Valve/tube based drive pedals.

[Vince]

I keep toying with the idea of the Seymour Duncan Twin tube series. I've read a lot of stuff about tube pedals being 'gimmicks' etc. Many operate in 'starve plate mode' and there seems to be equal views on either side about how much the tube matters in these pedals. running on 9/12/18 volts etc. Many say the higher the voltage the more the tube is involved in the circuit. The SD twin tubes run at 18v

Just interested in views or if anyone has tried the twin tube classic or blue pedals?

[JaviCAP]

Not really fond ot these kind of pedals.

Running a valve with 9, 12 or 24 volts is....... nothing, is something like playin' a JCM800 trough a 4' speaker or using a Formula 1 to go to work.

The only thing I like about these effects is that they're very cute.

BR

[Vince]

That is the kind of view I'm leaning towards too. I mean the SD twin blue is priced at £199!!.. I recently saw a Marshall DSL 401 sell for £235 on eBay?!.. I know which I'd rather have.

[Jon the Art Guy]

I guess it depends on the kind of tube they run, honestly. I'm assuming it's a 12ax7, but it's too bad they don't get a space-charge tube or two in there that run at full power @12v. Sort of the tail-end of car radio tube technology. Starve-plate minitubes do manage to sound pretty good, but I would rather just put together a post-amp or power-stage emulation with tubes for recording or playing live without an actual amp.

[Vince]

The SD one use  USA-made Phillips-Sylvania® 6111 dual triode tubes... tiny ones.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/stompboxes/sfx11_power_gri/

[Jon the Art Guy]

nice. I've seen some amp projects built around those little buggers, but I'm not convinced they're any more mojo-y than a germanium transistor. They both suck at their jobs :D