What is the best sounding tube distortion pedal?

[Monsta-Tone]

I'm looking for a great distortion pedal. I'm currently using a Fulldrive II and it sounds really good for mild to medium overdrive.

I'm looking for a very nice sounding distortion pedal that can pull off ZZ Top to Santana distortion ( I realize that I may need to use my compressor as well for the Santana ).

I keep seeing tube pedals and was wondering if any of you guys have used them.


I'll be using the pedal with a Blackface Pro Reverb and a Blue Angel, so I'm starting with a pristine clean tone and really great Reverb.

 

[Chris McKinley]

Monsta-Tone,

You're looking for more than one kind of pedal with the examples you gave. The Fulltone Fulldrive II will already get you the ZZ tone with the gain all the way up. The Reverend Billy Gibbons never used very much total gain, his magic was all in his right hand thumb where he generates those exquisite pinch harmonics he's famous for.

As for Santana, apart from popping for a Mark series Mesa, there are a couple of pedal options that will get you darn close. The first, and easiest, is to get a good treble booster and put it in front of the Fulldrive II. Keeley's Java Boost, Diaz's Texas Ranger, or BBE's Freq Boost are all great examples of this effect. Used in front it will give you the most sweet smooth singing tone you can get from pedals. In fact, these can be so good that you can use them without the Fulldrive II and just increase the gain on your amp a little. The treble booster will drive your amp's gain into the most delicious singing sustain you ever heard. With the Fulldrive II after it, it will be even sweeter.

Another option is to go through distortion pedal after distortion pedal until you find one that starts with a nice smooth distortion, then modify that pedal until it gets you what you want. Good candidates for modding this way are the Boss DS-1, the Digitech Grunge (not too far off even unmodded), and the Boss MT-2 Metal Zone. With the correct mod, these pedals will give you a passable Santana tone, though the Treble Boost > Fulldrive II combo will sound much better overall.

Distortion pedals that use an actual 12AX7 tube unfortunately cost a lot more and do not give you any real significant tube tone, since that one tube by itself functions as a simple diode in a pedal. You can get equivalent distortion tone from a single 3mm red LED diode in your pedal instead. In a pedal, tone circuitry has far more to do with how smooth the distortion sound is than using a 12AX7 does. Plus, if you don't use at least two 12AX7's in series in a pedal (meaning a pedal with at least two preamp tubes), your pedal will not have any significant gain anyway. The best it will do is a light overdrive, not full-on distortion. Why do you think Randall uses 5 of 'em in a row to power his Rectos and Stillettos? One preamp tube by itself is wimpy.

 

[fishyfishfish]

If you are axing about a distortion pedal with a tube, the best one that I have found is the Radial Tonebone Classic, or Hot British. I had the Plexitube, and loved it to death, but ended up selling it when I got a Dual Rectifier. Second on my list, and first on the majority of players is the Butler
Tube Driver, which is used by Eric Johnson. I had this one to, but grew tired of it after a couple of years. Third would be the Rectifier Tube Pedal. Had this one but found that it was good, but sounded to close to my F-30 that I was playing it through, so I ditched it as well. The ones I didn't like were the Duncan Twin Tube, (Not enough EQ, and to old school sounding) the Mesa Bottle Rocket (If you have a mesa, you got this sound) and the Budda Zen Drive, (It is freaking huge like having a shoe box on your pedal board)

 

[abe]

I haven't tried this one, but it looks cool. There are sound clips on the link as well

http://www.asonix-corp.com/nite_owl_pedal.html

 

[Monsta-Tone]

Thanks for your help guys. I'm a noob when it comes to pedals. I've always used a great amp that had tons of distortion, like my old Dual Recs or my Soldano, or my DC's which I currently own.

I discovered the best clean tone that I have is to be found in my Blue Angel. This means that I have to find a couple of pedals that I really like.


I have the Fulldrive II and a Fat Boost and a home-made Treble Booster.

I will have to try the boosters in front of the Fulldrive, hadn't thought of that.



I hear what you're saying about the tube pedals not really having enough beef to get decent tube tone out of them. I've never used one, and thought they looked inviting.


I have a friend who swears by the Chandler Tube Driver. He can play like Eric Johnson though, and that is his idol. I think it would get really boring after a while.



Here is how I see it:

I have the low to mid gain area covered between the amp and the Fulldrive.

I also sold my Hot Drive N Boost II, but the guy never paid, so I am going to unbox it and give it another chance. I just got a schematic from Carl Martin and am thinking about modding the distortion pedal part to make it more smooth.


I am looking for something that is :
True Bypass
Great Tone
Gobs of Distortion
Very good build quality
Close to Recto or Mark IV (yeah I know they are worlds apart) tone


I want to be able to get some Metal tones out of it, as well as a lead tone that will kill small furry creatures at 20 paces.

 

[Rocky]

I think tube distortion pedals are overpriced...smoke and mirrors.

 

[Guitarzan]

Original Marshall Guv'nor

 

[Monsta-Tone]

I had the Blues Breaker II, and it was really great.

I have a Jackhammer now. It sounded really good without the band, but the tone magically disappeared when it was time to play with the band. All it left behind was a pile of mud.


I like the build quality of the Marshall pedals, they are nice and heavy. Comes in handy in a bar fight.

 

[Itsik]

The Nady tube distortion pedal is cheap and it's one of the greatest distortion pedals I've encoutered. Think ToneBone Hot British for half the price.

 

[gonzo]

Barber Direct Drive.

http://www.barberelectronics.com/

 

[gonzo]

if you want to hear the direct drive, go here:

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=19801