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After reading several reviews I had to try one out. If you are looking for Marshally tones than this ain't a bad choice as to my ears you can get very close to a JCM 900 type sound from it. The clipping diodes seem to add in some compression to the sound. That's fine provided you are running your amp at a low gain/volume and letting the crunchbox do the dirty work. My only complaint is that the extra compression in the mix does not fare well if you like to use your neck pickup and roll back all the way on your guitar's tone knob. Compared to my #1 distortion the Crunch Box sounded like someone threw a wet blanket over my amp. The sound was very dark and muffled. Being that is one of my favorite tones I decided not to put this pedal on my board but I'm still going to keep it as I may find use for it later. For practice I use a Fender Frontman 25R amp which has a gain channel that uses a very similar circuit with two LED clipping diodes. So with both gig rig and practice amp already covered I'm probably not going to use it much. Build quality is top notch and what I'd expect from MI Audio. Fun to open the back while still connected and hit a power chord to watch the juice light up those clipper LED's. I suspect this pedal would be perfect for those who have an American-voiced amp and occasionally would like to have that Marshall sound without having to buy one. Since my amps are nearly all British-voiced so it's kind of redundant for me since I already can get that sound even on my little Frontman. I would love to try this on a Fender blackface amp as I suspect it would be a good match. If that's you this may be worth looking into but if you already have 5 Marshall amps like someone I know than you may want to pass and get a SansAmp blonde so your Plexi can get a Fender amp sound.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This Crunch Lab v1 pedal is the greatest distortion pedal i have ever used. i have owned almost all and tried them all, made my own from scratch.....I am an amp repair shop owner and have built a lot of gear. I dont know about the other versions of this pedal.....but i got the first gen and its super killer!!! cleans up very well when rolling volume back on the guitar too...but full 10 on the guitar and you are in TONE HEAVEN! i use this thru a 1965 bandmaster head with a marshall 4x10 cab and les pauls. this pedal needs ZERO mods. smooth beautiful distortion with tons of sustain. this pedal blows the doors off of every distortion pedal i have ever used...every brand name is mud compared to what this little thing brings. trust me.....it sounds clear, smooth, creamy, saturated, articulate, harmonics, sustain....its all there 100% the best. i truly believe this is the very best distortion pedal ever made.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I was looking for a distortion pedal with amp comparable quality's and this is the pedal I settled on. It was promoted as being a Marshall in a box. Well, it's not, it would need vacuum tubes and an output transformer to accomplish that. But it is what I was mostly looking for in a distortion pedal. Nice even harmonics and clarity with more distortion than what I would normally use. I have the version 2 without the presence knob that came later with the ver.3, and I certainly can see where that would have been a great option, although this works fine for what I initially had in mind. Now where this pedal is praise worthy is that it SOUNDS HUGE. Now if that is what was meant by referring to it as sounding like a Marshall then I would agree. This is a real nice addition to go along with my OD pedals.Read full review
Great little distortion box. What makes it usable is the internal trimpot , able to tailor it to my liking.. Only downside is that thereally wasn't a box or instructions, but no bigee
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Was looking for a distortion stopmbox honestly treating any particular guitar but having more-than-enough gain. MI Audio Crunch Box (ver. III) has it all. It can be very delicate when you roll off guitar volume, it can also pierce any mix when you need it. Best in front of good tube amp. Never regret since the day of purchase and never will. It is not that typical nasal midrangey sound of a cheapo dist, but full-bodied, rich of harmonics sound of a noble guitar device. Bought it in a heartbeat after watching demo at MI website. Will buy another immediately if this one will be lost or stolen (unlikely, though. I keep my eye on it!) BTW, my stompbox (Ver. III, that's it) most probably was the first one to come to Russia (very few Ver.I, too). Vladimir
if you want a pedal that you can play from blues to hard rock, the Crucnh Box is undoubtedly your best choice. With a killer tone and power of a sizzling Marshall, the Crunch is a great pedal for any guitarist. With the possibility of different settings in the control volume, gain, treble and more, with a present internal control (via an internal potentiometer), the Crunch Box can be considered one of the most versatile and hit pedals sold today. Enjoy..
Built well. Great 70's rock/hard rock tone, like a Marshall. Not very versatile. Has a lot of mids (which I'm not fond of). It has one of the best classic rock tones, which is great for the music my band plays. I'm overall pleased with the product, I just wish it was a bit more versatile.
I've been playing since 1978. Put simply, The MI Audio Crunch Box (version 2) gives Marshall Jubilee tones in a stomp box. Best sounding LED clipping distortion pedal I've ever used. Once you get the internal trim adjust how you like it, you're on your way!
quite simply the best overdriven tone in a stomp box period!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I bought this pedal because I wanted to create a marshall type distortion; overall, very happy with the pedal.