So I guess it's obvious that I'm into edgier, dirtier blues-rock.

My rig is as follows:
Crate V18-212 (all tube, superb sounding amplifier) --> Digitech Whammy IV (only buy this if you absolutely need it, most of the time you most likely won't) --> Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Wahwah (a really fierce wah pedal) --> The Gov'Nor --> Epiphone Les Paul Classic with a few minor upgrades.

Without the Gov'Nor, my rig is pretty mellow sounding, perfect for a brit-blues tone, but, simply put, this pedal lets me hammer out anything - some pretty heavy stuff to some pretty crunchy, classic stuff. After getting this pedal, I can say that I finally have "that sound" (guitarists of the world, you know what I mean).

Just fiddle around with the eq on the amp and the box itself to avoid a colder, nu-metal-esque tone (I shiver at the very thought).

The Gov'Nor is, to say the least, solid. I've had it thrown around on tour, and nothing's come of it but a couple of paint scratches.

I've actually had to replace the stupid little nut that lies between the mechanism and the box itself, but that costs what, a hefty 25 cents to buy the part?

I would use this without a back up any day.

Can't say with this product. Marshall is usually really good for amps, but I haven't experienced it first-hand to know.

Havent needed to ;)

This pedal is amazing. I got it as a gift, but sometimes I wished that I could have bought it instead of the whammy and had an extra 100 or so dollars in my pocket haha.

The guy in the store won't try to sell you this pedal. He usually brings out some boss or digitech toy that doesn't even come near to the sound produced by this thing.

I think that's all I have to say.

Cheers.

Easy to use, 5 controls - Gain- Bass- Mid -Treb - Vol
Input, Output, Loop, 9v battery or power supply input.

Well Im impressed; I use this for boosting and for a light overdrive.
Stands up very well to these duties, better than a Maxon 808, to my surprise.

The EQ controls can make quite a difference with some tweaking.
Great for Blues, Jazz, Rock , Metal

Well I purchased mine second hand and it looks very sturdy. Its practically armoured thick steel case.
And its classic old Marshall.

Marshall has great customer support had a few amps serviced with them. Top notch.

Gonna give this top marks for a pedal that has seen alot of use it is still going strong and looks immaculate inside.

Has the classic controlls gain and level, and additional a 3-band-EQ.
The EQ is not too easy to set to the settings i like, therefor only 8 of 10. Treble control doesn't controll the highs but the upper mids, imho.

The Gov'Nor can be used in front of a clean amp. I do not likethe higher gain settings, but with gain at 10 o'clock or below it gives you a very superb marshallish crunch sound. This sound fit well for rock. The sound is typicall of older Marshalls: middy, grainy and rough. With the EQ you can give your sound (more than) enough bass and upper mids.
The Gov'Nor sounds good in front of a clean amp, but it does sound great in front of an overdriven tube amp withnot too much tube distortion. The Gov'Nor (again with not too much gain) vaccinates the tube amp sound with the typical Marshall dirt, it gives the sound of your tube amp the Marshall bite, the driving mids and a tad more gain.
And this sounds absolutely great for harder blues and (classic hard-)rock. Fine AC/DC-sounds are possible.
The sound has balls, definitely!
For the sound in front of clean amp i'd rate the Gov'Nor 8, for the sound in front of a slightly overdriven tube amp the Gov'Nor deserves 11 points, so i rate 10 all in all.
I have tried diverse overdrive/distortion pedals, but the Gov'Nor is the only one that gives my tube amp the extra kick it needs.

It isn' made anymore, and older Gov'Nors sometimes show problems: input jack gets lose, controls start to scratch. Therefor only 7.

don't know

The EQ isn't tha easy to set right, and the reliability could be better, but the sound is so good (if you like older tube Marshalls and their dirt 'n bite) that i have to rate it 9 all in all.
If you find one in good condition, beg borrow or steal ;-)

Is it easy to get a good sound out of it??? Hell yes!!!
It is just great! plenty of room for choosing your wanted sound, very easy to use, very, very friendly!

I own a Epiphone Valve Junior (with a few minor mods - Mallory 150s caps, lo and hi switch...) and i run it with a American Stratocaster (upgraded pups to Texas Special), and when i plug in the Guv'nor i just can't stop playing!!!
It is excellent, makes any tone u need! i was really happy with that Sultans of Swing sound with just a bit of gain, and a fat bluesy sound with gain at 12 'o clock(Sunshine of Your Love - for example), but then...
trying to get that Gary Moore (example - Empty Rooms) sound!!!
IT BLEW MY MIND!!! So good that i still can't believe!
Makes my relatively low power single coils sound like proper humbuckers! Really really good tone
All from light bluesy tones to Steve Vai and Satriani.

If you can connect it to a radio, it will make it sound like a JCM800 :)

Looks really well made, looks nice! I opened it, looks like nothing can go wrong :)

never had need to and i guess it will stay like that!
just visit their site...

I've been playing for just under a year, and as mentioned above own a Strat with Texas Special, played thru Valve Junior Combo. I play classic rock, blues mostly, and that is the best pedal for those kind of sounds!
Don't be fooled and buy BluesbreakerII, this is way better than that - for the same money.

Mine is the Guv 2.
Very good EQ section, alot of gain and level. Very easy to get a good tone from the pedal. Easy to use.

I use a number of guitars but mainly live a use Jap tele's with a seymour duncan buckers at the neck (very cool). Amp wise i use a fender vibroloux with my pedals being Boss tuner, crybaby, TS9, Aramat Green machine, Soul Fuzz, Guv 2 and Boss DD3 Delay.

I used to be anti OD pedals prefering the tone out of the amp. But i got fed up with changing rig when i wanted a new sound so i brought a vibrolux and use a few pedals to get different sounds.
I tried a JCM 800 and thought it sounded great but did'nt want to change my vibrolux and carry a cab around for gigs. I tried the Guv and this is a jcm 800 in a box!!!

Great marshall stack sounds, loads and loads of bottom end and it feeds back in a great way as well. Big, meaty sounds, really clear notes never mucky. Really great cost.

Good so far. Marshall are buit very well although this is made in the far east. Time will see. Although at under ??45 would not cost too much to replace.

The switch is a little fragile. Not as bad as an old BB1 pedal i had though.

Have dealt with in the past and very good.

I play rock and this pedal is perfect for that. Not suited to metal really. I wanted the Slash from G'n R sounded. Big, smooth and ballsy.
I'm pleased to say this pedal is it.

It's a great match with Fender non master tube amps. Very clear sounding and does that classic 80's Marshall tone. As i stated before i wanted a marshall sound with the added size of a rig. Now i have a jcm 800 at my feet!! Excellent.