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General Guidelines on the use of the PlexiTone:
The Plexitone falls into the category of a distortion/gain pedal, but is actually so much more. When we think
back to the guitar heroes from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, they all cut their teeth and developed their sound on
single channel amps….ok, sometimes they daisy-chained a few together, but they were still single channel
amps! With the Plexitone, we are now able to take our sound to three different levels of boost/gain/distortion at
the touch of a toe. As with most Carl Martin pedals, power is supplied via a standard AC cable (rather than a 9-
volt transformer) to the built in ‘regulated power supply’. This allows engineers at CM to use higher quality
components, and provide for the required ‘headroom’ that sets CM pedals apart.
Again, as with most Carl Martin gain/distortion pedals, the first footswitch and control give you 20 db of crystal
clean/clear Boost. The Boost can be used independently or with either of the two gain stages. Just a quick
reminder though, the right footswitch engages both Gain stages, pressing the middle footswitch on it’s own will
do nothing to your sound. The footswitch on the right side takes you to the first gain stage, ‘Crunch’. The
‘Crunch’ control allows you to set the amount of gain/distortion, and the Level & Tone controls obviously the
volume and EQ of the channel. This channel should remind you of your old Plexi (mmmmm) with the volume
around 7-8…..very Page, Blackmore, Angus Young. Switching on the middle footswitch (in conjunction with the
right footswitch) brings us to the High-Gain channel. Once again, the ‘High-Gain’ control allows you to set the
amount of distortion, and the Level & Tone controls the volume and EQ. The High-Gain channel has a more
compressed and mid-scooped sound than the Crunch channel, making it more of an 80’s distortion like Randy
Rhodes or Iron Maiden.
Whether you use a single channel amplifier, or a multi-channel amplifier, you will want to start with the cleanest
sound you can, at a level you can work with. The last thing you want to do is try and distort distortion….it is so
very unpleasant! We recommend setting the amp up to your rhythm volume, and then using the Boost control
to jump up to your solo volume (in either gain stage). Either way, let the Plexitone take you to the stratosphere
of High Gain!
SAMPLE SETTINGS:
CRUNCH
Drive Switch activated, Crunch knob at 9 o’clock, Level & Tone at your preference.
ROCK
Drive Switch activated, Crunch knob at 3 o’clock, Level & Tone at your preference.
