Marshall The Guv'nor Vintage Reissue

The Guv'nor Vintage Reissue is Marshall's modern remake of the Guv'nor, the company's first-ever guitar pedal, originally released in 1988. It is a distortion pedal that Marshall says "faithfully recreates the classic sound of The Guv'nor, providing a smooth overdriven sound with a touch of compression," ranging from soft driven tones to volume boosting for an overdriven sound¹. It sits in a four-pedal Vintage Reissue series alongside the BluesBreaker, Drivemaster and ShredMaster, all of which look like the originals from the late '80s and early '90s².

The original Guv'nor was out of production for 31 years before the reissue arrived, and guitar.com's reviewer Richard Purvis called it "a fine medium-gain overdrive with an extremely useful three-way tone circuit," rating it 8 out of 10³. Note that Marshall's US store currently lists the pedal as Sold Out¹.

What it does to your sound

Marshall describes the reissue as delivering a smooth overdriven texture with a touch of compression, doing "everything from soft, driven tones to boosting the volume for an overdriven sound"⁴. The original circuit was built to put the sound of a cranked Marshall stack in a compact solid-state box, and Guitar World notes the Guv'Nor is voiced for the famous JCM800⁵.

In Richard Purvis's hands at guitar.com, the reissue showed "some midrange bark, and yes, it's got some compression, but it doesn't go overboard with either," and he placed it as "a standard overdrive with roots in the 'transparent' camp"³. Pedal of the Day's reviewer similarly found the overdrive sound "can become slightly compressed, which is always welcome here at the office, adding to the complexity"⁶.

The Guv'nor's influence runs wide. Guitar World's buying guide calls it "one of the first true amp-in-a-box distortions," and says the reissue is a better unit than the original, replacing the problematic pots and footswitch⁷. On That Pedal Show, Mick and Daniel traced a whole family of high-gain pedals back to it:

That Pedal Show⁸

The controls

The reissue keeps the original five-knob layout⁶⁹¹:

The three-band tonestack is the pedal's tonal heart. Richard Purvis found that "all three bands can be pushed or pulled to reveal new tonal textures, with plenty of beef available from the bass control" and scoopable mids³. Pedal of the Day describes the five-knob section as a full 3-band EQ plus Level and Gain⁶.

Power, connections and the Y-insert loop

Power comes from a 9V battery or a 9V DC power adaptor, which is not included⁴. The battery door is a point in the reissue's favor: guitar.com notes it has "a sturdy metal battery cover" held by a Phillips screw, an advantage over the other three pedals in the series³.

Connections are simple on the surface, one 1/4" input and one 1/4" output, plus a loop jack⁴. The loop is a Y-insert send/return that lets you add effects after the EQ stage, so a delay or other time-based effect can sit after the drive rather than being pushed by it¹. You supply your own Y-insert cable; Marshall does not include one¹. The original Guv'nor had the same built-in effect loop via an insert-style cable input².

Where it came from

The Guv'nor was the first guitar pedal designed by Marshall, released in 1988 and in production for about four years¹⁰. Marshall says it "set the bar for future generations of distortion pedals"¹. JHS Pedals dates it to 1989 and says that when Marshall released the Guv'nor, "it changes everything"¹¹. Sources also disagree on the end of production: GuitarPlayer reports the original was discontinued in 1991¹², while TONEHOME lists it as made in England from 1989 to 1993, with later versions made in Korea¹³. Later Guv'nor MK2 models appeared in a different enclosure¹⁰.

The reissue program brought the Guv'nor back alongside the BluesBreaker, Drivemaster and ShredMaster². Gearnews reported that owners who took the new reissues apart found they "look like good clones of the original circuits"². Marshall says every element, from internal components to exterior construction, is designed and built at its Bletchley factory in the UK⁴, and MusicRadar's demo noted the reissues are all still made in Marshall's UK Milton Keynes factory¹⁴. Premier Guitar's First Look covered the launch of the series¹⁵.

For players comparing Marshall drive pedals, the Vintage Reissue series also includes the Drivemaster Vintage Reissue and the Shredmaster Vintage Reissue, and the original circuit is covered on the Marshall The Guv'nor page³².

What reviewers said

• guitar.com (Richard Purvis), 8 out of 10: "Nostalgia aside, this is a fine medium-gain overdrive with an extremely useful three-way tone circuit." He also noted the sturdy metal battery cover as an advantage over the rest of the series³.
• Guitar World buying guide: One of the first true amp-in-a-box distortions, and the reissue improves on the original by replacing the problematic pots and footswitch⁷.
• Gearnews: The reissues look like good clones of the original circuits, based on owner reports².
• MusicRadar: The Guv'nor, BluesBreaker, DriveMaster and ShredMaster are "now finally available to buy again," with the Guv'nor including its effects loop on the back¹⁴.

Premier Guitar published a First Look video on the Marshall reissue pedals covering the Guv'nor's return in the Vintage Reissue series¹⁵.

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