The Carl Martin PlexiRanger is a Carl Martin pedal that puts two classic pieces of British tone in one box: a Marshall Plexi-style overdrive/distortion and a vintage treble booster in the Dallas Rangemaster tradition1. The boost circuit sits first in the chain, so it can push the drive side harder, the way players once pushed a cranked amp with a Rangemaster in front of it2.
Danish effects designer Carl Martin has built some of the most successful Plexi-style pedals, and the PlexiRanger is a newer entry in that line, reported by Delicious Audio in June 20262. MusicRadar reviewed it as "an overdrive and Dallas Rangemaster-style boost pedal" and called it "incredibly versatile"3.
A treble booster and Plexi drive in one box
The PlexiRanger combines a distortion channel and a 15dB boost2. Carl Martin describes the drive side as adding "body, saturation and sustain, while still retaining the dynamics and touch sensitivity we expect from a proper analog circuit"1. MusicRadar's reviewer characterized the overdrive side as "a variety of crunch that's heavily sauced by Marshall," noting it is not a high-gain overdrive but can add "plenty of warmth and musical heat"3.
The Plexi side is akin to the Carl Martin PlexiTone, the maker's Marshall-in-a-box drive, but the PlexiRanger adds the Rangemaster-style boost section, and its drive is a single channel where the big PlexiTone had multiple gain channels1. The PlexiTone is a dual-channel pedal with separate crunch and gain stages plus a dedicated boost4; Pete Thorn, demoing the original, described it as "a great big pedal that had a built-in boost as well as two different drive settings"5.
Pete Thorn also demoed the PlexiRanger itself, walking through its drive and treble boost sides, its controls, and its bass cut switch5.
The controls
The pedal splits its knobs between the two sides. On the Plexi drive side you have Gain, Tone, and Level knobs to dial in the distortion tone1. The boost side has its own set, centered on a Boost Level knob offering up to +15dB of clean boost1.
| Control | Side | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Gain | Plexi drive | Sets drive amount, with Gain, Tone and Level dialing in the distortion tone1 |
| Tone | Plexi drive | A simple tone control on the Plexi side2 |
| Level | Plexi drive | Sets output level of the drive tone1 |
| Boost Level | Boost | Up to +15dB of clean boost1 |
| Frequency | Boost | Selects the center frequency, which part of the spectrum to boost6 |
| Range | Boost | Determines how much of that selected frequency range gets boosted6 |
| Lo-Cut | Boost | Reduces low-frequency content1 |
| Boost footswitch | Boost | Activates the boost channel1 |
The Lo-Cut switch is a 4-way rotary selector with three active positions6:
- Position 1: slight low-cut
- Position 2: heavy low-cut
- Position 3: no low-cut, full range6
That low-cut control matters because vintage treble boosters were thin by design; here you can keep the full range or trim the bass to taste before the boost hits the drive16.
The circuits behind it: Rangemaster and PlexiTone
The boost side is a custom silicon circuit inspired by the vintage Treble Booster, also known as the Dallas Rangemaster2. Carl Martin says it is "inspired by the classic treble booster circuits we all know, but carefully voiced to be more flexible and predictable"1. In practice that flexibility comes from the Frequency and Range knobs: with Range down to zero the boost works clean, and with Range up it becomes a colored boost, pushing treble or mids depending on the Frequency position2.
The Plexi side carries the voicing Carl Martin gives its Plexi line: the PlexiTone and PlexiRanger, in the maker's words, "do the classic Plexi/early Marshall voicing"7. Compared with the original PlexiTone, whose control set ran to volume, tone, two gain controls, a boost, and three footswitches8, the PlexiRanger's drive side is simpler: one gain channel, one tone, one level.
The PlexiRanger does not accept a 9V battery and draws about 100 mA, more than many compact analog drives. It needs a 9V DC power supply with enough current on tap1.
Who plays it
Carl Martin's artist pages list Alberto Barrero as a PlexiRanger user9. Delicious Audio added the pedal to its guide to the Best Plexi Distortion Pedals2.
For players comparing Carl Martin's Plexi options, the range also includes the PlexiTone and the Panama; the PlexiRanger is the one that puts the Rangemaster-style boost and the Plexi drive in a single box13.
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Questions
Does the Carl Martin PlexiRanger take a battery?
No. The pedal does not accept a 9V battery, so it needs an external power supply. It runs on a standard 9V DC supply and draws about 100 mA, which is more than a typical analog drive pedal, so plan on a proper pedalboard power outlet rather than a daisy chain.
Can the PlexiRanger boost be used as a clean boost?
Yes. The boost side has a Boost Level knob offering up to +15dB of clean boost. With the Range knob turned down to zero it works as a clean boost; with the Range knob up it becomes a colored boost, pushing treble or mids depending on where the Frequency knob is set.
Is the boost before or after the drive on the PlexiRanger?
The boost circuit is placed first in the chain, ahead of the Plexi drive side. That mirrors the classic setup of a treble booster feeding an overdriven amp, and it means the boost can push the drive channel harder as well as lifting your whole signal.
How much power does the PlexiRanger draw?
It runs on a standard 9V DC supply and draws about 100 mA. Since it does not take a battery, budget a power outlet with at least that much current on tap.
Is the PlexiRanger true bypass?
Yes. Carl Martin says the pedal uses gold relays for true-bypass switching on all loops of the signal, so the bypassed signal path avoids coloring your tone when the pedal is off.
Sources (9)
- PlexiRanger, Carl Martin (carlmartin.com), 2026
- Carl Martin PlexiRanger Overdrive + Boost, Delicious Audio, 2026-06-23
- Carl Martin PlexiRanger review, MusicRadar, 2021-02-09
- PlexiTone, Carl Martin (carlmartin.com), 2026
- THE MOTHER OF ALL PLEXI PEDALS! Carl Martin PLEXIRANGER, YouTube (Pete Thorn channel), 2020-11-20
- Support - Carl Martin, Carl Martin (carlmartin.com), 2026
- Panama - Carl Martin, Carl Martin, 2026
- Guitar FX Layouts: Madbean Boneyard, Guitar FX Layouts (tagboardeffects.blogspot.com), 2014-05-06
- Artists - Carl Martin, Carl Martin (carlmartin.com), 2026
