Brett Blackmore

Hi,

I cannot turn up my Plexi 1987 50w at home. I have looked at some 'Power soaks' on eBay but they are expensive and there is also the problem that I will probably still need an od or dist pedal when I play in the rehearsal room or live. I borrowed a Hughes&Kettner Tubeman pedal which is very responsive and gives me a very good and smooth overdriven sound - sadly it is faulty so I cannot keep it. So I decided to buy some cheap pedals to try to reach the same sort of sound. None of them were as good as the H&K Tubeman. I guess tubes are better...

So, finally getting to the p. The H&K Tubeman comes fairly close to what I want but maybe there is something else which is even better. Which tube pre-amps would you recommend?

Cheers Brett

Jodyzuza

Hey, check out my post about the ibanez ts7 - cheap, and sounds great! It has a hot switch which will give you more gain at bedroom levels

Joe

heres what i'm talking about:

Buy Ibanez TS7 Tubescreamer Pedal and other Guitar Effects online at Musician's Friend

Brett Blackmore

Hi Joe,

i have also tried an Ibenez Tubescreamer but it did not give me enough bedroom distortion. I am sure it would be fine once the amp is louder. I admit I have not got the extra boost switch, but the sound I am looking for is more like a saturated tube preamp.

Thanks anyway.

Cheers Brett

PaoloJM

Tung Sol 12AX7 for V1 is great for a bit more gain and keeping the bright charactor of the amp. JJ's are also good for gain but I found them a little dark in my 1987. These will only make a moderate/low difference though.
Has your amp got a MV? If it's a re-issue it might be worth considering a PPMV if it's pre amp distorition you're after, it would be sacraligous on an original though, obviously.

Brett Blackmore

Hi Paolo,

mine is without a MV so I think need something more than just an o/d pedal. I hve not tried it out loud yet so maybe a simple Tube Screamer might be enough. The Hughes&Kettner Tubeman is creamy though... shame it is faulty.

Cheers Brett

Brett Blackmore

I bought a Guvnor II and my search is over. Fantastic gain and very transparent - my 1987 sounds like a 1987 on steriods! It really brings the Marshall out of the box!

This was the list:

1) Hughes& Kettner Tubeman I - nice gain - very transparent - rate= 4 from 5 - shame it is faulty...
2) Ibanez TS 5 with 4558P opamp- sounds a little cardboardy - not very transparent and barely enough gain - rate= 1 from 5.
3) BG EO10 (TS clone) - sounds ok - not very transparent - just about enough gain - rate= 2 from 5.
4) Behringer OD100 (TS clone) - sounds ok - not very transparent - just about enough gain - rate= 2 from 5.
5) Behringer 100MD (3 in one) - Ratt / Neutral / Boss DS1 - all sounded 'hmm' - the Boss DS had just about enough gain - the other 2 were weaker yet more transparent -still did not move me... rate= 2 from 5.
6) Biyang Tube - sounded ok at lower gain levels - choked at hi-gain - bad tube? Did not move me... rate= 3 from 5.
7) Guvnor II - gain - transparent - 5 from 5

Cheers Brett

steelhorse

Glad you found what you were searching for. I was going to suggest a DS-1, not an off the shelf model but one that is modded by a friend of mine who does pedals for a living.

I used to have all Keeley's and although I rarely use drive pedals I have a DS-1 modded by him and a collaboration between Keeley and him which is a tubescreamer-stein modded with true bypass, and another gain section + the ability to swap chips out.

What I love about the modded DS-1 I have is that it's very organic and rich sounding and it can be turned up to wail or backed off to sound very bluesy, it's a very cool pedal. The TS9 I have is carayzee.

mmorse

A Radial Tonebone Plexitube or a Blackstar HT Dual are two tube driven OD pedals to try. You can get nice Marshall like crunch and lead tones at very low volumes. In my experience, the plexitube has more gain but the Blackstar is more natural sounding. Plus both allow you to set a crunch for rhythm and a separate channel for lead boosts. Set your 1987 to clean and set the pedal to Channel A crunch and Channel B lead. That's how I use my 2204 at home.