Does anyone know any good units and / or how to make them???
JJ
tube distortion pedals
2My physics teacher swears by the Mesa-Boogie V-Twin but he's really into classic rock so I don't know if the sound you'd get from it is really what you're looking for. I have found schematics for it on the internet (http://www.tubefreak.com/mesa.htm#vtwin) so if you're really dedicated you could theoretically make it yourself... it's really up to you if it's worth the time and effort.
tube distortion pedals
3I've played a V-Twin and it's very versatile and built like a frakin' tank. My old roomie used it to create some pretty noisy leads that weren't very classic rock at all.
The one that I have in my chain now is the E. Harm. Hot Tubes with the twin 12AX7s innit. one of these years, I'm gonna swap em out for some telefunkens, but until then, I will eat semi-regularly.
The hot tubes sound really creamy in general, but you can get a rather wide range of tones outtathem. Some dude at our last gig told me I had really great tone (actually two dudes, which ruled) and I use these tubes as the basic "non-clean" sound btw a solidbody rick and a fender twin. Acres of sustain.
Make'nMusic in chicago has both on and off. I saw the VTwin there last time, but I'm not so sure about the Hot tubes, however, they do carry electro harmonix stuff as well.
Hopeithelps.
Faiz
The one that I have in my chain now is the E. Harm. Hot Tubes with the twin 12AX7s innit. one of these years, I'm gonna swap em out for some telefunkens, but until then, I will eat semi-regularly.
The hot tubes sound really creamy in general, but you can get a rather wide range of tones outtathem. Some dude at our last gig told me I had really great tone (actually two dudes, which ruled) and I use these tubes as the basic "non-clean" sound btw a solidbody rick and a fender twin. Acres of sustain.
Make'nMusic in chicago has both on and off. I saw the VTwin there last time, but I'm not so sure about the Hot tubes, however, they do carry electro harmonix stuff as well.
Hopeithelps.
Faiz
tube distortion pedals
4There are two types of tube distortion pedals.
1. Ones built with more distortion pedal oriented circuits. These tend to be lower voltage and sound similar to a lot of existing distortion pedals. In fact some pedal will use the tubes for a volume increase to drive a solid state device generating the distortion.
2. Ones built with more of a tube preamp circuit. These, when you turn them on and off, perform like adding an extra tube gain stage to your amp. these tend to be higher voltage. The matchless hotbox is of a type like this.
I prefer the latter. However, these are more expensive since the parts cost more, they're harder to machine assemble, and the cases are usually bigger, non-standard, and have to be able to dissipate more heat. The power supply is pretty much the same as that of a small tube amp. The 2nd type is good because it can be like modding an amp you like without actually having to physically change or damage your amp.
My best advice is to try all the pedals you can with your setup and buy the one you like the most. Tube, no tubes, who cares if you like the sound.
ben adrian
1. Ones built with more distortion pedal oriented circuits. These tend to be lower voltage and sound similar to a lot of existing distortion pedals. In fact some pedal will use the tubes for a volume increase to drive a solid state device generating the distortion.
2. Ones built with more of a tube preamp circuit. These, when you turn them on and off, perform like adding an extra tube gain stage to your amp. these tend to be higher voltage. The matchless hotbox is of a type like this.
I prefer the latter. However, these are more expensive since the parts cost more, they're harder to machine assemble, and the cases are usually bigger, non-standard, and have to be able to dissipate more heat. The power supply is pretty much the same as that of a small tube amp. The 2nd type is good because it can be like modding an amp you like without actually having to physically change or damage your amp.
My best advice is to try all the pedals you can with your setup and buy the one you like the most. Tube, no tubes, who cares if you like the sound.
ben adrian