The Wampler Plexi-Drive Deluxe is an overdrive pedal from Wampler that aims to put the sound of an early Marshall plexi amp on a pedalboard. It is a direct descendent of the Plexi-Drive Standard, carrying over that circuit's Marshall-in-a-box character but adding an active 3-band EQ in place of the original's single tone knob12. Wampler released the Deluxe in 2015 after the original version proved popular3, and the pedal is built in the U.S.A.1.
The idea behind the whole Plexi-Drive line is straightforward: give players the cranked vintage Marshall sound without the amp. MusicRadar's Trevor Curwen described the Plexi-Drive as "designed to be a Marshall in a box" and summed up its character as "Vintage Marshall flavour in a stompbox"4. Pedal of the Day's Mike B called the original "a pretty spot-on rendition of the coveted Marshall Plexi amplifier at a small fraction of the price"5.
A Marshall plexi sound in a pedal
The circuit is built around the sound of early Marshall plexi amps, the amps players and pedal builders keep chasing. Premier Guitar's reviewer framed the Deluxe in exactly those terms, noting that "players and pedal makers will never stop searching for alternate paths to early Marshall tone"6. Wampler's own launch description says the Deluxe's gain structure "can cover everything from Vintage '68 style Plexi tones to the all out massive rock tones of a JTM-45 cranked to ten, or even eleven"2.
Where the original Plexi-Drive sits tonally is useful context for the Deluxe. Wampler says the original circuit sits somewhere between a JTM45 and an 18-watt Marshall model4, and Vintage Guitar's 2013 review of the Plexi-Drive British Overdrive, a pedal designed to replicate the sound of a vintage Marshall JTM45, found it offered "classic Marshall voicing that was very useful and musical with every guitar and amp combination" the reviewer threw at it, with a Gain control that had "a very good clean-to-crunch range at lower gain settings"7.
The original also carried a Bass Boost switch, which Pedal of the Day described as adding "4x12" thump", the low-end frequencies of a 4x12 cabinet connected to a Marshall plexi5. The Deluxe's answer to low-end shaping is its EQ section, covered below.
The controls: an active 3-band EQ
The headline change from the Standard to the Deluxe is the tone shaping. Premier Guitar's reviewer put it plainly: "The Deluxe replaces the original Plexi-Drive's single tone knob with an active 3-band EQ section"6. Wampler's launch material describes it as an "active 3 band Bass/Mids/Treble EQ stack" that gives "even more tonal control"2.
Because the EQ is active, the Bass, Mids and Treble knobs cut and boost rather than just rolling off, which matters for a plexi-style pedal: vintage Marshalls lean bright and midrange-forward, and an active mid control lets a player push the pedal through a mix or pull it back to taste62.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Gain | Sets the amount of overdrive, from lower-gain clean-to-crunch range up toward cranked plexi and JTM-45 territory27 |
| Volume | Sets the pedal's output level5 |
| Bass | Active bass cut and boost, part of the 3-band stack2 |
| Mids | Active midrange cut and boost2 |
| Treble | Active treble cut and boost2 |
The original Plexi-Drive, by contrast, kept it to three knobs: tone, volume and gain5.
The Plexi-Drive family: Standard, Deluxe and Mini
The Deluxe sits in the middle of a three-pedal line. As Premier Guitar's press coverage put it: "First there was the Plexi-Drive. Then there was the Plexi-Drive Deluxe." In November 2020 Wampler added the Plexi-Drive Mini, a downsized version of the original Plexi-Drive circuit8. GuitarPlayer described the Mini as "a downsized version of its popular Plexi-Drive"9, and MusicRadar's Rob Laing noted it "takes the popular original Plexi-Drive circuit into a mini form"10.
| Version | EQ and controls | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Plexi-Drive (Standard) | Tone, Volume, Gain, plus a Bass Boost switch for 4x12-style low end5 | The original Marshall-in-a-box circuit4 |
| Plexi-Drive Deluxe | Volume, Gain and an active Bass/Mids/Treble stack62 | Released 2015, built in the U.S.A.13 |
| Plexi-Drive Mini | Volume, Gain, Tone8 | Downsized original circuit, launched November 202089 |
The Mini's gain structure, like the Deluxe's, is described as covering "everything from Vintage '68 style Plexi tones to the all-out massive rock tones of a JTM-45 cranked to ten, or even eleven"2, so the main practical difference between the Mini and the Deluxe is the Deluxe's active 3-band EQ against the Mini's single tone knob.
What reviewers said
Premier Guitar's 2023 review of the Deluxe was positive on both sound and build, calling it "a versatile plexi-in-a-box" with "excellent craftsmanship", and judging the $239 street price "pretty fair"6.
"A versatile plexi-in-a-box."
A UK price of £209 was listed in an August 2023 Guitar.com review round-up11.
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Questions
What is the difference between the Plexi-Drive Deluxe and the Plexi-Drive Standard?
The Deluxe is a direct descendent of the Plexi-Drive Standard with upgraded features. The biggest change is the EQ: the original had a single tone knob, while the Deluxe adds an active 3-band Bass, Mids and Treble stack for much finer control over the voicing. The core plexi-style gain structure carries over from the original circuit.
Is the Wampler Plexi-Drive Deluxe discontinued?
There is no sign of it going away. It was released in 2015 after the original Plexi-Drive proved popular, and Wampler's product page still lists it as of September 2026. The line later grew with the Plexi-Drive Mini in 2020, which is a downsized version of the original circuit.
Can the Plexi-Drive Deluxe get JTM45 tones?
Yes, within its range. Wampler's own description says the gain structure covers everything from vintage '68 style plexi tones to the massive rock tones of a JTM-45 cranked to ten or even eleven. Reviewers of the original Plexi-Drive also placed its character somewhere between a JTM45 and an 18-watt Marshall model.
Sources (11)
- Plexi Drive Deluxe, Wampler Pedals, 2026-09-18
- Wampler Pedals Introduces the Plexi-Drive Deluxe Pedal, Guitar Interactive Magazine (Jonathan Graham), 2015-03-05
- Wampler Plexi Drive Mini, Delicious Audio, 2022-03-09
- Wampler Plexi-Drive review, MusicRadar, 2014-02-11
- Wampler Plexi-Drive British Overdrive, Pedal of the Day, 2015-04-16
- Wampler Plexi-Drive Deluxe Review, Premier Guitar, 2015-08-27
- Wampler Effects Pedals, Vintage Guitar magazine, 2016-08-10
- Wampler Introduces the Plexi-Drive Mini, Premier Guitar, 2020-11-23
- Wampler Unveils Two New Mini Overdrive Pedals, GuitarPlayer (www.guitarplayer.com), 2020-10-19
- Wampler's new mini overdrives are packing big features into small pedals, MusicRadar, 2020-10-19
- Marshall DriveMaster: this underdog has no shortage of pep, Guitar.com, 2023-08-18
