Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
Flattley's New Outlaw Pedal - Plexi Drive + Ace Tone Boost - is probably their best pedal to date - certainly the best looking - and which delivers instant satisfaction from both barrels
What a gorgeous pedal the sparkly Outlaw is (check the below last video t see it sparkle!) - with its holographic chrome metal flakes and glorious dipped paisley skull artwork. A killer red-on-red / tone-on-tone theme - with Enclosure, Knobs, Footswitch Toppers and Halo LEDs - all matching.
Flattley typically favours blue-hued devices with blue Halo LEDs - so the Outlaw is a glorious contrast to that norm!
The Outlaw benefits from the perfect complement of controls. I typically like my Marshall Style Drives and Distortions with 3-Band EQ - while this one is so perfectly balanced by default - that you can easily make do with just the single tone control. The Plexi Channel is formidable on its own - really poised - and with just the right mix of frequencies to give you that instantly recognisable punchy Plexi sound. It’s really vibrant and lively too - with a genuine tube-like action to its response.
While I feel the MVP here is the left-hand Ace Tone Boost - which has been available as a standalone pedal for years. That’s one of those magical boosts that automatically makes everything sound better - pre- and post-. It obviously works beautifully in tandem with the Plexi Channel - while I deployed it in stand-alone fashion to around half a dozen other pedals upstream and downstream on the board - and it made every one of those sound better - some - much better!
So I’m really loving the flexibility of that boost - in combinations with all my other pedals on the board too. That gives the Outlaw a somewhat superior position on the board- in that both sides sound amazing - and the boost can be used to enhance pretty much everything else too!
Paul talks of a relatively simple boost - "It’s a clean tone booster that soft clips. Has a buffer in the circuit and is transistor based. The tone stack has a wide range so it can be used as a treble or bass booster too. It also add further tonal control on top of your amp or your pedal chain."
To my ears is sounds totally superb - Paul has evidently landed on the perfect combination of components for that boost - it really does sound exceptional and enhances everything it comes into contact with. I may just buy the standalone Ace Tone Boost too - so I can deploy that with more flexibility.
Controls - ACE TONE BOOST } Volume, Tone, Left Footswitch; PLEXI DRIVE } Volume, Tone, Gain, Right Footswitch; Order Switch } Up = Boost First / Down = Plexi First.
Ports - TS In, 9V DC [-] 50mA, TS Out.
The ownership experience here is so strong - with all aspects of this pedal perfectly matched - including its looks and its superior sound.
One of my favourite Marshall types - probably the simplest one of those top tier ones to deploy - and so satisfying every which way,
I had this one dialled in - in no time at all - and I'm still awe-struck by how good its Boost Side sounds in particular. Not to say the Plexi side isn't amazing too - but you can really use that with near enough every other pedal on the board.
Flattley have struck gold here - the allover experience for this pedal is so satisfying and it looks so good in the flesh - a real stunner!
My preferred settings are as follows - Boost : Volume @ 1 o'c, Tone @ 2 o'c; Plexi - Volume @ 2 o'c, Tone @ 2 o'c, Gain @ 9 o'c. Typically Boost before Drive - but sounds fantastic both pre- and post-!
The Outlaw - Ace Tone Boost + Plexi Drive is actually really good value @ £299 from the Flattley Webstore. I have a feeling that these are going to sell extraordinarily well - particularly when people see the quality of of my visuals!
Bonus Round!
I will be doing a follow-up rundown on all my extended range Plexi + JCM800 types - which this Outlaw easily qualifies - that should be a fun project - per per the above visual!
Demos
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