ToneDepot "The Button" tube overdrive

[WarMan]

Is out for delivery on the FedEx truck. This one is supposed to work well with bass as well as guitar. I have searched a lot for a tube pedal that runs at full voltage. This is the only new one that I could find that is USA made. ALl of the other ones I could find run in a starved tube mode. It looks well made in the picture. I hope it sounds as good as it looks. Nothing sounds quite like real tubes. I'm hoping it gives me that little extra I can't find in my Fulltone Bass-Drive. Between it my Bass-Drive and my TurboRAT I will be set.

I had an EH Bass Big Muff but I wasn't that impressed with it. It was okay, but it didn't seem to offer anything I couldn't get using my existing Bass-Drive / TurboRAT. I sold it on eBay.

Anyone have experience with it?

 

[bongomania]

FWIW the EHX English Muff'n runs at high voltage, and IIRC so does the EBS ValveDrive, both in current production.

Also I'm curious what sort of tube sound you're after. "Real" tubes sound a lot of different ways, so whether the "real" tube in the ToneDepot gets you the sound you want may actually be a crapshoot.

I was a promoter of the "high voltage vs. starved plate" position as well, until (a) I figured out that one or two preamp tubes were not the same as an all-tube amp, and (b) I got a DHA pedal which is starved-plate, but which actually has more of the tone I was looking for than the high-voltage ones did.

Anyway though, I don't mean to put down the ToneDepot pedal at all, I've never used it, so maybe it's awesome! Be sure to give us a review once you've had time to work with it.

 

[WarMan]

I completely forgot about EH's line of tube pedals. I tried the English Muffin over a year ago. It had too much noise for my liking. I'm also not a huge fan of EH products. It's hard to top products like the Fulltone Bass-Drive and TurboRAT. FYI, I can get a really great sound running the TurboRAT into the Bass-Drive.

I'm not sure, but isn't the EBS ValveDrive now made in China? I read a review somewhere that it said "Designed in Sweden/Crafted in China." The owner was disappointed about that. I had an EBS compressor that was made in Sweden. No one around here stocks new EBS products so I can't verify where they are now made.

I ordered "The Button" without having a lot of information. I only found one review which was positive. The other "review" was written by TubeDepot so I took it the same way as their web site. It looks like a quality unit. I just hope it sounds good and doesn't have a lot of hiss.

I don't know how to describe the type of tube sound I'm seeking. I haven't yet been able to create it on a bass. I guess that I'll know it if and when I hear it.

I will post feedback on it.