Author Topic: Van Halen in a small box! (Read 5606 times)

yannroman · « **on:** August 15, 2006, 12:37:19 AM »

Hey! For a VH type plexi sound with HUGE amount of drive and sustain try out a MI Audio Crunch box. Really impressive on a clean amp! I've never found that particular sound in a stompbox before, never searched really, but I own many boutique od/dist/fuzz on the market and this one is alone in its category, IMO. They're cheap also.

Any Crunchbox (or VH) lovers? :drink:

Bainzy · « **Reply #1 on:** August 15, 2006, 01:21:37 AM »

Don't forget the VHII pickups! :mrgreen:

_tom_ · « **Reply #2 on:** August 15, 2006, 08:36:10 PM »

I've been listening to those Crunch Box clips and it sounds really REALLY good! Would you say it can do lower gain Marshally tones such as Page's on the Song Remains the Same dvd, or maybe some Thin Lizzy?

Do you have any clips of yourself playing with it?

LiamH · « **Reply #3 on:** August 15, 2006, 08:57:00 PM »

Thanks for the tip. I just listened to the clips too - really nice. Shame there is no UK distributor.

I wonder if there is a market for a online seller of boutique guitar stuff from around the world.....hmmmm

yannroman · « **Reply #4 on:** August 15, 2006, 09:13:40 PM »

You can find it on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1-AUTHORIZED-DEALER-MI-Audio-Crunch-Box_W0QQitemZ130016309166QQihZ003QQcategoryZ41416QQssPageNameZWD2VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

These are v.2 which is the model I'm talking about, just perfect! It has slight improvements over v.1 such as a brightness internal trim pot (very usefull for matching it to your setup), unity level, and improved bass response (v.1 could be muddy at times), it took me a slight adjustment on the internal control to find my sweetspot and now it's voiced perfectly, great midrange very plexi-like. I'm not sure it has the Jimmy Page tone, supposedly you have a Les Paul with Black dogs ;) because it's intended to be high gain, drive control even at noon will provide a heavier gain than Page uses, back it off to 9:00 and it's still a cooking plexi. You won't be that far but I believe an OCD will get you much closer.

hunter · « **Reply #5 on:** August 15, 2006, 09:18:29 PM »

Sounds cool! I'm going to visit the distributor here tomorrow anyway, maybe I'll have to GAS again :)

yannroman · « **Reply #6 on:** August 15, 2006, 09:25:58 PM »

Oh, and I forgot: I'm sure you can dial in some great Thin Lizzy tones with the Crunch Box, since it basically delivers high gain plexi sounds on any clean amp. With a set of Emeralds on your favourite Lester you'd be on the spot!
Once again, a great tool if you want to use your favourite EL84 or 6L6 vintage amp for what they do best, and still be able to sound Marshall heavy rock convincingly. :twisted:

yannroman · « **Reply #7 on:** August 15, 2006, 09:29:09 PM »

Hunter, I didn't notice you were from Brussells (Bruxelles!), I'm from Paris and got mine here:

http://www.haarguitars.nl/test/Index2.htm

Good service and fast shipping, they just received a batch of new crunch box and sell them fast...

hunter · « **Reply #8 on:** August 15, 2006, 09:46:54 PM »

Well guess where I'm going tomorrow anyway:)

Erik van der Haar is really a cool guy and he builds awesome guitars. I have to get one of his strats/teles soon !

Kilby · « **Reply #9 on:** August 15, 2006, 10:01:53 PM »

The if you have difficulty getting one of those you could try the BSAIB (Brown Sound In A Box) which is up to version 3 and seem to be pretty well liked.

You can either self build (scratch or kit) and ready built units are available.

Theres some examples at the link below, but there are better ones hanging around on the web if you google it.

http://generalguitargadgets.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=198&Itemid=223

and another one here http://www.charlielamm.com/gear/

Rob...

_tom_ · « **Reply #10 on:** August 15, 2006, 10:09:49 PM »

Quote from: hunter

Sounds cool! I'm going to visit the distributor here tomorrow anyway, maybe I'll have to GAS again :)

Test out all the MI pedals for us and give a review when you get back :P

yannroman, I have Mules, not Black Dogs. Good to know you can get nice Thin Lizzy tones from it! I'm guessing its just the thing for Whitesnake/Motley Crue/GnR as well?

I hate getting gas, I only have about £20 in my bank account right now :lol:

yannroman · « **Reply #11 on:** August 15, 2006, 10:45:14 PM »

With this pedal you can get pretty close to a modded plexi Marshall, hence the VH brown sound comparisons. You won't be far from all those 80s 90s tones neither, depending on your basic setup.

_tom_ · « **Reply #12 on:** August 15, 2006, 10:48:23 PM »

Well I'd be running into a semi-clean Fender Hot Rod deluxe which has a pretty nice clean channel so I'd assume a great overdrive would sound good ontop of that

yannroman · « **Reply #13 on:** August 15, 2006, 10:58:35 PM »

I tought informative to add that the Crunch box does not perform so well as a booster. It has plenty of headroom, don't get me wrong, it's loud as hell when maxed (unity slightly under noon on v.2), but since it colors your sound, it's not a consensual "booster" for those who want to add dirt to their basic crunch sound.
It does wonders on a clean amp, incredible sustain and harmonics, you can have "over the top" ala Yngwie type amount of gain, with great definition, try it with your trilogy equiped strat!

yannroman · « **Reply #14 on:** August 15, 2006, 11:03:30 PM »

I mostly run it on a Dr.Z MAZ18 NR head with Bogner 2x12 cab (V30), this amp has a lot of Fender character by itself so Running it into your Fender will be great. It is dedicated to a good clean amp, so Fenders are perfect!