Bartolini - Tube It

JHS · Post by **JHS** » 26 Aug 2008, 13:35

As far as I know, tube units had been made in a small quantity. The housing was a bit bigger with vent. slots for the tube.
Same colour with Bartolini and Tube-It logo. Didn't look like a fake.
JHS

analogguru · Post by **analogguru** » 26 Aug 2008, 14:22

If I understand this right, then there should exist a tube version too.... aha...

analogguru

Blues Lyne · Post by **Blues Lyne** » 28 Aug 2008, 21:43

I have two Tube-It's. They sound very different and have different internal construction. I got the first one in the early '80's for pretty cheap, when a music store was going out of business. I really like it. It does tend to be noisy, especially when the volume is rolled off to 8 or so on the guitar, unless it is preceded by a buffer. I've been meaning to add a buffer between the jack and input to the board, since there is plenty of room in the case.

It's pretty low gain and sounds great with a Strat. It kind of beefs it up a bit, but also adds some presence. It makes the Strat sound fatter, but adds some extra spank to the low strings. The bass control seems to control the mids also. The mids get punchier as it's turned up. 11 O'clock on both tone controls seems to be a fairly neutral setting. It doesn't sound much like a TS at all.

Originally I thought this one had too much high end and put a cap in to cut some of it out. Now it sounds just right without the cap. I'm sure it depends on the rig you are using.

This one has a smaller epoxy rectangle with plastic coated stranded wires coming out of it. The second one I purchased a couple of years ago for a really good price. It has a larger epoxy rectangle and solid, uncoated wire coming out of it that are soldered to the pots and hold the board in place. It looks more like the pictures that AG posted. It doesn't have the noise problem. It has a lot more gain and bass. So much bass that it doesn't work at all with my current amp. It sounds to me like there is a larger input cap, and the added bass is responsible, in part, for the gainier sound.

The toggle switch on both selects different gain ranges. On the first one, it has increasingly larger caps soldered to the switch. Each gain increase seems to add more highs, with the middle setting being the most neutral. They both have a trimpot that seems to adjust the volume of the "bypassed" (this thing definitely isn't true bypassed) or "clean" setting. My understanding is that on some units this trim pot adjusted something else.

Anyway, it's an interesting pedal and I would be interested in seeing some ungouped pictures.

The Rotagilla · Post by **The Rotagilla** » 19 Jul 2009, 03:29

I have one that some hacked up for a LED and DC jack that I'm trying to get working. I'm almost there but I have two questions if anyone still has theirs.

1) What does the thumbwheel by the footswitch do? Mine has been disconnected.
2) There's a single wire coming out of the epoxy right near the thumwheel. If someone could tell me where it's supposed to connect to I would be most appreciative.

Thanks.

Blues Lyne · Post by **Blues Lyne** » 19 Jul 2009, 04:43

The thumbwheel on mine seems to sets the volume when the pedal is in "bypass" mode. I'm not sure for the reason for it.

I'll pull mine out and see if I can help with the wire.

The Rotagilla · Post by **The Rotagilla** » 19 Jul 2009, 05:32

Blues Lyne wrote:The thumbwheel on mine seems to sets the volume when the pedal is in "bypass" mode. I'm not sure for the reason for it.

I'll pull mine out and see if I can help with the wire.

That would be great, thanks!

Greg · Post by **Greg** » 19 Jul 2009, 06:50

According to Tonefrenzy.. the thumbwheel is to adjust presence.

Blues Lyne · Post by **Blues Lyne** » 19 Jul 2009, 07:27

Greg_G wrote:According to Tonefrenzy.. the thumbwheel is to adjust presence.

I saw that too. I think there were a few versions. I have two and they look different internally and sound quite different.

The Rotagilla · Post by **The Rotagilla** » 19 Jul 2009, 17:13

Blues Lyne wrote:
Greg_G wrote:According to Tonefrenzy.. the thumbwheel is to adjust presence.
I saw that too. I think there were a few versions. I have two and they look different internally and sound quite different.

Then I'm definitely curious as to where it goes. I poked around with it, touching it to here and there, and can't hear any discernable difference. Again, thanks for any info you can provide. I'm not blown away by it but I would like it to work properly should I pass it along.

Blues Lyne · Post by **Blues Lyne** » 19 Jul 2009, 20:38

The wire near the thumbwheel goes to the outside lug of the footswitch.

The Rotagilla · Post by **The Rotagilla** » 19 Jul 2009, 20:56

Blues Lyne wrote:The wire near the thumbwheel goes to the outside lug of the footswitch.

Cool, thanks! Is it a presence control?

theehman · Post by **theehman** » 19 Jul 2009, 21:10

Here's a schematic I received from someone years ago. May or may not be correct. Caveat Emptor!

The Rotagilla · Post by **The Rotagilla** » 19 Jul 2009, 21:34

Thanks Ron. With the thumbwheel wired to ground as in the above schematic, it does do something but it is very subtle. It seems to be more of a "full" control than a presence. Now that I'm fairly certain I have it wired up correctly all I can say is...

. Maybe if used in front of an amp that was already starting to break up?

The Rotagilla · Post by **The Rotagilla** » 19 Jul 2009, 21:46

Guys, I think I'm disappointed. I don't know what I was expecting but I didn't get it.

analogguru · Post by **analogguru** » 19 Jul 2009, 23:40

@theehman
Many thanks for the schematic !
I was curious for years what could be under the goop. The schematic looks authentic.

analogguru

Greg · Post by **Greg** » 20 Jul 2009, 00:03

The Rotagilla wrote:Guys, I think I'm disappointed. I don't know what I was expecting but I didn't get it.

That was my impression when I played one also..
it was harsh, trebly.. almost metallic sounding.

Maybe there were different versions.. or maybe they've been hyped by people to drive up the value ?

Thanks for the schematic EHman.. I didn't know it was out there.

Blues Lyne · Post by **Blues Lyne** » 20 Jul 2009, 21:38

Greg_G wrote:
The Rotagilla wrote:Guys, I think I'm disappointed. I don't know what I was expecting but I didn't get it.
That was my impression when I played one also..
it was harsh, trebly.. almost metallic sounding.

Maybe there were different versions.. or maybe they've been hyped by people to drive up the value ?

Thanks for the schematic EHman.. I didn't know it was out there.

From reading people's descriptions of them, there seems to be a lot of variation. You hear some described as thin, too much treble, etc. and some as really nice full sounding, etc.

I have two and one sounds great to me. It doesn't sound as good using a lot of dirt, but for low to mid gain, it really sounds nice, especially with a strat. It kind of beefs up the low end but adds a presence that keeps the lows snappy with that fender spank. It doesn't really like to have the input hit very hard. If there isn't a buffer between the pedal and the guitar you get noise if you roll the guitar's volume down. I didn't do any comparisons with a loop pedal, but I always felt the bypass lost signal. The insid of this one is different from the one pictured previously in this thread. This one has a smaller epoxy rectangle that has stranded wires coming out of it to the various pots, jacks, and switches and foam separating the epoxy and battery from the rest.

The other one I have has way more gain and has too much low end for my rig. It's not necessarily flabby, but just too much. The bass control doesn't seem to get rid of the too much bass problem as it's rolled down, just takes some of the punch out of the note. The tone controls on both are a bit odd. The inside of this one looks like the one pictured earlier in this thread with solid wires coming out to the pots that hold the epoxy rectangle in place.

They don't necessarily sound like completely different circuits. More like they may have different value components, or different trasistors.

Thanks for the schematic. I always thought it would be nice to be able to build a Tube-It that could be tweaked a bit.

The Rotagilla · Post by **The Rotagilla** » 21 Jul 2009, 03:30

I would have to guess I have one of the bassier ones but it's nothing that can't be dialed out. The gain is grainy though but someone else might think it's perfect. I'm learning to say "It's a good pedal but it just doesn't meet my needs."

psaulino · Post by **psaulino** » 16 Mar 2016, 01:21

Resurrecting an old thread.... Iam the original poster (did not remember that I was here before!). Here is a gut shot... Glenn Wyllie de-gooped mine many moons ago. It was not working, and he got it going again. He used tools he copped from a retired dentist to carefully cut away the epoxy block. He also drew a schematic, which for the life of me I cant locate amongst all of my stuff. Here's the Pic:

Id love to have a clone... BTW I am a guitarist not builder.
Paul

Bartolini - Tube It [traced]