Formula B Eighty Master V2 Compact

The Formula B Eighty Master V2 Compact is a preamp pedal from the Italian maker Formula B, with two footswitchable gain channels and a full set of tone controls: Volume, Gain 1, Gain 2, Modeling (Presence), Bass, Mids and Treble, plus CH1/CH2 and Bypass footswitches¹. It belongs to the "Marshall in a Box" family of overdrive and distortion pedals, circuits built to reproduce the character of a specific amplifier, here the Marshall JCM800, which MusicRadar's Jonathan Horsley calls "the quintessential '80s hard-rock and metal guitar amp"²¹. The maker's preferred settings give a starting point for the controls: Volume at 1:30 o'clock, Gain 1 at 10 o'clock, Gain 2 at 2 o'clock, Modeling at 1:30 o'clock, Bass at maximum, Mids at 9 o'clock and Treble at 3 o'clock¹.

What it is and what it does

Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson describes the V2 Compact as "a dual-gain / dual-channel JCM800 style Preamp," a preamp pedal rather than a simple overdrive, meaning it is voiced to be the gain stage of an amp rather than a boost in front of one¹. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio characterized the original Eighty Master as "a tweakable amp-in-a-box distortion with a couple of interesting tricks up its sleeve"³.

The JCM800 reference point is the Marshall amp whose "distinctive roar" Marshall itself invokes for its own JCM800 overdrive pedal, a sound spanning "rich, saturated distortion to cleaner, driven tones"⁴. The Eighty Master V2 Compact is billed specifically as a JCM800 variety, but Karlsson notes in Guitar Pedal X's 2024 distortion roundup that "it covers Plexi sounds easily too"⁵.

Controls and channel switching

The control set runs as follows¹:

The two gain channels are the headline change over the original. A second footswitch lets you "ramp your sound up and down on-the-fly," and Karlsson found the second gain channel "particularly potent at this size," since a compact pedal normally gives up that kind of two-channel flexibility¹.

Karlsson's own preferred settings from his review give a starting point for players dialing one in: Volume at 1:30, Gain 1 at 10 o'clock, Gain 2 at 2 o'clock, Modeling at 1:30, Bass at max, Mids at 9 o'clock and Treble at 3 o'clock¹.

How it differs from the original Eighty Master

The original Eighty Master shipped in a 1590BB mid-size enclosure with two toggle switches: a 50W/100W gain structure switch, where Delicious Audio reported the 50W mode "delivers a dynamic and medium gain overdrive, while the 100w option offers more compressed and aggressive" high-gain tones, and a 3-way Compression switch (Some / None / Lots), whose maximum setting was aimed at getting good distortion even with single-coil guitars¹³.

The V2 Compact keeps "the core circuit / output is the same as for the previous version," so the basic voice carries over¹. What changes:

• The enclosure is smaller, a compact pedal rather than 1590BB mid-size¹.
• The 50W/100W toggle is replaced by the two Gain controls, one per channel¹.
• Of the original's three compression settings, the V2 "solely retains the 'Some' degree of Compression," with no internal controls for further adjustment¹.

What Marshall tones it covers

Beyond its JCM800 billing, Karlsson's review states plainly: "It covers JCM800, Plexi, Hot-rodded Modded and Brown Sound tones"¹. That puts it alongside the extended-range Marshall-style pedals Guitar Pedal X cataloged in its 2025 buying guide, where the Eighty Master V2 twin channel preamp appears at €229 / $249 / £194⁶.

What reviewers said

Reviewers have been consistent across the line's versions. Of the original, Karlsson wrote in 2023 that it was "One of my favourite all-time MIAB pedals - just instant satisfaction and killer tones every which way"⁷, and by 2024 he called it "one of the most instantly satisfying 'Marshall in a Box' pedals that I have encountered"¹.

He rated the V2 Compact "even more impressive than the original," and in the 2024 distortion roundup called the V2 "one of the most insanely satisfying MIAB pedals - so easy to dial in, and so easy to get superior sounds"¹⁵. In the 2025 buying guide he summed up the V2 as having "an insanely appealing core tonality with everything at Noon - a really smart 2-channel Marshally type"⁶.

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