Friedman Motor City Drive - 12AX7 Tube Overdrive

[desertbluesman]

Anyone know how this sounds live and in person? I've seen the videos on you tube. Looks cool.

 

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MotorCityOD--friedman-motor-city-drive-12ax7-tube-overdrive-pedal

[Dannyalcatraz]

Dont know THAT one, but their BE-OD is pretty nice. And they seem to have a nice stable of pros using their products.

[Lokair]

I do not , but will be watching this tread to hear what people think, I like what I am hearing in vids.

 

Lok

[desertbluesman]

I like the fact that the builder is pushing the tube with full 220 v power. Claiming that the tube is really the overdrive factor.

 

In other tube distortion pedals, the tube is only there to say it has a tube in it, the tube actually does not do much. Those lesser voltage pedals have a diode or some other part actually creating the distortion.

[Larryz]

DBM, I haven't seen one up close, but it looks cool from the video. A little pricey. I'm not into OD anymore, but if I was, I would be interested in this pedal. I didn't watch the whole video. It appears to work well with the tube fired up like it's supposed to be. If you watched the whole video, can you tell us if the tube is easily accessible for testing and/or changing?

[CEB]

I have not heard it but they are running the tube at a working voltage. So it isn't a glorified glass diode. It's cheaper than I would have expected. People are paying $250+ for drive pedals that don't have the parts requirements this has.

[skipclone 1]

An alternative-I`ve mentioned this one before, it`s good for the same reason and has some interesting features. But the Motor City does get some nice sounds.

 

[video:youtube]

[picker]

Friedman has a great track record with their gear, but for $250, an overdrive pedal had better walk on water and leap over tall buildings with a single bound, know what I mean?

[Larryz]

DBM, Looks like the tube will just pop out of the tube socket so disregard my question about accessing it for testing and/or replacement...I think a lot of the cheaper tube OD's didn't allow access to the tube and this one looks easy to get at.

[p90jr]

I have Siegmund Microtube and Siegmund Microtube Mini pedals, as well as a Seymour Duncan Twin Tube... all of which use those weird little military versions of the AX7 and are hardwired into the pedals (by necessity). I like them all, especially using them as "direct boxes" straight into PAs/etc will still getting guitar amp preamp response. I used to use whatever the pedal that Eric Johnson uses that has tubes in it (Butler or something? It was lent to me...).

 

Considering this is pretty much half of an amp, I don't think that the price is that high...

[desertbluesman]

I have a Seymour Duncan Twin Tube

 

I had the twin tube a few years back I gave it to my kiddo. I should ask him to send that back to me, Thanks for the memory, I never thought of doing that until you mentioned it above.

[skipclone 1]

I have Siegmund Microtube and Siegmund Microtube Mini pedals, as well as a Seymour Duncan Twin Tube... all of which use those weird little military versions of the AX7 and are hardwired into the pedals (by necessity). I like them all, especially using them as "direct boxes" straight into PAs/etc will still getting guitar amp preamp response. I used to use whatever the pedal that Eric Johnson uses that has tubes in it (Butler or something? It was lent to me...).

 

Considering this is pretty much half of an amp, I don't think that the price is that high...

 

I ran across Siegmund several years ago during a quest for the ultimate OD (beautiful guitars)-it looked like a contender but, how/where to get replacement tubes?

[Caevan O’Shite]

I like the fact that the builder is pushing the tube with full 220 v power. Claiming that the tube is really the overdrive factor.

 

In other tube distortion pedals, the tube is only there to say it has a tube in it, the tube actually does not do much. Those lesser voltage pedals have a diode or some other part actually creating the distortion.

 

I know what you mean; though ultimately, I judge such pedals by their tone, feel, and performance.

 

My Radial Tonebone Plexitube is a relatively low-voltage-for-a-tube type pedal; but their design still has the 12AX7 tube in it imparting warm harmonic-overtones and rounder clipping that yields a fuller, more satisfying high-gain sound than many overdrive and distortion pedals might, at least for my wants and needs.

 

It takes a lot of knob-twiddling to find the 'just-right' sound- and it has a LOT of knobs to twiddle!- especially to match the pedal to a given guitar and amp. But it will reward and deliver the goods for the time and effort spent doing so.

 

It also works WONDERFULLY with other pedals in front of it, such as octave-fuzz (up OR down), wah, volume-pedals ('regular' or 'auto'/'envelope'), and just KILLS with feedback. Very 'Marshally' in character.

 

It could be a little more dynamic, but it's certainly serviceable, and then some. The Radial Tonebone Trimode is more dynamic and a little more 'Fendery', which it is supposed to be. The Plexitube does all of what I wanted and needed it to when I bought it, though; with some amps, I don't need it, while with others, such as my Fuchs and Egnater, it works very well and is effectively two additional channels.

[desertbluesman]

@ Caev, my first wish was the Tonebone Classic which is very similar to my Nady TD1, except it is all solid state. If it did have a tube in it, I would pull the trigger on one of those easy.

[Caevan O’Shite]

@ Caev, my first wish was the Tonebone Classic which is very similar to my Nady TD1, except it is all solid state. If it did have a tube in it, I would pull the trigger on one of those easy.

 

It most definitely has a tube in it, run at relatively low voltages; but if you're going to get a Radial Tonebone along those lines, go for the Trimode or the Plexitube (my guess is that the Trimode would be the one for you), which not only have two channels, the added channel and other features make them superior to the original Classic and Hot British pedals, respectively. The "Rhythm" Channel 1 on my Plexitube is the one I like best, though I've used the "lead" Channel 2 for boosted, louder, gainier leads with more mids. Channel 2 on both the Trimode and Plexitube also has its own effects-loop patch-insert jack for external effects, so you can have, say, an echo or modulation pedal kick-in automatically when you engage the Lead Channel 2.

[desertbluesman]

@ Caev, my first wish was the Tonebone Classic which is very similar to my Nady TD1, except it is all solid state. If it did have a tube in it, I would pull the trigger on one of those easy.

 

It most definitely has a tube in it

 

Nah the Tonebone Classic V9 is all solid state it says so on the Tonebone site. If it did have a tube in it I would want to try one. The original Classic did have a tube in it.

[Caevan O’Shite]

@ Caev, my first wish was the Tonebone Classic which is very similar to my Nady TD1, except it is all solid state. If it did have a tube in it, I would pull the trigger on one of those easy.

 

It most definitely has a tube in it

 

Nah the Tonebone Classic V9 is all solid state it says so on the Tonebone site. If it did have a tube in it I would want to try one. The original Classic did have a tube in it.

 

OK, I didn't even know about the existence of the 'Tonebone Classic V9'! Thanks for cluing me in.

 

According to Radial:

 

The Classic-V9 is the next generation, solid-state version of the venerable Tonebone Classic tube distortion.

 

The original and long-in-production Radial Tonebone Classic, however, does in fact have a 12AX7 vacuum tube in it, as does the Trimode, and the Plexitube, and original and long-in-production Hot British.

 

I still think that you'd like the Trimode.

[desertbluesman]

Well my kiddo is going to send me back the Duncan Twin Tube overdrive stomp, reducing the need for buying another overdrive stomp. I never liked it as much as my Nady's but it was serviceable, and decent sounding.