The Animal is an overdrive pedal made by J. Rockett Audio Designs. It is designed to reproduce the sound of a vintage Marshall amplifier rather than to add a generic gain stage, and its maker pitches it as plexi tone in a box small enough for any pedalboard1.
What it does
The pedal's target is specific: a 1968 plexi. Co-founder Chris Van Tassel describes the design goal in the maker's own words1:
"We wanted to nail the tone and nuance of a real 1968 plexi," Says Chris Van Tassel, co founder of J Rockett Audio Designs. "We were able to reproduce that classic tone with the midrange bark and grunt of the real deal. All of that bark and grunt can get cleaned up easily with the twist of a volume knob! Plexi tone and feel in an enclosure that is ideal for any size pedalboard.
Two things stand out for a player. First, the pedal is voiced around the midrange character of an old plexi, the "bark and grunt" that those amps are known for. Second, it responds to your guitar's volume knob the way a cranked amp does: roll the volume back and the drive cleans up, rather than staying at one fixed amount of gain1.
Players comparing Marshall-style drives from the same maker can also look at the J. Rockett .45 Caliber.
Videos
Pete Thorn
ProGuitarShopDemos
J. Rockett Audio Designs
Sources (1)
- Animal by J. Rockett Audio Designs, RockBoard PedalPedia, 2026
