I found an old 3 knob version in japan for cheap so i bought it and emailed bk about its history. Upc 707470791581 buy td911bi tube driver original by bk butler with bias control 707470791581 learn about upc lookup, find upc. Never tried an original bk butler tube driver but always wanted to give one a go. The pcb is pretty accurate to the original, with a few small improvements. I believe the ones bk is making now have a yugoslavian tube in them also alot of guys actually will put a 12au7 in, which is lower output and yields a smoother, fatter tone i used to have one in my 3 knob td, and it did make a. Beware of inferior clones and used worn out pedals. Pedals with separate ac power supplies or wall warts are not original and do not sound the same. In the professional tube audio arena for more than 25 years, bk counts among his clients players and groups like eric clapton, zztops billy gibbons, pink floyd, elton john, paul mccartney and 100s of others. This is a favourite of eric johnson, david gilmour, joe. Just let me know if you want to upgrade when you order. 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. Ive always been curious about these pedals, whos got one ive always kinda wanted one but theyve always seemed to be really expensive they sound good on the demos on youtube my understanding is that there are 3 versions in the pedal form 1st has 2 prong power plug 2nd has the power cord with.
A pair of adjustable bias mosfet gain stages take the place of the 12ax7 vacuum tube, otherwise the. I am on again off again with my bk butler tube driver w bias mod. Bk butler tube driver with bias control san jose west. What do you guys know about the bk butler real tube driver. Butler tube driver kit rae original tube driver designers general warning. 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. The core of the pedal is a handselected 12ax7 tube which gives. Tube driver with bias control original design by bk butler. Is the 10k trimpot for tube bias and if so could you use a 10k pot so it can be adjusted without opening up the pedal for adjustment if so what lugs go where. Some used 4knob tube drivers marked chandler are not the original design by bk butler. Well i got my bk butler tube driver w bias mod today and ive fiddled with it for a few hours and im still well in first impression territory but i have all too much to say about this pedal, so sorry for the short storybook im about to write. My solution was to install a 5th control that controls the tube cathode current and enables him to dial in the. It no longer functions correctly to change the gain. The tube driver is a holy grail type pedal, but many people, especially younger players, have never heard of it.
Heres your chance to own this legendary holy grail of overdrive pedals. You can hear smooth singing sustain prs santana md,mercury magnetics,tran and choke mod, trex delay into a fender vibro. Each one is hand made and checked out carefully by bk himself. So, i started hunting for some videos or any info on bias knob. The first was the four knob version by bk himself off ebay and then i bought a 5 knob version with bias tube also direct from bk. I will say the box didnt make me able to play like eric johnson but i finally got that violin tone ive been.
Make offer bk butler tube driver 5 knob bias version. His tube driver blue has also found its way into upscale car audio. 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. This is the big daddy of tube overdrive pedals the classic tube driver from b. Bk butler tube driver 910 schematicpot value telecaster. This is the ultimate bias model inspired by requests from eric johnson in 1985. Bk butler tube driver 5knob demo original bias mod vs diy bias. There were several different versions of the circuit. Its like changing the types of tubes anywhere from a weak 12au7 to a blistering. The mosfet driver is based on the legendary bk butler tube driver.
Order here and get a real bk butler handmade tube driver. I have an old 3 knob tube driver by bk butler tube works which has a broken potentiometer in the tube gain position. Hey sho, ive owned several tube drivers over the past 12 years. The tube driver houses a preamp tube and it generates distortion by overdriving the tube rather than conventional pedal methods.
Imo, as a pedal in front of a clean channel it sounds notsospecial. Ive just opened mine up and the circuit board quite clearly reads patented. Controller gain, kc the ponly controller has the advantage of having only one adjustable or tuning parameter, kc, that defines how active or aggressive the co will move in. Not all amps are created equal to handle this, nor are the bk butlers. Some of these early tube drivers were offered with a mid range knob or tube bias knob as a custom option. Tube driver real tube overdrive bk butler chandler the original, classic 4 knob tube driver, made from 1985 to 1987, with the iconic case color and graphics. Hi bk, i got the tube driver with bias last week and was too busy to test it out. It can be a little harsh and raspy and i assume that is. Not sure why it does not say 12ax7 instead of 12at7 on the website for bias turned all the way up. Bk butler tube driver overdrive guitar effect pedal. I found this one at guitar resurrection in austin texas. Buy tube driver original by bk butler with bias control. And the newly updated tube driver itself with the bias mod. After doing some research, i decided to order the parts for two builds.
Find great deals on ebay for bk butler tube driver and bk butler tube driver bias. All listings current page auction buy it now classified ads. According to mr butlers website, the bias knob is supposed to change the potential on the tube and can make it sound like a range of gain options between 12au7 very low gain to 12at7 high gain. Bk butler tube driver guitar pedal overdrive used by dave gilmour, eric. I wrote to butler s company and a technician there verified it as a genuine butler pedal. New listing bk butler tube driver 5 knob bias version. 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. Its strong point is to add a bit of oomph to an overdrive channel. I definitely need to try a 12at7 or a 12au7 in mine. Bk butler tube driver with bias knob the gear page. We do not control the international documents for ebays global shipping. Hi andrea, i have the bk butler tube driver with bias mod as well, i use a nos yugo real tube tho 12ax7.
Heart of the tube driver is a real handselected 12ax7 tube by bk butler himself controls. His classic tones did not utilize a bias knob model. Tube driver original by bk butler with bias control. A ponly controller bias sometimes called null value is assigned a value as part of the controller design and remains fixed once the controller is put in automatic. Heres the tube driver made famous by david gilmour. This item tube driver original by bk butler with bias control. This pedal is legendary, used by eric johnson, kenny wayne. Bk butler tube driver works classic overdrive 911 rare 12ax7 guitar effect pedal. Bk butler s original hand made tube driver guitar pedal used by eric johnson, david gilmour, billy.
Eric johnson and david gilmore couldnt get their sound without it. The real deal tube driver from the original designer. Tube driver new direct from bk butler with bias covid. After that, i just roll down the bias on the tube driver til i find the right blend of creamy overdrive and borderline fuzz tones. The bk butler 911 tube driver has been one of those items for me. Bk butler tube driver page 1 joes guitars, amps and. There are videos but nothing that shows you or elaborates the sound difference with bias turned up or down or in mid.
You could build that one if you fancy, however, bajaman took apart a reissue b k butler tube driver and posted up his own project which is verified and working, and sounds great to boot it also includes an interesting bias mod which allows you alter the voltages seen on the tube s grid which will alter the character of the clipping. Bk butler tube driver vs ibanez ts808 tube screamer duration. Its like changing the types of tubes anywhere from a weak 12au7 to a blistering 12at7. It spins all the way around and pulls out some too. My solution was to install a 5th control that controls the tube cathode current and. Bk butler tube driver new model with bias knob jam pedals delay llama. Tis is the only handmade and authentic tube driver which i personally designed in 1983. Butler used an op amp stage to create the overdrivedistortion, which was followed by a 12ax7 pre amp tube stage to filter the sound.
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. Compatible with all electric guitars and amplifiers. It might not be identical to the tube driver but its in the same sort of area. This is the only handmade and authentic tube driver. Bk butler tube driver page 1 joes guitars, amps and gear joe bonamassa forum the official forum for all things joe bonamassa, guitars and blues music. Ive got an 80s bk butler blue tube rack unit and the last time i pulled it out of my rack, i tried swapping about 4 or 5 tubes to see which sounded best. The bk butler tube driver is the quintessential overdrivebooster pedal. I got an upgrade offer by mr butler to add a bias knob on it. My marshall jubilee doesnt like the tube driver, but the clean channel on my orange or100 does. The bias control allows you to adjust the tube characteristics over a wide range. Its kind of like having a section of your amp right in a pedal.