I prefer it not because its all tube but because the high voltage power supply gives me plenty of headroom with my high output bass. Sounds ok, better after i changed the tube to a 12au7. Power amplifier circuit is very nice used for subwoofer applications with powerful bass tones. K butler tubeworks tube driver real tube overdrive effects pedal. The pcb is pretty accurate to the original, with a few small improvements, mainly to the power rail and tone control. Then someone modified it to match with the 911 pedal. Ive looked to compile the best and most reliable for this post. I dont think it is any of those schematics mozwell, and i havent yet found one that looks correct. Ive only ever heard one, and it sounded good but i had nothing to ab it against.
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. Chandler tube driver rack i know there is some controversy over the bk butler situation but that none withstanding the 1 up racks are reasonably rare to come by and have the famed bias control. Chandler tube driver vs tube works 911 telecaster guitar. 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. I wrote to butler s company and a technician there verified it as a genuine butler pedal, as opposed to the chandler fakes. Find great deals on ebay for butler tube driver and butler tube driver car amp. The image above shows my recently purchased real tube pedal case disassembled, because in the video below im about to show you how to clean it. I kept the power section from john ks version of the blue tube. At some point butler started using a toroid transformer that runs from 120240vac which works with either mains power. Used bk butler tube works tube driver, vintage tube overdrive pedal from the 1980s. Currently, im using a lee jackson sp 1u rackmount power amp.
Comparable in concept to precision racecar active power steering, bk butler allows the tubes to power steer the audio output signal directly into your speakers. Unlike typical effect pedals, the tube driver includes a built in power cord, as it uses. Tubeworks tube driver sounds like ripped speaker music. A tube is not included in the kit, you can select it suitably to your project. 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. Decided to buy the spire, martinlogans, and depth i for sub, they are four ohm speakers that will. Therefore, the tubes are positioned to naturally and actively respond to the dynamic speaker load. Chandler tube driver vs tube works 911 telecaster guitar forum. With this kit you can build both variants written in the docs.
It spins all the way around and pulls out some too. The pcb was dark green on the trace side and had no identifying numbers or letters. In fact, the original tube kings were just a slight variation on the bk butler tube driver, designed and built by butler himself, for ibanez, in denver. Overall in great shape considering the age of the pedal. It definitely doesnt sound like a stock tube driver at least in terms of the amount of. The layout included is for an offboard tube socket not mounted on the pcb. Guitar effects pedalsguitar pedalsdiy electronicselectronics projectselectrical workaudio amplifierguitar ampcircuitdistortion. It runs the 12ax7 stages at very low plate voltageabout 9 volts. You will need a suitable 12vac power pack for this pedal the original has a.
Guitar effects pedalsguitar pedalsdiy electronics electronics projectselectrical workaudio amplifierguitar ampcircuitdistortion. A superlative marriage of tube and solidstate technology. The chandler tube driver is a real tube based overdrive guitar pedal. Do note that this effect requires 12v ac power and not dc like most other effects. Butler tube driver circuits 1985 circuit on left, 1986 in middle, and 1987 on right. The hard clipping part of the distortion comes from the integrated circuit chip, or opamp. There are many schematics out there as well as a wealth of pcb projects. I have never seen one dated earlier than 1985, but butler said he first designed this version in 1983. 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. Bk butler 911 tube driver beigeblack for sale online ebay. This is a selfverified layout of the famous baja version of the bk butler chandler tube drive. Previous designs generally employed vacuum tubes in impedanceisolated preamp or pre driver stages. The tube operates at about 15 volts and basically takes the place of clipping diodes in the circuit.
If your chandler tube driver includes bk butler s name, its the real deal, built by butler and distributed by chandler. The original project runs on an 16v ac adapter so chances are that the original will sound better than my 12v dc version. Butler tube driver famously used by david gilmour, eric johnson, billy gibbons and joe satriani to name a few. After doing some research, i decided to order the parts for two builds. Ive simplified each circuit into block diagrams to illustrate their architecture. Bk butler tube driver 1989 guitar pedals, electronics. This is a favourite of eric johnson, david gilmour, joe. I purchased it back in 1994 at guitar center in san bernardino, ca. Bk butler s original hand made tube driver guitar pedal used by eric johnson, david gilmour. Here we have a combo amp with a solid state power section, fed by two separate preamp circuits. 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. Butler designed tube driver circuit with some component differences. Dc coupled through the output power devices to the speakers.
I think its designed for ax7 but mine is getting a lot of gain quickly. A pair of adjustablebias mosfet gain stages take the place of the 12ax7 vacuum tube, otherwise the circuit is true to the original schematic. Tube works mosvalve rt2100 owners manual pdf download. This rack is an updated and more costeffective design from the originator of the tube driver concept, b. Most people do not seem to be aware of the history or that the chandler versions are not up to par. This is a little different than the bk butler tube driver im told. Some used 4knob tube drivers marked chandler are not the original design by bk butler. Whats your take on the bk butlertube worksmos valve design. Never tried an original bk butler tube driver but always wanted to give one a go. Tube driver bottom pcb layer parts placement and bias mod.
Baja real tube driver 12v dc online stripboard layout editor. Pedals with separate ac power supplies or wall warts are not original and do not. Bk butler real tube overdrive the tube driver is a boosteroverdrive pedal with a simple vacuum tube driven preamp circuit inside, used by david gilmour of pink floyd, eric johnson, billy gibbons, joe satriani, kenny wayne shepherd, j. Tube driver real tube overdrive bk butler chandler the original, classic 4 knob tube driver with the iconic case color and graphics, made circa 1985 to 1987. This kit is a creation by th custom effects in cooperation with. The colorsound power boost and tube driver are very similar, which may. The tube driver is a legendary pedal used by players like eric. Butler then had a firm in california manufacture a third version of the circuit board for him sometime in 1987. The use of ultralinear architecture, the output of each channel cattle connected five lines, together with the feedback and the filament, the pcb wiring will appear much more, but does not affect its excellent replay.
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. Due to the continuing requests for my limited production original design tube driver pedal, here are the details. If youre wondering how these things sound heres a demo for you. I actually got it used on evilbay should have just bought a new one direct from bk. I have an old 3 knob tube driver by bk butler tube works which has a broken potentiometer in the tube gain position. It also has an optically controlled circuit with a vactrol. But looks like it originally was a schematic of the tube driver from 1986 done by mr.
The mids control will be sacrificed and replaced by the bias control. During its long life the tube driver has appeared in many forms. Pedals with separate ac power supplies or wall warts are not original and do not sound the same. It was 9v powered, like most pedals, making it more marketable to a larger crowd. He recommends the 5 knob model with the added bias control. Ive heard au7 is pretty popular and that bk butler would give clients a yugo au7 from his secret stash. We are confident this unit will be a welcome addition to your tube. View and download tube works mosvalve rt2100 owners manual online. Apr 06, 2012 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. 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. Heres the tube driver made famous by david gilmour. The tube glowing means youve got the heater up and running pins 4 and 5, and technically also 9,but were not using that.
The mosfet driver is based on the legendary bk butler 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. Bk butler tube works tube driver early 3 knob modeloriginal yugoslavian 12ax7 tube includednever thought this day would come but i just dont use this pedal at all anymore. Good luck if you want to build it it uses a double sided circuit board. I personally autograph each tube driver on the bottoms side. The tube driver is a somewhat famous pedal, id guess it to be the most wellknown tube based distortion pedal. Unfollow butler tube driver to stop getting updates on your ebay feed. Jan 26, 2011 hey, i have a butler blue tube pedal similar to the tube driver that runs off ac power. The original ibanez tube king overdrive was a very different beast than the reissued version in the red diamondshaped box, which seems to be a rather bland, metaloriented high gain distortion.
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. I wrote to butler s company and a technician there verified it as a genuine butler pedal. Used bk butler tube works tube driver effect pedal guitar. Tdb 475 t h e r m i o n i c vacuum tube driven mobile power amplifier design with authentic vacuum tube response and an openended design, zero global negative feedback, tube driver blue overcomes one of the most universally agreed upon sonic problems plaguing virtually all current amplifier designs. I am not surprised that the ggg tube driver sounds bad it is basicly the same as the behringer vt911 vintage overdrive that also sounds bad. The first, original, one was the bk butler chandler tube driver. It uses a 12ax7 which is pushed by a dual opamp followed by a fenderstyle tone stack. Jul 02, 2016 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. Bk butler s tube driver blue technology places the triodes exactly where they should be. Tube works and chandler tube drivers have been on the market at different times, and in different versions.
Order here and get a real bk butler handmade tube driver. I got a bk butler tube driver several weeks ago and either it just doesnt work with my equipment or ive got a bum one, i was wondering if you guys could help me decide. Butler has been making since 2005 could be ordered with either voltage, so be sure you are buying a tube driver with the correct voltage for your country. If you know of a tube pedal not listed here, please let me know. The real tube includes a mid range knob, allowing for a wider range of tones to be dialed in. Conversely, if you plug a tube driver with a 220240v transformer meant for the. You will need to get either a simple plug adaptor or reinstall the correct type of plug on the power cord for ac mains in your country. Bk butler tube driver 910 schematicpot value telecaster. Power is quite high power amplifier, power power issued about 500 watt high quality power amplifier circuit of 1500 watt high power amplifier is very nice to talk about single power amplifier circuit is therefore not o be outdone by the classa amplifiers. It no longer functions correctly to change the gain. Bk butler real tube blue tube tube driver tube works. The tube driver is a somewhat famous pedal, id guess it to be the most wellknown tubebased distortion pedal. Chandler tube drivers still command high prices on ebay, for example. Rackmount bk butler tube works blue tube rt904 rackmount bk butler tube works blue tube ii rt924 tube works rt4001 di direct box wps bk butler tube works real tube overdrive 12ax7 stomp pedal but had never seen bk butler tube works all tube amp.
The only reason they are big is because the power supply is built inside. The real tube overdrive is a bk butler guitar pedal manufactured by tube works back in the 70s and 80s. I dont play guitar much but my friend has tried it out and was able to get very eric johnson. This novel design allows the tubes to safely produce authentic power vacuum tube dynamic characteristics hundreds of times greater than their original design capabilities.
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. Im hand building only limited production numbers every week. Unfollow tube works tube driver to stop getting updates on your ebay feed. This is the big daddy of tube overdrive pedals the classic tube driver from b. After receiving an enthusiastic response at the 2002 ces to the first prototype home amplifiers incorporating the now patented tube driver blue technology, butler audio introduced the tube driver blue series of home theater amplifiers. A problem exists in all vacuum tube power amplifiers when the input signal reaches the point where the driver tube attempts to drive the grid of the output tube positive. The bk butler 911 tube driver has been one of those items for me.
Ive just opened mine up and the circuit board quite clearly reads patented. The tube driver is an overdrive with real tube sound. It will draw 4x the power it needs, causing it to overheat and damage the circuit. Jun 23, 2009 id say theyre really solid sounding no pun intended. Both of these are realisations of b k butler s original us patent for a tube driver circuit they are not the final realised circuit that b k butler builds. Vintage 1990s bk butler tube driver works original 910 circuit valve 12ax7 rare. 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.
Guitar pedal x gpx blog 6 of the best butler tube driver. The knobs shown on the photo are not included in the kit. For greater savings check out our used bk butler tube works tube driver effect pedal and get a great deal today. Maybe its a correct schematic for the pedal being analysed here. Bk butler tube driver perf and pcb effects layouts. Unless the driver is carefully designed to clip before this can happen, it will. I know kit rae says its inferior, different circuit, not the real deal etc. It is unkown which circuit was inside the 1980s tube driver, as butler stated shipped david four 911 td circuits in 2005, requested to replace the circuits in his old tube drivers. It is made in the usa has a 14 inch input and output and i believe is has a 12ax7 type tube. 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. Aug, 2012 i also have a realtube bk butler driver here to compare my build to, and it is silent.
Utilization the general configuration of the tube driver is really easy to follow, and it is easy to get a good sound from this. Chandler tube driver rack gearslutz pro audio community. Feb 27, 2018 about the bk butler real tube overdrive guitar pedal. It might not be identical to the tube driver but its in the same sort of area. The pedal has no power switch because butler believes that it is fine to. 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. This was traced from a recent b k butler pedal and has the bias pot modification which. Any input on this amp, called the bk butler, tdb2250 highbred tube amp, i want to use my receiver as a preamp with the bk butler for two channel. This is required for the tube to operate properly, but you still need to provide the rest of the circuit, including some of the other tube pins, with power. The b k butler tube driver has been used by several of rock guitars greats david gilmour and eric johnson to name just two.
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