Carl Martin

The pedalboard friendly AC Tone. The Single Channel AC-Tone is a smaller pedal-board friendly, single channel version of the original Pro-Series AC-Tone. It features 3 knobs and 1 switch and has a slightly beefed up Gain section, but shares the very same tone as its big brother! The single AC-Tone also incorporates our new DC-DC converter circuitry, so the pedal can be powered by a regulated 9V Power Supply but will still operate on the same +-12V level as the original AC powered AC-Tone.This allows us to use the same high quality components which provide the same tone and headroom that make the CM Pro-Series pedals stand out from the rest!

From the days when colouring your sound was not a sin. Welcome to the Classic Optical Compressor: a 100% analog old-school compressor from the days where colouring was an important factor to the sound. The four controls (from left to right) are the Gain, which controls the ‘pre-glow’ of the optical circuit (the more you turn this up, the fatter the sound); Level, which controls the overall volume of the compressor; Compression, which controls how hard or soft the compression is, and the Attack control which takes the signal from transparent to outright total squeeze. A short time with this compressor will allow you to find some of those classic guitar sounds which may somehow have escaped you before. Again, like all the Vintage pedals, the Classic Optical Compressor comes in a solid diecast housing with cool chicken-head knobs, CM colour and graphics and a 9V battery compartment. Due to the nature of compressors, we highly recommend a regulated power supply (like the CM ProPower) or a large stock of batteries.

When less can be more. Following the success of the Carl Martin Plexitone and the single channel Plexitone, the guys at Carl Martin and Pete Thorn designed a new version that can cope with variable voltage and AC/DC power supplies. The PlexiTone Lo Gain was designed with the amp and guitar in mind, unlike his brother, the single channel PlexiTone, it is lower on gain and can drive your amp to get that natural saturated sound you seek. That being said - it can definitely kick ass once you dial the Gain knob clock wise above the middle point! The pedal works well with different pickup types and is in general a very straight forward, easy to use and versatile pedal.The demos of the PlexiTone Lo Gain on TonePedia were recorded with the pedal being fed by 9V DC power supply.

Marshall in a box. There are many pedals around which claim to be "a Marshall in a box". Unlike many the Carl Martin `single channel` PlexiTone really lives up to that claim.The `single channel` PlexiTone was co-designed by Pete Thorn and aside for some mods which deliver a tighter bottom end and softer high frequencies it shares the exact same gain structure as the original Pro-Series PlexiTone.When using this pedal, almost any amp at the end of the chain receives this Marshall-like midrange, full of guts and power. The `single channel` PlexiTone does not offer much soft gain and you will find it to be delivering an already powerful drive with the drive knob set to as little as 3 o'clock. From there and on it just becomes more and more of that Marshall sound pumped up with gain.We found Pete's contribution to the design fantastic, the high frequencies don't hurt the ear, yet, they are there. But in case you want more or less edge, tweaking the tone knob will do the job.The pedal also responses well to a rolled-off volume knob, it cleans just like a good amp would. This allows you to control your tone in such a delicate way which is just fantastic.The single Plexi incorporates Carl Martin's DC-DC converter circuitry, so the pedal can be powered by a regulated 9V Power Supply but will still operate on the same +-12V level as the original AC powered PlexiTone. It is built to last and really easy to control.To sum it up, it is a Marshall in a box.

An twist on the Carl Martin Delayla. Based on the infamous Carl Martin Delayla, the ‘Red Repeat’ provides an affordable 600 milliseconds of delay as well as a simply controlled echo. Add just a touch of delay to thicken your sound, or push the repeat circuit past 12o’clock where the unit begins to self-oscillate, just like an old analog delay. Great vintage style and colour in a heavy diecast, 9 volt pedal with heavy duty bypass switching.

The Not So Lone Ranger The carl martin Plexi tone launched around 10 years ago and impressed players around the world with its high gain Marshall tones.Since then many versions of this iconic pedal have been released but it wasn’t until a conversation with Brett Kingman did the idea of pairing it with a treble booster come to life. The left hand side of pedal is the familiar Plexi tone but with a little less gain, the right hand side of the pedal is a treble booster based on the Dallas range master circuit. These can be stacked into each other or independent, featuring a useful filter control on the treble booster and a three way base control switch this useful pedal works with just about any rig. 

Simple and ingenious reverb. point. The Carl Martin Headroom is the most simple to operate reverb pedal on the market… with a couple extras. This purely analogue ‘real spring’ reverb has two identical channels, each with tone and level controls to select the depth and tone of your reverb. This allows you to have a soft, small room reverb on Channel A and a much more dramatic and dark large-room reverb on Channel B (or vise versa) The two foot-controlled switches control which channel you are in, and whether you wish to bypass the effect completely. It is like having two separate reverbs in your amp!Additional features on the Carl Martin Headroom include solid metal casing, cool vintage chicken head knobs, double mounted springs to minimize stage feedback, and remote jacks for Bypass and Channel Select (which allows you to place the effect in your rack or in the back of your amp to save real-estate on your pedal-board), as well as your input and output jacks. Of course you also get that famous Carl Martin quality that you have come to expect….at no extra charge. The Carl Martin Headroom runs on 9V DC, and as always, we recommend using a regulated power supply for optimum performance.

The Classic Chorus by Carl Martin is not just another chorus pedal... Yes, it can be powered by either a 9V battery or a regulated 9V power supply.Yes, it has the solid diecast housing with the cool off-white chicken-head knobs and the elegant CM graphics. Yes, it has that great CM quality bypass switching and the LED’s to indicate operation.And yes, when you plug into this pedal, you will get a wonderful chorus effect but by activating the second switch you get a smooth vibrato on top. 

Yes There Is A Marvel Drive Too! Besides the typical Level, Tone and Drive knobs which obviously control the volume of the signal, the tone and the amount of overdrive, Carl has smartly added a Regular/Fat switch….not so typical. In Regular mode, the drive is crisp and clear, suitable for anything that calls for old-school drive….switch over to Fat and the drive gets thicker with a lot more gain, much more modern. The result is a multi-use pedal that allows you to have a variety of rhythm and solo volumes at your feet. Like the rest of the Vintage line, the DC-drive comes in a bespoke great looking enclosure. No batteries here, you'll need a power supply in order to drive this overdrive.

Himmy Jendrix Would've Loved This A few effects out the are directly linked to an artist just due to them using it. Vibe will forever make us reminisce those wonderful Hendrix tunes and likely take us back to where we were when we first heard them and that's what this pedal does in huge amounts because not only does if have a fantastic vibe but Carl Martin have been kind enough to add a fuzz in the package which is tuned perfectly to match. If you need a single pedal to get those late 60's rock tones then this is the place to go!

Affordable EVH tones? Ah the brown sound, a term which brings out an immature smile on all our faces. All the same it's the tone millions of us heard and needed to try. So what does Carl Martin’s offering brings to the table,firstly the damping control cuts bass as turned up, keeping the pedal tight at higher gain levels. This is a very useful tool in itself as many players will use another pedal for this very thing, so that saves space and money both of which is good. Speaking of saving space the newly designed enclosure from Carl Martin is smaller with all top mounted jacks, as so many companies move in this direction it‘s great knowing we can have MASSIVE tones without taking up MASSIVE pedalboard space.

Remember the great tremolo tones of the 50’s and 60’s? The ‘Surf Trem’ gets its’ trem circuit from the CM Tremovibe. With just a ‘speed’ and ‘depth’ control (just like our old tube amp) those classic tones are easy to achieve. The retro heavy diecast case with 9 volt battery compartment, cool colour and heavy duty bypass switch, make the ‘Surf Trem’ a must have in every pedal box.

Simple and unique. Introducing the Vintage Flanger. Designed for those guitarists who desire this unique form of modulation. The Vintage Flanger has four knobs to control Speed, Depth, Pre-delay and Feedback, plus a dual speed mode that is foot-switchable. There are no rules with a Flanger, just plug this versatile modulation pedal in and play play play. As with all the Vintage pedals, the Flanger comes in a solid, diecast housing with the cool CM graphics and chicken-head knobs. It can be powered by 9v battery or a (recommended) regulated 9v power supply like the CM ProPower.

Anyone Have A Stomp For This Envelope? Envelope filters tend to be a bass players toy yet this pedal from Carl Martin works wonderfully with guitar giving us everything from funk heaven to autowah heavy rock perfection.The 3 way switch has high pass, band pass and low pass allowing you to focus the pedal on the frequencies you want to effect. The Q knob has the real world effect of adjusting how prominent the effect is. The attack develops the effects growth allowing it to stay very bassy or letting it grow into a full vocal wah tone. the tone control itself acts as a high pass filter (yes another) which can help dial out any harsh frequencies you may hear on some more extreme settings.