mi audio crunch box is it any good or ideas for somthing similar but better

[roland_rat]

Hi,

Im thinking about geting a Mi audio crunch box.   Have  not tryed one out yet but the demo's I have heard it sounds promising and resonabily priced.  Does any one have any other suggestions for a pedal for a  fat marshall type distortion.  I have thought about the ZVEX box of rock though at the moment im edgeing for the crunch box.  Yours ideas will be most appreciated especially since I cannot find a  stockist of the crunch box anywhere local.  The pedal will be used with both maiinly  humbucklers though the odd tele will be used to.


Cheers Guys

[Dazza1004]

Just got mine, really like it.

It sounded a bit fizzy at home but wound-up through the boogie it sounded great, as you would expect, really crunchy and open. I am using as a proper distortion device, not a boost.

Recommended

[Mark66]

I got a box of rock a few weeks ago. Really can't fault it, they describe it as a JTM45 with everything on 10
& that's pretty much what it is. Great if you can live without high gain, this is Marshall crunch. Not tried a
crunch box, but heard good reports about them (cheaper than BOR too).

[Twinfan]

I've got or had a Crunch Box and a BoR.  They're quite different pedals:

BoR - JTM45 style, loose bass, crunchy overdrive, fatter tone
Crunch Box - JCM800 style, tighter sound, lots of heavy gain distortion, thinner tone

Other pedals you might want to consider are the Marshall Guv'nor or DriveMaster (very similar to each other, and similar to a Crunch Box but with a 3-band EQ).  The Rothwell Audio pedals are nice too but sound quite modern rather than vintage Marshall as they're quite smooth.  The Blackstar pedals fit the bill too.

[roland_rat]

Hi thanks for the info. I think im going for the crunch box.

Cheers


Gareth

[CUBE]

the CB is a cool high gain marshall pedal ,, and the BOR is old school overdrive..
i had a crunchbox .. but got rid of it for the lovepedal purpleplexi 800

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPuOmPqwqIE

and the crunch box demo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTdoq7FmLhQ

[mikey5]

the CB is a cool high gain marshall pedal ,, and the BOR is old school overdrive..
i had a crunchbox .. but got rid of it for the lovepedal purpleplexi 800

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPuOmPqwqIE

and the crunch box demo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTdoq7FmLhQ

Hey man tell me about that pedal I have heard tons of good stuff about it. I have an Boss MT2 pedal and I think I want something a little better sounding.  So sorry I was referring to the Purple Plexi 800

[roland_rat]

Hi,

Not a lot I can tell you about the pedals.  Some of the guys have posted some great advice for me.  Unfortunatly there is no where close that stocks the crunch box, so it looking like im going to take a bit of a punt on it.   Hope there advice helps  and you get sorted.

[mikey5]

Hows the purple plexi?

[HTH AMPS]

that purple plexi pedal sounded very transistory in the clip - does it really sound like that?

imo, the Crunchbox owned it.

the Blues Boy Deluxe and Tube Zone pedals were also very nice.

[gwEm]

can't really go wrong with the crunch box... no one could buy it and claimed they've been robbed.

[CUBE]

Hows the purple plexi?

 the purple plexi sounds similar too the crunch box but more amp like and better feel over all the crunch box was too compressed  and not open enough,, i have had both and sold the crunch box

[hamfist]

I have owned :-

BoR
Crunch Box
Menatone King of the Britains
Indyguitarist/Wampler Plexidrive
CMATMODS Brownie

Of these, the BoR was definately king of the lower gain, Jtm45-type tones.

  The Brownie is a superb, uncannily close, emulation of an early-70's metal-panel Superlead.

 The Crunch box didn't sound anything like the Jcm800 I owned. the CB had far less mids, was far more compressed and generally sounded much more like JCM900's that I have heard (never owned one though).
  I have not yet heard a good JCM800 emulating pedal. The Lovepedal Purple Plexi 800 is the closest I've heard in clips so far.

 The KotB always seemed to have a harshness to it in the very upper mids, that I could never dial out. I was actually very disappointed with it, considering how much it cost.
 The Plexidrive was also a very disappointing pedal for me.

Other pedals I have owned which can produce some Marshall-type tones are :-

HT Dual
HT Dist
OCD
Jackhammer
Guvnor

These are all good pedals, but not at close to true Marshall tones as the earlier pedals I mentioned. And having owned Jtm45, 50W Plexi, and Jcm800's in the past, I do have a reference point to compare to.

[hunter]

I have several overdrives:

Of the ones discussed here I own the MI Crunch Box and the BOR. As described before, the BOR is for old school rock, the Crunch Box is two gears up. I love it as it plays easy and sounds very transparent and open. If you have an amp that is lacking bottom, I wouldn't recommend it though. It's great for tightening up a rather full sounding, crunchy amp.

If your amp is on the thinner side, I recommend a Fulltone OCD, it's a great overdrive, very thick and amp like dynamic. Actually I'm planning on selling all my pedals soon *hint hint

[roland_rat]

Hi,

Thank everyone for your input.  Sorry for the late reply.

Hunter have been very tempted at your crunch box. That said my car got written off after someone crashed into it while it was parked up. So for the moment cash is somewhat tight.  Im holding off buying anything until I get a new car sorted.  If you still have themafter that i may well be intrested.

Cheers

Gareth