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iamqman « Just a show off! »
Published on 03/18/11 at 22:55About as close as you can get to the original Chandler Tube Driver. This is a classic overdrive pedal used by professionals such as by Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani, David Gilmour and many others. This is a unique and classic tube driven style overdrive stomp box. The tone feels very natural and cascading like a normal gain stage of a tube amp would do. The connection is easy but be prepared to use it in an outlet because it doesn't have a Boss style plug in, so the pedal power is out unless you don't have anything else with a three pronged cord.
It is a standard analog pedal with no midi function or digital adjusting controls. The lay out is as follows...
Level, Hi and Lo EQing, and Tube Drive.
The controls allow you to get some interesting overdrive settings. You can do quite a bit of variation with this pedal if you have enough space on your pedal board for it. It is rather large so keep that in mind.
UTILIZATION
Easy as pie to set up. You have 4 controls and that's it. You have to let your ears be the judge on this pedal because the range or tone is so vast that you really have to be gentile when dialing it in. There are so many tones available in the pedal that a slight adjustment will change the dynamic of the gain and EQ. This peal is a good pedal with trying to get a tube screamer tone as well as getting a little clean boost as well. Great for classic rock and pop music.
SOUND QUALITY
Since this pedal is so synonymous with Pink Floyd and David Gilmore, I would test it out on a Hiwatt Dr103 and a Strat. Better yet use it with a Reeves custom 100 , keep the Hi Eq lower and the Drive bout noonish, and there you have that vintage Gilmorish tone. Couple that with an analog delay such as a Wampler analog echo or a MXR Carbon Copy and you are done.
It works as a good clean boost with the Tube Drive lower and as you move it clock wise you will quickly get good overdrive. If you turn it all the up it starts to break up like a fuzz pedal or Big Muff. Not nearly as gainy as a BM but has similar characteristics as one though.
My beef with it though is that it is pretty big. So you'll need some room on your pedal board to house this beast. Also, you'll need a separate outlet to power it since it does not have a normal Boss style 9v or 18v plug. I think it will sound better without it and the reissues keep to that original vintage style which I appreciate too.
OVERALL OPINION
This is a fantastic OD pedal with many options to boot. I think it sounds best with a Strat and a Hiwatt or a Reeves amp. For me it is hard to break away from this setup since I'm a huge Pink Floyd fan, but really this pedal with sound great with just about any decent tube amp.
I would recommend any Gilmore fan or any one who enjoys a vintage type overdrive pedal for classic rock. It sits around $300 a piece so be sure you are committed to it since it is sort of expensive. But it sure is a keeper!.
It is a standard analog pedal with no midi function or digital adjusting controls. The lay out is as follows...
Level, Hi and Lo EQing, and Tube Drive.
The controls allow you to get some interesting overdrive settings. You can do quite a bit of variation with this pedal if you have enough space on your pedal board for it. It is rather large so keep that in mind.
UTILIZATION
Easy as pie to set up. You have 4 controls and that's it. You have to let your ears be the judge on this pedal because the range or tone is so vast that you really have to be gentile when dialing it in. There are so many tones available in the pedal that a slight adjustment will change the dynamic of the gain and EQ. This peal is a good pedal with trying to get a tube screamer tone as well as getting a little clean boost as well. Great for classic rock and pop music.
SOUND QUALITY
Since this pedal is so synonymous with Pink Floyd and David Gilmore, I would test it out on a Hiwatt Dr103 and a Strat. Better yet use it with a Reeves custom 100 , keep the Hi Eq lower and the Drive bout noonish, and there you have that vintage Gilmorish tone. Couple that with an analog delay such as a Wampler analog echo or a MXR Carbon Copy and you are done.
It works as a good clean boost with the Tube Drive lower and as you move it clock wise you will quickly get good overdrive. If you turn it all the up it starts to break up like a fuzz pedal or Big Muff. Not nearly as gainy as a BM but has similar characteristics as one though.
My beef with it though is that it is pretty big. So you'll need some room on your pedal board to house this beast. Also, you'll need a separate outlet to power it since it does not have a normal Boss style 9v or 18v plug. I think it will sound better without it and the reissues keep to that original vintage style which I appreciate too.
OVERALL OPINION
This is a fantastic OD pedal with many options to boot. I think it sounds best with a Strat and a Hiwatt or a Reeves amp. For me it is hard to break away from this setup since I'm a huge Pink Floyd fan, but really this pedal with sound great with just about any decent tube amp.
I would recommend any Gilmore fan or any one who enjoys a vintage type overdrive pedal for classic rock. It sits around $300 a piece so be sure you are committed to it since it is sort of expensive. But it sure is a keeper!.