Marshall ShredMaster

Pretty easy to use, 5 knobs: Gain, Bass, Contour (scoop mids), Treble and Volume. Stomp on and off. The manual isn't much use, but you can easily figure out your own great individual sound in no time.

I usually just use my American Deluxe Tele through the Shredmaster to a Drive 80W amp. This is the only distortion pedal I use as of now, and for good reason too. This is by far the best distortion I've ever heard. The only problem is that usually I have to adjust the volume as I change the contour settings; turning the contour knob all the way to the right reduces the volume significantly. I don't feel that this is any major drawback, though. The only way to describe the pedal's sound is warm, smooth, and juicy. The range of sound on this thing is amazing. You can make it scream or you can set it on bass settings and actually sound like bass. I usually play rock, but if you crank contour all the way up you can get that metallic sound...I don't like metal, but you can get that sound from this thing. The name "Shredmaster" shouldn't be judged upon...in my opinion this pedal is better for rock than the Drivemaster, and it has more gain too--this thing is great for feedback (more gain = easier feedback/resonance). But the gain isn't the crappy noisy kind that takes forever to go stop when you stop playing; you can hear every note clearly even with all settings at max and the pedal is incredibly responsive so your sound doesn't get drowned out with noise. Only a tad bit of hum, but with a sound like this, it still gets an absolute 10.

I'd say it's pretty reliable. I haven't had it too long, but apparently the battery cover isn't very well designed (which seems to be a common problem with this pedal), and the pedal feels a bit flimsy...it rattles a bit, but no problems whatsoever yet. I'd gig without a backup...in fact, these are so rare and in demand now I probably couldn't go to the trouble of getting another one if I still have this one. It seems that the people that this pedal breaks for are those that throw their pedals across the room and try to break them. This pedal is way too precious to me to do that...and I don't usually throw my gear around the room anyway. :P

Never dealt with them.

I play rock, both lead and rhythm styles, and this is perfect for that. I find that with gain at about 4 o'clock, bass at 3 o'clock, contour at 3 o'clock, treble at max (about 6 o'clock), and volume at about 3 o'clock, you can get a nice rich sound. This pedal doesn't drown out your guitar. You can really hear the pickup character through it, as well as your own playing style. If it was stolen or lost, I'd kick myself a million times and probably get another one ASAP. I bought this one from eBay and got it shipped in from the UK. I was planning on buying another distortion, probably a fuzz of some sort, but upon receiving this one and playing with it, I decided I don't need it. This if probably going to remain the only distortion I use for some time, and it'll definitely be my main one. There is no way you could go wrong with this treasure.

I have to say, yes, it's damn easy to use in the sense of the controls being very obvious as to what they do, but it did take me a while before I found a sound I really liked. It may just be personal taste though.

It really is amazing how clear the distortion is, I can play open chords with the gain on full and they sound good! Not even a hint of muddiness. My setup is basically an SG copy (Vintage VS6B) into the Shredmaster and then into Fender FM 212R (Solid-state 100w twin speaker combo). It's also very easy to get your own signature sound, I was once playing just using my amp's distortion and my band's lead guitarist said to me "Eurgh, what happened to your distortion?".

Nothing's ever gone wrong with it, no matter how much it's been chucked about. I haven't gigged with it though, but I'm sure it would be fine...

Never had to contact them for any reason.

It's the best the best thing I've found for getting the very Sabbath-like tone I need for my band. I get some awesome tones for recording from it, it really does define my signature sound. This is all considering I only bought it as a fluke, I walked into this music shop and asked what distortion pedals they had and the bloke told me all they had was this secondhand Marshall 'cos they mostly just sold multi-fx. It was #30, so I bought it. I have since fallen in love with it and had some guy offer me #160 for it, I refused.

Basically im submitting this since loads of people here have claimed how they get their wanted Jonny Greenwood tone, i.e. The Bends. Well yeah, fair doo's, but they didnt actually say how. So ill tell you how i got my The Bends, Just and Electioneering sound. It isnt spot on obviously, i havent got lace sensors and all that in my guitar as of yet (once i sell my previous guitar i will).
Well, i actually, it took me ages to find out the tones i want, and of Jonny Greenwood's. There was no manual with it as this was second hand, got it last week. My pedal has been seen to inside the circuits, i think the stomp button has been fixed or something, as the screws have been messed with

Well, my current gigging setup is - Telecaster -> Digitech Whammy -> Line 6 DL4 -> Shredmaster -> Fender Princeton Chorus 75W Amp.
Now this Fender amp is actually quite different in sounds from other amps, especially Jonny's 85. But the way i got his Bends era sounds, is have the amp settings on quite a bassy setup, as this gives a nice clean tone (main prioity). So i countered this with relativly trebly settings on the Shredmaster, with treble on full, bass to 3 oclock, and contour i kind of mess around all the time since it changes the sound dramatically, but usally 2 oclock. This all seems to work.
These settings are really for the bends, (my fave tone, The Bends on Jools Holland was the best!). Electioneering, well i have my amp settings a bit more treble in, with the mid rounded off towards the trebly side. Just remember to do alot of palm muting.
P.S - Remember, always remember that there are three guitarists in radiohead, and so balance the sound out of all of them. Thom's distortion is very bassy. Jonny's is trebly. So, sometimes you will have trebly sounds to match Jonny's settings, and think "Sounds shit, very thin". Well, with band it sounds amazing. You can always make it a bit bassier to suit tastes though cant you. Besides, i think the Shredmaster is more suited to that.

Well, ive only had this for a week, so dont really know, and havent gigged with it yet. During practices though with band members, it was great and definitly heard it amongst the rest. I feel i can depend on it as it's pretty damn solid, no messing around, good basic shape so built very strongly.

N/A

I play blues and rock, and this is suited for both. I've been playing for 2 years, play all Radiohead, Muse, Placebo, Coral, Jeff Buckley, Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix, and of course, my own material. If it was stolen, i really dont know, would i get another? This was stumbled across by pure luck, in a second hand electronics store. hehe, after over a years of searching. I wish it had a built in 'Jonny Greenwood Emulator', to save us all the hassle. But i've given you a guide to get his sounds, so cool beanz go for it, rage on that axe!

This is for distortion and overdrive-it's the wedge of wedge!This is one of the early ones-a wide black number.Five controls-(l2r)Gain,Bass,Contour,Treble,Volume.Quite versatile but then I've never used it for a clean boost!Does require a little fiddling with the contour but once u've nailed it...

My setup is----Fender Big Apple(Twin Duncans,no trem)/Custom Shop Tele----Boss OC-2,Boss PH-2,Marshall Shredmaster,Ibanez DDL10,all looped through a Death By Audio Total Sonic Annhialation----Line 6 Duoverb.The amp I used before this was a Sonus SC-10 and it sounded like the hammer of Thor when I used it with the Shredmaster so I wasn't sure how the Line 6 would sound but man...In my experience this is the best distortion on or off the market.In the past I've had the DodFX56(american metal),Dod Hard Rock,Boss DS-1,Boss MD-2,Boss MZ-2,Marshall Drivemaster,EHX Big Muff(russian),Solasound Tonebender,ProCo Rat II,ProCo Turbo Rat and a Danelectro Daddy-O but nothing has stayed on my board longer than the Shredmaster.I wish it had the outrageous volume lift of the Drivemaster but it's fine just the way it is.If you want it to it'll do blues,metal,hard rock AND strip paint if it's loud enough.Not mega noisy, even at high settings(a blessing in this market)

Mine is at LEAST 3rd hand and seems to be indestructable.If pedals break and I don't use them often they just get forgotten but if this gets broken I'll probably get a letter from Jim Marshall himself.

I've been playing about 8/9 years but I've been a pedal collector(mainly distortions)since then.I'm currently covering every base from progressive metal to folk noise to speed industrial to hardcore and I don't change my rig...This pedal is ace-I was lucky because the morons in the guitar store in Glasgow(that's right-you're the rudest assistants I've ever met.Ever wonder why your store's so quiet?)didn't know what they had and I got a great deal.Superb.

this pedal is simple as hell to use, 5 knobs. didnt have a manual but then you dont need it at all. if you cant work this pedal the you are retarded im afraid.

I use a Standard Telecaster through a Fender amp, i have basically every effect under the sun. i have 2 distortions EHX Big Muff and the Shredmaster. this is just the best thing ive heard in my life, i was taken aback the first time i heard it. this pedal, however is not for everyone, the name is a bit misleading i think as its far from a harsh transistor style distortion this is more a really warm tube style overdrive, great for indie.

the shredmaster has never let me down, but then again ive only had it a few months, but i really cant see it breaking in a hurry cos its built like a tank.

Second hand, never dealt with marshall, never needed to

Quite possibly the best distortion pedal in the history of the whole world ever, i love it like a member of my family, it has the exact tone i require for my sound, works great in an effects loop cos it has true bypass. if it was stolen i'd mourn it and then get another one straight away. a must have for anyone into indie/post punk.

Just 4 knobs, if anyone has problems with this kinds of pedals, they have problems with everything.

I play a Fender Telecaster Custom, ( invested a lot in this baby ), its like a Tele Nashville with a bunch of modifications I asked for ( * too lazy to write them all * ) its like a Tele plus, I play it trough a Fender Twin Reverb Re-issue, and :

- BOSS CH-1: SUPER CHORUS.
- EHX : small Stone.
- BOSS ?? : Super-Overdrive.
- Digitech Whammy,.(most of the time used only as a pitch shifter
- DOD FX 72 : stereo Flanger.
- BOSS: Digital Reverb.
- BOSS: Digital Delay.
- DOD : Envelope Filter .
- DOD : Compressor.
- Vintage Pro-Co RAT.
- EHX: Big Muff

and thats all for now

THIS IS MY MAIN DIST, I HAVE TRIED BOSS, DOD, ZOOM!!, EHX, ALMOST EVERYTHING AND NO DIST HAS GIVEN ME THE POWER I WAS GOING FOR .

IT is almost undestructible, but if you hit the footswitch too hard ....., but hasnt happened to me, and I dont treat this pedal too well, I have kicked it around the stage for almost two years now

JUST TRY IT AND YOU WILL SEE

This is the old black "wide" type, as used my Johnny Greenwood. I haven't tried the new ones but they look like a piece of crap.

I'm only giving it an 8 here because I think 6 knobs is a bit excessive. I've never found the Contour control any use except when playing the occasional bit of Thrash (turn it up to 10). It takes a bit more fiddling to dial in the exact tone, but at least you have the option to do so unlike some more simple two/three knob pedals.

It really is as good a sound as you're going to get without using a real overdriven amp. A nice natural sound and amazing clarity even when Gain is on 10. The extent to which this sounds like "The Bends" is frigtening. It even sounds good through the pissy little practice amp I'm using at present. In fact I bought a cheap Danelectro fuzz pedal just so I can have something which sounded cheap and fedback!

I broke my battery cover the day I bought it, mostly through my own stupidity. But I had it for 5 years and spilt many different substances on it, with no effect. The switch looks like it might break, but so far it hasn't.

Considering I'm obsessed with distortion, it's a testament to the versatility of this pedal that it's been the only one I've used for 5 years. Search around for one of these - it's worth paying the extra money for something this good.

it's analog with five pots, so there is no problem. it has a true bypass, so you can use it in any effects line. i have no manual, but i don't need one. for minor inconveniances see under reliability.

ibanez telecaster thinline special custom (humbuckers!) -> Marshall Drive Master -> Marshall Shred Master -> Jacques Fuseblower 2 -> Yamaha G50-112II
i tested at home at living room level in direct comparison with my other overdrive/distortion boxes named above.
the shredmaster is not noisy, as long as you keep gain below 3 o'clock. At that setting and both treble and bass at max and contour control at about 9 to 10 you get a nice "fat" overdrive sound with very good sustain, near to early 70s blues/hard rock, e.g. Humble Pie on Performance. as compared to the drive master the shred master doesn't have much more gain, as long as you keep out of the noisy zone. the sound of both of them is very similar, but the shred master sounds to me in my setting a little bit closer to a tube overdrive than the drive master. the difference is hard to describe and subjective. there are two major differences: 1. the drive master has far more treble amplification giving distorted overtones ("fuzz"). Because I usually don't need that, i keep its treble pot at about 10 - 11 at max gain. 2. the drive master has more overall gain. Keeping volume at the same level as bypass means about 2 with the shred master, but only 9 with the drive master. it is possible that some of this differences are due to variability of production and another pair of boxes might yield slightly different results.
as a last test i tried to emulate that nice vintage sound of the shred master with the very versatile fuseblower 2. it was not possible! in order to obtain a sustain equal to both the drive and shred master i had to crank up the "fuzz" control to at least 10, thus giving the sound some additional overtones and harshness.
So overall: the shred master is an overdrive pedal with a very good vintage sound. you should not consider it a distortion box, and i did not get the point, some people think of it as "metal". i would prefer other pedals for that.

it is marshall. you can use it without any backup on stage. a minor drawback of all marshall pedals of that generation are the pots that draw dirt. it is easy to clean the outer 4 with contact spray, but the contour in the middle is a little difficult to reach, as it is hidden under the electronics.

never dealt with them

i have been playing blues to hard rock for 30 years now. so i like the sounds of the 70s a lot. the shred master is an ideal pedal for that. yes, it is a one sound pedal, but that it is great in! i hope it will last as long, as my other equipment, i. e. at least 25 years. if it got lost, i certainly would look for another one at a reasonable price. so this is where my advice for those looking for an overdrive comes: if you are not exactly sure what you are looking for, you might as well consider the drive master. try to test both of them in the same setting. i'm certain, that not all of you will prefer the shred master to the drive master, as this a question of personal taste with two boxes very close to one another.

Its very easy to use: five knobs = gain, bass, countour, treble, volume. For the first couple of days you'll think this thing is impossible to get a good noise out of, then you'll hit a couple of settings and never want to turn it off. Personally, its quite hard to get a really good sound, but its worth fiddling and finding that right sound.

Setup = 69' Telecaster Thinline reissue (about 2000) -> Shredmaster -> very old modded flanger -> Boss DD-6 -> Marshall Valvestate I 100W.

Its total bypass when the pedal is not on, so it adds no noise to the chain. The gain knob is pretty insensitive between the bottom to middle of its range, making the pedal act more like an EQ than anything. The higher gain settings are rich and full, and don't kill the bottom end like the Boss DS-1 and DS-2 seem to do. Its great for getting angry, angular sounds, like Fugazi or certain Radiohead songs (Creep, The Bends, Electioneering) with midrange gain. The countour knob is pretty useless, at the bottom end of its range it kills all the topend of the sound, and at the high end of its range it just makes a bassy hiss. You can get a good "wall of noise" out of it if you really crank it - akin to a Deftones or a loud Mogwai guitar part. Personally this thing is my only distortion, and I tend to use Gain = 9, Bass = 10, Countour = 5, Treble = 8, Volume = 5. This gives me the Mogwai grinding distortion and keeps all the tone of the Thinline.
Its a combination of the Marshall amp with the Shredmaster that seems to work the best, don't ask me why.

Its made of what appears to be sheet metal, and my only backup is the poor overdrive on the Valvestate.

Again, I don't think its likely to break any time soon.

I play mainly post-rock and math-rock. I've been playing about 5-6 years, live for about 4. I've owned a few distortions over the year, but this is my favourite by miles. Nothing else comes close to the wall you can make; get off stage and listen to it through a PA and it sounds incredible, not hissy or tinny like some distortions do.
For the simple fact that I can stomp on it and instantly turn the gentle, flowing part of my post-rock stuff into the hard, heavy part, I give it a 9.

I don't remeber , but I believe it was pretty much easy to use. the complains are about other thangs

All right , past gear review advertisement: I owned this pedal for ONE DAY UR 2 ( I swear ) of 1996 and I do not know what happened. I tried it on the guitar store, sounded OK, good ( altought not that fantastic, but good ) distortion. Then I bought and was pretty happy " hey I have a Marshall Pedal, wow " . Then I plugged it with my guitar on my (then ) crappy amp, and all the " wonderful " distortions and high gain guitar sounds just dissapeared. I tought that I wasn't using it correctly, but then I adjusted the gain on the maximum and nothing happened, still mild distortion that wouldn't be useful even for alternative stuff. So , after being HUGHELY dissapointed by this PIECE OF SHIT I traded it the other day for another really CRAP pedal, but this one was even worse. I don't know why it sounded so great on the store tho. my guitar was functioning 100 % and I assum that the pedal was not broken.

THIAS PEDAL IS A PIECE OF FECAL MATTER HOW CAN IT BE RELIABLE ?

THIS IS PROBABLY THE WORST PIECE OF GEAR I HAVE EVER OWNED AND THANKFULLY , IT WAS JUST 1 DAY OR 2 BACK IN 1996. I think that it sounded so bad that maybe this pedal was actually damaged from factory. I don't know. maybe I am criticizing a good pedal that happened to come with factory defects when I bought it. ALL I KNOW IS THAT IT SOUNDED LIKE A WORTHLESS PIECE OF JUNK.