J. ROCKETT AUDIO
DESIGNS
.45 CALIBER
REVIEW BY PHILLIP DODGE
STREET PRICE $189.00
If the number “45” in the J.
Rockett Audio Designs .45’s
name didn’t give it away
for you already, I’ll fill you
in. It’s meant to sound like
a Marshall JTM45—an amp
also known as a “Marshall
Plexi” and is legendary for
a reason. With controls for
Loud (volume), Gain, Treble,
and Bass it might seem like
the .45 would be a onetrick pony. But thanks to
the interactivity between
the Gain and Bass controls,
the .45 is capable of a wide
range of tones.
The .45 lacks enumeration
for the controls, but rest
assured, this baby goes to
eleven. You can dial in an
amazing crunch tone and
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GEAR REVIEW
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bang out some serious
power chords. And yes, you
can crank the gain and get a
huge, singing lead tone with
sustain for days. But you can
also dial the Gain way back
and use the .45 to give your
American-voiced or other
amp a bit of a British accent.
I love the EQ sections on
the .45, so let’s start there.
The voicing of the pedal is
far from flat. It pushes the
upper mids in a perfectly
British way. If that’s not
what you’re looking for,
you should probably look
elsewhere. But seeing
as this pedal is intended
to bring the bark of a
JTM45 to any amp, I love
the authentic timbre. The
J. Rockett Audio Designs .45 Caliber
Treble control is perfect
for matching the .45 to a
wide range of guitars and
amps. I kept it dialed to
about 11 o’clock or less
running into a Fender ’68
Custom Princeton Reverb,
a Vox AC15HW, and a ZT
Amplifiers Lunchbox. In this
range with these amps, the
.45 provided the perfect
amount of sparkle and
presence without getting
shrill. Once I had the Treble
dialed in for the amp, I left it
alone. With the Bass control,
I found myself adjusting it
based on where I had the
Gain set—typically at very
similar settings for both
knobs. In other words, when
the Gain was low, I tended