Sweet mother mary... EBS Valvedrive is phenomenal!!!

[lousybassist]

does EBS make an amp with a tube pre?

Yes. Both the TD 650 and the Fafner have valve preamps. And there's an all valve head on its way too.

 

[stflbn]

Nice clips Sftlbn, i like how you're using the Lakland 'Fingerfunk' groove, haha.

I figured it would be familiar and people would be able to relate the tones. I've always intended to learn that lick, but just never had... not perfect by a long when recorded, but 'good enough'.

 

[A.CLAYTON]

Well, I definitely wouldn't recommend it to someone looking to play punk or slap style as I don't feel it excels at crispness or sharp cutting tones without rolling completely off the bass knob on the pedal, but that's not really what the Valvedrive is advertised as.

I prefer LowMid punchy bass sounds with nice clarity and crispness to them. I have broken in Sunbeams on my two current basses (Schecter Studio5 with dual Humbucker custom Kent Armstrong pickups and Aggy OBP-3 preamp, and heavily modded SX P/J bass with Sadowsky nickle strings, Nordstrand NP4/NJ4SE pickups & hipshot vintage bent bridge) Either of these basses are far from muddy or lifeless through the valvedrive.

The OBP-3 bass is used with the EQ flat most times. The P-bass has the tone knob almost wide open. The Valvedrive was set with Treble on about 2-3:00, Mid flat, Bass Flat. Gain at about 10:00, or Noon.

Sorry for your dislike, but it's definitely floating my boat for a meaty, punchy yet clear fingerstyle tone.


.

When you say flat do you mean 12 oclock?Cause a flat responce with this pedal is Bass min,Teble min,Mid full.Can't wait to have a listen to your clips,unfortunately work doesn't allow us to download.

 

[RFord04]

Glad you're enjoying this pedal as much as I did, definitely a completely different beast from the VT Bass. Not better at all things, but much better at the thing it does best.

 

[stflbn]

When you say flat do you mean 12 oclock?Cause a flat responce with this pedal is Bass min,Teble min,Mid full.Can't wait to have a listen to your clips,unfortunately work doesn't allow us to download.

Ah... this uses a Fender type tone stack. I hadn't looked into it far enough yet to run into that. It did seem a bit 'fat' with everything at noon.

And yes, in those clips I was considering Flat to be noon.

I had a BBE Bmax-T in a rack rig for a while and loved it dearly, so I'm familiar with dealing with that style of eq setup.

Thanks for the heads up on it. I'll edit my description above

 

[A.CLAYTON]

It took me a while to work the controls out.It's an awesome pedal though.Nice tones in the recordings,i prefer a bit less treble but i loved the fat sound you got with it.

 

[stflbn]

hey, it's your choice. if you want a light head and a huge pedal pre, go for it.

And just for future reference...

Valvedrive Dimensions: 6.5" x 5.3" x 3.0" and weighs 2.2lbs
A VT-bass is 3.625" x 4.625" and weighs only 0.4 lbs.

A couple inches difference and almost 2lbs difference. It does fit on a Pedaltrain mini, but it hangs over a bit in front... the mini's bag still easily closes, and in my opinion it's a hell of lot easier to lug around than a large tube amp. My PedalTrain weighs almost as much as my NeoPak now, but together they're still much less than larger amp heads. And quite a few guys here cannot say their pedal boards do not weigh more than their micro amp heads.

 

[seacouch]

And just for future reference...

The Valvedrive is 3"w x 6.5" and weighs 2.2lbs
A VT-bass is 3.625" x 4.625" and weighs only 0.4 lbs.

A couple inches difference and almost 2lbs difference. It still fits well on a Pedaltrain mini, and in my opinion it's a hell of lot easier to lug around than a large tube amp. My PedalTrain weighs almost as much as my NeoPak now, but together they're still much less than larger amp heads. And quite a few guys here cannot say their pedal boards do not weigh more than their micro amp heads.

The dimensions I've seen published are:

Dimensions: 6.5" x 5.3" x 3.0"
Weight: 2.2 lbs.
Power Requirements: 12 V AC, 500 mA

I read that to mean 6.5" deep, 5.3" wide, and 3" tall. I know you've said it fits well onto the PT Mini, but does it fit into the PT Mini padded bag? Seems a little tall.

I'm intriqued though - definitely want to try this pedal.

 

[stflbn]

It's on my mini right now and the bag closes just fine.

 

[bongomania]

I read that to mean 6.5" deep, 5.3" wide, and 3" tall.

I think the deep and wide are reversed there, but it's def. 3" tall not 3" wide.

 

[seacouch]

It's on my mini right now and the bag closes just fine.

Awesome. More intrigued now.

 

[A.CLAYTON]

I replaced the original tube with a Tung Sol,made a good sounding pedal sound great.Adds a touch more around the 100-150 hz but also makes it a little grittier also.It feels like it's been free'd up a little now.

 

[scotch]

I replaced the original tube with a Tung Sol,made a good sounding pedal sound great.Adds a touch more around the 100-150 hz but also makes it a little grittier also.It feels like it's been free'd up a little now.

Great choice! That's the tube I ended up going with as well. It really "opened up" the high end & had exactly the type of 'grit' I was looking for.

 

[A.CLAYTON]

Great choice! That's the tube I ended up going with as well. It really "opened up" the high end & had exactly the type of 'grit' I was looking for.

It was actually your post that put me onto it.Thanks man.

 

[noiseboy79]

Hi A.CLAYTON and scotch, I'd love if you could elaborate a bit on the difference the Tung Sol makes. I have a valve drive myself, which I literally use as a drive pedal rather than a pre-amp (have the Tone Hammer for that). I love the pedal, it's a beast, but as you know the eq is a bit limited. I tend to find myself maxing the treble to get the bite I want (I play fingerstyle, by the way). Would the Tung Sol offer extended highs? By the same token, one of the really cool things about the Valve Drive is that it has a ton of low end, but I'd be a bit concerned that if the Tung Sol adds more around 100-120 Hz, it'd be a more girth-y sound than I really want. I'd really appreciate any guidance you could give me!

 

[stflbn]

I think the deep and wide are reversed there, but it's def. 3" tall not 3" wide.

Heh... ya... revised my dimensions.

Actually, right now all I have on my mini is the Valvedrive, VT-bass and a tuner. The VT-bass is ok with my active basses, but it absolutely kills with my passive P-bass. Especially combined with the Valvedrive.

 

[Rickett Customs]

In the clip, the setting that's right around the middle..... Sounds a bit "farty". The other parts give a fairy good example of it though.

 

[seacouch]

Actually, right now all I have on my mini is the Valvedrive, VT-bass and a tuner. The VT-bass is ok with my active basses, but it absolutely kills with my passive P-bass. Especially combined with the Valvedrive.

Do you run VT -> Valvedrive?

 

[A.CLAYTON]

Hi A.CLAYTON and scotch, I'd love if you could elaborate a bit on the difference the Tung Sol makes. I have a valve drive myself, which I literally use as a drive pedal rather than a pre-amp (have the Tone Hammer for that). I love the pedal, it's a beast, but as you know the eq is a bit limited. I tend to find myself maxing the treble to get the bite I want (I play fingerstyle, by the way). Would the Tung Sol offer extended highs? By the same token, one of the really cool things about the Valve Drive is that it has a ton of low end, but I'd be a bit concerned that if the Tung Sol adds more around 100-120 Hz, it'd be a more girth-y sound than I really want. I'd really appreciate any guidance you could give me!

I use mine as a pre amp for warmth and to add some bottom end to my LMII and matching 4x10. I can't really help with the extended highs as i roll off any highs over 5k with the VLE on my LMII and i don't dial in any highs on the VD either.It's almost like the pedal breathes better with it too.The differences are very subtle though.Best to try one out for yourself.The Tung Sol just really suits the sound i was after.

 

[scotch]

Hi A.CLAYTON and scotch, I'd love if you could elaborate a bit on the difference the Tung Sol makes. I have a valve drive myself, which I literally use as a drive pedal rather than a pre-amp (have the Tone Hammer for that). I love the pedal, it's a beast, but as you know the eq is a bit limited. I tend to find myself maxing the treble to get the bite I want (I play fingerstyle, by the way). Would the Tung Sol offer extended highs? By the same token, one of the really cool things about the Valve Drive is that it has a ton of low end, but I'd be a bit concerned that if the Tung Sol adds more around 100-120 Hz, it'd be a more girth-y sound than I really want. I'd really appreciate any guidance you could give me!

First off, are you familiar with how the Valve Drive's eq stack works? It sounds like you might be boosting low-end without realizing it.

If that's not the case, a tube swap could give you more "present" top end. However, if you need to max the treble control to get enough treble- I wonder if something else is affecting your signal chain...