Friedman Smallbox Overdrive Pedal (SMALLBOXPEDAL)

I have this pedal on my board as the "medium" gain one. A Tubescreamer is for blues breakup, this pedal is mid-gain so it's perfect for Led Zep covers and heavy blues. Then my Bogner pedal is for the high gain. The Friedman is the perfect middle of the road peddle - the tone is very Marshall 800ish. I had JCM 800, 900, 2000 heads as well as Boogie Recto-verbs and yes that is the tone with this pedal. It is my favorite. So articulate. I could go on but now I am in the mood to go play it. Get one.

This is the craziest drive pedal that you'll buy most likely. For 200 USD, you can't get a better value. This thing legit sounds like an analog but modern, modded marshall amp with the Press of a button. Yet, without dealing with all the issues with actually having an amp like that(expensive, hard to carry around, have to replace tubes, heavy, takes up wayyy more space). It reacts extremely well to Dynamics & cleans up well with volume roll-off. Unlike the bod and bod deluxe, this pedal is also well-suited for lower gain, which makes it a lot more versatile. You can go from subtle breakup to full on wall of saturation goodness. Additionally, the flexibility of the EQ is uncanny. Most drive pedals only allow you to control the brightness, but the small box allows you to adjust the bass mid treble & presence responses. The EQ knobs seem to sound great on any and every setting. WELL designed. The low-end response is huge, and remains very tight even on the highest gain setting. Speaking of high gain, this pedal is marketed as only being able to low to mid gain, but it can nail metal tones as well. If you switch to the high gain circuit, then turn the gain, bass, mid, treble & presence knob to the max, and scoop the mids a little, there you go. LARGER THAN LIFE tone. Is pedal is also works great in any setup. In front of a clean Channel, boosting a drive channel, in the effects Loop. You honestly may not need any other Drive pedal. I've compared it with the actual smallbox amp, and in many ways, I actually like the pedal more. To top it off, it looks great, doesn't take up your whole rig, and is built like a tank. This is clearly a steal. You're not really buying a drive pedal; you're buying an amp. I don't even really do reviews, but I had to say something about this pedal after using it for a month in various scenarios (Studio, small gig, large gig, at home, comparing it with other gear). 5/5 without a doubt.

So, I downsized from my 69 Plexi 4x12, my JCM 800 (same cab), and a 89 Mesa MK III blue stripe. Those were all quite challenging as home ‘practice’ amps between barn practice sessions and gigs, of course. So, they were all replaced by an AC15, and a couple of smaller practice amps. Now, the AC15 does okay, but I thought this pedal might be able to push is a bit further than my TS9. Yeah, it reminded me of my JCM800. It’s really that good. My little $600 Vox sounds almost as good as my (former) vintage Marshall amp. Not sure how Dave does it. Get it while it’s on sale!

I've been playing since 1976 and had tried 'em all. These pedals are low-noise which is preferrable dor low-volume jamming and recording. Not fond of Noise Gates so low noise is a must.The Smallbox is the most versatile of the 3 high gain pedals. The BE-OD is more of a preamp than a OD pedal. The Dirty Shirley has more lows and low mids but isn't as tight sounding as the Smallbox. The main difference between the BE-OD and the other two is that the BE-OD doesn't have a MID control, so at a lower gain setting it lacks midrange. The Smallbox has a clear and super-tight tone and can get a tube-screamer type of boost with some tweaking. The Dirty Shirley has a little more gain and low-end, but isn't as clear and tight sounding as the Smallbox. On a slightly overdriven amp the Smallbox can be run with the gain on ZERO with the MID control boosted amd it will just rip.

Truly great plexi pedal that gives you everything from edge of breakup to screaming leads. Awesome value for most people who don’t need one of the more expensive Friedman IR pedals. This turns my Fender Deluxe into a Marshall half stack!

This pedal is flat out awesome. I’m running it into a Bad Cat Cub III 30 and an Orange OR15. I’m able to achieve great results into both amps that are drastically different. It’s very tweakable and the controls are really interactive. It’s basically like learning a new amp. I love how touch sensitive it is. It’s not super compressed but really dynamic and inspiring. My favorite way to run it so far is into my Bad Cat on the EF86 channel set to the edge of breakup. It seems to really mold itself into one with the amp and really gives me that plexi vibe. If you’re looking for a compressed high gain pedal look elsewhere but if your looking for touch sensitive Plexi mojo this is your ticket. I’ve tried it with 9 and 18 volts and prefer it with 18 for the increased headroom. The extra headroom seems to help it if I decide to throw a boost into the front of it for more compression or a mid boost. I’m still in the beginning stages of having it but so far I’m loving it and it’s my new favorite.

I been looking a for an overdrive pedal like this for decades. I'm glad I have it, as even though I own other Friedman and other manufacturer OD/Distortion pedals, this one kicks all their butts! It wipes the floor up with them, no lie. If you want the best Marshall tone in a box, this is it. I stack it with other boosts, dirty and clean, it can turn a clean or slightly gritty amp into a monster. I have about 20 different ods/distortions in my collection, I haven't tried every single one ever made, but I'm convinced this in my top fav. It stays on the board. And yes, even into a Soldano SLO-30 crunch channel, heh, fugget about it! It kills! Good job Friedman, and keep up the excellent work.

You can plug this into a fender amplifier andhave your clean sound, Kick this on and haveanything from just barely breaking up .All the way to 80's Marshall shred.