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If you are in a hurry and just want to know what the best guitar pedal with tubes is, then I recommend the Ibanez tube Screamer Pedal
If you are looking to buy a guitar pedal with tubes in them, then you are in the right place.
Last year alone I spent a lot of money trying to pick out guitar pedals that actually have tubes in them.
All the ones I got were absolute crap with nothing to show for them.
At that point, I decided there was not enough information out there on on guitar pedals, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and write this review.
In this article we will be looking at the top 5 guitar pedals with tubes in them, things to consider before you ever buy any guitar pedal and how to make sure you get the absolute best out of your latest purchase.
Top 5 Guitar Pedals With Tubes In Them 2
- Blackstar HTOD1 Pure Valve Overdrive – Editor’s Choice
- Maxon RTD800 Real Tube Pedal – Premium Choice
- Friedman Amplification BE-OD Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal
- TUBE DRIVER Original by BK BUTLER
- Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer
Why tube powered pedals?
For a long time, there’s been a lot of debate going on about the quality and usefulness of tube distortion pedals
As guitar players we have been conditioned to think that anything with tubes sounds really good.
But in the long run, you find out that’s not really the case
Most times the nice sounding tones that we associate with a good tube amp is actually from the amplifier’s power tubes than its preamp tubes
However there are some advantages to using tube distortion pedals. Here are some of them
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They give you a unique gritty sound that makes your sound awesome
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They have a lot of voltage running through them making them ideal for use in large gatherings
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They help increase the volume and dirt of your sound significantly
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They give you a lot of versatility in that they usually come with 3 additional channels
Things to look out for before you buy
1. Does it have tubes in them?
This is fairly obvious right? You definitely want to purchase a guitar pedal with tubes in them so there should be tubes in it.
But this is not always the case as most pedals do not have any tubes in them but are represented as such.
This is all marketing gimmick to get unsuspecting customers to shell out their hard earned money without deriving any benefits.
So you want to make sure that you check and double check before you buy any pedal
2. Does it have overdrive function?
Also you want to make sure that the pedal you get has some form of overdrive in it.
This will give your sounds that hard edged gritty sound that makes you unique
3. Is it durable and made of high quality materials?
Also you want to get something that lasts for a long time.
There is no need getting something that is of low quality and needs to be replaced almost immediately.
So do your due diligence and check to see the materials used in making the pedal. Also check the outer casing to ensure that it is made from durable material that does not break and damage easily.
Our Top 5 Guitar Pedals With Tubes in Them
1. Blackstar HTOD1 Pure Valve Overdrive
This is a genuine and unique sounding pedal with awesome tube design.
It operates at over 300 volts which gives you that true hot tube dynamics and feel
It has a unique ECC83 tube offers which adds two tube gain stages to your rig
It has a class A tone control feature which has unique buttons such as Gain, Tone and level controls.
It has an emulated speaker output which gives it a new design for direct recording
It comes with a high integrity bypass which helps in silent switching and driving long cable runs.
2. Maxon RTD800 Guitar Effects Pedal
This is a guitar pedal with selectable overdrive and distortion circuits which provide a wide range of tube sounds.
This includes sounds from traditional overdrive to high gain distortion
It has a post distortion tube configuration which helps in providing a more realistic tube tone
It has 3 independent tone circuits which helps to diminish cross talk and frequency overlap. This gives you a high degree of tonal options when playing
It has a foot switchable boost circuitry with a variable boost of between 3 – 9db
It comes with a power adaptor
This is one guitar pedal that offers a wide range of versatility in one package
It has an overdrive circuit feature which reduces clipping when used.
3. Friedman Amplification BE-OD Overdrive Guitar Effects Pedal
This is a guitar pedal that has authentic British overdrive tones
It has a set of clean and unique buttons that control the volume, gain, tight, bass and presence.
It has true bypass switching which helps in avoiding any issues while using it in your rig
It can be quickly powered using a 9-18VDC adaptor.
This is one pedal that captures that unique sound of the legendary Friedman that has been used by countless top guitarists over the years.
It is well built and designed to withstand use and breakage
4. Tube Driver Original Guitar Pedal
This is a limited quantity original design guitar pedal from BK Butler.
Each is well designed and hand picked by BK Butler himself ensuring that you get the highest quality product.
It has clean knobs which controls the Tube Drive, Hi and Lo Eqs.
It is very compatible with a lot of guitars and amplifiers
5. Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer
This is a classic guitar pedal with Tone, Drive and Level controls
This controls gives you access to warm, amp like overdrive that is ready to rip and very sensitive
It is well built and does not break easily making it something to use for a long time
It has a cranking overdrive sound that makes it an all time classic guitar pedal with endorsements from famous guitar players.
How To Use an Overdrive Pedal
Here is a Youtube Video showing you detailed steps on how you can setup and use your overdrive pedal
