NUX Plexi Crunch Pedal Review – Does it supply Vintage British sounds?

So what do we think of the NUX Plexi Crunch pedal? Well, there’s a lot to cover-so why don’t we break it down into a few categories! Let’s start with how it looks and also the build of the Marshall-style pedal.

Design & Packaging

I love that the knobs are named after Marshall knobs-“Master” instead of volume. Such a cool little touch that really adds to the look of this pedal. Of course, it doesn’t affect the sound at all, but it looks amazing! We’ve always said, if something looks fun and cool, then it’s more likely to make you want to play. Win-win!

The knobs have a nice feel and good resistance to them. However, under heavy or low lighting, it can be tricky to see their positions if you need to adjust on the fly.

The construction seems decent as well-it didn’t arrive with any loose screws, the jacks grip nicely, and all the knobs feel solid. For a pedal at this price, it doesn’t have that “cheap” feel you often get at this end of the market. Also, it’s packaged very well-you get a warranty card, a nicely designed box, and a NUX sticker! That said, the pedal comes wrapped in a plastic bag-it would be better to see a cardboard sleeve or something more eco-friendly.

Sound

The sounds? Well, who doesn’t love high-gain Marshall tones? Using this pedal, you can easily dial in tones reminiscent of live Guns N’ Roses recordings or early Van Halen sounds.

One thing worth noting is that the preamp gain doesn’t really add much more gain after 12 o’clock, but it does give you more compression and sustain-which feels great to play. From 0 to 12, you get a mild gain sweep, and after that, it’s more about adding compression.

How am I setting up the pedal? I usually set the Preamp somewhere around 12 (sometimes pushing it to 2), the Tone at 12, and the Volume to where it needs to be. Then I dial in the Presence as needed. Sometimes you’ll want a darker sound; other times, you’ll want more fizz and sparkle-that’s what the Presence is for.

The Tone knob controls the mids, so if you want to push the mids and cut through a mix, you can crank it. If you want that classic ’80s scooped sound, turn it the other way. Super simple.

If you’re after a light to medium overdrive pedal, then look elsewhere-this isn’t it! Even on the lowest gain, it’s still fairly punchy (think classic ’70s rock). What I do like is that if you turn the gain to 0, you still get sound-many pedals go silent at zero gain. This is a nice touch (if it’s designed that way).

How does it respond to your guitar’s volume? There’s a bit of cleanup, but don’t expect pristine cleans when rolling off your guitar volume. If the gain is set low, you can clean it up a fair bit, but anything over 9 o’clock just gives you slightly less gain, not clean tones.