Just Gigged with my Carl Martin Plexitone for the 1st time...

[jazztastic]

Picked up a used Plexitone a month or so ago, and finally used it live. Like I had heard people comment before, it is smokin' good in a live band setting. Lacked alot of mids at bedroom playing tho.

My biggest question to all you Plexitone owners is: have you gotten it to stack with other drive pedals well? It craps out anytime I hit the front end of it with anything. I am using an AC Comp, Mad Professor SHOD & a 70's Pedal Fuzz. What say you?

[fr8_trane]

I say I was never a fan of boosting the front end of pedals. Just doesn't make sense to me when I have a tube amp at the end of the line begging to be pushed. If I stack at all, the second pedal is added downstream from the first one.

[Mitch T]

It lacked mids when playing in the bedroom and was prefectly fine in a band context? Normally I hear the opposite. Do you mean that it cut well through te mix because of treble, or something like that?

[fr8_trane]

The plexitone has a lot of bass and treble on tap which gives the impression of being scooped.

However, it also has the most dynamic attack (PUNCH), clarity and string definition I've ever heard from a dist pedal. This allows it to cut like a knife.

[Gary Brennan]

I find that If you are judicious with the tone control the mids are enough (YMMV). I can't see any need to stack a pedal into it, what with 2 gain levels and a post drive boost- I actually find I use the boost frequently without the dirt side active, the Plexi is the last pedal before my amp input.

If you need more mids the Vertexx mod might make sense. But it's a lot of pedal for the $ without modding it.

GB

[jazztastic]

I find that If you are judicious with the tone control the mids are enough (YMMV). I can't see any need to stack a pedal into it, what with 2 gain levels and a post drive boost- I actually find I use the boost frequently without the dirt side active, the Plexi is the last pedal before my amp input.

If you need more mids the Vertexx mod might make sense. But it's a lot of pedal for the $ without modding it.

GB
Wish I could afford the Vertex mod. Anyone come across some DIY mods for the Plexitone yet?

[fr8_trane]

Wish I could afford the Vertex mod. Anyone come across some DIY mods for the Plexitone yet?

Yup.

Here's the PDF file for the Madbean Boneyard which is a Plexitone clone
http://www.madbeanpedals.com/projects/Boneyard/docs/Boneyard.pdf

Of note...

Boost mod
Reducing the boost pot from 500K to 50k gives you a much more useful range of boost (ie much less over the top). Carl Martin themselves have addressed this issue in newer versions of the pedal.

Gain Mod
Mad bean subs a 50k pot for crunch and a 250k for the high gain channel to decrease the over all gain from both channels and allow for a greater range of overdriven tones

Personally i think the 100k crunch pot value is fine but could be subbed for an audio pot instead of linear. If you notice... most guys are running the crunch channel between 9-11 o'clock. With an audio taper pot you would have the same max gain as the original pot but the range of lower gain tones would be much wider.

More great info from the HRI forum
http://www.hugeracksinc.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=73087&start=45

Bass Mod
You can reduce the bass by decreasing the value of this cap. I got the info from the manufacturer. The original value was 2.2uF. I replaced it with a 1uF cap.

http://www.hugeracksinc.com/forum/download/file.php?id=369&t=1&sid=ba2b070c37aec3ec964d34900e432074

Bleed Mod by Suhr
You can rewire the on/off switch so that it shorts out the drive circuit when in bypass... no more bleed whatsoever. You just have to re-orient the way the LED is turned on. It isn't too hard but you do have to cut a couple of traces, 10 minute job really , just did one for a customer. Doesn't change anything about the tone.

Here another take on the bleed mod from FSB.org
there was a bleedtrough of the distortion into the bypass signal. I fixed this using a 3pdt footswitch for the "drive" switch and had it's 3rd pole short the HiGain and Crunch pots for minimum gain when in bypass. Works fine!

The madbean layout may also incorporate a bleed mod but I'm not sure. You could ask him.

For midrange mods your gonna have to wait for the new single channel version. According to CM It will have more mids than the current version.

[AndreNieri]

In my experience, the CM Plexitone is the best 'plexi-style' pedal that I've ever played, but it does lacks some mids, so I have to turn the volume a LOT higher in a band situation, otherwise you and the other band members won't hear much guitar.

Pedal-wise, it's got some serious great note separation and tone. The boost section is great, also.

But here's the good news - it sounds better with my Fender Deville 212 (with g12 65's) than with my DSL 100 ( 4x12' cab with V30's), so I take the Deville with me in almost all gigs (small to medium), then I have the Fender clean side and still have that plexi grind due to the pedal awesome work.

[mentoneman]

my only problem is that i've run out of room to put the vertex plexitone, arc furnace, and ethos on the same board!

arc = SRV lead meets nice gritty rhythm tones that stay dynamic

plexitone = marshall bark and crunch, and can go to VH

ethos = a RIDICULOUSLY fat lead tone ala dumble/mesa mark IIish

these pedals are really starting to feel like the days when you bought dedicated amps for specific tones, but in a much smaller, cheaper form!

[jazztastic]

Sweet, great info!

[vinceman]

I did the bass mod. The sound is much more balanced now. thanx for the tip, it was exactly what I needed !!!

[Matt L]

Also did my first gig with my Plexitone this weekend. Sounded as good as it did at home, maybe better! What I'm doing is running a BB Preamp in front with the bass cranked up to about 8 and the gain almost off. I'm also running it through a DRRI, and this combo sounds HEAVENLY!!!

[jazztastic]

Guess I better get busy on the Bleed & Bass Mod. Wanna use it at the gig this weekend.

Carl Martin sent me their mod, can anyone spell out this mod below a little better for a dummy like me? Not sure i understand where the 3rd pole is suppose to short out to.

"Here another take on the bleed mod from FSB.org
there was a bleedtrough of the distortion into the bypass signal. I fixed this using a 3pdt footswitch for the "drive" switch and had it's 3rd pole short the HiGain and Crunch pots for minimum gain when in bypass. Works fine!"

[boldaslove1977]

a friend of mine puts a tube screamer in front of his for leads... sounds great... never has a problem with mids...

[sinasl1]

I used to use my Koko Boost after the Plexitone, but I rewired my board and put it in front... really cool. If i need clean boost and the plexitone is on, I use the boost in the Plexitone. If I want boost and Plexitone is off, I hit the boost in the Koko. And the Mid boost in the Koko sounds GREAT into the Plexitone.... it fills it out in the mids and gives you a singing lead tone, thad you can tune using the mids knob and mini toggle.

[buddastrat]

Yes in all the demos it sounds very scooped to me. Like early VH1 sound or a Metallica type tone. I just watched a video comparing a bunch pedals, and it sounded good but was a bit distant. I don't own one, but with a mid heavy amp, it could be perfect.