OVERDRIVE- M.I. AUDIO Crunch Box ....a Plexi wall of sound...maybe even cheap?

  M.I. AUDIO CRUNCH BOX        

$140 .00 USD

I have been toying with getting this pedal for a loooooong time.
It has been around for years and there are 3 Chinese clones of it.
But none have it's crucial gain. It is in essence a Marshall Plexi on steroids.
A massive wall of sound with a lot of sustain. In fact the gain at 11 o'clock is more then any pedal I own on full.
Power chords are it's forte...it is all about a huge mid range boost. Oddly it has an effective attack for so much gain. You can slam down a few successive quarter note power chords and all are well defined.
A lot of Indie Alt players quite literally strum their guitars with high gain OD's and fuzz boxes. This
is ideal for that style of playing too. This is very impressive because it has a very bottom heavy sound.

As I said it is ancient. lol
In fact there is a also a new Deluxe one.

The JHS Angry Charlie is based off the v.1 Crunch Box.
The 'Charlie' has been modified to the point it sounds like a JTM 45.
 I have one so I know this is not duplication. Both are very good.


  OK...to the point.
 'Old' means successful.
  Successful means there are lots of used ones.

REVERB $85.00 USD used

CHECK OUT the vids...

   

 

The case is painted deep vibrant red ....a stunning colour. It is built in a standard type 2 size Hammond style case I suspect it is a high quality Gainta box made in Taiwan. They are just slightly smaller then an MXR Phase 90 type case. The white knobs are also slightly smaller to match it. The overall effect is both flash and elegant at the same time. It definitely says "go ahead ..play me!"

I got a used one for $60.00 USD on Kijiji. Except for a few light scuffs on the base of it (now covered with velcro) it is like new. Switching between the two I can hear some similarities with the 'Charlie'.

I found a great sweet spot ...I run the tone and gain at 2 o'clock and the volume at 'unity gain'

It has lovely raspy low end with nice penetrating highs and bags of sustain.

At full pop I would go for a different pedal ...perhaps the Angry Charlie which has a bit of a scoop and and a wonderful sprawling low end 

.......but used...go for it!!!

IF this kind of sound is really your thing and money is an issue then the NUX  Brownie at $50 or less is a given. 

Read the POST!!! OVERDRIVE- NUX Brownie

Another great choice is the CMAT MODS BROWNIE

At $135.00 it is hard to beat. The sound is very similar but the tone is noticeable rich and laden with harmonics. The sound is very natural and sounds uncontained and real. This pedal is hard for me to resist but with 55 pedals on my  'live' board I have to draw the line LOL