Effects pedals with actual tubes in them are just the best, right? They produce a comfortable, inviting sound and feeling when engaged, one that you don’t want to give up…ever. Today’s pedal does just that and more – the Tube Factor Overdrive from Hughes & Kettner promises to take your sound up a notch, maybe even to 11 if you’re lucky…
As far as controls go, there are three knobs on the Tube Factor, and great sounds are easy to achieve. Drive sets the amount of dirt you need present in your path, and Output sets the volume. There’s a third knob labeled Voicing, too, which lets you shape tonal characteristics to dial in the trademark sound of your favorite amp. Using these three together, there are a ton of tonal ranges and musical settings to be found.
The real sweetness of this pedal lies inside, in the 12AX7 tube located there. By using an actual tube, the Tube Factor is able to produce not only gorgeous, saturated lead overdrive tones, but glorious warm tube clean sound as well. There are easily switchable as well, via the Factor 1/2 footswitch located on the pedal itself. Having two separate channels at your disposal is key, and once you get the settings dialed in between the effect and your amp, they’ll be no stopping you.
For all that is good about the Tube Factor, it is also BIG. Not that that is necessarily a drawback, but you need to do some measuring and planning if you’re going to fit this beast onto your pedalboard. When Trey Anastasio from Phish used one for a while, he had it set on top of his rack gear, not only taking up zero floor space, but also giving him access to changing the settings without having to bend down at all – might be something you can use as well. The H&K crew has been producing monster pedals for years now, and although this one is no longer on their website, you can find them around for really good prices. Check out the demo below to hear this puppy in action, cheers!
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