Never say never! (pedal content)

[gasman]

Okay, here is my story and I'm sticking to it...

I had no intentions of buying anything for a while (can't afford to). The other day, however, my little boy wanted his guitar to sound different and was getting upset. I explained to him that what he needed was some distortion to make his guitar sound the way he wanted to. He knows I have a distortion pedal (my inexpensive Danelectro), so he asked to use it. I set it up for him and he liked it, so I told him he could have it. He was very happy with it, but since it requires a second cable to hook it up to his guitar and amp, everytime he wanted to use it, he had to ask me for my only extra cable to hook it up. I decided I needed more cables, so I started looking at Craigslist to see if I could find anything local (our nearest music store is now about 40 miles away). I found an old ad advertising cables and pedals. I called the number in the ad and the poster told me what he had, so I went to check out his items yesterday (almost another 40 miles in the opposite direction, but a very scenic trip!). Anyway, in addition to two guitar cables, I came home with these and a patch cable:



I got everything for a very reasonable price, otherwise, I would not have bought the pedals. They are older, U.S.A.-made pedals: built like tanks! I immediately fell in love with the RAT! From my web research, I understand it is a RAT 2 model that first came out in 1987. The other one is a Tube Works 910 Tube Driver (with a real tube in it)! The Tube Driver I think needs a new tube in it, because the distortion is terrible and doesn't change much, no matter how you set it. Anyway, for the price, I couldn't go wrong: I got a pedal I LOVE, and one with a lot of potential (from what I have read), after a tube change! ;D

[lesblues]

I knew it was only a matter of time.

I think you scored there Gman. You may or may not thank your son later, depending on how badly you become addicted to pedal mania.

[gasman]

I think I scored too, Les! From what I have read, these pedals are now considered 'vintage'. I love all the sounds I can get out of the RAT. I read a post in another forum where the RAT could be considered an overdrive, distortion, and fuzz pedal, all in one! I know I can find a tube for the Tube Driver (the one in there now gives me a very muddy and inconsistent distortion). Once I find one, I am going to try replacing it myself. Keep your fingers crossed!

[469roadking]

OK, I'm gettin all misty here. I love to see a good man find his way. ;D ;D ;D
I"m a fan of the RAT but a huge fan of the Tube Driver. It should take a 12ax7 tube to get it up and running but she's a monster when she goes. When it sound organic and harmonic you know it's pudding.
Good job G-man.

[gasman]

Thanks RK! Just to update you on the Tube Driver: A couple of hours ago, I opened it up and found that the tube wasn't completely seated in the socket, so I pushed it in, closed it up, and connected it up to my Fender Champ 600. I've been messing around with it ever since with my Tele-style guitar. It sounds better now than it did that evening that I brought it home. I'm still going to buy new tubes for it, but for now, it does sound better. I don't know how long it had been since it was last used regularly, but maybe the tube needed to warm up sufficiently (?) This might sound like a silly question to you, but is the Tube Driver classified as a distortion pedal or an overdrive pedal.* It seems that it is pure distortion to me.

*EDIT - Duh! Just baste me with 'stupid sauce' and put me on the grill! - It says 'overdrive' right on the pedal!
(but it still gives me too much distortion IMO)

[lessonsthatrock]

Super cool. And for a 40 mile drive you have to get your moneys worth out of the trip! That's insane. I'm so glad I have a Guitar Center (bleh), Sam Ash and Morey's Music all within about 4 miles of my place.

[gasman]

Sept 20, 2010 17:06:58 GMT -5 lessonsthatrock said:

Super cool. And for a 40 mile drive you have to get your moneys worth out of the trip! That's insane. I'm so glad I have a Guitar Center (bleh), Sam Ash and Morey's Music all within about 4 miles of my place.

Thanks! You're lucky to have music stores near! There was a tiny 'mom & pop' music store about eight miles from my house, but it closed down earlier this summer.

[colchar]

Nice score!

Out of curiosity, which Danelectro did you have and what did you think of it?

[gasman]

Thanks Colchar! The Danelectro is a FAB distortion pedal. It did surprisingly well in front of my Fender Champ 600 tube amp! For being an inexpensive pedal, it sounds pretty good. Have you decided what pedals to buy? If you don't mind used, you should check Craigslist or Ebay for the older RAT pedals like the one I just got. Man, those sound great!

[gasman]

UPDATE ON THE TUBE DRIVER: I was able to get two 12AU7 tubes from a great member in another forum. I replaced the 12AX7A that was in my Tube Driver with one of the 12AU7 tubes. It was somewhat of an improvement, but I still wasn't totally satisfied. I used it for a while and then decide to try the other tube I was sent...and BINGO! The second tube did the job! I had read that different tubes made all the difference in these pedals, and it's true!

I'm now very happy with the Tube Driver, but I do have one question: My guitar's G string seems to be more sensitive to the gain produced by this pedal than any of the other strings. I don't think it has to do with my guitar, because I first started using the Tube Driver with my Tele-style guitar, and now I have changed to my Strat copy. The G string acts the same way on both guitars. I think that I read somewhere that the G string on a guitar tends to be the most sensative of any of the strings. Does anybody here have any insight on this? Can it be remedied? Anyway, even with this little oddity, I can tweak the controls to make it less of an issue, so overall, I'm a happy camper!

[469roadking]

I'll bet those 12UT7's tamed that fiery OD down to a nice purr. I'd love to hear it. Except then I'd probably want one......