elvis
Well-known member
Apparently BK Butler is doing a limited run of Tube Drivers. I have never owned a fuzz, but I have played the early versions of the Big Muff via friends. I did not like them at the time.
My reservation about fuzzes has been the tendency to get terrible fartiness on low notes, and a kind of ragged, rather than smooth, overdrive character.
I popped for one of the new Tube Drivers (not cheap), just because it's a limited run, and a lot of my influences have used them. Initially I had the problems with it that I have mentioned. However, over time I have learned to dial it better, and I am also coming to appreciate its quirks.
1. Moderate gain works best. I wanted to use it as a pretty high gain pedal into the clean channel of my amp. Setting gain to 3:00 is a good level for me. It has terrible artifacts there. At 12:00, it cleans up VERY well. In addition, it works well with an overdrive in front to bump up the gain a bit, and also with the amp's gain channel. Players like Eric Johnson and David Gilmour use these set to low gain to shape the tone of whatever they are using for gain, and to add just a bit of gain. It's commonly used to get a "violin" tone, but not as a heavy gain stage.
2. The raggedness is its character, not a flaw. After getting used to it, I can really hear the ZZ Top, Pink Floyd, Eric Johnson tone coming out. The buzziness of the pedal is cool, especially mixed with its low end boost.
3. The tone of this pedal is very bass-heavy. This is a really nice addition to my Electradyne, which is much more treble-heavy. It's got a super-smooth bassy tone that I like more each time I use it. HOWEVER, the pedal tends to dominate the tone, and reduce articulation. I can plug any guitar, set to any pickup configuration, and it's difficult to tell the difference. You have to set gain below 10:00 to hear the differences in pickups.
4. I got the bias option. It has a huge effect on the tone. I tend to set the bias near where it would normally be set for non-bias option pedals, but at least I can tweek it if I want. It appears to be set to starve the tube, so it goes from gainy and tight (normal) to low gain and mushy.
The Tube Driver has a very recognizable classic tone. I find that I use it more and more, as I play a lot of classic rock songs. My preference is still for a tighter sound, but I do love the super-creamy low-end of this pedal. It just oozes. I have to be careful below the 5th fret, as it gets mushy. But it is definitely a keeper for me. It's a time-machine for tone, going back to the days where people didn't have many alternatives, but made what they had work.
My reservation about fuzzes has been the tendency to get terrible fartiness on low notes, and a kind of ragged, rather than smooth, overdrive character.
I popped for one of the new Tube Drivers (not cheap), just because it's a limited run, and a lot of my influences have used them. Initially I had the problems with it that I have mentioned. However, over time I have learned to dial it better, and I am also coming to appreciate its quirks.
1. Moderate gain works best. I wanted to use it as a pretty high gain pedal into the clean channel of my amp. Setting gain to 3:00 is a good level for me. It has terrible artifacts there. At 12:00, it cleans up VERY well. In addition, it works well with an overdrive in front to bump up the gain a bit, and also with the amp's gain channel. Players like Eric Johnson and David Gilmour use these set to low gain to shape the tone of whatever they are using for gain, and to add just a bit of gain. It's commonly used to get a "violin" tone, but not as a heavy gain stage.
2. The raggedness is its character, not a flaw. After getting used to it, I can really hear the ZZ Top, Pink Floyd, Eric Johnson tone coming out. The buzziness of the pedal is cool, especially mixed with its low end boost.
3. The tone of this pedal is very bass-heavy. This is a really nice addition to my Electradyne, which is much more treble-heavy. It's got a super-smooth bassy tone that I like more each time I use it. HOWEVER, the pedal tends to dominate the tone, and reduce articulation. I can plug any guitar, set to any pickup configuration, and it's difficult to tell the difference. You have to set gain below 10:00 to hear the differences in pickups.
4. I got the bias option. It has a huge effect on the tone. I tend to set the bias near where it would normally be set for non-bias option pedals, but at least I can tweek it if I want. It appears to be set to starve the tube, so it goes from gainy and tight (normal) to low gain and mushy.
The Tube Driver has a very recognizable classic tone. I find that I use it more and more, as I play a lot of classic rock songs. My preference is still for a tighter sound, but I do love the super-creamy low-end of this pedal. It just oozes. I have to be careful below the 5th fret, as it gets mushy. But it is definitely a keeper for me. It's a time-machine for tone, going back to the days where people didn't have many alternatives, but made what they had work.
