Another small but powerful unit from Marshall. Just like the Echohead delay unit, this pedal is capable of expanding your guitar sound beyond what you would expect from a single stomp-box as it offers six different types of modulation effects which makes it effectively a modulation multieffect. Four knobs add to simplicity, two outputs give you a choice between instant termination of the effect when the pedal is turned off (output 1 – the passive bypass circuit which disconnects the output of the effects circuit when not operating) or a spill-over circuit (output 2 – the effect is allowed to rapidly decay over a further playing). Two inputs also mean that you can operate in mono or stereo mode (which is great if you play through two amplifiers). Plus Marshall Regenerator looks cool with its retro/modern design.
The first knob is a MODE knob and offers six modulation effects: Vintage Chorus, Multi Chorus, Vintage Flanger, Phaser, Step Phaser and Vintage Vibe.
SPEED controls the speed of modulation from slow to very fast sweeps and DEPTH controls the amount of modulation, while REGEN (regeneration) controls the level of regeneration which is the amount of effect sent back to the input. Mind that there is no idling in use of these three knobs. A small twist affects the tone and they are interactive as well.
Now about the sounds:
Vintage Chorus is just what it says, a modulate and very pleasing and transparent chorus that go from mild and mellow to pretty speedy and intense yet with a vintage vibe. It is transparent enough to let all the nuances and playing dynamics go through. Setting the speed at around 11 o’clock, depth at 2 and regen at 1 o’clock takes you on a pleasant sail. Set all three knobs at 1 o’clock and you create pleasant waves of cleanish sounds, great for Pink Floyd type of stuff. Turn the speed past 3 o’clock with other two knobs as above and your tones start to shimmer. This mode alone is extremely versatile and offers variety of moods.
Multi Chorus is an ensemble chorus and is capable of producing simple sweeps(speed 9-11 oclock, depth 10-12 and regen 8-11) to complex ensemble sounds (all controls past 12 o clock). As you turn the depth and regen clockwise you get very thick sounds like using the multiple chorus effects. This mode is great for some more ambiental stuff (King Crimson, Mike Stern) and Andy Summers/Police sounds. I think of this mode as of successful recreation of the chorus from the legendary Roland JC 120 Jazz Chorus amp.
Vintage Flanger is a pleasing and natural flanger, not designed to go over the top (unless turn up the regen fully clockwise) but rather slightly detune your tone to add beautiful color. If you are into Van Halen type of sound this is pretty good for enhancing distorted solos.
Phaser is very fluid and very transparent. Not over the top but with the vintage vibe. Compared to Boss PH3 (that I already reviewed in one of my previous posts) it is much more transparent and and brighter sounding. The waves that swirl around your tone in this mode make your chords sound very pleasant.
Step Phaser is nice for creating some unusual spacy and even synthlike sounds playing a single note or a slow chord progression. Other than that it is not very playable. Could be nice for some funky rhythm patterns but it is rather hard to tame. Compared to Boss step phaser it is far less useful because you can not tweak it with such precision. If you hook this mode with a delay you can get even more intense spacy/sinth weirdness that don’t have much to do with the usual guitar sound but are fun and great to experiment with. Just be sure to match the speed of the step phaser and delay time accurately.
Vintage Vibe is an attempt to recreate uni-vibe or a rotating leslie speaker. Well you need to turn all controls past 2 oclock for this effect to come to life. It is not the best uni-vibe emulation I have heard but don’t get me wrong, it is still very useful and pleasant. Of course when pushed the Jimi Hendrix guitar sound is the first thing that will cross your mind. Great for soulful feeling of Little Wing or hypnotic bouncing rhythm of Machine Gun. But at lower setting it acts like a third chorus mode with a unique voicing. It is also little brighter sounding than some other uni-vibe/roto-machine pedals.
The bottom line is: you will not get bored with this pedal easily. It offers a lot, doesn’t cost a fortune and I highly recommend it. Hook it with an Echohead delay and you will be equipped with most sounds you will ever need.
Review by
Fila, June 2, 2010
Pretty much all is said. Sound quality gets 4 stars because it is not up to some top of the line multieffects, but not far from them either. Ease of us also gets a 4 because of the silver knob problem I allready explained in my Marshall Echohead comment. Other than that the use doesnt get any easier.