Another impressive effort from Affordaboard?

 The Affordaboard 800 is the latest in a long line of pedals aiming to capture the magic of one of the most iconic amps ever made. If there’s a single circuit that has inspired the most “amp-in-a-box” efforts over the years, the JCM800 has to be right up there. I’m not going to pretend I’ve done the hard maths, but it certainly feels like every second drive pedal released in the last two decades has tried to bottle that unmistakable roar. And for good reason — the JCM800 defined an era. It became the sound of hard rock and cemented Marshall’s reputation as the go-to brand for big, authoritative tone.

Now, let’s not talk about some of Marshall’s more questionable modern decisions… that’s a discussion for another day.

The issue with many older “Marshall-in-a-box” pedals is how one-dimensional they can be. They often fixate on the high-gain side of the amp, giving you that saturated, mid-pushed crunch but not much else. The less refined ones also tend to rely heavily on compression and sheer saturation, which can sound fun in isolation but leaves you buried in a live mix.

The Affordaboard 800 takes a different, far more refined approach. Rather than jumping straight to the high-gain party, the focus here is on the pushed clean tones and low-gain growl that made early Marshall tones so expressive.

Across the gain sweep, the dynamics stay impressively intact. At lower settings you get that classic jangly, slightly gritty Marshall push that responds beautifully to pick attack. Increase the gain and it transitions into a muscular crunch — proper classic rock territory. Max it out and you’re right into hot-rodded NWOBHM tones, with shades of Maiden and Priest baked right in. It’s the sort of gain that feels big but never messy.

The tone control is dialled in exceptionally well. Lower settings give you a satisfyingly thick low-end that supports the gain without becoming flabby, while higher settings introduce a crisp top-end that cuts without ever getting shrill. That balance is harder to nail than people think, and Affordaboard have absolutely found the sweet spot.

At around £80, the 800 is extremely easy on the wallet — especially considering it’s handmade in the UK. The enclosures are printed in the UK too, meaning the pedal supports two small British businesses in one go. For a boutique-leaning, hand-built pedal, that’s a seriously impressive price point.

Affordaboard launched with the Supersonic and the Filthy Rat, and both of those came out swinging. The 800 keeps that momentum going, and based on the trajectory so far, it doesn’t look like the brand plans on slowing down any time soon. They’re very much one to watch.

Joyo Baatsin – The Swiss Army Knife of Overdrive

8-in-1: Overdrives greatest hits 

The Joyo R-Series has always impressed me. I’ve tried a few on the channel — from the Klon-inspired Tauren to the fire-breathing Uzi — and they’ve all punched well above their weight in terms of tone and build quality. So, when Joyo got in touch and asked if I wanted to try out the Baatsin, I jumped at the chance.

As a bonus, a few of you in the comments had already been recommending it, while others were asking when I’d be getting around to it — so this one was definitely for the fans (and a little bit for me too, I do love a good overdrive).

The big draw of the Baatsin is its 8-way rotary control, which lets you flick through eight different overdrive voices. It’s essentially a tour through some of the most iconic drive circuits ever made — from Tube Screamer and Timmy territory to heavier hitters like the Riot and OCD.

Rather than give a blow-by-blow on every mode, I’ll focus on a few highlights that really stood out.

8 Drives in One Box

T.OD – Timmy Territory
The T.OD mode is based on the Paul Cochrane Timmy, and although it lacks the original’s two-band EQ and toggle switch, it’s probably the most versatile mode on the pedal.

You can take it from a barely-there, gritty boost to a thick, saturated crunch that feels dynamic and touch responsive. The single tone control is voiced beautifully — it never gets mushy at the low end, nor does it stray into harsh, ice-pick territory when pushed. It’s just right.

B.Boost – Clean, Clear, and Pushing Hard

If you want to use the Baatsin purely as a clean boost, this is your mode. B.Boost strips back most of the clipping, giving you more headroom and a noticeable increase in volume.

It’s perfect for slamming the front of your favourite overdrive or amp — pushing a crunchy clean into that glorious edge-of-breakup zone without colouring your tone too much. You can also use it to push an already pretty cooking tone up to eleven. It’s a very usable and versatile boost.

Overdrive 1 – Classic Rock Energy

The Overdrive 1 mode has a gain structure that stands out from the rest. The user manual subtlety (ha!) hints at it's Boss origins and this one just has a different kind of vibe to the rest. The grit was a bit more raw and raucous, less of that typical overdrive mid-range character . For me, this one ended up being a personal favourite.

Rioter – Suhr Sound Without the Price

The Rioter mode, as the name suggests, draws from the Suhr Riot, and it does it surprisingly well. Many Riot clones tend to overdo the saturation and compression, which can make them great for sustaining lead tones but lacking the definition for any rhythm work.

The Baatsin’s take keeps enough aggression for singing leads but still retains the note clarity and definition needed to not get lost in a mix.

Not Just Another Bonsai Clone

When I first saw the Baatsin, I immediately thought of the JHS Bonsai — another multi-overdrive pedal that serves as a “greatest hits” collection of classic circuits.

To Joyo’s credit, they didn’t just lift the idea wholesale. They took the concept and went their own way with it, choosing a solid mix of mainstream favourites rather than diving into the more obscure options that the Bonsai features. That feels pretty on-brand for Joyo — reliable, accessible tones that don’t break the bank. Likewise, the Bonsai is very much aiming at those more niche tones that Josh Scott loves to share with us all. Kudos to Joyo for not just straight ripping off and kudos to JHS too, props where props are due.

Style, Substance, and Serious Value

Add in the sleek, Tron-like aesthetic of the R-series — complete with the soft-glow LED surround — and the Baatsin becomes a genuinely useful addition to almost any pedalboard. It’s like having a Swiss Army knife of tone under your foot, ready to cover everything from transparent boost to full-blown rock gain.

It might be green, but don’t be fooled — this isn’t just another Tube Screamer. The Baatsin is proof that Joyo knows exactly how to balance variety, tone, and affordability.

I misunderstood the Tone City Model M...

 Tone City Model M V1 – Rediscovering a Forgotten Gem

Around five or so years ago, the Tone City Golden Plexi was making waves. It started popping up on budget boards everywhere, gaining a reputation as the “must-have” mini pedal of the moment. Naturally, I had to try one. To be honest, though, I walked away a little underwhelmed. It wasn’t bad, but the gain knob seemed to start off too dirty and just got dirtier from there, without much room for subtlety. Add in a touch of background noise, and the whole thing just didn’t click for me. It found its way onto the “to sell” pile pretty quickly.

Fast-forward a few years, and I spotted that Tone City had updated the formula with the Model M. This new version promised dual gain controls and even included a built-in boost. That sounded like exactly what the Golden Plexi had been missing, so I snapped one up on the used market at a decent price. When it arrived, I plugged it in for a quick test drive… and felt the same shrug I’d experienced with the Golden Plexi. So, into the cupboard it went, gathering dust among the forgotten toys.

Then came a late “spring clean” in September. I unearthed the Model M, plugged it back in, and — well — I must have been having a bad day the first time, because this time the pedal absolutely sang. What came out of my amp was the gritty, dynamic, amp-like drive tone I’d been chasing all those years ago. There was this beautiful fuzzy edge, a responsiveness to my playing, and suddenly it clicked. I was wrong about this pedal, plain and simple.

The Gain Section – Crunch vs High Gain

One of the most interesting features of the Model M is the dual gain setup. Instead of one generic gain control, you get two: Crunch and High Gain. A little toggle switch decides which mode you’re in, and the corresponding knob becomes active.

In Crunch mode, you can roll the gain almost all the way back, giving you that slightly pushed-clean tone with just a hint of grit. Dial it up, and you’ll find classic British-style crunch that works beautifully for blues, classic rock, and anything that needs an “amp just starting to sweat” vibe.

Flick over to High Gain mode, and things get rowdy. This setting picks up roughly where Crunch leaves off, delivering a more saturated, aggressive tone. It’s not modern metal levels of gain, but it’s got that modded JCM800-at-full-tilt energy. Think classic hard rock, early heavy metal, and fat, roaring leads.

If there’s a small downside, it’s that the mode switch is a toggle rather than a footswitch. You can’t switch between Crunch and High Gain mid-song without bending down. That said, the pedal has a trick up its sleeve that makes up for it.

The Built-In Boost

The second footswitch on the Model M engages the Boost mode. This is a simple one-knob affair that always runs before the drive section. It’s not designed to give you an independent clean boost or EQ tweak; its job is singular — push the amp circuit harder.

The boost itself is pretty transparent, but as you turn it up, it slams into the drive section with more intensity, essentially giving you a “second channel.” It’s like going from crunchy rhythm to searing lead at the tap of a switch. For all intents and purposes, the pedal becomes a two-channel Plexi-in-a-box.

Would it be more versatile if you could choose to run the boost after the drive, adding volume instead of gain? Probably. But honestly, that’s not the spirit of this pedal. The Model M is all about unapologetically British, amp-style drive, and the boost being pre-gain plays into that beautifully. It’s Nigel Tufnel territory — when you need that extra push over the cliff, the boost takes you straight to eleven.

Tone and Noise

If there’s one part of the pedal that doesn’t quite keep up, it’s the tone control. At the lowest setting, things can get a bit woolly before it starts to clear up. From there, though, it does a solid job, never getting too piercing at the top end and keeping things smooth.

The other slight nit-pick is noise. Push the gain hard, and you’ll notice a bit of background hiss — which, to be fair, is par for the course with mid-heavy British-voiced drives. According to Tone City’s website, the Model M V2 addresses some of these issues, which makes me think this V1 review might just be the first chapter in a two-part story.

A story of redemption

The Tone City Model M V1 is a great example of a pedal that deserves a second chance. On first impression, it might not blow you away, but give it time and it can reveal itself as a dynamic, amp-like drive with real character. Between the dual gain modes and the built-in boost, it offers plenty of flexibility for players looking for that classic British roar without the volume of a half-stack.

Sure, it’s not perfect — the toggle switch instead of a footswitch limits on-the-fly versatility, and the tone knob could be a little more refined. But overall, this is a pedal that captures the magic of cranked British amps in a compact, affordable format.

If the V1 was this good once I gave it another shot, I can only imagine how much further Tone City took it with the V2. Maybe that’s a story for another day.

The V1 doesn't exist anymore, but the V2 is available and for sale here (affiliate link):
https://thmn.to/thoprod/540179?offid=1&affid=2735

 Digitech Screamin’ Blues – An Overlooked Late ‘90s Gem

Ain’t nothing more late-90s/early-2000s ‘tude than spelling a pedal name Screamin’ instead of Screaming.  From the name, to the whacky, cartoonish font, this thing just oozes 90's nostalgia. Today we’re diving into one of the often-overlooked pedals from exactly that era: the Digitech Screamin’ Blues.

The one I demoed recently is actually my original unit from back in the day. True to form, I picked it up at the tail end of its production run when the prices had dropped — always on the hunt for those budget bargains. At the time, I really bought into this run of Digitech pedals. Over the years I owned both the Bad Monkey and the Hot Head, and they always felt sturdier than the Behringer offerings of the time while costing less than the Boss alternatives. What I didn’t realise back then was that many of these weren’t just cheaper — in some ways, they were improvements on the circuits they were inspired by.

The secret weapon? That extra Low control.

The EQ Advantage

At a glance, the Screamin’ Blues looks like it’s ditched the traditional tone knob in favour of a simple two-band EQ. But this is where the magic lies.

The High control (in the way I see it, at least) acts much like a standard tone knob, letting you tame brightness or push it forward. The Low knob, however, is a “fatness” control that gives the pedal a ton of flexibility. Many classic circuits — including the ones these pedals were clearly based on — shave off some low end by default. That makes sense if you’re running chunky humbuckers and need to tighten up your sound for clarity, but it’s not always what you want with bright, jangly single coils.

With the Screamin’ Blues, you can dial that low end right back in, giving single-coil guitars more chunk and girth. Push it to extremes and you get a big, woofy bloom of bass, even that small-combo-speaker-struggling kind of sound if that’s your flavour. The EQ here makes the pedal far more versatile than many of the drives it was competing with at the time.

Two Runs, Subtle Differences

Here’s a fun bit of trivia: the Digitech line actually came in two distinct runs. On the surface they look identical, but there’s one key difference: weight.

The early versions feel like you’re trying to lift Mjolnir itself, while the later run is closer to the weight of a typical guitar pedal. Is there any tonal difference between the two? Hard to say without a proper A/B test — maybe that’s something I’ll do in a future video if enough people are interested. But it’s one of those quirks collectors and long-time users love to point out.

The Shadow of the Bad Monkey

Of course, we can’t talk about the Screamin’ Blues without mentioning its more famous sibling: the Bad Monkey. That pedal got a massive second life when Josh Scott of JHS Pedals did a video showing just how good it was. In that video, the Bad Monkey held its own against a whole range of drives, including — somewhat shockingly — an original Klon. The takeaway? Its powerful EQ made it ridiculously versatile.

The other pedals in the series got passing mentions, but the spotlight was firmly on the Bad Monkey. And if you’ve been paying attention to the gear market over the past decade, you’ll know what happens when Josh Scott shines a light on a forgotten pedal. Prices shoot up overnight, sometimes tenfold, and what was once a £10 bargain suddenly becomes a collector’s item.

We saw it happen with the plastic-housed Behringer pedals, we saw it with the Bad Monkey, and part of me is really hoping Josh never decides to do a feature on the Screamin’ Blues or the Hot Head. Some pedals are better left as affordable hidden gems rather than skyrocketing into “vintage collectible” territory. If he decides to, however, I may be sitting on a gold-mine...

Gone but not forgotten

The Screamin’ Blues might not have the meme-level fame of the Bad Monkey, but it has a lot going for it. With its two-band EQ, solid build, and late-‘90s charm, it’s one of those pedals that quietly punches above its weight. Whether you’re using it to add girth to single coils, tighten up humbuckers, or just push your amp into crunchy territory, it’s got more flexibility than most people give it credit for. With the recent leaks of the Badder Monkey, I'm quietly hoping to see a resurgence of this line - but for that, I guess only time will tell.

So my advice is, if you stumble across one in the wild at a decent price, grab it. Just don’t tell Josh Scott.