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  • not a lot in this demo stood out as 'massive yet tight distortion' as called in the vid description. most of the the time the guy kept too much mid in the sound for my taste. i still have only heard one pedal compare to the sheer ammount of gain and tone options as a Zoom Tri Metal. and it isnt this pedal

  • should this be kicked in from the clean channel on the amp?

  • hey, pedal noob here.

    would this pedal work well with a bass guitar? and if it doesn't, are there any alternatives that you could name?

    thanks

  • @theshinywolf I use the russian elctroharmonix big muff for the bass. and that was on the recommendation of a lot of other bassist. it sounds sweet.

  • @theshinywolf

    Definitely a Big Muff (Or Big Muff Pi). They're the standard Distortion pedal for bassists.

  • This pedal has some serious balls

  • English Muff'n is better IMO

  • It was this review that made my mind up to get a Tubeking. To everyone reading this. This pedal sounds great in this review but when you get it in your hands and under your feet, its EVEN BETTER. I am using a Peavey g-ninety guitar into a Fender half stack (head and 4x12 cabinet), Boss compressor, flanger, and eq. MXR micro shorus.

    The Tubeking is basically a high gain tube amp in a pedal, and it sounds great! I have a Fender amp making sounds a Marshall would be proud of.

  • Had this pedal for several months, sounds so good if you learn how to adjust it. Gets some of the best heavier Zep, Bonamassa, and ZZ tones. Roll off guitar volume a little and you can get some great Tea For One changes. I dig it myself, I have a great tube amp but this is also fun on a clean channel. Stop w the EQ flat crap what pedal sounds good like that?? Low 2:00, mid 10:00, treb around 1:00 or to taste, presence up, I do not use the void control. One of the best sounding real tube pedals.

  • @Carvin. Sounds great out of a solid state or tube amp.

    @shanecook9 I use an 80's TS9 in front of it for more punch and sustain

  • Has anyone tried using a boost pedal in front of this. Maybe you could get even more out of It by doing so. I use a volume pedal with it and it cleans up real nice.

  • This pedal sounds awesome. I have can't find the tone I've been looking for and I'm going broke in the process. This will be my last ditch effort.

  • Cool pedal

  • @SiRichardx7 Hey man, my opinion (which isnt much (ive been playing 10 years)) ive always wanted mesa sound without paying that much, so what I did was just got some celestion speakers, and a TUBE pedal, this one tottally did it, this vid dosnt do much justice. Hope that helps.

  • I bought this thing, can you say mesa sound?

  • Better than the knob moving, why is the tube not brightly lit up as it normally is??

  • @CarvinTone will this sound good through a solid state amp?

  • @CarvinTone it is thers just a glare on the glass so you cant see it

  • I was turning it on the board but lately I just let it have it's diamond shape spot, no big deal. It's a unique pedal maybe it should look unique???

  • this is a killer high pedal, it tweaks in about any range of dist, comments about dark are because you do not know of the presence switch??? You can make this as low ended or bright as you like, even scoop. I think it cranks, one of the best sounding and musical high gains I have ever used. Most do not get this is 100v internal circuit which is pretty damn good for a pedal and this price, seriously!!

    The proper supply comes with the pedal 12v 500mA use nothing less.

  • Comment removed

  • @skarbu - You're confusing the voltage of the power supply with the internal voltage of the pedal's circuit . It doesn't quite work that way...

    -PGS

  • Comment removed

  • When I saw it first time, I thought "God, whatta strange thing". Today I'm using it and I think to myself "whatta jerk I was".

  • This pedal is 12v AC, so it's really hard to find a power supply for it. I mean REALLY hard. It took a week of constant searching, but I finally found one. It won't work on any daisy chains or anything like most pedals.

  • @AJ78910 ibanez.com says ac adapter included

  • @rsdave809 Yeah, but I got it used on ebay and they didn't have it.

  • Kind of dull sounding. Maybe good for Danzig or Helmet.

  • Sounds like an Ibanez product, muddy.

  • I have one and I use it through a PA for practice and it works not to bad. I have never done that at a live show. Its always through my amp.

  • anyone who has one of these... have you ever used it as a preamp of sorts to go direct into a sound system?

  • @NHBluesMan ,yes, and it sounds great if you use a free speaker simulator like voxengo

  • I actually get more or less the same tone as the demo out of that pedal . I don't understand why somebody would use thin to describe its radical tone . It really delights me with its really rich bass and tube tone . someone says it's very muddy, come on , just tune the high knob genius. It's gain is more than enough to me , and it looks nice too. all in all , it's really an ass-kicker. And for those 'genius' , save your money and stop trying any pedals untill u learn how to use any of those.

  • do we need to warm up this pedal 1st before use?

  • which one is better...?

    Tube King? Damage Control? or ToneBone Hot British?

  • i love the part when the tube king is on the screen.

  • Had this pedal. Not to impressed, the damage control solid metal killed it. This one doesnt sound to tubey but very tight and compressed to a a normal tube tone. I didnt hear the saturation sorry. The design is completely retarded which is likely the reason its not really sold in heavy volume anymore. it runs a weird voltage that other electronics dont really use and radio shack doesnt even carry it. If you lose the outlet you screwed and Ibanez's customer support is non existant

  • would this work nicely with a mxr fullbore to give that tube effect

  • i had this pedal and it behringer clone "counterpart", just swap the tube on the behringuer and get it biased and it will be the same except with a little less bottom end, but more than enough save your money

  • minds me the way like he "talks"

  • Best distortion pedal of all time!

  • I need a Tube King. Immediately.

  • FYI, some real nit wits reviewing this elsewhere. Using the wrong adaptor starving it for voltage and current, telling everyone to trash the tube and change it. 1st off the EH 12AX7 is not a bad tube, Tung Sol is better quality but changing it is NOT going to alter the voice. If you want to use a lesser gain tube then why not get the OD? This circuit is made to be heavy. Also this is a 12V, 400mA feed do not expect to power it off a brick or the stupid daisy chain nonsense. They provide it.

  • My fav dist pedal! The more I use it and get used to the EQ the more I dig it. A tremendous high gain pedal, high voltage, true by pass, a real winner, for only $150, hard to believe. I've paid a lot more and gotten a lot less. Well made, solid, heavy, true bypass, transformer to step the voltage up to 100v internally! Hooks up fine, turn the box if needed! The EH tube is fine, changing it is not going to get you anything different. I will be getiing the White TK999OD OD asap. New Ibanez fan!

  • I have this pedal and it sounds very good. I use it to play power metal and alternative rock with my Xiphos, but I also tried it to play thrash and I lend it always to the guitarrist of my pop rock band, he has a Les Paul Standard and it kicks asses on solos!

  • I thought it was a stock image, and then at 1:18 there was the finger xD

  • I have the original version of it.

    Since it's an overdrive pedal, it maybe too weak for todays heavy metal distortion but great for hard rock.

    I have had my original tk999 for many years now and still use it.

  • wait how did the void move at 1:18

  • Sounds like the Satchurator to me.

  • why in the world would they make a pedal this awkward to fit on a pedalboard?

  • @peeblesj1131 cause of the tube...

  • @peeblesj1131 because of the tube...

  • @peeblesj1131 just turn it :)

  • @peeblesj1131 Feel free to rotate it 45 degrees...

  • @peeblesj1131 Have a look at how the tube is crammed in that little box diagonally .

  • @peeblesj1131 turn it so it sits parallel to the other pedals like a square, not a rhombus...

  • @peeblesj1131 I have one in my bass pedalboard, I just flipped it sideways, so its actually a square, and it does fine. My settings don't change so as long as I can get a clean stomp on the footswitch, that's all that matters to me. It is an AMAZING pedal....size or shape not withstanding.

  • @peeblesj1131 Well, can't see anything stopping you from turning it 45 degrees before placing it on your board! ;-)

  • @gertoft

    the connections maybe?

  • @peeblesj1131 Just build/make a special place around it that it fits in a pedalboard! :P

  • @peeblesj1131 To make you make room for it. It's THAT important.

  • @peeblesj1131 Its a square pedal, moe. Think about it.

  • @peeblesj1131 turn it 45 degrees to the right. its really that simple

  • @peeblesj1131 I bet it's not as awkward as it seems! turn it 45 degrees and magically it is a square!!

  • I ordered one of these after listening to this and other demos. It don't sound like a pedal :D

  • The void knob turns up on its own at 1:18?

  • @omgScrub spooky shit

  • @omgScrub ...whoa

  • @omgScrub Damn it did O.O

  • @omgScrub I have a tibeking like that and yeah it turns up on its own...it's weird XD

  • @omgScrub O'man you are right I saw that WTF!! 

  • @omgScrub if you notice it actually crossfades into that clip.

  • @omgScrub put it sideways, genius.

  • can someone please tell me why that knob turns up on its own???

  • @benserv it was probably edited....

  • @omgScrub Scary... O.o

  • @omgScrub its a haunted pedal

  • is this a direct record ?

  • How can i learn the song to the very intro of the video i would kill to learn it

  • @Ericclapton325 practice!

  • @Ericclapton325 - i tjink its built around Em pentatonic shape 1 - not too hard

  • @unahaklosp Ok thanks alot man

  • how do you play the riff at 1:29 ?

  • @kickapooman12 Em pentatonic shape 1 - took me 3 seconds to learn

  • @unahaklosp - sorry no - intro Em pent - not 1.29 misread

  • @unahaklosp k thanks

  • Wow, what a creamy sound. Me needs it, precious!

  • @Michael55443 You can get a creamy sound out of almost any guitar switching to the neck pickup, and backing off the tone knob.

  • Dude i love the intro song at the beginning of the video what song is that?

  • @Ericclapton325 lol every time i look at anys vids someone puts this...they all just say its an andys original lol

  • @hackerwacker4 Haha thanks for the help i guess

  • omfg this sounds amazing, im considering getting it, does anybody know if its versatile? because i play heavy metal, rock, blues, all sorts really. please let me know guys :)

  • @sirbumfluf Haven't really played it, but judging from what I heard here, it seems it can nail almost anything so I think you should go for it.

  • @sirbumfluf Perhaps you should check out the HT Dual from Blackstar, its a very versatile two channel pedal preamp that is a little more expensive that the tube king but also employs an electro harmonix 12AX7 tube running at 300volts. You not only get two fooswitchable channels with different gain stages, you can also adapt it s voicing to a more british or american sound. The pedal covers a lot of ground from Vox AC 30 and Fender Bassman over Marshalls up to Mesa Engineering- type sounds.

  • @sirbumfluf I own one and it really does anything from blues to metal. I never switch it off when I play unless I need a clean sound.

  • well its a very good pedal indeed, but i think i still prefer jemini...i have one and i'm very happy with it

  • @ProGuitarShopDemos would this pedal be good for metal sounds or heavy rock sounds??? thanks =)

  • I want this pedal now *_*

  • Hi! Anybody knows how many (mili)Ampers is the adapter power??? Thanks!

  • I run this pedal through my pair of 5150 combos and I play Les Pauls and an ES-339.

    I love with a capital LOVE this pedal. It's got the stock 12AX7 tube in it, any suggestions for swapping out the tube?

    @tomaizinhuh I know that it can do something heavier, I play hardcore punk and it's perfect for that, driven like hell but clear enough to solo. I use a BBE Boosta Grande to give me the little extra for leads but it doesn't color my sound at all. Buy one, you won't sound like everyone else.

  • @seditionchoir thanks a lot, im really considering to buy this pedal

  • @tehwasabiking it's kinda made for solid state amps. makes a solid state sound almost like a tube amp. it's amazing...

  • How versatile is this pedal? I mean can you play from ACDC to guns or to something even heavier with this pedal? Because I am looking for a pedal that is very versatile and have recently been interested in tube pedals.

  • I have this pedal, rolling the tube out with many brand like JJ, Tungsol, Mesa, EH and some another 12ax7. Still to much gain to use, but the sound you get is much better then the stock tube. 12ax7 Tungsol is best for me. And this pedal is good for low down tuning guitar. So i change to 12AU7 Tube for less gain, JJ is the one i like the most, but i only have try 3 12au7. I'll get more tube later to find my sound. Try it out and see which tube sound best for you.

  • @tehwasabiking Likely no. Preamp tubes rarely need changing, its always power amp tubes that get changed. Since this is a preamp I doubt it wears out fast.

    Also they probably dont run the tube as hard as an amp would.

  • I've got a vintage Tube King and it absolutely screams, even with a ten year old tube in there! I'm afraid to hear what it would sound like with new one! Got it at a boutique store but I highly suggest frequenting your local pawn shop. The resale value on the vintage ones isn't that high, so you can usually find them for a reasonable price. Not to mention they school the new ones!

  • Sounds like there was a pillow over the mic the whole time..

  • that tone is great

  • The Candy Man is Back!

  • sounds like MATSOD at 1:32 :3

  • I have one of these...good pedal. Everyone should have one in their rig. It's capable of a fucking myriad of tones, though it's not too great on its own. The low end is a little too flabby for tight metal riffage. But pairing it with a simple overdrive pedal like a Tubescreamer actually helps a lot with this problem, provided the gain isn't too high on either one.

  • This pedal has so much potential. I think it eats others for dinner. Another fantastic distorion is by Blackstar - Dist X I believe. Tight, punchy, clear, and stinkin' heavy.

  • yes thes are great pedal bet for some reason they never put out the sound i want to hear. Its weird my little practice amp has the deepest distortion out of every pedal/amp ive herd on youtube. Oly distortion im happy with is stuff like slipknot/five figer death punch/ craidle of filth/korn "from there first two cds korn self titled and life is peachy" and manson. well im 27 and i guess im stuck in the 90's ill just stick with my metel!

  • ma fav pedal!!! and cheap too

  • good for metal? or as a tube pre-amp?

  • So..could this help me get my Spider III or the TBX150H I would hope to get to give me a..saturated, even..oversaturated tone?

  • This pedal sounds awesome through a solid state but with my tube amp it hisses insanely even with the gate on full, i don't really know why that is. It hisses even with my hands covering the strings, it's strange. Does anyone know why that could be happening? I use it with the drive down on the pedal and the gain on the amp pretty low.

  • @MorbidHumanity666 Too much distortion? What tubes are your amp using?

  • @KissMeImPunk The head has the stock ECC83 pre amp and KT66 power amp tubes. It is a Vintage Modern 2466 100w head. I was thinking it might have something to do with the cabinet that im using right now, its from the Mg 100 stack and it loses a lot of bass and the highs seem really shrill, and it is all high pitched feedback. It could be a combination of the tubes and the Cab, im not sure. I guess i'll have to take it in to have a guitar tech look at it.

  • @MorbidHumanity666 upgrade that cab brotha!

  • @MorbidHumanity666 I'm guessing your gain settings are too high. Is it a hiss or a hum though? It might even be if you're playing with the pedal or amp grounded or not.

  • could this be good for high gain punk and bluesy/rock overdrive?

  • This pedal. . with higher plate voltage to the tube really sounds nice. So many pedals with tubes seem to not take advantage of the tube like this one does.

  • nice

  • do you think this pedal good for a first pedal? i want to buy it with my first guitar

  • Can You guys do a demo of the ibanez tube king overdrive plz

  • that guy has a really hairy arm

  • if you use scooped out sound on it sounds great

  • EHX Metal Muff or this?

  • @DrDeathRNMD98 Both ! lol

  • I bought one for use on a Carvin X100B half stack (all tube). Void didn't work at all. With void off, amp on dirty channel, too much noise, useless. On clean channel, EQ off and other EQ on 5, good sounds with any setting even gain and level maxed out. After a little tweaking on EQs, beautiful for a distortion pedal. If you can get the void to work, I would recommend this pedal. If you have a small solid state amp I think this pedal would render the tube distortion sounds.

  • hey im on a really tight budget right now i have a 30 watt line6 spider3 and i play on a dean flying v with emg 81(bridge) and 85(neck) is there a better amp i could get in the line of a heavy metal tone? like i said im also on a really tight budget

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  • The Void demo is very dramatic. I want to try this pedal for myself.

  • can give the boiling point a run for its money? maybee better with a real tube inside.

  • How did you get that clean tone at the beginning?

  • @brianwurst1234 I use the tube king into a traynor ysr 2 ss. It has two chanals so I run a boss me50 into the other chanal and blend the two sound together. It gives me the best of both worlds. The tube king gives me a nice tube sound that still has a little grit behind it and when mixed with the me50 it is amazing the nice distortion I get. The tube king make everything sound warm. It is like running two amp in one. Can't aford a tube amp so this is the nexts best thing.

  • I use it in metal band. If your looking for a nice warm tube sound becuse you don't have a tube amp this is the way to go. It's the best tube pedal that I have use for metal.

  • @shanecook9 hey dude im in a metal punk band and i use a ts-7 what do you use. im not crazy about the modern distortion type sounds.

  • is this good for metal?

  • Yes this will work on the other pedals

  • Question... If this is placed after a series of other distortion/overdrive units, and the noise gate is on, will it reduce noise created by the other pedals or only the noise from this pedal?

  • I use it on a solid state traynor ysr 2 and it makes it sound like a tube. You can roll back on the volum and it cleans up nice. It has a nice warm sound.

  • hmm, will this sound good on a solid state?

  • i would like to hear this pedal with a fender strat.. i love this pedal already

  • This sounds like it could nail the early crispy brownsound

  • wow he has gorilla arms lol

  • what is the name of this song playing a the first 6 seconds??

  • @memnan I was wondering the same thing cause it is BADD! (in a good way)

  • Tone wise compared to a Boss Metal Zone? I would think the 12ax7 woud give it more natural sounding distortion. I like the Metal Zone, but it has that digital edge to it. Its great for shred.. but attempting to roll off the volume on the guitar and the sound goes ickkkk...Im really like this pedal..

  • This isn't a Distortion Pedal, it's Tube Overdrive (like a Tube Screamer)

  • @thedeem0N WRONG! it's a distortion pedal, but it can achieve that light breakup overdrive sound-the balls on this thing are A LOT bigger than the tube screamer-but tube screamer does match very well with this too.

  • @brbbns1 what mystifies me about the Tube King is the 12AX7 that's on display in the top corner of the pedal w/ a little window, like Ibanez is saying "Look - Proof - It Lights up & Everything!!"

  • @thedeem0N no, it is distortion

  • can you get decent metal tones out of this, im not talking about "ac/dc" kind of metal, more along the lines of more harore bands like As i lay dying, august burns red, pantera, etc

  • @lilcheap2 dude-it depends on your amp-my mace has a ss pre amp, but 6 power tubes-and it owns that tone. I tried it thru my peavey bandit and it was still good-not as good, but good none the less. now I tried it on a practice amp and it was still good but worse. I might be one of the fiew who landed it perfect with my set up. IDK?

  • @brbbns1 ha, thanks man, thats what fi figured. there are wayyyyyy too many variables for tone lol

  • I thought the first 36 seconds of this clip the distortion sounds very linear and boring. Descent note seperation but that's all the good things I have for the first 2 minutes of distortion. At 2:24 it starts to get deeper and a lot better.

  • do you think this would do well with a Fender Blues Reissue? (40w)

  • I have this pedal, it's superb, so diverse!

  • продам сию педаль в брянске) пишите в личку

  • no, i wouldn't combine any of these pedals with a jcm 900. i tried a big muff with my jcm and it does'nt make it .

  • @TheSonicmule I use a JCM900 as well, and do a lot of Rammstein style stuff. I find the Digitech Grunge into the clean channel gets a very similar sound. However, i like the sound of a BBE Boosta Grande maxed into the front end of the dist channel about 10x better. you should try it :P

  • i have a mt 2 and it works great with my jc 120

  • es mentira el metal zone es una porqueria solo satura mejor busca un overdive

  • yeah man, overdrive rules !

  • I wonder how this pedal would sound through a roland jc-120

  • how much does this cost?

  • i've found it at 153 USD on ebay :P

  • whats better this tube king or a blackstar dist ?

  • @w1ll1a9m It depends what sound you like and what sound your looking for. Tone is subjective.

  • i have this pedal..by far the best sounding dist. ive played..10 times thicker than the rest.funny nobody even knows about it..