Why Use A Valve Overdrive Pedal? [Tube-y Or Not Tube-y, That Is The Question]
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- čas přidán 1. 07. 2024
- Some overdrive pedals have valves, so they must be better, right? Let’s find out…
Life too short for long CZcams videos? Please see the ‘Interesting bits and go-to sections’ information below.
Welcome to the show! We’re always banging on about how much we love valves in our amps (or ‘tubes’ to our American friends). So how come we’re happy to ‘ruin’ them with nasty solid-state overdrive pedals? Surely it would be better to use boosts and overdrives that use proper vacuum tubes, wouldn’t it?
Erm, maybe. Dan and I have never been huge fans of tube overdrive pedals for reasons we explain briefly… so perhaps it’s time to put some of those to the test and listen to a bunch new options plus one bona-fide classic.
Do you want a valve overdrive pedal? Let’s find out…
Enjoy the show!
Pedals & stuff used in this video
• TheGigRig Three2One
www.thegigrig.com/three2one
• Sonic Research ST-300 Mini Tuner
Australia: bit.ly/2mR1s8c
• Keeley D&M Drive
UK & Europe: bit.ly/3zaTX5Z
Australia: bit.ly/2pUDUAE
• Kingtone Duellist
www.kingtoneguitar.com/produc...
• BK Butler Tube Driver
butleraudio.com/
• Vahlbruch Kaluna
www.vahlbruch-fx.com/en/
• Blackstar Dept.10 Dual Drive
UK & Europe: bit.ly/3zaTX5Z
• Gurus DoubleDecker MkII
www.foxgeardistribution.com/p...
• Stand Alone x Analoguetube Love Bomb
UK & Europe: bit.ly/3zaTX5Z
lovebombpedal.com/
• Source Audio Collider Delay & Reverb
UK & Europe: bit.ly/3zaTX5Z
Australia: bit.ly/323SzgS
• TheGigRig G3
www.thegigrig.com/g3
Interesting bits and go-to sections…
0:00 Intro and playing
3:38 Today’s amps
4:48 What are we doing today?
6:00 Valve overdrive pedal or preamp?
7:30 Our normal go-to OD pedals
8:15 What does the valve bring?
9:45 BK Butler Tube Driver intro
11:00 Today’s amps sounds
12:12 BK Butler Tube Driver sounds
20:23 Vahlbruch Kaluna intro
21:20 Vahlbruch Kaluna sounds
26:00 Kaluna with humbuckers
28:37 Blackstar Dept10 intro
29:30 Blackstar Dept10 sounds
36:43 Thoughts so far?
37:45 Gurus DoubleDecker MkII intro
38:27 DoubleDecker MkII sounds
42:15 Switch through all the pedals so far
44:30 Thoughts so far, again
45:57 Love Bomb intro
47:00 Love Bomb sounds
50:18 Switch through most of the pedals
53:00 Love Bomb & humbuckers
55:45 Closing thoughts and conclusions
Guitars in this episode:
• 1970 Fender Stratocaster - no video yet
• Gibson Custom True Historic 1957 Les Paul Goldtop Murphy Aged - no video yet
• Fender Custom Shop ’63 Telecaster - Dan’s video here • That Pedal Show - Our ...
Amps & cabs in this episode:
• 1964 Fender Vibroverb with JBL D130F 15-inch speaker
• Marshall 1987x with Marshall 1960A 412 / Celestion G12M Greenback speakers
UK: bit.ly/3zaTX5Z
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![Would You Run Your Overdrives & Boosts Like This? [Three Gain Stages & The Truth]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qBuNBRFkp3c/mqdefault.jpg)
thanks Dan and Mick. it's apparent why your show is, essentially, the 'alpha' guitar tech instructional channel- the hard work you put into testing, filming, editing, and publishing is readily apparent, and i really look forward to it each week. cheers from Oregon, US
BK Butler is a really chill dude. I’m considering adding one of his drives to my collection just because.
58:26 I bet you could use Love Bomb itself as a pedalboard. There's enough room on top of it to mount several pedals! And if you need more pedalboard space, add a SurfyBear Metal Reverb :D
Now that is a GREAT idea! Hahahaha!
This could pair up nicely with the Valco Five-O as well. Just a giant carpet of 2XL pedals.
@@ThatPedalShow Gives "gain stacking" a whole new meaning!
Top comment
Suddenly I feel okay about going back to large enclosure Big Muffs and Small Clones.... Thanks Love Bomb 🥳
Oh that should be an interesting one!
Funly enough, I bought an early 80's tube overdrive pedal recently just to check if I hear real benefit in having that on my board.
I received it a week ago and I still didn't have the chance to plug it and test it yet.
So this should be very instructive! 🙂
Thank you guys for having such a perfect timing once again!
Every single time I watch your videos I think ‘man, I really haven’t played my guitar enough this week.’ Thanks for the constant inspiration gents.
So much great playing in this video! You guys were clearly inspired.
The Love Bomb. Wow. Forget "can it fit on my pedalboard", I could fit my pedalboard on it! And the sounds through it were spectacular.
That being said, letting realism in a bit, the Blackstar unit was superb.
Good one guys, and the both of you made all of the valve-pedals do their best stuff! Really liking the Blackstar D-10, but the Love Bomb _was_ extraordinary! Very big sound, and very 3-d in my opinion. Thanks!
Perfect timing, just finished last weeks moist/dry/damp video
The two best kind of tps intros- Dan enveloped in space and time, and Mick funky on point. Love it
Should do an “all tube” board vs a solid state board… ie: Effectrode pc-2a compressor, Kingsley drive, Effectrode tube vibe, etc… against a standard board. See if it’s really adding anything through the same amp. Just a thought… 🤟🏼
Analogman fuzz into Tube Drive is sublime.
They can add a Roland Space Echo for delay and reverb.
AND with a solid state Amp
I'd like to see four mini pedals stuck to the surface of the Love Bomb... there's your board!
lol my board consists of an Effectrode: Mercury, Blackbird, Phaser & pair of pc-2a's, into a Moogerfooger Clusterflux for ambience & feedback, run direct into DAW. I was like, finally, I got myself the range of tubey tones I always wanted to play in, without having to have an expensive amp! ...if I total up what I spent on all those pedals I could've just bought a pretty nice amp.
Thank you guys for another great episode. I'm a proud owner of Kingsley Minstrell and love it. Also have the Dude od. When in need of smaller board I put them both in front of HX Stomp and there we go...
I used a Kemper for a few years, the only thing that made it feel right (real) was putting a BK Butler Tube Driver in front of it. It didn’t change the sound but made the guitar feel right, and gain would clean-up way better than the Kemper ever could.
Love them overdrive shows, thanks gents, cheers to the weekend ✌🏼
32:32 Yessss! I was equally impressed with those Dept10. My two cents is that these valve pedals have a certain squish and sag that op-amp/diode pedals tend to shave away (which can be helpful for Fenders, for example). Another stellar vid!
I have to admit. I am a tone snob….that being said after watching you guys for years…I have slowly built up my pedal collection.lol….Before I bought other pedals I only used 2. A ts9 and The best pedal I own. EHX English muffin…2 12ay7’s…they can be swapped obviously….Oddly I don’t have the pedal on my board🤷♂. But today reminded me of why I love it so much. Great job guys!! Thnx
Awesome episode chaps! Still run my old Blackstar HT boost pedal on my board, have had that thing for years still love it
I have been waiting for this all week!
I have a tube driver. It plays well with some amps but not all. It took me awhile to really dial in a tone I could use live. But I do love it at the end of the day.
Some of the tones achieved here were spectacular. Also gotta say that the Lester is pretty much a Holy Grail guitar. I confess that I covet that axe bigly and I am delighted that it has come into your possession, Mick.
I've always wanted a Tube Driver. One of these days. I used a Blackstar High gain tube distortion for years and it was incredible.
LOVING that Vibroverb. 1x15 cabs/combos are so underrated for guitar
I love my valve drive pedals and own most of them. I do a lot of work running into modelers and then direct to board and I find the valve drives give me back some of the “vavlvey” feel under the fingers, along with great tones. My favorite is the Sherlock Amps V3.
Killer show guys. I've had the 4 knob BK for many years and sounds killer into most everything I've tried, once you balance it out and agreed.. the indents can be finicky. The Love Bomb is on a whole new level.. and at it's RRP in Aus, it can stay there haha. Keep it up!!
Thanks Mick and Dan, great tube-y episode!
Man guys- I'm on my second listen through. Thanks so much for this episode- you happened to have hit me right in the tone hole- if you know what I mean. By chance, I had practice last night with the band and my new handwired Hiwatt inspired Phaze amp (a 30 watt Hiwatt circuit with 6l6s). I got a Hiwatt build largely based on your Hiwatt shows- and because of the War on Drugs. The thing is, the amp is so clean that I do need an always on drive that also stacks well into other pedals- rat- muff- bender. Last night I tried using the Timmy- and it was pretty good, but a little dark and grindy. What I want is something that doesn't feel "smaller" than the amp sound (which is so huge that most TS type pedals feel like a step backwards) but gives me a smooth, warm, gain. All night I started thinking - "what about a tube preamp"- maybe that's what I need. I wake up this morning and bang- you've got this episode- like you read my mind. Thanks gents!!!!
Holy smokes, congrats on getting a Hiwatt! A thing of beauty.
My all-time favorite tube o/d pedal is the Hughes & Kettner TubeFactor. Epic tone.
Really enjoyed this. I have found pedals with tubes in super useful in front of the HX-Stomp. Especially if running amp/cab sims. The "squishiness" you talk about brings the "feel" back to playing when you are not plugged into a tube amp.
I’d like to try one in front of the Pod Go. I started using the line out on my Supro Delta King 10, and immediately noticed a warmth and organic clarity at lower volumes. 🤘🏻
I run a hx stomp into a micro amp into a guru optivalve(optical comp/tube gain make up)into a nemesis delay then out to amp
I had the hx last but had noise and tone issues with any settings
Once I moved it in front of my micro amp/comp/delay it became glorious
Friday morning!! Coffee in hand (TPS Coffee mug of course) and we’re off!! Good show guys! Love this routine! You guys have cost so me much money!!
Sorry about that Fletch. If it's any consolation, we've cost ourselves a lot of money too. :0)
LOVED the love bomb! That and a Fuzz face and I’m home baby😃 second favorite was the Kaluna... great episode boys, thank you!
Amateur guitar pedal builder here, I just wanted to say something
On average the term tube overdrive gets thrown about a lot but it is, to me, a very grey area. The BK Butler for example is not exactly "pure tube overdrive" because it is an opamp buffer and an opamp booster into two tube gain stages. You also said it is "mains powered" but the mains power for the tubes gets stepped down to about 15 volts positive and 15 volts negative, that's well below the average voltage operation of a standard preamp tube
Same for the Blackstar pedals except these have a built in voltage multiplier that steps up the voltage to 200+ volts which is a more common operation voltage of a tube, however a lot of the distortion comes from solid state devices such as opamps
Now I dont want to sound like I am hating on these pedals because I am not, they sound fantastic, especially the Tube Driver, but they do muddle the definition of what is a tube pedal?
Cos for example the Kingsley Jester is a "true tube" overdrive because it actually uses only tubes operating at high voltage to generate overdrive, the Harlot is more closer to the Tube Driver though the tube there operates on high voltage
The Tube Driver was one of the very first real OD pedals I ever got my hands on (I had the 911 version, currently back to a standard one from the 90s) and I’ve never been able to fully get away from them. Something to the feel under the fingers.
I also started with a early Tube driver into a Twin. Both were stolen in the 90's. Now on my board is a older 3 knob Tube driver that has been modded with a bias knob. I'm using a 12au7 and running it at 18v. Also on the shelf is a newer 5 knob that doesn't get enough play. And for kicks and giggles I got a Behringer VT 911 vintage tube O D that I Bitmo modded and am running 1 of those 12au7 tubes. Still doesn't sound cool to me. Just some experimenting with a throwaway kinda pedal.
Im just about to buy a 911 special gold edition from the 90s .very nice pedal indeed.🙏👍👍👍👍👍👍🎸🎸🎸
Last comment. Watching/listening to your impressions ‘in the moment’ is so entertaining for an interested person like me. So good.
I first ran into Siman Jarrett via my guitar tech Fast Eddie Kazmir. Eddie & Simon built an amp called Kaz that sits in Eddie's shop. It sounds amazing. Somewhere between a Marshall & a Vox. I finally ran into Simon when he was playing in a country & western pick up band. I had several between sets chats with him. It's great to see his amps & pedals on your show. Great work!
I am a massive Simon fan and am building a rig based on the Constable and Maiden D running into a Mesa 50/50, as shown by you guys a few weeks ago. I will also be using a Page for low gain and clean sounds, a Harlot for heavier stuff, and a peasant into both. So it's fair to say i'm into Tube Overdrive lol.
That blackstar was sounding incredible with the headphones on. I loved that sound.
I’ve watched this twice now and my favorite bit is definitely when Mick had the Duelist and TD going at once into some echo. I love boosting/stacking my Tube Driver with either a Plumes or a Red Snapper. I’d bet that a classic old Tube Screamer run headlong into a Tube Driver would also work very well.
They all sound fantastic! The Love Bomb and Kaluna were my favorites, but the one that really surprised me was the blackstar. When those came out I kinda just felt like they were more of a gimmick than a phenomenal product and didn’t give them a chance at all, but boy was I wrong. That pedal sounds amazing. Kinda want to replace my fender mtg tube distortion with the Dept 10 now. 300 bucks usd for one isn’t bad at all, especially after hearing how good it sounds.
Awesome as always! Long time viewer, best channel to have GAS ASAP! 😂 wish you the best!
Hey guys! Been a bit since I've been able to catch an episode or video uninterrupted..great choice of pedals! Been eyeing several of these esp the blackstar dept 10 drive and distortions and d+m drive !..killer demos as always!🤘🤪🎸☮️❤️
Cheers guys, super interesting. I think I prefer the more focused sound of a solid state OD but suspect that is familiarity as much as anything, the valve ODs did seem to have a more natural cranked amp sound, to generalise a bit.
The Love Bomb is the ultimate. I love mine so much - to me there is no better pedal for boost/od/fuzz/annihilation. It does it all. The studio is where it really just takes over. Reminds me of a culture vulture, but 100% usable and in pedal format
Love Bomb sounds like a great preamp. Very nice with the Les Paul. Mick, thanks for the laidback demo ... giving a bottle of red time to breathe.
That was a really fun episode guys!!! Oodles of "squishy" fun! Stay groovy!
Like probably everyone commenting, I've tried a million drive boxes and I've landed on the Kingsley Minstrel. Thanks for turning the world on to Simon. I run it into a mostly clean Reeves Custom 12 amp for a low to mid gain sound. Simon was great in helping me choose that pedal from his line up. I also have a 90s Matchless Dirt Box tube pedal that sounds (and looks) absolutely amazing after repairs by Psionic Audio. But like the Love Bomb it is a bit large and heavy for a pedal board. I haven't found anything special about tube vs solid state pedals. My two favorites happen to have tubes. If it's giving you the sound you are looking for that's all that matters.
Watched the video's with Lyle fixing your pedal, he's a genius.
@@scotthowe1972 Absolutely.
I feel ‘crapping out bottom end’ is a phrase we should hear more on this show.
I LOVE tube ( high voltage mind you) overdrive pedals! Most of it is how they add that feel under your fingers you expect from a tube amp, even if you're plugged into a JC-120. Just sweet!
Wonderful sounds today Guys, Mick that Stratocaster is a work of art. Thank you Leg-Ends.
Thanks Dobster! I need to put the original plastics back on it. Then it //really// looks cool. Cheers!
I was utterly impressed. Great tones!
Setting up in front of the big screen and speakers at the studio for this one! Cheers Mick & Dan. ❤️💣🔊🔥
Hello mate! Dawned on me that we didn't max the LB out for the crazy gated thing. Sorry about that!
I had a Mesa Bottle Rocket and V-Twin. The bottle rocket was very muddy and scooped compared to any of of solid state overdrive pedals. The v-twin had some decent sounds. Great show as always lads. Thanks. 🙏
The bottle rocket can be muddy at higher gain settings.. i don't think it works with humbuckers either. But with a strat or tele it really comes alive. The v-twin i own along with two bottle rockets(one for bass od) and it has some great crunchy overdrive sounds that are somewhat different form the rectifier sounds.. i think it's quite a different circuit but has an overall similar sound. Interesting Mesa didn't follow up these two valve pedals with anything else.. I guess they didn't sell the best perhaps.
@@phillipphilington8212 v twin is diodeclipping like a jcm 900
@@ndr475 yeah I heard that was the case.. i think that's where the barky nature of the sound comes from. It's as close to a solid state sound that i've ever tolerated.. I imagine the valves add to the final tonal result though.
@@ndr475 Here's some more information from a forum in 2003.. Basically it explains the signal path clearly. Note the clean channel is all tube. "It does use op amp input and output buffers, but channel 1 looks to be just a pair of tube gain stages besides that. The tone stack is basically Marshall JCM800-spec....Channel 2 has a pair of op amp driver stages, with switching on the 2nd stage to cut the gain way up or down. That is followed by what is basically a bridge rectifier - 4 clipping diodes. But there is a 5th bridging diode as well. I think this is the thing that is stuffed into most of the Radial pedals, but don't really remember. Anyway, after the clipping diodes, channel 2 dumps into essentially ONE gain stage that really looks starved, or at least has much lower plate voltages than channel 1. There is a second gain stage tied to it, but it's what is called a cathode follower, and only has a gain of one (it's a low impedance output stage).
Still use my old Tube Driver! Sounds fantastic!
What I noticed about valve amps with regular OD pedals is that it makes playing a bit easier and kindof hides some of the less precise playing. Makes the amp dare I say "playable" especially in a marshall type circuit all the frequencies are amplified amd in your face. So if you aren't used to playing with this type of tone you can feel out of it or uncomfortable. Takes getting used to. I use OD to shape the tone and not to hit the front end. Kindof like an eq pedal.
Right now the best OD pedal I use in a clean amp is either the Now discontinued Vox Ice 9 or the TC mojomojo. You have to get the amp loud with the mojomojo to really hear what it does.
The Ice9 has 2 circuits. A Ts style and a tubedriver style circuit with a germanium transistor. Both distinct and fun.
I am usually askew from the "normal" approach, and I run a few amps in parallel. At the moment I am running three of the Solid State amps after a UA Solo 610 mic preamp (12AX7) and a re-amp box. An amazing simulation of a good clean tone, and I am saving up my dimes for a Redd.47 which I imagine will also be great fun.
I'm pretty sure that most people, and all of the Professionals, merely substitute a single, good quality amplifier for similar or superior results, but this is how I do it.
How does it sound when you play in bars?
I have a 5 knob BK Butler Blue Tube 903 Overdrive with a low gain tube in it (my Taiwan version is cheaper but exactly the same as the USA). It sounds fantastic, and noticeably different than any of my boutique or cheap OD solid state pedals. It sounds like an amp.
Comparison of the Tube Driver with the solid state D&M was rather revealing to my ears. The difference was largely in the bottom end, but perhaps the comparison should be in functionality, rather than tonal characteristic? In isolation the valve pedal just sounds “more amp”, as opposed to a different timbre for your guitar. But that’s all academic, because the real context for judgement is in a mix, making a musical contribution in combination with other instruments. The other thing I noticed was how the addition of any pedal leads to more aggressive playing in general. I found myself wondering how this relates to the lack of guitar in current mainstream music, where (dare I say it?) male aggressiveness is not du jour. Not to confuse that with power or presence, which are still found in drums and bass elements. I was still left wondering which kind of pedal would translate to a greater expressive range for guitar when making music?
Awesome playing great Demo. You Guys are absolutely awesome 👍👍
I see your Vibroverb is the 1 15" Black Panel version. Great amp! I had one, but it had been struck by lightning and was unfixable. My Brown Panel '64 has 2. 10"s and harmonic tremolo and is just the sweetest thing! I am playing it more and more sans pedals, as it's so nice as is. Congrats, Gentlemen!
I suppose you have the 63 Vibroverb, the brown amp with two speaker. I have the 63 reissue and I love it.
I just watched a reverb interview with J. Mascis. He uses the bk butler tube driver. Found this video and so glad you did the Kaluna after the tube driver. I had that one on my list, but I think I’ll search out a tube driver instead.
Great episode. Board full of valve pedals and I came away wanting a Duellist 🤷♂️ think the consistency is key for me. It might not have that organic magic of the valves but I think I'm okay with that.
I had a Tube Driver back in the late 80s (wish I still had it)..
When I bought it it was made either by Chandler or Tube Works..both of those companies owned the Tube Driver in the early years of that particular pedal..
I can vouch for the Kaluna. It's and incredible pedal. Another one worth checking out is the Hagerman ef86 Boost.
Great episode and some glorious tones from both the valve and solid state pedals. I’m of a mind that here are certain folk out there who would believe that toast would taste better if the toaster had a valve or two in. Personally I’ll stick with my valve amps, solid state pedals and my pre-CBS Rowenta Toastmaster….
Just a quick note on the Tube Driver (my favorite pedal) - For his high gain tones, Gilmour has the bass between 2 o‘clock and full since he uses it like his Fuzz pedals. It becomes incredible fat then with a huge, really loose bass. An acquired taste, but a really lovely tone. Add a compressor, EQ and delay and get lost in sound for days
I’m surprised, but the Blackstar Dual Drive sounds amazing! And seems very versatile as well.
I’ve got the HT-5 Dual, and it is great. I’m not even a tube purest, as I’m an AxeFX 3 guy, but having that Blackstar in front is really nice.
The Blackstar products use true amp voltage to achieve a lot of their sound. I have a HT-Dist and I also totally dig the overall EQ that they use( + the ISF to change the overall curve)
should have waited til after this to sell my BK Butler tube overdrive. great stuff as always boys
Some juicy playing Mick!
The only tube pedal I ever owned that I liked was Blues Driver that I stupidly gave to my brother when I bought a Mesa Boogie Mark 3 thinking I would never need it again.
My experience with testing side by side was that non-tube pedals just sounded better granted I haven’t tried everything on the market. One thing about some tube based pedals is that you can change the tube and affect the sound. For instance I didn’t like the spitting low end with the Tube Driver maybe it’s tube is getting old or a different tube would clear that up.
Regarding the Love Bomb, I love how amazing it sounds. I also like how you describe it as "neutral" rather than "transparent". The latter buzz word has been used to death.
Dude! it's easily noticeable that Dan is studing guitar!! Great job!!
My opinion, all these tube pedals sounded better with the Marshall than the Fender. It really elevated the tone! Especially with the hotter pickups.
I have the Mesa Boogie Bottle Rocket and am pleased with it, nothing spectacular but it gets the job done. The guitar player on the Band In A Box performances a couple of years back used it for all of his overdrive/distortion recordings.
I love the bottle rocket.. but I think it's especially suited to lower overdrive with strat's and tele's.. is criticized for being too bassy which is true with humbucker guitars.. the bass eq doesn't have a huge effect past 12:00 and the treble only really boosts a narrow upper range past 3:00 but set right with single coils the overdrive can be so lush and sweet. I use mine for all my recordings on my youtube channel here.
I'v been through a bunch of different gains pedals, but when I saw Dans 2021 board build and hear the Kingsley Page and Pesant I immediately order both. I ended up running the Page as an always on overdrive and it sound mega :D
Really impressed with the blackstar sound and how versatile it was
My very first reaction when seeing the pedalboard was "WHAT???? NO KINGSLEY PEDAL?????" Then you answered that, and I calmed down.....!!! But it made me think......He also makes amps. I would LOVE to see you guys showcase his amps. As Picard would say, "Make it So"!!!
That was interesting. I've used a few valve overdrives in the past and never been overly impressed with them. Not that they sounded bad but there was a soft edge to the overdrive that I struggled with. Listening to these examples I hear the same thing. Good sounds that are perfectly usable but there are cheaper solid-state pedals that work better for me. As so often other people's mileage may vary. 🙂
All of that stuff is so great, but my choice is the D&M. It sounds like the most useful pedal ever!
Not sure about tube overdrives, apart from the NOS 12ax7's lurking in V1 and V2 in my old amps, I think I'm sorted but hey Mick, I am only just now getting to grips with My First Fuzz Face pedal, something I never could get to "work" for me, but at 59 years old here I am. It's an Australian made Dazatronyx pedal, I have a thing about supporting my local builders, (something I'm sure you'd encourage especially when the pedal is so DAYYUM good, why wouldn't you?) The cleanup with little to no loss in signal strength, and of course "that" tone is really inspiring, it's a low gain pedal (gain = volume rather than fuzz) but running flat out into a cleanish amp.... soooo good. So cheers for the inspiration.
In terms of pedals, they all sounded great on their own, including the solid state ones. (why wouldn't they haha). The one pedal that sounded radically different than the others to me is the Tube Driver. Straight up rock and roll! Especially with those vintage guitars. It is not the sound I would personally know how to use (with the gain up), but it surely rocks. I liked it for the low gain actually and that would be the sound I would use in my music.
All the other pedals sounded more familiar, someone would say 'normal', and closer to what would you expect from the D&M, The Duellist etc or any other pedal. I wonder why is that and did it feel different under the fingers, too
I agree with all this! Mick here. There is something really different about the BK Butler.... Hmmmm. Cheers!
Loved the sound of the lovebomb, the frequencies it hit with the delay and reverb...wow! Wish I could get my hands on one....sigh..
I've got a Victory Kraken V4 Preamp pedal running straight into a Victory DP40. With the bright switch on -2 and the 3 EQ knobs down a bit, sounds fantastic in the front of an amp. I also can't stress the clarity thing enough. I was previously using an Origin Effects RevivalDrive Hot Rod (tremendous pedal and very tweakable) but the Victory preamp pedal is just has another level of clarity. Less tweakable but if you like the sound it's not a problem.
For anyone interested, the Tc Electronic Tube Pilot has a actual tiny tube in it!!! I believe it uses a 12ax7 tube &for the price its Great!🤘👽
I have the 3 Knob BK butler in to a Deluxe rev and an AC30, Its fantastic, my mate has the 4 Knob version in to a matchless both very different.
That gold strat sounds Amazing!!!!
Effectrode Tube Drive! All tube - no clipping diodes like many tube overdrive pedals have, as I understand. It’s awesome.
Perfect lunchtime viewing!! Let's go!
Love some tube pedals, have some Kingsley ones on my board, I do think I have to get a butler just because. Nice guitar face in the intro Mick!
The old Blackstar HT-Dual was the anchor of my sound (always into a clean Fender amp) for nearly 15 years until it crashed a few weeks ago. After trying a Wampler Plexidrive Deluxe just for fun, I picked up the new Dept 10 Dual Drive. I get everything I loved about the HT, but without the substantial weight and the oddball power supply. I can't overstate how cool the full tone stack plus the ISF control makes it VERY versatile. I hope this one lasts as long. I will say that Blackstar really missed the boat by not allowing easy access to the tube socket, to allow experimentation with different tubes/valves.
Good luck if you need parts or support from Blackstar. Have not received jack for support here but that just might be North America.
I have a Blackstar " Black and Blue" and they fixed it under warranty no problem. I'm glad ' cuz it is an absolute monster. Even my wife calls it " The Rockstar Amp"
Cool comparison. I own a Kaluna and it blows away all my other drives, really does add a 3D element and is worth the extra cash IMHO.
I miss my Tube Driver now. Cheers, fellas!
BK Butler is still making the Tube Driver. I know because I purchased a new one online last week and was surprised that BK himself gave me a call to ask if I wanted the bias knob upgrade. Really nice guy and knows his product extremely well. 😎
Cooool!
First TPS video that has a Pedal that I currently own and have had since 1990! The Tube Driver is a unique and remarkable pedal. I initially got it to give my Gallien-Krueger 250ML some lower gain sounds besides the glassy chorusy clean and the full on hair band sounds it does so well. I didn't get the full potential until I got a tube amp with lower gain sounds then used it as a "shaping" pedal to either to put a bit of hair on it to almost fuzz sounds. The placement of it next to the Love bomb really doesn't give you a sense of how big that pedal is. Size and age forced me to pull it off my giging board recently . While it uses a 12ax7 tube/valve, it uses it in a unique way. It runs the tube well below normal operating voltage where in this voltage starved state shapes the signal by adding lots of distortion (a bit like clipping diodes do) to an already gained up signal coming from a transistor op amp. Valve/Tube purest will disdainfully point out this fact, but as Dan put so well "attributing a specific sound to any component is folly".
I'm using my valve pedal as a final gain stage. All other fuzz drives and distortion are prior to analog delay. Soldano Supercharger after delay because it maintains fidelity, adds warmth and compression, and does the best with volume pedal swells.
I have the 90's Ibanez Tube King TK999 - Japan Model (clone of the B.K. Butler Tube Driver). I have had it since 1998. I don't think I will ever part with it. It's awesome!
Lunchtime viewing sorted, thanks guys!
Bon apetit!
@@ThatPedalShow great show, but you don't have the best tube pedals here. i have 3 on my board. kingsley jester, kingsley jouster and a jt valveboy. i also have a klon on there, but the tube pedals get most of the usage.
We talk about Kingsley in the video.... :0)
@@ThatPedalShow God forbid that someone who has spent as much on pedals as Louis should have to watch even five minutes of a video before telling us about them ...
😆 My dude explaining Kingsly pedals to TPS. LoL
What Mick plays at 53:51 is literally one of my favorite songs! If you don't hurry up and write that, I might have to borrow it. And my other fav is at 54:47. I just get giddy when you play that stuff, mate.
I've always found that Valve pedals are good for "tubing up" a solid-state amp. A good solid-state amp reproduces everything that goes into it, so it won't remove the qualities that tubes give to your tone. 90% of what tubes "add" to your tone is sag.
Solid-state amps get most of their bad-rep from being "ice-picky" (sterile and overly-defined). Tubes tend to compress the rough edges and add some harmonic pepper. I've personally always preferred solid-state power sections (more picking-definition and sizzle), so this comes in handy.
@@squirelova1815 What I said about Solid-State amps doesn't apply at all to Digital stuff. Every time you go in and out of a Digital device, it has to go through Analog-to-Digital/Digital-to-Analog converters, which will generally suck out any of the "mojo" those tubes might have added. There's no such thing as a Lossless ADA converter. My advice: Sell it.
@@MFKR696 nah, good converters just convert and you only get noticeable tone suck if you're doing it like 3 or 4 times in a row. I can't speak for Zoom, but Boss has pretty decent converters. My guitarist is even more anal about tone than me and he can't notice any loss
“The Marshall is attenuated a bit…” **schwang** …103db. 😵💫
First rule of attenuation - attenuate for tone, not for volume!
My new favourite drinking game is watching TPS and every time Mick or Dan says “interesting” I take a sip. It’s great 👍🏻
Only kidding guys, great vid as always
This is the perfect episode for me to ask my question about what your opinion is with regards to such things as the Garnet Herzog!
Hughes and Kettner Tube Factor is terrific, and the TC Electronic Tube Pilot is criminally underrated as well especially given you can often pick them up for around $75.
I’m getting back into guitar after 20 years. Best tone my broke ass ever got back then was a Mexican strat into he TF into a vibrolux. Then again, I never had the means to experiment with lots of stuff. I just thought another tube would sound better. 😂😂