Tube overdose

Do you really acquire tone nirvana upon plugging tube laden effects into a tube amp? Not quite, I tried this set up today: Ibanez Tube King + Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Mayhem + Epiphone Valve Jr head.

The TT Mayhem doesn't really need a drive-type booster to bolster its performance, I just did it to convince myself that some pedals are better left alone. What I hear from this line-up is an excess of bottom end even when my EQ for both pedals had the lower frequencies reduced.

However, I subsequently replaced the TK with a TS7 & it really made quite a difference in terms of definition; we now understand why the tubeless Tubescreamers are effective in this application.

Also, the TK's in-built noise reduction (that VOID control) unit is very effective to such an extent that my BOSS volume pedal was unnecessary in this set-up.

BOSS: FV-50

My latest pedal is battery-free; a volume controller, BOSS FV-50.

My ZOOM volume pedal couldn't cut volume entirely because it's quite aged & the pot requires some looking into. Rather than parts replacement, it's wiser (cost-wise) to invest in a fresh unit. I prefer eliminating volume during play than utilizing a noise suppressing pedal these days as the threshold control does affect tone, also, when I lower the guitar's volume knob for some vintage tone crunch, the weaker signals from the guitar get totally gated-out during play.