I replaced the 12AX7 with a 12AU7 (JJ Electronic) for an overall warmer tone with more compression and a much wider range from powerful clean volume boost to soaring overdrive. It depends on what tone you’re looking for but it has a very narrow clean response and it can be a bit boomy as well. The 2006 BK model is delivered with a 12AX7 tube which is a bit too aggressive for my taste. The BK has a bit more presence and a generally more aggressive tone, although this can to some extent be “controlled†by replacing the stock tube. Tonewise, I would perhaps place the Chandler somewhere between a Tube Screamer and a BK Tube Driver. The Chandler Tube Driver (in David’s rig from 1993-2006) has a slightly warmer tone than the new BK Butler model (in David’s rig from 2006).
#Bk butler tube driver 5 knob drivers#
David uses two Tube Drivers in his rig but you could easily substitute one of them with a Power Boost for a hint of that vintage flavour. The main difference is the dynamics and warmth you’ll get from the tube in the Tube Driver but my experience is that with the gain all the way up the Colorsound manages to stay more focused and compressed. They both got that powerful transparent tone with thundering lows and a crisp top. The Colorsound Power Boost and Tube Driver are very similar, which may be one of the reasons why David chose the Tube Driver. The pedal was also an essential part of his tones on 2006 On an Island album an tour. The classic Colorsound Power Boost was David’s main overdrive unit in the 70’s and after some experimentation with different units in the 80’s he settled with the Tube Driver during the Division Bell sessions in 1993-94. Ever since 1994’s Division Bell he’s been using the Tube Driver as his main overdrive unit and it’s been one of my favourites for the last couple of years. I'm finding that I just leave this pedal active in my chain all the time, allowing me to use the eq controls.David is often associated with his lead tones but he’s a master creating the sweetest overdrive tones too. It has true bypass, but I find that I don't need to bypass it to get all my guitar's tone back - just rolling off the drive and setting the eq knobs properly allows all my original tone through it's very transparent, unlike most overdrives that suck parts of your tone out.
These are the tone controls everyone wishes their amps had.
HI eq from warmly rolled off to in-your-face biting leads, and the LO eq lets you get all your guitars low end back if you want it. These tone controls are hands-down the best I've seen on any pedal, and even amps. I was amazed at the usability and range of the two tone controls (the one tone knob most pedals offer is never enough, even if they worked well). Power chords are so rich and satisfying with this pedal it's hard to stop playing! Even at hi gain, this pedal is quieter than other pedals, due to the toroidal power transformer. At high drive settings, you can get searing, biting lead tones with tons of sustain and controllable feedback. At low drive settings, you get a warm, complex, bluesy grit, hendrix/SRV blues tones. This pedal is the gain stage that most players wish their tube amp had. I'm using it with a fender deluxe strat with duncan antiquity custom bridge pickup, and custom shop '69 neck/middle, and a blues jr. In a word, the sound is brilliant from this pedal.