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The Affordaboard 800 Drive Pedal Review – A Tribute to the greatest amp EVER built!
Introduction
We have worked with the amazing people over at Affordaboard before on a few videos! However, they have recently released a whole range of their own pedals, which are designed, built, and shipped from the UK. Want more? They are all super affordable! Today we will be looking at the Affordaboard 800 Drive – a high-gain, monster-sounding pedal created to capture the legendary tones of our favourite British Marshall-inspired amps! It works as a sort of preamp pedal, designed to take your clean amp and push it straight into classic rock and high-gain territory.
The team from Affordaboard sent this pedal over for me to check out. I will sadly have to return it, as it needs to go up for sale. However, this doesn’t affect my judgment of the product! I have been playing the Affordaboard 800 Drive extensively and have formed my own opinion on it. So, let’s find out what that opinion is!
The Affordaboard 800 Drive
The Affordaboard 800 pedal is their take on the legendary Marshall JCM800 amp tones! Expect high gain, classic rock, and metal sounds – but in a much smaller, far more affordable package! Run this pedal into a clean-ish amp and instantly transform your sound from clean to pure Marshall power at the click of a footswitch. Soaring leads, thick riffs, and sustain for days! Bring those iconic British amp tones straight to your pedalboard. No amp simulation, just simple controls and a price that competes with any pedal brand worldwide!
How did the 800 Drive Pedal come? Well, it was made because Affordaboard wanted a pedal that could do that classic Marshall gain. However, when they tried out the Marshall Line of pedal they didn’t quite hit the spot on what they were looking for! They thought “we could do better than this”. So they gave it a go themselves!
So before we go into the sounds and my thoughts on the pedal, Let us find out what controls the Affordaboard 800 pedal has!
- Level: This will control the overall output of the pedal
- Tone: Controls the EQ and shapes the tone of the pedal
- Drive: Controls the Gain and Distortion of the 800 pedal
The 800 pedal features top-loaded jacks for both input and output, as well as the power input. It runs perfectly on your standard 9v power supply.
More on the Affordabord 800 Drive
The Affordaboard 800 pedal is proudly designed, built, and sold in the UK. Priced at just £79 plus shipping, it delivers incredible value for money! So, why don’t we dive in and hear exactly what it sounds like – and what tones you can expect from the Affordaboard 800 pedal?
The Sounds
For the demo songs, it was just the Affordaboard 800 pedal plugged straight into the front of my Neural Nano Cortex (Review Here). On one of the demo tracks, I added a touch of chorus for that “washy” effect, but overall it was a very simple, super-classic setup – and it sounded fantastic!
After the demo songs, I ran through some of the different tones you can get from the pedal. I had the Affordaboard 800 pedal going into the Nano Cortex, set to clean for some samples and slightly crunchy for others. This really showed how versatile the 800 pedal is when hitting the front end of a clean or crunchy guitar amp. For the demos, I used my LT Custom S-Type guitar, loaded with single coils and a humbucker – the perfect partner for a Marshall amp-in-a-box pedal like the Affordaboard 800!
What are my thoughts?
The Design
Damn, do I love the design! The 800 font with the UK flag in the background really drives home what this pedal is based on, and also proudly shows where it’s made! Pair this with the clean white enclosure and black knobs, and you’ve got a killer pedal that will look great on any guitar board.
Every Affordaboard 800 pedal comes in its own box with Affordaboard branding and a cool custom logo for the 800 pedal. Super nice packaging and a killer design that matches the tone – this is a pedal that stands out both visually and sonically.
"You could absolutely use the Affordaboard 800 as a preamp pedal if needed!"
The Sounds
Damn, this pedal has a lot of gain in it! However, it isn’t that fizzy, ear-piercing gain that makes you wince – this is lush, warm, amp-like gain! When I first plugged the Affordaboard 800 in, I set all the controls to 12 o’clock (something I always do when reviewing gear). I ended up playing the pedal for a good 10–15 minutes before I even touched a setting – it just sounds great right out of the box!
One thing I really love is how well it reacts to your guitar’s volume knob. You don’t get a full clean-up, but you do have a strong level of control over the gain. This makes the Affordaboard 800 feel very amp-like – something a lot of “amp-in-a-box” pedals struggle to achieve!
I also tried running this pedal directly with a cab sim, and it was good fun. It gave me very usable tones and allowed for a quick, simple setup to get some solid ideas recorded. You could absolutely use the Affordaboard 800 as a preamp pedal if needed.
More on the Sounds
Tone-wise, the tone control is extremely usable – it never gets too much. In some of the demos, I had it cranked all the way up, and it still avoided that harsh, fizzy edge that many Marshall-in-a-box pedals suffer from. Personally, I prefer a slightly darker, more mid-heavy character in my high-gain guitar tones (something you may have noticed from the demo songs above). That sound is easily achievable with the 800 pedal, without the low end ever getting muddy or flabby.
The Drawbacks
Let us talk about the drawbacks of the 800 Drive pedal. This won’t take long at all!
Now, you can bring the gain level down and get more of a “pushed Marshall” sound – and don’t get me wrong, it does sound great. However, this isn’t the pedal you want if you’re looking for low-gain overdrive tones. Yes, you can use it as a boost or dial it back for lighter gain, but the Affordaboard 800 really shines as a high-gain Marshall-style pedal.
Apart from that, there isn’t much negative to say about this pedal! Just look at the price – the value is incredible. After a Marshall distortion pedal? Well, you’ve found it! The Affordaboard 800 is proudly UK-designed and manufactured, bringing iconic British high-gain tones to your pedalboard without breaking the bank.
"These pedals are an absolute steal! A crazy price for a UK-made pedal delivering authentic Marshall-inspired tones!"
Final Thoughts
I don’t know what pots they’ve used, but they feel super solid! They have a nice grip and just the right resistance when you turn them – these aren’t getting knocked about anytime soon. If you’ve read a few of our reviews, you’ll know I’m particular about control knobs, and I love when they feel well-made. Cheap pots are loose and move around far too much – the Affordaboard 800 definitely does not suffer from that problem!
If you’re after that Marshall sound at home, then you need to give this pedal a look. Plug it into a home practice amp or a quiet setup and it will bring your tone to life, even at lower volumes! I tried it with the Boss Katana Mini (review here), and while it missed a little of the low end, it still sounded massive on a smaller home amp.
These pedals are an absolute steal! A crazy price for a UK-made pedal delivering authentic Marshall-inspired tones. If you’re after a true “Marshall in a box” without all the unnecessary extras that some brands add, then the Affordaboard 800 is the perfect option. It’s versatile, it sounds killer, it looks fantastic, and the price is unbeatable. For just £79, I don’t see a better choice! A killer pedal, built in the UK – and by grabbing one, you’ll also be supporting a small local UK business. What’s not to love?
Conclusion
Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed our review of the Affordaboard 800 pedal! I’m so glad I had the chance to try it out. I think it’s the perfect option for so many players. Marshall amps are legendary, but they’re also expensive and heavy! If you want that Marshall sound in a smaller, more compact, and affordable format, the Affordaboard 800 is the way to go – especially if you only need that tone for a few songs in your set.
Huge thanks to Affordaboard for sending these pedals over! They’re great guys who already sell some amazing pedals, and it’s fantastic to see them branching out into their own line. We may have more Affordaboard pedals coming soon, so make sure to keep an eye on the Gigs and Guitars website and subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date with all our latest reviews!
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