Check out these unsolicited customer videos on youtube. The bk butler 911 tube driver has been one of those items for me. It spins all the way around and pulls out some too. Butler tube driver 5knob w bias control youtube eric johnson interview guitars amp effects on up close album part 3 of 3 duration.
I have an old 3 knob tube driver by bk butlertube works which has a broken potentiometer in the tube gain position. If youre wondering how these things sound heres a demo for you. But the blue tube will be part of my collection for years to come, its a great keeper the way it is stock imo. Jul 02, 2009 ive just opened mine up and the circuit board quite clearly reads patented. The core of the pedal is a handselected 12ax7 tube which gives you a lovely sort of fuzzdrive sound than can sound amazingly smooth and textured in the hands of masters like david gilmour who still features 2 of these within his rig. Feb 28, 2012 the b k butler tube driver has been used by several of rock guitars greats david gilmour and eric johnson to name just two. It definitely doesnt sound like a stock tube driver at least in terms of the amount of. Aug, 2012 i also have a realtube bk butler driver here to compare my build to, and it is silent. David gilmour of pink floyd was seen using two 1980s tube drivers in the studio and on tour in. Hi andrea, i have the bk butler tube driver with bias mod as well, i use a nos yugo real tube tho 12ax7. Right now on my clone i use a 1960 nos general electrics 12au7, and i found it far superior to all the 12ax7 tubes that ive tried. Butler designed tube driver circuit with some component differences.
The tube king is reputed to be a very similar circuit design to the tube driver and the patent there certainly backs that notion up. Bk butler tube driver 1989 guitar pedals, electronics. Supposedly he gets inquiries to fix them all the time and wont. This is the original model, designed by bk butler, built by chandler industries with the power supply built. Tube works and chandler tube driver s have been on the market at different times, and in different versions. I kept the power section from john ks version of the blue tube. I will say the box didnt make me able to play like eric johnson but i finally got that violin tone ive been. Apr 06, 2012 4 modify the stock component values to match the reissue b k butler tube driver. Hi guys, i will upload a schematic and pcb layout from a traced. It no longer functions correctly to change the gain. Bk butler is still making these pedals today and his calls his real tube overdrive the tube driver pedal.
Moreover, the aim was to make it functional and showy due to abundance of lamps and their size. It definitely doesnt sound like a stock tube driver at least in terms of the amount of gain based on sound samples im hearing. My superlead is so loud that itll probably blow any. The mids control will be sacrificed and replaced by the bias control. The idea was to turn the computer into a tube device. It has an effect sendreceive and a footswitch for switching between the channels and turning onoff the reverb. The most recent posted schematic appears to be more accurate than the previous ones based on my old tube driver. Butler started making the 4 knob tube drivers again as a production model under the tube works brand around 199394.
Secrets revealedwhats inside this bk butler tube driver real. Shown above left to right the 1985 bk butler tube driver, the revised 198687 bk butler tube driver, the unauthorized 1988 knockoff made by chandler after butler parted ways with them, the 1990s tube works 911 tube driver, and a b. During its long life the tube driver has appeared in many forms. Butler also known as built by tube works, chandler. Used a low gain 6av6 or 12av6 tube for distortion and transistor stage for compression. I personally autograph each tube driver on the bottoms side. The layout included is for an offboard tube socket not mounted on the pcb. Tc electronics tube pilot budget valve overdrive pedal. Preamp 12ax7s in my guitar amps are warm to the touch but 12au7s in my hifi preamp if i recall correctly are very very hot so just wondering how things are here.
I suspect by the reference legendary that they are hinting at the tube driver by b. Some used 4 knob tube drivers marked chandler are not the original design by bk butler. Jul 02, 2016 mp3 sound clip boss cs2 compressor big muff tube driver old 198687 era b. Bk butlers original hand made tube driver guitar pedal used by eric johnson, david gilmour, billy gibbons, joe satriani, kenny wayne shepherd, robbie krieger, and many other pros.
Bk butler tube driver page 2 joes guitars, amps and gear joe bonamassa forum the official forum for all things joe bonamassa, guitars and blues music. Bk butler tube driver with bias knob, get that awesome violin tone lead best tube driver ive ever played through the delivery man dropped off my brand new bk butler tube driver about 4 hours ago 11 am and im still going, 3 pm. But the blue tube will be part of my collection for years to come, its a. The tube driver is not an extremely versatile pedal but what it does it does very well. The 2 triode stages appear to be fixed biasedtheir cathodes are grounded, with the first stage getting grid bias voltage with a 3.
When chandler copied the bk butler design they totally messed up the tone stack section all schematics to compare the different versions are here on this thread. The tube driver is a somewhat famous pedal, id guess it to be the most wellknown tubebased distortion pedal. These pedals have to be dialed in for each individual amp and guitar combination as they are relatively low output and the tube drive tends to kick in at a lower level than some pedals. The earliest tube driver, hand made by bk butler in escondido, california, circa 19791980. Max gain is on the order of x500, and a log pot is used using patent schematic, instead of a reverse log, so the gain is incredibly scrunched. He recommends the 5 knob model with the added bias control. Butler real tube overdrive the tube driver is a boosteroverdrive pedal with an ic and vacuum tube driven preamp circuit inside, used by. The tube driver is a holy grail type pedal, but many people, especially younger players, have never heard of it. Butler then reworked the design again, combining an opamp operational amplifier or.
Tube driver original by bk butler with bias control. One super cool feature of the tube driver is that the level knob acts like a global master volume for the lead sound. I have an old 3 knob tube driver by bk butler tube works which has a broken potentiometer in the tube gain position. It is made in the usa has a 14 inch input and output and i believe is has a 12ax7 type tube. A pair of adjustablebias mosfet gain stages take the place of the 12ax7 vacuum tube, otherwise the circuit is true to the original schematic.
The bk butler tube drive circuit is based on a opamp gainstage driven into two triodestages of 12ax7 tube, using low plate voltage about 16volts there are lot of similar products, such as chandler tube driver, dean markley overlord classic tube overdrive and many others. Now butler says that the real tube overdrive pedals made by tube works from back in the day are unreliable. He is still handbuilding tube driver pedals, and says he still does the occasional td with the eq points set for bass, as well as with lower gain. Overall in great shape considering the age of the pedal. Ive heard au7 is pretty popular and that bk butler would give clients a yugo au7 from his secret stash. For the bias control my favorite settings are maximum for gilmour tones and 10 notches below maximum for my original tones, which is roughly 2. The real tube includes a mid range knob, allowing for a wider range of tones to be dialed in. Bk butler tube driver page 2 joes guitars, amps and. Forgot to mention before, if you have a chandler wall mart tube driver you can easily convert it to a authentic tube driver by rebuilding the tone stack section.
It might not be identical to the tube driver but its in the same sort of area. The b k butler tube driver has been used by several of rock guitars greats david gilmour and eric johnson to name just two. Used bk butler tube works tube driver, vintage tube overdrive pedal from the 1980s. Bk butler tube driver page 2 joes guitars, amps and gear. Bk butler tube driver perf and pcb effects layouts. Compatible with all electric guitars and amplifiers. A pair of adjustablebias mosfet gain stages take the place of the 12ax7 vacuum tube, otherwise the. Bk butlers original hand made tube driver guitar pedal used by eric. The mosfet driver is based on the legendary bk butler tube driver. Chandler tube driver vs tube works 911 telecaster guitar. Butler tube driver the core circuit design on the 2000s reissue 911 tube driver is similar to the original 198587 versions, but there are some minor changes and component value differences, as well as different pots. If you know of a tube pedal not listed here, please let me know. Bk butler s original hand made tube driver guitar pedal used by eric johnson, david gilmour, billy gibbons, joe satriani, kenny wayne shepherd, robbie krieger, and many other pros. The tube driver td752 is a two channel 100 watt amp with spring reverb.
The b k butler tube driver has been used by several of rock. The test heads enable to control voltage in the computer, intensity of air cooling, activity of the hard disk, and energy consumption of the processor. Tube pilot is, according to tc electronic, a legendary tube overdrive modelled, but then further developed by them. The chandler tube driver is a real tube based overdrive guitar pedal. Heart of the tube driver is a real handselected 12ax7 tube by bk butler himself. I also have a realtube bk butler driver here to compare my build to, and it is silent. Bk butler tube driver by groovenut 28 may 2015, 04. It runs the 12ax7 stages at very low plate voltageabout 9 volts. If it says tube driver on it as a model name, its one way or the other supposed to be under the auspices of or royalties to one mr. I think its designed for ax7 but mine is getting a lot of gain quickly. Utilization the general configuration of the tube driver is really easy to follow, and it is easy to get a good sound from this. Heres the tube driver made famous by david gilmour. It was 9v powered, like most pedals, making it more marketable to a larger crowd. Mp3 sound clip boss cs2 compressor big muff tube driver old 198687 era b.
It uses a 12ax7 which is pushed by a dual opamp followed by a fenderstyle tone stack. Butler tube driver famously used by david gilmour, eric johnson, billy gibbons and joe satriani to name a few. Heart of the tube driver is a real handselected 12ax7 tube by bk butler himself controls. The pedal had already been used by gilmour, satriani, bonamassa, j mascis and many other great. This is a pedal that has been around for over thirty years and has become a longstanding favorite amongst some of the most elite players in the business for its smooth distortion and boost capabilities.
Those who want to reserve a unit, please contact me via email. Real tube by tube works other than one being in super cool enclosure, and the other in a buttugly enclosure, the 4 knob 911 tube drivers and 5 knob real tube versions are basically the same patented b. What other items do customers buy after viewing this item. Ive looked to compile the best and most reliable for this post. The first, original, one was the bk butlerchandler tube driver. Featuring a diehard metal chassis, intuitive control interface, and highlow eq control, the tube works tube driver overdrive captures magic in a box. Max gain is on the order of x500, and a log pot is used using. Ive just opened mine up and the circuit board quite clearly reads patented. Tube works and chandler tube drivers have been on the market at different times, and in different versions. Able to organically create the tone of a tube amp at the point of breakup, the tube driver has been loved by guitarists since its inception decades ago for that allnatural tone and feel.
Bk butler tube driver 910 schematicpot value telecaster. Its a great tube drive and im very happy i happened upon it, thanks duke i dont use the blue tube much for drive but i do dial a little bit of dirt into the signal. There are many schematics out there as well as a wealth of pcb projects. Jan 10, 2018 ive heard au7 is pretty popular and that bk butler would give clients a yugo au7 from his secret stash.
1034 690 402 1503 1555 655 85 131 773 717 1239 1341 1145 182 217 503 991 1131 594 653 713 629 1000 203 1448 242 627 507 606 1176 437 6 78 1494 627