Tube Drive Opinions

guitar5 · May 5th, 2008, 10:03 AM

Looking for opinions and suggestions on a great tube drive pedal (preferably with an actual tube). Will be feeding the front of an all tube amp A and AB. Playing mostly blues and rock. Some country and very little metal (new metal that is).

ce24 · May 5th, 2008, 10:54 AM

Maybe the Art mic tube pre

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navig...c+tube+pre&st=

It can be used for guitars too...

Cheers
ce24

marshman · May 5th, 2008, 11:02 AM

Are you SURE you want a tube-based overdrive pedal? They rarely sound tons different from standard ODs, and present a few difficulties--power supply, mainly. If you use a big-honkin' pedalboard that requires a ton of power anyway, it might not matter, but the ability to pop in a fresh 9V and go might be useful.

Now, I dunno about the real tonal scope, but the Mesa V-Twins always seemed pretty versatile. I assume it would still pretty much sound like a Mesa, however, which may or may not be to your liking. There are a lot of options available in this type of pedal, though they seemed to be more popular a few years ago.

guitar5 · May 5th, 2008, 11:19 AM

Maybe I should be looking for something just to push the pre tubes I already have in the amp. Not having to keep up with another wall wart would be nice. Thanks.

Scott S · May 5th, 2008, 06:21 PM

I've got an EH "English Muff'n" and I can get some decent Marshall-y sounds with it, but you NEED to moving some air for it to really work. Sounds buzzy/fizzy at low volumes, just like my Metal Zone or anything else. I haven't tried other tubes in it yet -- I should do that...

- Scott

JimiBryant · May 5th, 2008, 06:28 PM

Tube Driver by Chandler (the one with the BK Butler design logo)

great sound, and then I swapped out the 12AX7 with a 12AU7 and now it's even better.

ruger9 · May 5th, 2008, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guitar5

Maybe I should be looking for something just to push the pre tubes I already have in the amp.

This has been my experience... tube-based overdrives, especially ones that ACTUALLY USE THE TUBES FOR DRIVE (requires a 12V wall wart or AC power, like the Varidrive, for example), only sound good used for drive when going into a CLEAN tube amp. If you are running your tube amp already breaking up some, a tube overdrive pedal simply turns everything into mush. I run my tube amps already breaking up some, then use SOLID STATE overdrives to boost the signal to the tubes, making everything hotter. It doesn't get too compressed, the bass stays tight, and everything has more clarity.

If, however, you DO want to run a tube amp clean, a tube-based overdrive is very much like "adding a dirty channel to the amp". The Varidrive does this very well. If I were looking to buy another tube overdrive, I'd look into the BK Butler Tube Driver as mentioned above, or one of the Swell pedals... www.swellpedals.com

marshman · May 5th, 2008, 08:25 PM

The new Blackheart line of tube distortion stompboxes are getting good reviews, but I haven't actually seen one stateside yet (mind you, I haven't been looking for them)--all the UK mags have had their way with them.

Your amp makes a big impact. A while back I bought a Visual Sound RT. 66. Seperate compressor/overdrive in one pedal. First, I dialed in a nice compressor setting for use in slide situations. But it turned out that it sounded almost exactly like the lead boost on the clean channel that was built in to my amp. Hmmm. So, then I dialed in a nice grind tone with the other side of the pedal, but that turned out to sound almost exactly like the channel 2 lead tone. Oops.

markinlondon · May 5th, 2008, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marshman

The new Blackheart line of tube distortion stompboxes are getting good reviews, but I haven't actually seen one stateside yet (mind you, I haven't been looking for them)--all the UK mags have had their way with them.

That'll be Blackstar pedals. They're getting some raves but need a 16v AC adapter which puts me off them.

I had a V-Twin but found it only useful for recording, it was just too much of a lump to carry around and the volume jump between blues and solo mode made it of little use in turning a Fender amp into a three channel rig. The old B K Butler/Tube Works Tube Drivers are good (at least Eric Johnson thinks so). You can get them built into SS amps too. There's one in the classifieds at the moment. You need a mains outlet at your board to run the pedal version.

On the whole I think SS stompboxes are more sensible and flexible. You either need a honking great dedicated PSU or the valve is run at such a low voltage that it's hardly worth having. At least ICs and transistors run well at low voltage and 9v batteries are available anywhere.

Wardpike · May 5th, 2008, 10:28 PM

It sounds to me like perhaps you might the effect of overloading the front end of your tube amps.

Here;'s what I did:
I took an old 1981 Vox all-tube V15 amplifier with Volume, bass, mid, treble and master volume controls, took a line off the master volume, trashed the whole power section and use it as a pre-amp into my Vox AC30s.

The sound is out of this world.

Something to think about!

marshman · May 6th, 2008, 07:23 AM

Thanks, Mark, my mistake...Yes, indeed BLACKSTAR stuff is what I meant.

http://www.blackstaramps.co.uk/products/ht/index.html

May 5th, 2008, 10:03 AM	#1 (permalink)
guitar5 NEW MEMBER! Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Mississippi Posts: 6	Tube Drive Opinions Looking for opinions and suggestions on a great tube drive pedal (preferably with an actual tube). Will be feeding the front of an all tube amp A and AB. Playing mostly blues and rock. Some country and very little metal (new metal that is). Last edited by guitar5; May 5th, 2008 at 10:05 AM. Reason: Wrong wording

May 5th, 2008, 10:54 AM	#2 (permalink)
ce24 Tele-Meister Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Idaho Age: 58 Posts: 396	Maybe the Art mic tube pre http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navig...c+tube+pre&st= It can be used for guitars too... Cheers ce24 __________________ www.motagator.net/slackwater "you can be happy or you can be miserable..the amount of work is the same"

May 5th, 2008, 11:02 AM	#3 (permalink)
marshman Tele-Holic Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: SE PA Posts: 721	Are you SURE you want a tube-based overdrive pedal? They rarely sound tons different from standard ODs, and present a few difficulties--power supply, mainly. If you use a big-honkin' pedalboard that requires a ton of power anyway, it might not matter, but the ability to pop in a fresh 9V and go might be useful. Now, I dunno about the real tonal scope, but the Mesa V-Twins always seemed pretty versatile. I assume it would still pretty much sound like a Mesa, however, which may or may not be to your liking. There are a lot of options available in this type of pedal, though they seemed to be more popular a few years ago. __________________ 42

May 5th, 2008, 06:28 PM	#6 (permalink)
JimiBryant Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Chicago Chicago that toddlin' town Age: 46 Posts: 1,719	Tube Driver by Chandler (the one with the BK Butler design logo) great sound, and then I swapped out the 12AX7 with a 12AU7 and now it's even better. __________________ *we all shine on, like the moon and the stars and the sun.*

May 5th, 2008, 08:25 PM	#8 (permalink)
marshman Tele-Holic Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: SE PA Posts: 721	The new Blackheart line of tube distortion stompboxes are getting good reviews, but I haven't actually seen one stateside yet (mind you, I haven't been looking for them)--all the UK mags have had their way with them. Your amp makes a big impact. A while back I bought a Visual Sound RT. 66. Seperate compressor/overdrive in one pedal. First, I dialed in a nice compressor setting for use in slide situations. But it turned out that it sounded almost exactly like the lead boost on the clean channel that was built in to my amp. Hmmm. So, then I dialed in a nice grind tone with the other side of the pedal, but that turned out to sound almost exactly like the channel 2 lead tone. Oops. __________________ 42

May 5th, 2008, 11:19 AM	#4 (permalink)
guitar5 NEW MEMBER! Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Mississippi Posts: 6	Maybe I should be looking for something just to push the pre tubes I already have in the amp. Not having to keep up with another wall wart would be nice. Thanks.

May 5th, 2008, 06:21 PM	#5 (permalink)
Scott S Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: SW CR IA US NA PE Age: 28 Posts: 1,576	I've got an EH "English Muff'n" and I can get some decent Marshall-y sounds with it, but you NEED to moving some air for it to really work. Sounds buzzy/fizzy at low volumes, just like my Metal Zone or anything else. I haven't tried other tubes in it yet -- I should do that... - Scott

May 5th, 2008, 10:28 PM	#10 (permalink)
Wardpike Tele-Holic Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: St. John's, Newfoundland Age: 43 Posts: 610	It sounds to me like perhaps you might the effect of overloading the front end of your tube amps. Here;'s what I did: I took an old 1981 Vox all-tube V15 amplifier with Volume, bass, mid, treble and master volume controls, took a line off the master volume, trashed the whole power section and use it as a pre-amp into my Vox AC30s. The sound is out of this world. Something to think about!

May 6th, 2008, 07:23 AM	#11 (permalink)
marshman Tele-Holic Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: SE PA Posts: 721	Thanks, Mark, my mistake...Yes, indeed BLACKSTAR stuff is what I meant. http://www.blackstaramps.co.uk/products/ht/index.html __________________ 42