All Tube pedal

[Rockprocess]

A guitar player friend of mine posed the question if an all tube guitar pedal (preamp/boost, overdrive or distortion) can be built using tubes, but without using IC chips or transitors. While I don't agree with my friend that this is a guaranteed recipe for good tone, I do wonder if this is possible. Anybody have any thoughts?

[ckyvick]

Theres this:
http://www.beavisaudio.com/projects/ValveCaster/

[Dirk_Hendrik]

Answers the question with yes.
Although I do not see any need in using tubes in circuit parts that do not affect the sonic character.

[okgb]

" Power amp " sound on that footswitch ? curious
that's my impossible chase getting loud amp sound
[ and more impossible feel ] without loud amp

certainly there are allot of rackmount tube preamps
but making them switchable and non microphonic
in a pedal , and then the low b+ vs regular debate

[Greg_G]

[okgb]

Depending on how much gain you want & switching " channels "
should be able to find a 2 tube circuit with tone stack on the web
here's a couple of soldano
more tubes = bigger power transformer though

http://www.freeinfosociety.com/electron ... nox88r.pdf

[DougH]

" Power amp " sound on that footswitch ? curious
that's my impossible chase getting loud amp sound
[ and more impossible feel ] without loud amp

True. If you want a loud amp sound it's very simple- turn the amp up, loud.

[okgb]

If you have enough gain where physical noises start to pop out
you're getting there when the gtr becomes live and a little microphonic
without being overly saturated it gets tough again
and forget trying to do it direct

[Dirk_Hendrik]

" Power amp " sound on that footswitch ? curious
that's my impossible chase getting loud amp sound
[ and more impossible feel ] without loud amp

I gave the hint. Now it's up to you to browse the manual and read instead of assuming sounds by the name of the buttom.

[Dirk_Hendrik]

and then the low b+ vs regular debate

Really, you assume too much

[okgb]

eh , guess i'll find & download the manual ,
bought into the word did i ?

[okgb]

Well the lit does say it uses a tube as
.5 w power amp , doesn't mention if a transformer
is part of the equation , cool enough though .

Did the o.p. find enough examples ?

[Rockprocess]

Thanks everbody for the great ideas!

[ppluis0]

IIRC the Matchless Hot Box and the Bad Cat X-treme Tone are examples of all tube units.

Can anyone remember another brand/model of equipment that use only tubes ?

Cheers,
Jose

[Greg_G]

IIRC the Matchless Hot Box and the Bad Cat X-treme Tone are examples of all tube units.

Can anyone remember another brand/model of equipment that use only tubes ?

Cheers,
Jose

Did you not read the rest of the discussion and see the pics above ?
There are at least 3 other units shown there.



The Stage Hog is a real amp set up for use as an effect.. but it will drive speakers on it's own, it's not a preamp like most the others.

[ppluis0]

Did you not read the rest of the discussion and see the pics above ?
There are at least 3 other units shown there.

Hi Greg,

I was asking about another that the aforementioned units.

Please, excuse me about my limited english vocabulary, due to i live in South America and the spanish is my native tongue.

Cheers,
Jose (Joe)

[bajaman]

hey - why can't I post attachments on this topic?

[Greg_G]

hey - why can't I post attachments on this topic?

I think because it's in the Cafe area, and I guess it's not setup.
You have to use links... or twist modman's arm to change it..

I was asking about another that the aforementioned units.

Please, excuse me about my limited english vocabulary, due to i live in South America and the spanish is my native tongue.

Cheers,
Jose (Joe)

There are quite a few tube effects.. either built in the past or available now.
It's hard to define them as no ICs or transistors though I think as some good sounding ones may still use other components... doesn't mean they're not using a tube(s) effectively.

[atreidesheir]

I have owned several tube preamps. ART(tube preamp system), BK Butler(Real Tube rack), Hughes & Kettner (tubefactor), Seymour Duncan (old tube king), kitty Hawk something loaned out long ago. Every one a disappointment if you expect amp tone in a pedal. Some nice tones, but not better than solid state overdrives to me. Voltage is low and transformers are not up to legendary levels by far. As said, most tubes are buffers or something. Each of these pedals had the usual opamps and transistors you see in other drive pedals.

Seeing a tube in a pedal means nothing until you hear it.

I have an idea looking at the Koch pedal.

setup the ROG tonemender, followed by your favorite booster, into a dam sonic titan or ROG big daddy. it will probably need some tweaking but could lead to awesome sound as good as any "tube pedal".

I am toying with the idea of a ROG tonmender (ch1) >boost of choice (minibooster right now) >ROG Grace(crunch channel) >ROG Big daddy (solo ch)
boost to enhance any of the 3 channels. all followed by condor sim or marshall cab sim. Layout similar to the Koch pedal. Could be awesome. could be fodder for four seperate pedals.

I digress, but my point is solid state is probably the way to go for decent tube (like) tone. That is really what most so-called tube pedals are anyway.
OR go to the ADA page and delve into the mysteries of the ada ampulator.
http://hellsite.free.fr/guitare/ampulator/schema/
incredible amount of technical info to consider or be overwhelmed. ADA seems to have been very professional in their tech paper (opinion of total amateur).
I have always wondered if they were almost there...

[Greg_G]

There are a few tube pedals that offer real tube tone and use high voltage.
The two I posted above are examples.. the Jester and the Stage Hog.
The Jester is (I believe) the preamp section from one of Kingsley's amps, and the Stage Hog is a true tube amp (pre and power) in pedal form.

Siberian Company AMT is another who builds high voltage tube circuits from 9 volt supply.