MusicRadar Verdict
Vintage Marshall flavour in a stompbox.
Pros
- +
Captures the Marshall flavour. Excellent build.
Cons
- -
Lacks the versatility and therefore value for money of some other Wampler pedals. But we're nit-picking...
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The amp-in-a-box genre is something that Wampler has specialised in with a range of individual pedals channelling Fender, Vox and Marshall sounds, as well as a couple of boutique US amps. The Plexi-Drive is designed to be a Marshall in a box, part of the Heritage Series along with AC30 and both 'blackface' and Tweed Fenders.
"Classic rock tones are delivered with ease as you turn up the wick"
Controls-wise, you get gain, volume and tone knobs to dial in the variations, plus a switchable bass boost, designed to deliver the heft of a 4x12 pushing air.
Wampler says this sits somewhere between a JTM45 and an 18-watt model, and that vintage Marshall tonal flavour and crunch is certainly apparent. Classic rock tones are delivered with ease as you turn up the wick, but there's also a range of lower-gain overdrive that doesn't immediately scream the 'M' word.
If you don't have a Marshall stack but want to give your amp that sort of voice, or you want to run a Marshall quieter while retaining the tone, try it out.
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