Out for Delivery

[muscmp]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Looks interesting Also looks to require regular 120v AC ?

kev: yes, they do.

play music!

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Looks interesting Also looks to require regular 120v AC ?

Yup. This pedal has a 12AX7 tube aboard that needs a wee bit of current.

Bob

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Yup. This pedal has a 12AX7 tube aboard that needs a wee bit of current.

Bob

I assumed so, I was thinking about its use in pedal board with a power supply, and that you would need a two/three connection extension to utilize it.

[Dru Edwards]

Hi Bob, Congrats on the pedal. I'm not familiar with it (or with tube based pedals in general). What's the biggest difference between it and a non-tube OD pedal such as TS-9, Boss Overdrive, etc. Does the tube give it extra warmth?

[muscmp]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Hi Bob, Congrats on the pedal. I'm not familiar with it (or with tube based pedals in general). What's the biggest difference between it and a non-tube OD pedal such as TS-9, Boss Overdrive, etc. Does the tube give it extra warmth?

dru: i would say that the tube based pedals do provide a little more warmth but really not that much different. i've experimented with a 12at7 for the 12ax7 and in some instances i like it better and in some, i don't. as with everything, it is subjective. i presently use a fulltone fulldrive 3 that has a boost as well as overdrive. you can cascade them in different orders and it has a germanium transistor that acts as a compressor. the sound is great.

play music!

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Hi Bob, Congrats on the pedal. I'm not familiar with it (or with tube based pedals in general). What's the biggest difference between it and a non-tube OD pedal such as TS-9, Boss Overdrive, etc. Does the tube give it extra warmth?

To me, the biggest difference is in the way they make the guitar feel. You can get a similar sound from solid state overdrives but a real tube preamp compresses quite differently from a solid state unit. You can feel it when you lean into it. Also, for a lefty who plays right-handed like I do, left-hand feel is extremely important. Here is an interesting video about tube preamps from the loonies at That Pedal Show (Love 'em!):

The whole show is great but starting around 17:00 they compare a Boss Blues Driver to the Butler Tube Driver and they see the same thing - the attack is rounded off and compressed and the bottom end warms up much more on the Butler Tube Driver than with the Boss Blues Driver. I've found this to be true with all solid state drives.

Bob

By the way, the Kingsley Jester on the far left in the video retails at over $600.

[HHP]

Waiting for a tracking number for my latest "investment". If you want to guess, it has "the" in the name.

[Bob Womack]

By the way, I'm working on a review of the pedal. I'm just waiting to have enough experience for it not to be a typical "honeymoon" review.

Bob

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

By the way, I'm working on a review of the pedal. I'm just waiting to have enough experience for it not to be a typical "honeymoon" review.

Bob

"The Honeymoon Review" what a great name for a Band

[Dru Edwards]

Thanks for the info, guys. I'll have to give a tube based OD a try.

Originally Posted by muscmp

dru: i would say that the tube based pedals do provide a little more warmth but really not that much different. i've experimented with a 12at7 for the 12ax7 and in some instances i like it better and in some, i don't. as with everything, it is subjective. i presently use a fulltone fulldrive 3 that has a boost as well as overdrive. you can cascade them in different orders and it has a germanium transistor that acts as a compressor. the sound is great.

play music!

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

To me, the biggest difference is in the way they make the guitar feel. You can get a similar sound from solid state overdrives but a real tube preamp compresses quite differently from a solid state unit. You can feel it when you lean into it. Also, for a lefty who plays right-handed like I do, left-hand feel is extremely important. Here is an interesting video about tube preamps from the loonies at That Pedal Show (Love 'em!):

<<snippet>>

The whole show is great but starting around 17:00 they compare a Boss Blues Driver to the Butler Tube Driver and they see the same thing - the attack is rounded off and compressed and the bottom end warms up much more on the Butler Tube Driver than with the Boss Blues Driver. I've found this to be true with all solid state drives.

Bob

By the way, the Kingsley Jester on the far left in the video retails at over $600.

[muscmp]

well, it is bob's fault.

i pulled my tube driver from the garage and proceeded to do some tube rolling. i spent a couple hours, in between a plumbing problem in the kitchen, first testing it against my original tech 21 sans amp and my fulltone fulldrive 3.

the tube driver had an rca 7025 in it. right away it sounded better than the sans amp, altho, i only flipped a couple of the tiny dip switches on the sans amp. the harmonics of the tube driver just stood out very easily.

i tested it against the fulltone and found that i liked the pairing of the two. the boost circuit of the fulltone does make the tube driver harmonics stand out even more. the ability to tweak both to my liking was fantastic. i think i quit using it before in that it seemed too fizzy sounding, but, with the drive at about 10 o'clock, it was perfect. the eq allows you to tweak your incoming sound quite well, also.

i decided to do some tube rolling. i tested a 12au7 in the tube driver. it did give me more headroom but seemed to lose some of the harmonics. then, i tried a 12at7 and it was a little better. i then tested it with an amperex bugle boy 12ax7a, the 7025 and a new jj ecc83s. i could not tell any difference between them and since the circuit was made with 12ax7 in mind, i decided to keep the jj in and save the other two for my amps.

overall, i'm glad i pulled the tube driver from the garage and have added it to my pedal board.

thanks bob!

play music!

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by muscmp

well, it is bob's fault.

i pulled my tube driver from the garage and proceeded to do some tube rolling. i spent a couple hours, in between a plumbing problem in the kitchen, first testing it against my original tech 21 sans amp and my fulltone fulldrive 3.

the tube driver had an rca 7025 in it. right away it sounded better than the sans amp, altho, i only flipped a couple of the tiny dip switches on the sans amp. the harmonics of the tube driver just stood out very easily.

i tested it against the fulltone and found that i liked the pairing of the two. the boost circuit of the fulltone does make the tube driver harmonics stand out even more. the ability to tweak both to my liking was fantastic. i think i quit using it before in that it seemed too fizzy sounding, but, with the drive at about 10 o'clock, it was perfect. the eq allows you to tweak your incoming sound quite well, also.

FYI, David Gilmour uses a Tube Driver and a Muff Fuzz in series for some of his sounds.

i decided to do some tube rolling. i tested a 12au7 in the tube driver. it did give me more headroom but seemed to lose some of the harmonics. then, i tried a 12at7 and it was a little better. i then tested it with an amperex bugle boy 12ax7a, the 7025 and a new jj ecc83s. i could not tell any difference between them and since the circuit was made with 12ax7 in mind, i decided to keep the jj in and save the other two for my amps.

Great report! One page I consulted did some tube rolling as well. The author said the he found little difference in tone except a loss of mids as he used lower gain tubes than the 12AX7. He reminded us that the pedal's drive comes from a chip opamp and the tube stage smoothes it out. He did some chip rolling and said that a Burr Brown chip smoothed out the sound a wee bit, but actually so little that most people would't be able to tell the difference.

overall, i'm glad i pulled the tube driver from the garage and have added it to my pedal board.

thanks bob!

play music!

Hey, I'm glad I inspired you!

Bob

[redir]

I used to have the Tube Works Shred pedal, a big red triangular box with a 12ax7. It was pretty good pedal till it got kicked down a flight of stairs. Nothing like real tube drive tho.