[Adamh1331]

Finally Ibanez has brought back the Tube King

Don't know about you guys but this is one of my all time favorite distortion pedals

The Ibanez Tube King TK999HT Pedal features 12AX7 preamp tube, 3-band active EQ, presence switch (hi and lo positions), void control to adjust the noise gate, level and drive controls and on/off footswitch.

More about it.

[eleven59]

I knew a guy who used one of those as the main part of his tone (through a Fender Bassman, or the Marshall half-stack in the studio) and it sounded incredible.

[HighGain510]

Can it get really high gain with only one 12AX7 preamp tube though? It would probably be great for bluesy leads but I don't know if it would be optimal for high gain stuff with only a single preamp tube in the circuit.

[Krunch]

Do you think it would make a good boost pedal for a tube amp?

[D-EJ915]

Originally Posted by HighGain510

Can it get really high gain with only one 12AX7 preamp tube though? It would probably be great for bluesy leads but I don't know if it would be optimal for high gain stuff with only a single preamp tube in the circuit.

not ALL of the tubes in a preamp are for the gain dude The number of tubes has nothing to do with that, it's how the circuit is designed which determines that, the tube is just a part of it.

[HighGain510]

Originally Posted by D-EJ915

not ALL of the tubes in a preamp are for the gain dude The number of tubes has nothing to do with that, it's how the circuit is designed which determines that, the tube is just a part of it.

How many preamps have you played with one 12AX7 that could do high gain well though? Usually in a pedal-based preamp with tubes involved, having only one in the circuit doesn't usually cut it.... at least IMHO.

[newamerikangospel]

With all of this tube designed circtuitry crap, they use the tube in the chain, but its still an solid state distrotion circuit. Puting a tube in the design will give the signal the flucuations and the subtle responsiveness of a tube.

[Adamh1331]

Originally Posted by HighGain510

How many preamps have you played with one 12AX7 that could do high gain well though? Usually in a pedal-based preamp with tubes involved, having only one in the circuit doesn't usually cut it.... at least IMHO.

You'd be surprised..i mean your not going to get heavy ass rectified distortion but you can get pretty close

[noodles]

Originally Posted by Krunch

Do you think it would make a good boost pedal for a tube amp?

If you mean in the same way as guys use a tube screamer as a boost, then no. The whole point of that is for the solid state circuit to tighten and focus the guitar's sound before it hits the amp.

[Drew]

Originally Posted by D-EJ915

not ALL of the tubes in a preamp are for the gain dude The number of tubes has nothing to do with that, it's how the circuit is designed which determines that, the tube is just a part of it.

Yes and no.

You can find plenty of tube preamps with only a single tube that have loads of gain. However, with only a single tube, you're looking at most two all-tube gain stages (each tube has two "sides."). since most high gain circuits require at least four gain stages, this means that in addition to the tube gain stages there is also some significant solid-state assist in the form of diode distortion going down.

Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing - some people love the result of mixing tubes and diodes - but if the question is, can you get high gain distortion from an all-tube front end with a single 12AX7, then the answer is no.