Amazon Basics Compressor Guitar Pedal, Fully Analog Circuit, Silver

I'm here reviewing this because of Josh Scott of JHS pedals. In a recent (Mar 2022) JHS video on YT about classic Marshall pedals (search for 'Marshall's Greatest Pedals'), he held up the AmazonBasics Distortion in a segment about clone pedals of the v1 Marshall Guv'nor pedal--he then made a lame joke about Jeff Bezos and quickly put the pedal away.It's an interesting suggestion--that this pedal may be a clone of an original Marshall Guv'nor--although he didn't exactly come right out and say it.I know the early Marshall pedals have a solid reputation. Much of the interest in OG Marshall pedals came from the fact that John Mayer had a v1 Marshall Bluesbreaker on his pedal board in the Continuum era. That set off a feverish market for Bluesbreakers that continues to this day.The Bluesbreaker wasn't the only Marshall pedal made notable by a famous player--Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood used a v1 Marshall Shredmaster on his pedal board in the mid to late 90s, and Gary Moore used a v1 Guv'nor through a Marshall full stack as far back as 1990.Anyone who really knows about the v1 Marshall Guv'nor knows that it's recognized as the first 'Marshall in a box' pedal--a pedal trying to emulate the sound of classic Marshall amplifiers--and it forever changed the course of the guitar pedal industry.The sad thing is, Marshall discontinued that original pedal line many years ago, and since then, the company has made no efforts to reintroduce the original circuits to the market. The v2 Guv'nor pedal has been around much longer than its predecessor, although most observers view the v2 Guv'nor as lesser to the original.That's why this particular pedal is very interesting--what if it's a clone of an original Marshall Guv'nor circuit? If it's faithful to the original, the AmazonBasics Distortion would be a very cool pedal indeed.At this price, there was no reason for me to put off the purchase--it's an absolute no-brainer. Ethically it's justifiable, as well--it's not ripping off any company's trademarks, and Marshall doesn't even produce the circuit anymore.The real proof is in the pudding--how does this pedal sound? My expectations were very low. I was more than ready for the possibility that this cheap pedal was going to suck really hard.But the fact is, the pedal is honestly quite good. It does do a range of Marshall-style sounds, from JTM to something of a JMP and even a variation of a JCM. The voicing of the pedal is very well chosen--it's a really good crunch sound that will do a lot of kinds of hard rock and classic rock. The EQ is also well done--it's not too middy, and it has enough bass and plenty of treble on tap.I'm really enjoying this pedal. In fact, I'm having trouble finding something the pedal doesn't do at least pretty well. Even at maximum gain, it's a reasonably tolerable and even usable sound.For me it's money well spent. Even with all the 'Marshall in a box' pedals I own, the AmazonBasics Distortion has earned a rightful place in my collection. I am amazed.The only thing left is to learn more about the original Marshall Guv'nor pedal and find out just how close this pedal really is to that legendary sound. Whether it's spot on to a v1 Guv'nor isn't even necessary--this is a good Marshall style pedal, and I'm happy I got it. Thanks to Josh Scott for his offhanded recommendation.

This is by far the best distortion pedal you will find in the price range and in my opinion it can even outperform some pedals that ask for a higher price. If you're just starting to put together a pedal effects array on a limited budget it's the way to go because it does it's job very well and saves you money for other pedals to round out the effects chain and those other pedals, like a compressor and a 3 notch EQ, will further enhance this pedal's quality. Is this a great pedal? No... after having the budget to afford S tier equipment you won't be using it because it simply doesn't have the frequency response, contouring, and propogation that hits the ultimate sweet spot when you're playing with distortion... but then again do any solid state products really hit the spot? The debate continues I guess. I also find that getting the sound you like the best from this pedal has a lot to do with where you use it in your effects chain, but this also varies. With certain riffs, it sounds better to me before a compressor and for others it's better after compression, so if you've got at least one pedal already or are buying a starter set of pedals, make sure to test this out at every stage of the effect chain. Also, this pedal has a true pass-through bypass that goes directly from input to output, so your clean sound will be pristine and unaffected by the impedance and high-pass or low-pass filtering caused by being coupled to capacitive and inductive passive components. If you're broke and the built in boost on your amp is a disappointment, and lets be honest... they're all disappointing if they're affordable, BUY THIS PEDAL because it plays like a pedal in the $100 tier.

I had a bit of hesitation buying this mini compressor but for the little bit of $ it cost vs a boss or comparable unit it was worth a gamble. Happy to report this little unit does pretty much what any compressor does to your guitar tone. I use it with a drive pedal to add more punch and clarity to solos. You can dial in a perfect setting by just experimenting with the mix of level, attack, and sustain controls. The tiny footprint on my crowded pedalboard is also a big plus! Is it as good as a Keeley? Would I use it for recording? No. Does it do the job for rehearsals or a club gig? Absolutely!

great crunchy overdrive sound. The knobs let you dial in a fair bit of "tone" and "volume," which color the sound.The lowest setting gives a really naturally overdriven sound. Lots of mid-tone clarity - zero muddiness. when cranked to the max, the gain results in a smoother distorted tone. So, there's lots of range here in this pedal.I keep the gain on a pretty low setting and use it as a "light" distortion pedal for crunchy rhythm stuff. Alone, at lower settings, t's probably not enough distortion to make the guitar "sing" on a lead part. But I pair it with a distortion pedal that can be activated for beefy power chord stuff and lead lines.I find that, when paired with a nice distortion, it can add back some of the definition lost when using distortion alone. The gain re-introduces some of that mid-tone texture lost in a smoothly overdriven guitar sound. So, when paired with a distortion pedal, even without changing a single knob, you can get 3 different tones and a pretty wide range of tone/distortion levels that'll satisfy most users.On this pedal specifically, it's well built. The green color is a pretty good match to the Ibanez Tube Screamer (which this is based off of). The switch is nice and soft (no hard click). The knobs seem well built. They are plenty big and the action on turning the knobs feels smooth (not overly loose or tight).