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nickname009
Published on 08/29/11 at 20:17
12ax7 equipped tube distortion
clean, rhythm and lead in one pedal
insert loop for effects on lead channel
true bypass
This is the plexitube. Radial's take on what a marshall plexi sounds like.
Features are quite good. Although the controls are shared making it more like 1 and a half channels as opposed to 2 completely separate channels.
Individual controls: Level, Voicing, Contour, midboost switch.
Shared controls: Drive (although drive 2 is adjustable on the side), Low, High, Top end.
UTILIZATION
Most of the controls are active, meaning they are sensitive, even with the slightest turn, can make a huge amount of tonal changes and all controls interact with each other of course.
The FX loop is a cool one, just like the trimode, allows you to hook up effects to the lead channel like a delay for your solos so when you kick that channel in the delay will come in at the same time and there's your lead tone!
The mid switches are specific frequencies which are listed in the manual, so you'd have to refer to it to get more detail on exactly what's happening with the midrange.
I don't know why Radial keeps advertising this pedals as 3 channels with a clean. It's a distortion pedal and the clean is the bypass, so it's not the pedal giving you the clean channel.
SOUND QUALITY
First of all, this does not sound like a plexi to me whatsoever. It sounds just like a good distortion pedal with a sort of vintage vibe to it. Although most of the tone to me is still a bit too bite and harsh, and sometimes shrill. The highs, even when tweaked are still shrill. There is this annoying piercing high end that I keep hearing even with the highs rolled down and the EQ tweaked properly I can't seem to get rid of it. I believe it's just part of the sound of the pedal.
It's a tight sounding pedal however, very clear and the distortion is very stiff, too stiff. That tube amp sag and saturation that I'm used to hearing is definitely not there. The plexitube is definitely designed to go with a tube amp to try to compensate for the shrill high end that it has. Pair this up with a solidstate amp and you're in trouble!
So I feel bad to say that I'm not happy with the sounds of this pedal! It's falsely advertised and sounds nothing like a plexi, and it's got this annoying fizzy high end I can't get rid of either. The vintage amp sag is not there either.
OVERALL OPINION
Overall I'm not impressed with this one. I'm not sure if I got a lemon? But I doubt it, most radial stuff has always been great build quality-wise. But I guess I'm just not into this pedal as I originally thought I would be. It's definitely got enough gain to do metal but it doesn't sound like a plexi and is not 3 channels either. It's 1 and a half channels of marshall-esque distortion. I'm glad I sold this and would look elsewhere for a plexi sound in a box, so far nothing sounds as close to a plexi than a carl martin plexitone to my ears.
clean, rhythm and lead in one pedal
insert loop for effects on lead channel
true bypass
This is the plexitube. Radial's take on what a marshall plexi sounds like.
Features are quite good. Although the controls are shared making it more like 1 and a half channels as opposed to 2 completely separate channels.
Individual controls: Level, Voicing, Contour, midboost switch.
Shared controls: Drive (although drive 2 is adjustable on the side), Low, High, Top end.
UTILIZATION
Most of the controls are active, meaning they are sensitive, even with the slightest turn, can make a huge amount of tonal changes and all controls interact with each other of course.
The FX loop is a cool one, just like the trimode, allows you to hook up effects to the lead channel like a delay for your solos so when you kick that channel in the delay will come in at the same time and there's your lead tone!
The mid switches are specific frequencies which are listed in the manual, so you'd have to refer to it to get more detail on exactly what's happening with the midrange.
I don't know why Radial keeps advertising this pedals as 3 channels with a clean. It's a distortion pedal and the clean is the bypass, so it's not the pedal giving you the clean channel.
SOUND QUALITY
First of all, this does not sound like a plexi to me whatsoever. It sounds just like a good distortion pedal with a sort of vintage vibe to it. Although most of the tone to me is still a bit too bite and harsh, and sometimes shrill. The highs, even when tweaked are still shrill. There is this annoying piercing high end that I keep hearing even with the highs rolled down and the EQ tweaked properly I can't seem to get rid of it. I believe it's just part of the sound of the pedal.
It's a tight sounding pedal however, very clear and the distortion is very stiff, too stiff. That tube amp sag and saturation that I'm used to hearing is definitely not there. The plexitube is definitely designed to go with a tube amp to try to compensate for the shrill high end that it has. Pair this up with a solidstate amp and you're in trouble!
So I feel bad to say that I'm not happy with the sounds of this pedal! It's falsely advertised and sounds nothing like a plexi, and it's got this annoying fizzy high end I can't get rid of either. The vintage amp sag is not there either.
OVERALL OPINION
Overall I'm not impressed with this one. I'm not sure if I got a lemon? But I doubt it, most radial stuff has always been great build quality-wise. But I guess I'm just not into this pedal as I originally thought I would be. It's definitely got enough gain to do metal but it doesn't sound like a plexi and is not 3 channels either. It's 1 and a half channels of marshall-esque distortion. I'm glad I sold this and would look elsewhere for a plexi sound in a box, so far nothing sounds as close to a plexi than a carl martin plexitone to my ears.