Marshall The Guv’nor
MARSHALL THE GUV’NOR
By Dave Thompson
Features
Another extremely simple design as you can see:
5 knobs controlling Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, Level and a solid pressed steel construction made this a favourite for many players on it’s release and not simply because of it’s extreme reliability.
This thing absolutely delivered the Marshall tone in a box with a lot of tonal variety and being the first release of a thoroughbred Marshall pedal there was a commensurate surge of attention at the time. The controls themselves offer a wide range of response in both frequency, gain and volume which of course means that the unit itself is capable of producing a wide range of tones without a great deal of experimentation being necessary.
Rear Panel and Inputs:
INPUT JACK
LOOP JACK – The FX loop output allows linking to to other pedals using an optional “Y” cable, with the Guv’nor acting as the master switch for the whole effects chain.
MAINS ADAPTOR – Input for a 9 volt DC mains adaptor.
OUTPUT JACK – For the connection of the cable from the pedal to the amplifier input socket.
Sounds
I’ve used this pedal in two modes – both to form the foundation of a rock tone through a JCM900 (switching in the lead channel on the amp to take me into solo mode) and also to boost the front end of an amp whilst providing some flexibility in the EQ section (Laney AOR30 and the same JCM900 running distorted rhythm tones). Now in either case the pedal worked extremely well but as with other pedals of the era it was neither true bypass, or transparent. Of course with all things Marshall you know what you’re going to get and if you want those tones this pedal with “Marshallificate” any quality tube amp. On the one hand you could go from mildly overdriven SRV and Jimi style tones, through to Gary Moore “Empty Rooms” and ending up somewhere close to the classic Metallica/Testament thrash tones of the day.
Overall
I owned this pedal from around ‘89 to ‘92 and as such I’m only familiar with the “classic” version of the pedal. Some time around the early 90’s Marshall actually reintroduced this pedal with an updated fascia and electronics but sadly the tone was not as good in many people’s opinion (The GV2 has more distortion and a better EQ section but the basic tone never sounded as convincing to me). If you can find one of the older models, then those are well worth purchasing. The new models sound quite fizzy in comparison but can be made to produce the goods with some careful EQing.
As with many pedals of the day it can be quite noisy when cranked significantly but it’s not noisy enough to be problematic.
Rating
For the day I firmly believe this was the best Distortion/Overdrive available and as such would have awarded it a 10/10. Unlike the RAT this is not a pedal that has been left behind by technology and it is as capable of driving the front panel of an amp into smooth, singing overdrive or providing the foundation of a classic rock tone as it ever was so 8/10.
The Guv’nor version 2 can be bought at various dealers around the world. The original often pops up on internet auction sites.
http://www.marshallamps.com
Sources: www.marshallamps.com
