Tubulator settings?

[RW James]

I have a Bad Monkey - and I have picked up a lot of tips from you guys on how to set it up for a good sound.

I couldn't resist adding the Tubulator to my arsenal for $10. I've played with it - and I can get some good sounds out of it - but nothing on par with the Bad Monkey - or at least different enough to make me want to use it instead of the Bad Monkey.

So... any Tubulator users out there - what settings do you like? I'm willing to try just about anything.

Or is it something that is best in combination with another effect?

Any suggestions?

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Tubulator settings?

I run mine at a volume slightly above line level. Tone at roughly 3 o'clock. Gain all the way up. Run that through a cranked amp and you've got some heavenly tone right thar. Nice gain boost.

 

[LesStrat]

Re: Tubulator settings?

What about running it WITH the Bad Monkey?

 

[nebucanazza]

Re: Tubulator settings?

@RW..In what regard do you find the Bad Monkey superior(besides construction)?I had put in a thread for a BM vs Tubulator comparison, and the opinion was biased favourably towards the Tubulator for its sound.

 

[RW James]

Re: Tubulator settings?

@RW..In what regard do you find the Bad Monkey superior(besides construction)?I had put in a thread for a BM vs Tubulator comparison, and the opinion was biased favourably towards the Tubulator for its sound.

That's a fair question... I guess it's that I can just about set the Bad Monkey to any setting and it still sounds good - whereas the Tubulator has some positions that sound hollow and/or tinny. Where I have the Bad Monkey right know, I'm getting some nice distinct highs along with some meaty lows (does that make sense). So far with the Tubulator it seems I can only focus on a specific frequency range.

But of course, that is the reason for this post - I want to be able to use the Tubulator to its full potential. (I'm sure I had similar problems when I first bought the Bad Monkey)

 

[Omni9X]

Re: Tubulator settings?

How about putting it behind your bad monkey at a boosted level to tighten up your lead tone and giving you a boost?

Use it to give your tone a bit more focus and volume for leads.

 

[bungalowbill]

Re: Tubulator settings?

How about putting it behind your bad monkey at a boosted level to tighten up your lead tone and giving you a boost?

Use it to give your tone a bit more focus and volume for leads.

I have both the Tubulator and the Bad Monkey, here is my take....

The Tubulator is a good pushed boost pedal with a midrange spike...good for pushing crunchy tones into saturation. The down side is the unit isn't roadworthy at all.......plastic.

The Bad Monkey has a lot more tones in it, more meat and more bottom if needed....it will work as a clean boost or an OD. It is built sturdy and I don't worry about giving it a stomp.

Stacking the pedals are OK....the two together aren't really impressive.

They both have their place and your results may vary.

 

[nebucanazza]

Re: Tubulator settings?

I debated a lot on which to buy and when its price fell to $10 AND it was getting a lot of love all around , I couldnt justify not pulling the trigger.Yet to get it, lets see how it turns out.
I guess the seperate bass control on the BM does add a powerful tone-shaping tool.

 

[bungalowbill]

Re: Tubulator settings?

I debated a lot on which to buy and when its price fell to $10 AND it was getting a lot of love all around , I couldnt justify not pulling the trigger.Yet to get it, lets see how it turns out.
I guess the seperate bass control on the BM does add a powerful tone-shaping tool.

The bass control is worth the extra $15.00...that being said, the Tubulator is a great pedal for the money.

 

[nebucanazza]

Re: Tubulator settings?

I am hoping that it will sound good with my Silver Dragon and push it for a good lead sound.

BTW, I got the Tubulator for $10, so thats $30 saved

 

[RW James]

Re: Tubulator settings?

I run mine at a volume slightly above line level. Tone at roughly 3 o'clock. Gain all the way up. Run that through a cranked amp and you've got some heavenly tone right thar. Nice gain boost.

Okay, I just got a chance to try this setting and love it. Thanks, this will work for me... or at least give me a good starting point. But for now, this is it!

 

[RW James]

Re: Tubulator settings?

I got a chance to play a little bit more with this pedal today - tried different amp and guitar combinations.

The one thing I noticed - again comparing it to the Bad Monkey - is that the Tubulator produces a lot of noise/hiss with the distortion up (the BM is fairly quiet).

So I tried a radical approach... I left the tone at 3 o'clock, then moved the distortion all the way off and set the volume a little above line level - essentially turning it into a boost pedal.

That actually worls pretty well (very little hiss) and it sounds good with the Bad Monkey.

Just another approach.

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Tubulator settings?

Glad things are working out for you with the Tubulator. I haven't noticed the hiss, but I expect more noise out of something that I'm running balls out anyway. I don't know how tubey the BM sounds, so I'm gonna have to check one out and see if it is as cool as you folks say it is. I do know that the tubulator really does sound warm and tubey when compared to most pedals out there. I think it smokes the tubescreamer IMHO. Maybe the Bad Monkey smokes all the above. Will have to investigate for myself now...

 

[nebucanazza]

Re: Tubulator settings?

I just got mine and tried it out briefly.I left the tone at 3:00.With the dist knob set to 0, it is a good clean boost.With the dist at 10:00-12:00 it provides a smooth mid-focussed tone.After 2:00, it starts to get gritty, and with dist maxed out,the single notes get a bit hairy.I did not get any noise/hiss from the pedal at any setting.The bypass tone also seemed fairly intact i.e. without any noticeable tone sucking.

Next, I'm planning to try it as a lead boost for my Silver Dragon.This pedal has a TS vibe, and totally different from the Dragon's aggressive distortion/fuzz.My friend has a TS808 reissue,so an interesting shootout is on the cards:6:

 

[RW James]

Re: Tubulator settings?

...I haven't noticed the hiss, but I expect more noise out of something that I'm running balls out anyway. ...

...I did not get any noise/hiss from the pedal at any setting.The bypass tone also seemed fairly intact i.e. without any noticeable tone sucking...

Interesting... I wonder why I'm getting hiss? I guess it could be interacting with the other pedals in some strange way... or maybe my amp, but I tried it with two different amps with the same results.

The hiss isn't REAL bad - it's just that in my gigging environment (my church) the sound tech gets really upset about any extra noise.

I will agree that the bypass sounds really clean which pleasantly surprised me.

But again, I am using this on the same board with a Bad Monkey, so I really wanted something that was functionally different. Using the Tubulator as a treble boost seems to be just the thing.

I had practice last night and used it very effectively. I played it straight in one song and with the distortion all the way down, it provided just a touch of tube gain. Then in another song I was playing through the Bad Monkey, and kicked in the Tubulator for a lead, it gave it a nice boost.

I think I've got a good combination here.

 

[nebucanazza]

Re: Tubulator settings?

It is kind of expected that the Tubulator wont to be different enough from a BM/TS9.But as you are doing, these kinda pedals can always be used as lead boosts if not standalone.

I didnt find it so good for basic chord work,I guess that is just the way any TS type pedal sounds, or maybe I didnt tweak enough.

 

[nebucanazza]

Re: Tubulator settings?

I was mistaken before.It has a decent amount of hiss with everything maxed out , but if the knobs are kept below 3:00, then its manageable.I have only tried it in the house, so the amp was set at low volume, hence couldnt make out the hiss yesterday ..ahh well.

BTW, this baby has gone upto $30 at MF:saeek:..no more a bargain.