With this kit you can build both variants written in the docs. His collection of tube drivers includes several 1980s originals, several 911 tube drivers, a gold tube works 911 tube driver, and the five knob real tube version from tube works. Heres your chance to own this legendary holy grail of overdrive pedals. Buy tube driver original by bk butler with bias control. Butler designed tube driver circuit with some component differences. About as close as you can get to the original chandler tube driver. Jul 02, 2016 i have owned several versions of butlers tube driver, including a few original chandlerbkb versions from the 1980s, a 1989 real tube with 5 knobs, a 911 models, a few 911 reissues with the bias knob, a 1996 ibanez tube king, and a tube works smooth pick pedal, among others.
Ethos amp or 5 knob butler tube driver telecaster guitar. Locate the bias trimknob labeled v1, v2, etc, usually located on the top near the front of the amplifier and with your screwdriver make very slight turns and watch the readout change. It spins all the way around and pulls out some too. This kit is a creation by th custom effects in cooperation with. And the newly updated tube driver itself with the bias mod.
In that case, the tubishness was the tube amp it was being played through, not the tube driver unit itself. It no longer functions correctly to change the gain. 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. The models with the bias knob have only been out the last 5 years or so, and im not sure that the ones hes currently using have the bias knob or not. It was designed and built by audio electronics engineer b. Usa shipping is via priority mail including alaska, hawaii, virgin islands, and guam. Jul 02, 2009 i had the 3 knob tube driver for years and now have the behringer vt911. Butler real tube overdrive the tube driver is a boosteroverdrive pedal with an ic and vacuum tube driven preamp circuit inside, used by guitarists such as david gilmour of pink floyd, eric johnson, billy gibbons, joe bonamassa, joe satriani, kenny wayne shepherd, j mascis, david holt, keith urban, and others. Bk butler tube driver feature requests kemper profiler forum.
The knobs shown on the photo are not included in the kit. Several people reported that the tone stack reacted different on the new version vs. Unfollow chandler tube driver to stop getting updates on your ebay feed. I really love it, it has been on my board for years but every article that i read about these pedals really craps on the 3 knob version. I would be tempted to bring the internal offboost source trim to the outside as it could make the gain boost more useful. The current one that eric johnson uses is a gold one which has a bias knob on it for the tube inside, some of them dont have that function. This is a demo of the much hailed and much sought butler tube driver with added bias knob. Tremolo is applied to the guitar signal at the phase inverter input instead of the power tube bias like the preceding small power tube tremolo circuit. There are videos but nothing that shows you or elaborates the sound difference with bias turned up or down or in mid.
Years ago, eric johnson requested that i install an extra pot in some of his tube drivers to. Tremolo circuit from the fender ab763 deluxe reverb. 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. Please visit my tube amplifier forum heres the place you can go to ask tube amplifier questions. Used bk butler tube driver wbias knob effect pedal guitar. Dec 20, 2010 this is a demo of the much hailed and much sought butler tube driver with added bias knob. Guitar pedal x gpx blog 6 of the best butler tube driver. As the name suggests, these amplifiers are essentially plugandplay and will not need to be tinkered with if tubes are being replaced. I have an old 3 knob tube driver by bk butler tube works which has a broken potentiometer in the tube gain position. Tube driver original by bk butler with bias control. Chandler tube driver 4 knob and the newly updated tube driver itself with the bias mod. The real tube includes a mid range knob, allowing for a wider range of tones to be dialed in. 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. The tube driver is an overdrive with real tube sound.
For greater savings check out our used bk butler tube driver w bias knob effect pedal and get a great deal today. Bk butler tube driver with bias knob the gear page. David gilmour, joe satriani, billy gibbons and many other pros now use the bias mod. Bk butler tube driver 5knob demo original bias mod vs diy bias. Butler tube driver famously used by david gilmour, eric johnson, billy gibbons and joe satriani to name a few.
Eric johnson used to spend a lot of time looking for perfect tubes to butler audio tube in his standard tube drivers, but now he can just set the bias easily with the stock tube. I have owned several versions of butlers tube driver, including a few original chandlerbkb versions from the 1980s, a 1989 real tube with 5 knobs, a 911 models, a few 911 reissues with the bias knob, a 1996 ibanez tube king, and a tube works smooth pick pedal, among others. There are a variety of different tube driver pedals. Bk butler 911 tube driver beigeblack for sale online ebay. Butler tube driver 5 knob bias model new, unused open box. And as i said i would be buying the ethos amp and not just the preamp but the amp can be used just as a preamp and that is what i will use it for mainly but also like the ability to use this as an amp. Just go up or down a few clicks and he nails what he wants. 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. Find great deals on ebay for butler tube driver and butler tube driver car amp. Imo, as a pedal in front of a clean channel it sounds notsospecial. 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. I cant remember exactly which part values i used but there is a cathode pot mounted on the back face of the pedal, set up similarly to the butler bias pot on the newest versions.
David started using a tube driver during recording for the division bell album in 1993 and has used them ever since. I run 12au7s in all of them except the baby, they just sound smoother throughout the gain knob. Bk butler tube driver works classic overdrive 911 rare 12ax7 guitar effect pedal. So, i started hunting for some videos or any info on bias knob. Bk butler tube driver new model with bias knob jam pedals delay llama. Featuring a diehard metal chassis, intuitive control interface, and highlow eq control, the tube works tube driver overdrive captures magic in a box. Butler a keyboard player to sound like an overdriven hammond organ, think deep purple. Make offer bk butler tube driver 5 knob bias version. For greater savings check out our used bk butler tube driver wbias knob effect pedal and get a great deal today. I had one of the rackmount chandler tube driver units in the late 1080s, and i was thoroughly unimpressed with it. Well i got my bk butler tube driver wbias mod today and ive fiddled with it for a few hours and im still well in first impression territory but i have all too much to say about this pedal, so sorry for the short storybook im about to write. 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.
I had the 3 knob tube driver for years and now have the behringer vt911. Its strong point is to add a bit of oomph to an overdrive channel. He recommends the 5 knob model with the added bias control. Projects, mods, transformer diagrams, photos, sound clips. Bk butler tube driver overdrive guitar effect pedal. The rack version had the tube bias knob and they were both very close. The tube driver is legendary mostly because of its association with david gilmour, who has used two of them on his board since the early 1990s and his work on pink floyds division bell. Dean markley overlord to b k butler tube driver so, ive got one of these and ive got to admit i agree with the advert its ugly as sin but it does sure cook an amp nicely, but it could be better. V5a is the oscillator on the left and v5b is the tremolo driver on the right.
Mar 28, 20 ive got the bk tube driver with the bias mod. Yeh, im just using the stock valve, which i believe is a 12ax7, but ive got the bias knob set to 10o clock, which changes the characteristics of the valve by limiting the voltage supplied to it, or something along those lines, so im not sure what the valve is effectively acting as it certainly doesnt sound like how a 12ax7 would usually sound through the standard tube driver. 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. Once you get the bias set to the manufacturers recommendation, move on to the next. The bk butler tube driver is the quintessential overdrivebooster pedal and comes with an ic. Some used 4knob tube drivers marked chandler are not the original design by bk butler.
Bk butler tube driver 910 schematicpot value telecaster. The bias control is very helpful as it adjusts the amount of current applied to the cathode of the tube. If you havent played through a bk butler tube driver, you are missing out. Eric johnson, joe satriani, and billy gibbons have also done their part to canonize the tube drivers huge, dynamic overdrive and boost tones. On the new ri version it increased from 2,2k to 22k. Do you know what the bias knob does as you take it from 1 to 10. I know one part consists of putting a resistor and cap on the tone pot to make it more responsive to. Chassis mounted bias pot with screw driver slot same size as old fender bias pots. The bk butler comes as a tube driver model and is available with a bias knob for 12ax7, 12at7, and 12au6 preamp tubes. These were essentially improved, 5 knob versions of the tube driver circuit. Each one is hand made and checked out carefully by bk himself. Driver back when tube works made it it was a good sounding pedal you figure andy timmons still uses one but i dont think they are in production anymore the 4 knob does sound better though.
This is a classic overdrive pedal used by professionals such as by eric johnson, joe satriani, david gilmour and many others. Used bk butler tube driver wbias knob effect pedal. Theres a mod for it to make it closer to an overdrive. Butler tube driver with bias pot very handy, even the baby 9v. Just bought a tubeworks real tube pedal telecaster. David gilmour is also noted as using one for a number of years. I do agree that it is more of a distortionfuzz pedal than an overdrive pedal but i think the tone is great. Apr 06, 2012 dean markley overlord to b k butler tube driver. This is the version with the optional 5th knob a bias control, to change how the tube behaves. Aug 15, 2009 he has the version with a bias knob upgrade and ive been lead to believe that he sets that at 12 o clock when the knob is set completely full, it sounds like a regular tube driver, dialing the knob down changes the valve characteristics by limiting the voltage and in general produces a smoother, less distorted, but i think slightly more. Discussion in the effect effect started by jeepjones85, sep 10, 2011. Its pretty cool, but noisier than i expected from such an expensive pedal. I will say the box didnt make me able to play like eric johnson but i finally got that violin tone ive been. The tube amp library of information click the link above for tube amp info, schematics, board building information.
As promised here is the schematic of the early tube driver traced from the guts posted on this thread. The standard negative voltage grid bias along with a negative 12 volts applied to. Feb 16, 2008 there are a variety of different tube driver pedals. I like the idea of the voltage regulating pot for the tubes on the 5 knob tube driver. Ethos amp or 5 knob butler tube driver telecaster guitar forum. Tube amp pots, fender amp knobs, guitar pots, wah pots, cts pots, alpha pots, guitar pots, pull pots, dual amp pots, bias pots, chicken head knobs. As reported in the intro, he has had 2 of these in his rig for the longest time and when i hear this pedal it immediately brings back. Gain at about 3 oclock, treble at about 11 oclock, bass at about 2 oclock, drive at about 8 oclock pretty mild its hard to describe in words what it does maybe ill record something to make. There are hundreds of pages of tube amp information on my library page. It sounds every bit a tube driver, in fact it sounds quite a bit better than my old 4 knob one.
Special 5th knob bias mod information butler audio. Tube driver with bias control original design by bk butler. Definitely get the bias knob upgrade as its the key to this already stellar platform. I believe the rack version had a little more tweak ability with contour master and bias knob but still very close tone wise. So i bought a used tube driver wbias mod yesterday from my local gc. There is clearly a sweet spot on the tube bias knob where it sounds right. I was really surprised that they had it they also had a used cmatmods brownie too. A tube is not included in the kit, you can select it suitably to your project. Enjoy your music and if you blow a tube, just replace it with a matching one and youre ready to go.
The basic cause of the difference in tube and transistor sound is the harmonic distortion components in the amplifiers. Hi andrea, i have the bk butler tube driver with bias mod as well, i use a nos yugo real tube tho 12ax7. Rigtalk view topic tube driver question 3knob vs 4. Mar 29, 2018 this is the version with the optional 5th knob a bias control, to change how the tube behaves. Fixed means that from the tubes point of view, the bias is fixed and stays the same level. Eric johnson used to spend a lot of time looking for perfect tubes to use in his standard tube drivers, but now he can just set the bias easily with the stock tube. It offered overdrive, but there was nothing tubeish about the tone, unless it was played through a tube amp. Bk butler tube driver feature requests kemper profiler. Good solid state distortion but not as good as real tubes. The vt911 doesnt sound exactly like the tube driver, but its pretty close. I got an upgrade offer by mr butler to add a bias knob on it. The most significant differences compared to the new ri edition are. I have the bias version the bias knob is full up though.
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