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moosers
Published on 04/06/10 at 20:23
The Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor is a tube based overdrive pedal for use with electric guitar. It has two separate channels which produce both a cleaner tube sound and a saturated tube sound. Tube Factor has standard 1/4" connections and comes with a power supply, the voltage of which I'm not sure. It isn't rackable as it is a stomp box.
UTILIZATION
Using the Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor is a very simple process. There aren't very many parameters that you need to know about, and those that you do are simple enough to figure out after a minute or two if not right away. The parameters that are on the Tube Factor are as follows: a knob for drive, a knob for output, and a knob for voicing. The voicing knob allows for different types of blends of overdrive. It has two buttons - one for on/off, and one for choosing between the two different tube channels. I don't think that anyone will need a manual, regardless of experience.
SOUND QUALITY
The sound quality of the Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor makes it one of the best overdrive pedals I've ever heard. I have used the pedal for a recording session where I was the engineer and not the performer. It was the guitarists pedal, so while I didn't get a chance to play around with it too much, we got some seriously killer sounding guitar tracks that day. We were using the pedal with a Gibson Les Paul and a '65 Fender Deluxe Reverb. The pedal simply put sounds thick, realistic, and full of life and color. You can get a very wide range of different overdrive sounds with the pedal as well between the voicing knob and the two different channels.
OVERALL OPINION
While expensive, if you're in the market for a top of the line overdrive pedal, the Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor is definitely one of the pedals that you should be considering. If you're a professional who has a bit more money than the average person to spend on an overdrive, it is absolutely worth the extra money. While I'm a big fan of the Ibanez Tube Screamers for the money, the Tube Factor blows even the best Tube Screamer out of the water in terms of versatility and sheer tone quality. Absolutely recommended for anyone who wants a high end overdrive pedal.
UTILIZATION
Using the Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor is a very simple process. There aren't very many parameters that you need to know about, and those that you do are simple enough to figure out after a minute or two if not right away. The parameters that are on the Tube Factor are as follows: a knob for drive, a knob for output, and a knob for voicing. The voicing knob allows for different types of blends of overdrive. It has two buttons - one for on/off, and one for choosing between the two different tube channels. I don't think that anyone will need a manual, regardless of experience.
SOUND QUALITY
The sound quality of the Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor makes it one of the best overdrive pedals I've ever heard. I have used the pedal for a recording session where I was the engineer and not the performer. It was the guitarists pedal, so while I didn't get a chance to play around with it too much, we got some seriously killer sounding guitar tracks that day. We were using the pedal with a Gibson Les Paul and a '65 Fender Deluxe Reverb. The pedal simply put sounds thick, realistic, and full of life and color. You can get a very wide range of different overdrive sounds with the pedal as well between the voicing knob and the two different channels.
OVERALL OPINION
While expensive, if you're in the market for a top of the line overdrive pedal, the Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor is definitely one of the pedals that you should be considering. If you're a professional who has a bit more money than the average person to spend on an overdrive, it is absolutely worth the extra money. While I'm a big fan of the Ibanez Tube Screamers for the money, the Tube Factor blows even the best Tube Screamer out of the water in terms of versatility and sheer tone quality. Absolutely recommended for anyone who wants a high end overdrive pedal.