Chandler Tube Driver

I have the rack version of this pre-amp
You can't really get a bad sound out of it. I like it because there's a little more control(bias and contour controls and of course the Boost switch) than the pedal version

There are very few pedals/preamps that I would rate a 10 in sound quality. This is it for distortion or overdrives.

I can only describe the tone as awesome. Just everything I want in an overdrive. It has a crunch that you can't get in any other preamp or pedal. The best way to descibe this is through Eric Johnson.just add a decent delay and chorus pedal. Listening to his Bloom album pushed me over the edge of being a tone freak.

The only issue I ran into with this is using other distortions/fuzz/overdrives in the line with it. For some reason it just doesn't jive right with distortion pedals that well. It sometimes gives a little buzz. Tubescreamer-like overdrives usually do fine, but with the Boost switch on the rack version, don't really need an additional boost.

For a while I was using a Ruby tube (not too sure who makes them) but I think I put a Sovtek in it a couple years ago. That or a J/J. I guess to a degree its all hearsay. I'm not sure anyone listening would give a **** what kind of tube you're using regardless of the sound difference you think it makes... so maybe I'm not that much of a "tone freak"

I blew a fuse once at a show, thats when I was relieved to discover it's true bypass. At the time I was using a Boss SD-1 in front of the Tube Driver, so I just cranked up the drive and I stayed in business. If I had a spare fuse on me at the time it would have been a 10 second fix.

That coupled with the freak possibility of blowing a tube, or shorting out for some reason (I think its at least 25 years old) I'd have to say its a bit less reliable than most overdrive/distortion units

I kinda support myself these days

If I lost both my arms, I still wouldn't sell this unit. I might let my little brother use it... but only under my supervision. I honestly don't think the modern emo junkies and metal head high schoolers would find any interest in stealing this type of equipment. It looks old and beat up. these new kids just want anything that says Mesa on it. ::rant complete::

I've been playing a mex strat with some Dragonfire pickups in the neck and bridge and a DiMarzio Blue Velvet in the middle. Pretty much using the Fender Blues Jr amp, but occasionally I'll use a Fender Bassman 50. I once ran the tube driver through a Roland Jazz Chorus, and really liked what I heard, but not near as much as the fender tube amps.

At first I was afraid this unit would limit me to playing classic rock or blues, but I actually played some newer cover songs with it and people really loved the sound. My initial fears of this being a one-trick-pony were quickly absolved.

I'm interested in trying the Butler Audio reissue. They've supposedly done some nice improvements. If anyone has one and wants to trade out for it, I got a closet full of effects pedals I'm ready to get rid of. just email me

This is a mid eighties model, the Chandler by Butler, not the wall wart version. I bought it new and I still like it best, above all the zillion other distortion stompboxes I have and it never let me down. Now, after 25 years, it is available again by the original designer so suit yourself.

It took some time to get a good sound out of it. A bit fizzy, as I recall, but the glowing tube had some magic and it had some tuby sound qualities the sillicon/transistor squad just didn't provide. At one time I replaced the original tube -still have it, it is chandler branded- for a old amperex at7 or something like that. You get less distortion but a broader range of clean to overdrive. Or maybe because it's old and all the values have shifted but it sounds better than ever. I recently bought the old 19 inch version, just for backup. Never really tried that one, lying under the sink, just in case..

Oh yeah, I never give 10's. Don't trust those reviews..

Well, how does this thing sound? Well, glad you ask.. you caught me in the middle of writing this review....
The funny thing are the smart tone knobs, no fender style (where they act like volume pots) but the Vox way. Treble does high or mids, Bass does low-end or no-end, they are interactive.That makes a difference. Turn everything on zero -like Eric Johnson- and you got still a great sound, try that on your fender.
But it doesn't sound Voxy or fenderish, it sounds euh... Marshally or, more exact, trainwreck alike. Strong open lower mids and smooth highs that goes into violin Hendrix teritory when pushed. It can growl, there is some nice medium thick grind in there but they show up only when playing Gilmourisch slide on a strat, it will sound more throaty with a Les Paul junior. I hear a bit difference when I try to match the clean sound but that's okay, we are not talking digital hifi here.
And yes, I agree with the poster a few reviews below. The underated Vox bulldog sounds pretty goed in the same way but lacks the lower mid oomph and sounds a bit thinner and "colder" overall.

In 30 years it had one repair, some loose jackets.. no biggie.

Never contacted Mr.Butler. He seems reluctant to repair products he never sold and never gave warranty to (Gee, how strange..)
I dont think the Chandler company would service either...

Though the Butler tube driver is still my main stompbox, there are some great devices out there. For a great strat sound I would use my old TS808 into a Fender amp, a tellie and a Vox AC-15 sounds great with a treble booster and my 335 loves my Zendrive. The tube driver is not a "specialty" box, it also not like a Matchless Hot box that make every amp sound like a angry hooligan from Liverpool. It does the Billy Gibbons very well but for me it exels in bluesy poweramp sounds that puts a baby to sleep or starts a mayhem with just a turn of your guitar volume knob.

Very easy to understand, only 4 controls and very basic. Output level, hi/low eq, and tube drive. My unit is an early rev, but not the first run. I have the one Eric Johnson uses (the originals were a bit different, and the rev3 versions had the wall wart).

The sound is great, but it's very iffy depending on the preamp tube used. Case in point - I ripped out the original tube years ago and put a Sovtek (I think it's a 12AT7)in place of it. I then ignored the pedal for the longest time because of scratchy pots, etc... that I was apparently too lazy to look into. I eventually changed that tube to a Groove Tube 12AX7 which, quite honestly, sounded terrible. Very high gain, crunchy tone, not what I was looking for. Up until the other day I had that same crappy tube in there until I decided to find the old Sovtek and put it back in. I also cleaned the pots and switch. WHAT a difference. Now I can actually use this pedal and it sounds exactly like it should; warm and punchy. Add this next to a TS-808 and you have great overdrive. The thing about this pedal that I think makes it versatile is that you can vary your tone based on the tube. The Sovtek is very warm and smooth, and doesn't have a dirty gain, but once it's boosted you can hear the warmth come through. It's a very pleasant sound. The manufacturer didn't really intend for the end-user to change the tubes, but I found it to be pretty easy and non-threatening to the unit, and in the end I'm much happier.

The pedal does have some hum, but it goes away sometimes. I'm leaning more towards thinking it's a grounding issue but I can't figure out why.

I give this a mid-rating because it's old, and even though it seems to function better since cleaning the controls, there's still that chance that it won't operate perfectly the minute you have an audience. I generally have another overdrive in the chain anyway so if I needed to it would make a worthy backup.

Never dealt with Chandler, but they were just the distributors. BK Butler is the brains and hands behind these pedals. His design; hand-wired and very well made. These pedals turned up for a while under the Tube Works name, as miniature versions of the original, and the same concept is in the Tube Works Blue Tube. The Chander version is designed better, IMO. BK is actually re-issuing these pedals under his own name but in the same outfit and design as the originals. I would think if you needed support he would be the one to talk to, and from what I've read he's very friendly and answeres all his e-mails.

Overall a great addition to my setup; gives my overdrive a warmth that is missing from most solid-state pedals. I originally bought it about 8 years ago because Eric Johnson uses it, and I figured I'd get magic tone..heh. Well, that never happened but I've found my own settings that work well with it and sometimes can get that velvety, violin-type tone when used with the right combination of instrument/amp. Besides the Tube Driver, my chain of effects are: Ibanez TS-808, ProCo RAT, EH Small Clone, EH Small Stone, MXR 1500 Delay, and MXR Analog Delay. My amp is a Fender Deluxe Reverb re-issue, and my guitars are: 68' reissue Stratocaster, vintage blonde Telecaster, Gibson SG standard, and an Ibanez AEL10 acoustic.

My Tube Driver pedal is an original B.K. Butler that I purchased in 1987. Four controls (Output, Hi EQ, Lo EQ, Gain). One foot switch with an indicator light to tell whether it's on or off. Very simple to operate, although it does take a little tweaking to get "your" tone. Have to be careful with the Hi EQ because it will produce a grating, shrill sound that will annoy you.

There is no substitute for this pedal. My chain is: Eric Johnson signature strat > Crybaby Wah > Tube driver > all tube Marshall JTM 30 (usually clean channel only). Have a Memory Man deluxe reissue and a TC Electonics Chorus plugged into the effects chain. Am I trying to duplicate Eric Johnsons signal chain...YES! Can I get his tone...NO! That's 75% fingers and skill rather than equipment, but that's another story. I can get my own approximation of his tone and to my ears, it's awesome. The tube driver produces a very warm, mid range boost to a slightly over driven amp that cannot be duplicated. You have to be careful with this pedal because it won't hide your sloppy playing like a lot of distortion pedals. Every note is clearly defined but fully distorted, if that makes any sense. The pedal is not noisy at all, even at ridiculous volumes.

I've owned this medal for almost 20 years. Used it with a variety of different amps, guitars, bands, indoors, outdoors, etc. It's a tank! About 10 years ago, I replaced the tube and that was it until about 2 years ago. Then it started getting flaky - pots didn't work or produced scratchy sound; footswitch didn't work, tube sound was awful.

See above. To make a long story short, I contacted Mr. Butler himself (the man who originally designed and produce the Tube Drivers). I sent him my aging pedal and he completely refurbished it; new pots, footswitch, tube, etc. He sent it back and its like a completely new pedal. He also wrote a note telling me what year and batch my pedal came from and signed the bottom of the pedal. Needless to say, I rate customer support 110% (even if I've only had to use it once in 20 years!).

I've been playing the guitar for over 30 years and now I play mostly 70's and 80's rock; heavily into Rush, Led Zep, etc. Also play covers and anything else that strikes me as interesting (yeah, including EJ). It would kill me if I lost this pedal, not only because of the sound but because I've had it so long it's an integral part of my chain. I've priced these pedals on ebay and they're going for $600 bucks or more for the orginal versions. Supposedly you can get reissues from Butler Electronics for a reasonable price. I would definitely buy another one if this one disappeared or crapped out completely. It gives you the sweetest, warmest tone you could ever possibly want.

I picked up this pedal recently (4months ago)after searching for one for a while.. I use this daily, mostly for recording. Expensive, but the search for tone can be that way. Can not get much easier... dial in your tone to taste. It's important that you pair this pedal with a compatible amp..

Simply put, this is perfect tone for my needs. Smooth overdrive, incredible sustain.... and no added noise... I use it with a Bassman LTD or my vibrolux and it gives me the earlier break up I am looking for. Super smooooth and creamy.... Guitar wise, i'm a big fan of Gibsons with P90's. I really can't speak to this pedal in conjunction with Fender guitars, but it seems pretty friendly with any guitasr I've fed it

Considering the age of this pedal, I would have to give high marks on reliability. I have had zero issues (knocking on wood)and I have a fairly early model

n/a

Overall, I love this pedal. Probably (ok, it is..) overpriced, but there is a reason they are sought after by some. I also dig the "hugeness" of the pedal, you can't miss it in a crowd.

At least as simple as most amps today to operate.

Paired with a MARSHALL JCM OR JMP it gets a 9. I have tried it on a 78 TWIN REVERB with dismal results. This thing was designed around the older Marshall tone, as a supliment to a slightly overdriven Marshall. I imagine it would sound great on any Carvin, Laney, Hiwatt or the like. With a slightly overdriven Marshall, the Tube Driver WILL DELIVER THE REST OF THE GOODS IN A FRIEGHTLINER.

If you're a 40 something, still enjoy the REAL monster George Lynch or Satriani sound, and have a suitable amp to accomodate the Tube Driver, Buy one! But if you are using a 70's fender silverface, Berringer, or Peavey solid state combo, get a Boss Metal Zone or something. You're only gonna make the Chandler mad at you. It's just not intended to co-exist with this type of amp.

There solid enough if you don't bash 'em around. There's still a lot of them around. It seems guys who have them don't come off of them too readily.

c'mon!

Very easy to use. Level, hi, lo, and Drive controls. I believe its true bypass switching. Got it used.

Great sound quality. I used to have one back in the late 80's, not sure which model it was but remember it had a really cool vibe to it, but not exactly my cup of tea at the time. I was more into the metallica super smooth heavy metal at the time. I think I had a later version which don't sound too hot.

This review is for the original 1987 "designed by BK Butler / San Francisco" model which are the ones demanding top dollar. $450 -- (Ouch!) but cheaper than the ones going to full auction on Ebay. They can top $500. Is it worth it...who knows, it depends on what you're looking for. This thing has a really cool vibe to it, it squishes a bit and is very thick sounding with a nice lower mid hump to it. I really like the sound. Up until now, my fav tube distortion pedal was my Vox Big Ben. Side by side, the Big Ben is more Voxy sounding (upper mids, treble)and thinner sounding than the Chandler. The Big Ben hands down beat all the other pedals I've owned - Peanut Butter, Barber-LTD,DD,SS, Ibanez ts808 - modded and stock, Vox Valvetone, Tube Driver (later 5 knob versions), Hot Box, etc. etc. The Chandler holds the title now. The leads are singing, thick, chewy, etc. At low gain settings and with a 12au7, its without a doubt the best sounding blues pedal i've ever heard. I see a 4558 op amps chip in there, but I don't beleive its the gain unit, but the boost to drive the tube into overdrive. Could be wrong though, don't matter, the pedal rocks.

Only negative is that it can be a little noisey. Also, if you pick one up - make sure you change the power chord to a 3 prong for safety. There's a reason for 3 prong plugs and your life shouldn't come second to resale value!!!! If you play out, you can't be sure if the house wiring is properly grounded!!

Not sure, haven't had it too long, but its a 1987 and its all original except for the power chord (was a two prong shocker!).

Don't know, got it used.

Great pedal. The best I've played. I own a Fuchs OD50 and a handmade Princeton clone amp. PRS, vintage Aria guitars and a Cort hollowbody guitars. Excellent pedal and I'm sure it will continue to go up in value.

really easy to use. All you need is to know what your after. Many paople are looking for the holy grail of tone and when they are asked what or who they want to sound like, they have no answer. well, this is easy enough for even those people to get great tone.

so, the one i have is the rack mount version made in about 1983. and, i play bass, so iam using a fender usa 2001 passive 4 string to drive it. it came with a 12ax7 and it sounded great but i use it for more a pre-amp and then use the overdrive as an added effect to freak people out. well, i put a 12at7 in and it seems to have given me a bit more headroom and it isn't as dirty when it's as saturated as it can get. it was a huge improvement on an already great tone.

i haven't had any problems with it. also, changing out the tubes is five year old easy.

they are closed....

it works great as a bass preamp. i've been playing professionally 5 years now. it is quite a unique application that i use for...think about it, a guitar tube driver! but as a bass preamp, it makes an swr pro series tube preamp head just sing.

I have the old, white, non-wallwart, made in San Francisco Chandler Tube Driver pedal. I bought it used without a manual, but it's easy enough to figure out and get good sounds from it.

I run the Chandler Tube Driver through an odd mix of equipment: '87 Fender Strat (made in Japan) with the EMG DG20 "Dave Gilmour" electronics package into the Chandler Tube Driver, then into a POD XT, out of the POD XT to a Rockman Stereo Chorus, then a Rockman Stereo Echo, plugged into a 120 watt Behringer keyboard amp with a big 15". The Chandler isn't really noisy, less than most stock distortion pedals, I'd say. I must say, though, that I have played a bit with four different tubes, and I'm most happy with the following two tubes: 1) an Electro-Harmonix 12ax7EH sounds great for higher gain rhythm crunch, and 2) a NOS Tesla ECC802S (12au7), which is GREAT for smooth leads - the Tesla is really, really nice. I can go from a smooth overdrive for blues, to ZZ Top grit, to Gilmour leads, and classic rock rifs with this thing when using a clean amp setting.

I haven't had it very long, so I don't know how much longer it'll last, but it's lasted this long, so I'd say that it has a good track record. Would I gig without a backup? Hell No! Backup isn't an issue, though, since I'm using a POD XT to begin with, but pedal wise, I also have some other very nice pedals.

Chandler doesn't exist anymore, so I can't comment on their customer support.

I mostly play blues and blues based music, and the Chandler Tube Driver is a great match. I've been playing for about 15 years, and my gear includes a whole rack full of Rockman half rack modules, a POD XT, Rockman X100's, a Keeley Compressor, a customized Keeley Phat BD-2, a Keeley modded MT-2, a stock TS9, and other assorted gear. If the Chandler was stolen or lost I'd probably try to get another one, because I really dig the smoothness from it. This pedal definately helps me make music rather than getting in the way.

I like the knobs and feel of the unit - no need for a mid setting. The newest versions (generation 3 as taken over by tube works) have graduated rotations - seems better for setting levels. Wouldn't need a manual unless it had guides for various settings but this can be figured out easy enough

I've compared three generations of this pedal: (1) as released by Chandler with no wallwart (2) second generation (I assume) with wallwart) and (3) as taken over by tube works with three-prong plug (no wallweart).

I am fond of using Gibson acoustics (J200, Southern Jumbo and a Sheryl Crow Country and Western issue) through a tube pre-amp through a host of effects (chorus, compression, trem, vibe, phsae wah etc) to a tube amp. The distortion is middway through the chain and I've treid all kinds of pedals and configurations with it. (I'm inclined to prefer what David Gilmour is using as in Compression Boss CS-2 and Boss Chorus version 2 and P90 phase etc). I've also just used the Chandlers separate to everything for testing purposes. The tube pre-amp is a presonus pretube unit with a 12ax7. As last in the chain is an aphex sound exciter (adds nice punch but has a very cheap on/off foot switch - BEWARE)

While most of the reviews here have either a love of the preamp tube inside (or prefer to change it for less gain), I've found the only realy difference is in the gain. The 12ax7 vs 12au7 overall tone is not really that different but the gain is quite different altogether as you'd expect. What is different is the generations of the unit themselves in what they offer the tube!

The first generation is in the middle (call it a 7) while the second is quite weak (5 or worse). The Tube Works version is actually best which I found surprising. What can I say? Side by side test confirm the Tube Works has the most versitile sounds. Everything from hard bass to light treb with all in betwen and what I like most is that it doesn't colour my sound unless I want it to. I can drum up the distortion with on change in tone. If I treb up the signal I get some real nice cut through. Really it does everything I want it to.

Even with out the tube amp it sounds great. (The tube amp I'm using is a custom "kit" amp made in Montreal in 1944 that my Dad giged with back then (some 60 years ago!)- just had it rebuilt for guitar at 25 watts out - I imagine it's very close to what an old Gibson sounds like - not too dirty unless you want to blow your ears - the tube drive supplys the dirt).

The 10 rating is for the tube works version of this drive. The Wall wart is lowest for sure at about a 5. The original Chandler would be a 7 or 8 on a good day.

The original Chndler goes back a very long time (to mid 80 I guess - bought used as were they all). This one has original Chandler preamp 12ax7 tube in it and sounds quite fine. I think tells how sturdy it is.

Have no opinion to offer here since the originals can't be serviced by the original manfacturer. It looks like a failry simple set up though if other than the tube were to go.

By the way the electric tele that I have sounds great through it too. If you are like me, though, and interesteed in having an acoustic sound (true sound) that can ramp up all of sudden to distortion for blues, then the unit is quite good. Listen to David Gilmour's unplugged show on DVD from a few years back and you'll hear what I'm after - he ramps it up quite nice on a few of the songs using just his Martin and effect.

I've also tried Ibanez, American Women, Boss, Muffs, et al and nothing offers up the range ('cept maybe the American Women pedal) as the tube driver. No doubt the tube is one of the reasons. Nothing quite beats the tube sound from a tube amp (though I have solid state Fender Princetons as well). When you add the Chandler leading to the signal of the tube amp you really get classic sounds.

I've worked hard at getting the tone I want and for sure I'm satisfied now with the tube drive. i bought the tube works version from a store whereas the others were over e-bay. It was the cheapest, I could try it out and was really surprised how much more punch it has. Though the Chandlers are harder to find in used shops it may be worth the search to try it out before you buy it. I would have saved around 600 bucks if I could have landed on the tube works version first.

Finally, the reviews may mislead somewhat based on subjectivity. I was going on two things: David Gilmour's taste and the reviews. I was avoiding subsequent generations of the unit based on the opinion from these pages. All I can add is that perhaps side by side comparisons were not done by anyone else of the same units. So, don't let the collections aspect deter you from trying a newer generation of the product. I guess up to the present time tube works offers a version of this drive. While normally the older the unit, the better, I can't tell you how pleasantly surprised I am with the third generation version.

I would add that even at a 5 the worst of the units still sounds great compared to the other pedals I've tried. I would take the 5er over the Ibanes DS9 (reissue but colours you) and BOSS and even the muff (harder to dial in the ranges). My only disapointment with the weaker units is the lack of bass punch - it flys off somewhere and you have to do a lot of tweeking at the amps, eq or pre-amps to get some bottom end back. That's why I like the last tube works one so much 'cause all the bass is still there when you switch on.

Sorry for any spelling errors in the above - need a spell check as much as I need another pedal.

4 knobs- how hard can it be?

My set-up are as follows; '54 strat R.I./Gibson LP>Crybaby wah>Tubedriver>Soulbender>Experience pedal>Vibe unit> Choralflange.
It puts an original Ts-808 to shame. I know 'cause I had a few. Comparing the two, the TD has much more gain and you can dial in the right amount of Hi or Lo end to suit your taste. It is much more rich sounding than that overated TS-808, which is thin sounding and overpriced ridiculously.

Built like an M-1 tank. Don't see a need for a back-up.

They aren't made anymore, but mine hasn't given up. I still have the original 12Ax7 on it and it still kicks ass.

Great for everything except death metal. Think Led Zeppelin playing Heartbreaker and Eric Johnson doing Camel's night out. An awesome pedal.

It's extremely easy to use. I have the rack version of the Chandler Tube Driver. Front panel has Drive, Contour, Bias, Master, Hi, Mid and Low. Just a few knobs, not rocket science. In the back there's also two inputs and outputs (line and instrument level for each) and footswitch inputs for bypass and boost.

I use it with either a ADA MP-1 Classic + Marshall EL34 100/100 rig or a JCM800. This unit does two things very well, in my opinion. One is getting some dirt to a clean amp (you know, the kind of dirt you can't get by turning the gain up a bit) and the other is giving a nice, smooth, great sounding lead boost. Used on a clean amp with a strat, it's SRV all over the place, nice cleanish warm tone with a little dirt. Sounds great on the neck/middle pickups. Boosting an already distorted tone, it gives a very nice round, smooth tone, with a lot of sustain. The boost feature is nice if you want both a lead boost and dirt on the clean amp, but I prefer to keep it in boost mode for both situations (using the volume pot on my guitars), because it sounds warmer to me (for whatever reason).

I've had it for a couple of years and I haven't had any problems. I know the previous owner, and the unit has been working fine for the last twenty years or so.

Never had contact with Chandler.

I hate to give all 10s (and I mean that, I usually don't give much credit to all 10 reviews), but this little box helps me get some serious tone (to my ears, at least) and it's very cheap for what it does. I don't play any type of music in particular, I go from classical to metal, to blues, to jazz, to some pop now and then, and pretty much everything in between (or so I like to think). I just try to get a wide range of good tones, and the Tube Driver allows me to get some tones otherwise impossible with my gear. The thing I love about it is that it's so smooth and warm. Just a great tube overdrive.

EASY TO USE, SPIN 'EM & DIAL 'EM IN, NO MANUAL NEED (OR SUPPLIED)

MINE IS THE OLD "MADE IN SAN FRANSISCO" RACK MOUNT VERSION. A LITTLE NOISY AS IT IS NOT TRUE BYPASS, I USE A TRUE BYPASS LOOP ON IN WITH A LIMITER/GATE AFTER IT IN THE CHAIN. I USE IT WITH GIBSON LES PAUL AND FENDER STRATS. ADDS A NICE WARM BLUESEY TONE AND JUMPS THE SIGNAL UP WITH THE BOOST SWITCH ON.

BUILY WELL, NEVER LET ME DOWN IN MANY YEARS, (HELL, I HAVE NEVER EVEN CHANGED THE TUBE!!!)

HA HA!!!

I PLAY EVERY TYPE OF MUSIC AND THIS GEAR IS SUITED FOR BLUES AND CLASSIC ROCK TUNES. BEEN PLAYING MANY MOONS AND IF IT WAS LOST, BROKEN OR STOLEN, I'D JUST OFF IT ON EBAY BECAUSE I HAVE SO MUCH GEAR AND SO MANY DIFFERNT WAYS TO PRODUCE EQUAL OR BETTER DISTORTION, FUZZ OR BOOST THE SIGNAL. TO BE HONEST WITH YA'ALL...RIGHT NOW I AM USING THIS UNIT IN FRONT OF AN OLD HARMONIZER/DELAY TO BOOST THE HARMONIZER AND RUNNING A THERIMIN THROUGH IT. IT DOES VERY WELL AT BOOSTING THE HARMONIZER @ 10 CENTS OFF FOR A NICE DOUBLE TRACK SOUND.

IF your serious about putting some hair on the ass of your tube amp this thing is a monster,I recently bought a rack mount tube driver after having a floor stomp box unit that i flushed due to too much noise.This unit{rack mount}is all i need for either HENDRIXIAN distortion or beleive it or not RANDY RHODES LIVE TRIBUTE SOUND.

Full range dynamics from low to mid to high,EXCELLENT overall performance.REAL TUBE SOUND ALTHOUGH A 12AU7 TUBE WORKS BEST FOR SMOOTH NO GRAIN BREAKUP.

sOLID AS A ROCK.

m ETAL,BLUES,CLASSICAL

This unit is very easy to use, it has six or seven knobs and you can tweak them to your personal touch

The sound quality is very good when you finally get the right guitar and amp/effect setup. I find that my `82 Ibanez artist or any Gibson type guitar works best with this. When I bought this used about 5 years ago, I was playing U.S. strats exclusively and I was hard pressed to get the tone I desired.

This is very reliable. I`ve dropped it many times and it still works excellently. Ive used it on many gigs without a problem, however I would use various different pedals to get the sounds I want.

This is good for getting any classic overdrive sound however I would recommend using this in a mixer because the bypass sound is really brutal. I bought this from Moze Guitars in 1998 for 20 bucks probably for the reason that the front is painted black. Another cool thing is that you can plug the output into a 4x12 and get a killer sound at low at-home practice levels especially with a tech 21 sansamp and wha
pedal.

Very easy.

The tone is better than any other tube pedal I ever heared. David Gilmour uses two of these and it is a major part of his sound.

I bought mine used on Ebay and it came with a GE 12AU7B. I knew that they shiped with the 12AX7. So I popped a EH 12AX7 from my EH Hot Tubes (another amazing pedal). The 12AX7 sucked ass! You need the 12AU7 or the like. It will give you super warm tone with a gorgous overdrive that doesn't break up.

The PROBLEM with this pedal is that even on bypass it makes a lot of noise. Does anyone know how to fix this? If so contact me.

From the look and weight of it you could beat on it with a crowbar and it wouldn't matter.

Aren't they out of buisiness?

I think I said it all.

Takes some time twiddling knobs for a good sound

It has a tube, and to my ear still sounds better than 95% of the transistor pedals out there. The strong point on this one is putting the gain on 10 -- Hendrix-time!!! Totally flips my Twin Reverb and makes it totally unpredictable, absolutely perfect for out-of control Hendrix!! For a mild, controllable sound for R&B it was always a little too fuzzy/harsh for my taste. When it died I replaced it with an Ibanez Tube King which I use to this day.

HAHA!! I'm like the second person ever to have a problem.

First of all- about the tube- you don't have to baby this pedal, the thing's built like a tank!! Carry an extra 12AX7 and a screwdriver and you're set.

Mine died on me after like the third beer spilled on it. SOmehow, the Tube King has been soaked with beer 6 times and a few with rain and it lived -- Just a couple of beers made something fail in the Chandler. It still functions but has a real loud static that makes it unusable, I'm replacing parts to try to find the culprit, anyone out there have any ideas?

I'm sure if you don't play live around beer, rain, and falling cabinets this thing is perfectly reliable, it just happened to fail on me....

Yea, uhh, where are Paul Chandler and BK Butler now? If you know how to get ahold of either of them, ask them to PLEASE help me determine the failed component!! HAHA, right.

Blues/SRV/R&B/Funk

Not really a very good match for my style, the Ibanez Tube King is closer....

Been gigging for 10 years with my 79 strat and 72 twin

I wouldn't replace it, but I am TRYING to fix it :)

I love the totally whacked-out sound with the gain all the way up, never know what you're going to get :)

I chose this initially because it has a tube, and like I said I think even with the drawbacks it sounds better that most of the transistors... Not as smooth and controllable as the Ibanez Tube King

I wish it had all new components so that it worked!! haha

Good pedal, but to me not worth the crazy $ these things seem to go for these days.

Then again, this was a new concept when it was introduced, tube in a pedal.....

This is the old mid-80s four-knob Tube Driver, not to be confused with the Tube Works reissue of the mid 90s. The reissue is not nearly as good. The oldie says "Chandler Industries, San Francisco" on it whereas the reissue doesn't. Easy to use, drive, level, and hi and lo eq. This one has the Attached AC cord, not the transformer adapter. I give it a 9 for ease of use, because you do have to experiment with the two eq knobs to get the best sound out of your guitar and amp.

The unit doesn't seem to handle low end notes very well. Power fifths, low note runs, and especially drop-D stuff just make it sound constipated. Where this thing shines is as a lead pedal. For solos into an old Marshall it's hard to beat. It's more aggressive and gainier than a Fulldrive, but less so than a Rat. Don't automatically assume that it will make you into Instant Eric Johnson.

Hard to rate. For solos it's great, bluesy with a strat, very powerful Texas Tone with a Les Paul. More dynamic than the Tubescreamer based pedals. I give it a 9 for solo tone, and only a 2 for rhythm tone. Better get a Fulldrive or Maxon 808 reissue and use that for crunch and the Tube Driver for leads.

This pedal is better suited for blues, and the Ibanez Tube King is a better hard-rock or metal pedal.

It's almost 20 years old and still works. In fact, mine has the original Chandler Industries tube in it! It gets a 9 for exterior construction, but only a 5 for interior: The circuit board is not positively mounted to the chassis; it just hangs on the leads of the controls. Not hi-quality construction.

Don't know; they haven't made this one for years.

This pedal is no good for rhythm. But through an old Marshall or similar quality tube amp, it makes great solo tone. With a Les Paul it's no problem at all to get great early-ZZ Top solo tone, or really any kind of classic-70s rock solo sounds.

simple to operate but takes a bit of tweeking to get rid of the "bee-in-a-bottle" preamp overdrive sound. the contour and bias controls have little effect, as far as i can tell. leave these dimed. eq is effective but a little tedious.

well, it's not an overdriven marshall. not bad for 85 bucks. fulltone this is not, but until the fulldrive comes in a rack unit, this will have to do. how many rack overdrive units are there? not many. it contributes a small amount of noise, as can be expected. this won't provide high-gain sounds. it does moderately overdriven sounds. i don't crank it lest i lose all note definition. i leave the boost on. it does a nice cascade into the overdrive. i haven't tried replacing the old sovtek 12ax7 that's currently installed, but i plan on it...maybe a svetlana 12au7. as i mentioned, the eq section is effective but there's a very fine line between "huh, not bad at all" and "wow, that sure does suck" so just take your time and roll those highs off. i'm using it in between an alembic preamp and vht poweramp.

well, it's 12 years old (signed and dated 1990 b.k. butler) and still kicking. the guts look pretty basic, so if you're handy with a soldering iron, you could probably fix it yourself.

uh...nope. note around any longer. b.k. does car amps now. tube works is useless in regard to the chandler unit (even though they sold the same product with a different logo).

as i mentioned, not a bad unit. don't pay more than 100 bucks for it, though. this isn't the best and it isn't the worst. it sounds like preamp overdrive, which is patently different from poweramp overdrive. i don't think anybody would steal it. fulldrive beats the chandler hands-down, but there's no fulldrive rack unit.

Very easy to use, 4 controls Level,HI,LO,DRIVE .I have the BK Butler version with the built in AC.

I usually use either a PRS Custom 22 Semi-Hollow or 57 Reissue Strat .HIWATT Custom 50 1x12.WOW what a tone! You can get an excellent range of tone from overdive all the way to Heavy dirt.You can use this with an ECC83,ECC81,or ECC82 depending on what you want to do with it.I use a Mullard ECC82 and find that it's the very best tube when using this unit as an overdrive.I have tried all 3 different tubes. It sounds awesome when combined with another dirt box ala ProCo RAT 2 or Big Muff as long as you keep the drive low on the Chandler it won't squeal.I do highly recommed taking the extra time and $ to get the earlier BK Butler version , it is definitely superior to the versions that came later with the wall wart.I have had several of each and had the opportunity to A+B them.If you get one on EBAY you will more than likely pay alot more than you can get one on Harmony Central for. I would post a want ad and see if you can get lucky. This works well with any other pedal or pedalboard. I know that David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and Eric Johnson use this pedal in the studio and live.I am sure there are many others though.Defintiely BLOWS AWAY THE Tubescreamer by leaps and bounds even the older ones.

This pedal is extremely reliable but I wouldn't gig without a backup because no pedal is perfect.Had it almost 2 years, no problems at all.The guy I bought it from had it in a closet since 85.

They are out of business,these pedals were only manufactured fo 1985-1988.

I always use this pedal as an overdrive unit with another dirt box. You can also use it by itself as dirt box but you are better of with an ECC81 or ECC83 for that. It works well for blues and classic rock. I'm sure it would fit in quite well with any style.The tube really adds a distinctly more responsive feel to your playing.If it went down I'd try to have it fixed, if that doesn't work then I'd get another in a heartbeat. There will never be another overdrive on my board.Buy one!!Used prices range from @$180-$360 , You can probably pick one up for $200 on average depending on the model and condition.

If you can`t figure out how to use this,then you`re lost.Only has four knobs,just tweak and go with your ears.

Maybe I got a bunk one,but to me,it`s mush city.Like it does`nt like humbuckers,the sound is-how can I put it...squashed and REALLY unusable.Not natural and open sounding.I put in a different tube,which only helped a little.I`ve been playing for like 20yrs and have for the last 12yrs been a rack/processor user.My main pre-amp is my ADA MP-1 through the clean channel of a tube amp.Even plugging the Chandler straight into my Marshall TSL`s clean channel did`nt help,mush city.My Chandler does`nt like full bar chords or single note lines on the E,A,or D strings-like it`s clipping the input stage of the unit.I`m very dissapointed in this box,my Ibanez Tube King IMHO,smokes it.I bought it for all the "hoopla" surrounding it,but I find it totally useless.Like I said,maybe I got a bunk one or it`s damaged internally,I don`t know...

Well after my bad review of it;It seems to be a rugged(though big/bulky)box.The power supply does`nt unplug so damage/fraying at the flex point of the wires(at the base of the unit) could eventually happen.No,this thing will never find it`s way on stage with me(for sound reasons).

Never delt with them...N/A

The Tube Driver I bought was(I think) the second generation Chandler TD(the ones that are supposedly desirable).The first ones had an internal transformer.And the third(and later) were made by Tube Works.I would have loved to give this a rave review,but can`t!It sounds like crap-pardon my french,but it does.Totally unusable...I`m gonna sell it.

This pedal is extremely easy to use. Input, Lo, HI, and gain controls.

Play with the settings and you get what ever your looking for.

I use the following - 50's strat with DG 20 EMG pickups, Boss Cs-3, MXR Dyna Comp, Muff, Chandler, Cornish Soft Sustain, Mistress, MXR Phase 90, Ibanez Delay/echo to an ampeg superjet.

The Pedal is not noisy at all.

Can I get the sound from my favorite artist - YES! In fact try blending this pedal with an overdrive or another distortion and your there!

It works very well with some distortion units, but I find that it is a great Rhythm pedal

Can I depend on it. Well, yes, but I've had a problem with an intermittant hum on start up. See customer service section. I replaced the tube, and after the new tube heats up, it is good to go.

With the hum problem I've contacted both Chandler and Tube Works. Both Companies were Very helpful. Even though Chandler no longer makes the pedal, they offered me good tips, as did tube works.

I play mostly Gilmour type stuff. This pedal is an important piece to that sound if your into it. Great for blues or the like.

I would get another one of lost or stolen

How easy is it to get a good sound out of it? Easier than squeezing hard or relaxing your cheeks for that perfect pitched scent:)
How about Editing patches? N/A
How is the manual for it (if there is one)? Dunno. Mine's used.
Do you know the firmware revision number? N/A
Has your unit been upgraded? Well, I put a 1960 Mullard N.O.S. ECC83
tube in it but I have to say the Czech tube it came with was great quality. The circuitry and electrolytic capacitors in it are perfectly
designed for a high quality pre-amp 12AX7 (U.S.) equiv.

What setup (i.e. what guitars and amps) are you using this with? I use two amps; One, a 1959 Fender Bassman RI w/ a completely N.O.S. tube rectifier /pre-amp and power amp switch out to vintage Mullard and Svetlana. The other, a MusicMan HD210 One-fifty w/ SS pre-amp and 4 Svetlana 6L6GC's for power output.

Is it noisy? No. On what settings? N/A

Are the effects weak or do they always sound great? 110% Juicy analogue overdrive distortion.

What amp are you using it with? Both,either or Direct Injection through mixing board.
Can you get the sound of your favorite artists? YES!
Who are they? Well David Gilmour and Eric Johnson are dedicated fans of the CTD! I use it w/ a Zoom GFX-8's other effects. It overrides the Zoom's digital distortion via Effects Loop patch insertion. Drive selection: "EXT DIST."

Are certain effects (distortion, chorus, ...) very good? THERE IS NO BETTER OVERDRIVE DISTORTION. IT'S THE BEST EVER MADE.

Can you depend on it? Like the Zoom GFX-8, it's metal encased and rugged as a rhino's nose hair.
Would you use it on a gig without a backup? I wouldn't want to...

If you've dealt with the company, how helpful/friendly were they?
N/A. Don't think they make these anymore. Must go pawn shop, EBay, lucky find, word of mouth. Mine is direct plug in, no wall wart. Old.
Ever get an upgrade, or try and get it repaired? No. When you open it up you enter the world of solid and rugged. Tank.

What style of music do you play? Blues, funk, rock, jazz
Is this a good match? YUP!

How long have you been playing? Several decades.
What other gear do you own? Small studio.
If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else? I'd do what it took.

What do you love about it? Tonal range and range within the specific tone chosen...think about it:). Kewl vibe 2.
What do you hate? Putting down the guitar:). Seriously, when you plug it in, it's ON, but the OVERDRIVE isn't on until you stomp it. I put a line switch in so I could insure that the tube doesn't ever have to idle for too long.

What is your favorite feature? TONE Control via Four Pots; Output level, Hi and Lo EQ, and Tube Drive.

Did you compare it to other products? Yes. Which ones? Too long to list; most recently, the custom designable circuitry via GUI software/MIDI transfer capability of digital distortion w/in the Zoom GFX-8.
Why did you choose this one? No contest. From thunder to squeal and everything sonically sexy inbetween, THIS O.D. represents guitar-playing culture at its peak. Back when men were men, women were women, "Dude/dog" was "man", "yo" was a Sylvester Stallone expression
and musicians played the entire neck of the guitar confidently *laughing*.

Anything you wish it had? An identical twin:)

Does it help you make music, or does it get in the way? Good question.
It's one of those tools that helps call the muse in to play.Excellent.

Anything else you'd like to share? Find one, put the highest quality
<NEVER A SOVTEK "Groove Tube" or anything Made in China!> pre-amp tube in it (ECC83 / 12AX7 Equiv; preferably Telefunken or Mullard) and never part with it. If someone tries to steal it,have them urinated upon by a bouncer in the alley after appropriate body parts have been superglued to a car battery as a means of bringing them back to consciousness. Bring a fan and a lawn chair. Call CNN.

You've got problems if you can't operate this unit.

If I was Nigel Tufnell I'd give this thing an 11.

My set up is:
Gibson LP Standard, Fender Strat or Ibanez Moderne >> Tube Driver >> Marshall JCM 800 Combo

I use this unit for one thing and one thing only: getting the most full on fat mid overdrive tone imaginable! My band goes for that big, fat mid heavy tone (think pre-Melancholy Pumpkins meets Blue album Weezer meets MezcalHead era Swervedriver) and this thing kicks. Crank the Drive, Bias, Master and Mid controls to 10, with all other controls on 5. Plug into a JCM 800 and bow at the alter of tone. The other guitarist in my band has been through vintage Plexi Heads, Musicmans, customised vintage Bassman Heads, a few different quad boxes and about 10 different distortion and overdrive pedals to get a tone that's almost as good.

Used it hard gigging for 6 years no probs. Had to replace the tube last year as too much gain had taken its toll;)

As with all tube gear, make sure that the tube is in good nick (the simple test without going for the oscilloscope is to check that the tube doesn't rattle).

I've tried the Tube Driver in front of other amps (see above), but it tended to sound a bit mushy, especially when using a quad box. The unit needs to be matched to the right amp and to get the best sound out of both it and the amp, my suggestion is any Celestian equiped tube combo. I've used it in front of a Line 6 Pod when I was recording some overdubs last year and it sounded fine on the 2-speaker Marshall, Vox and Mesa settings.

I bought the unit with the money my Gran left me in her will, and I like to think that she's responsible for my tone - the Tube Driver was sent from Heaven to crank the hell out of the preamp stage of a JCM 800. RocknRoll!!!

10

10 (with a 12AT7 tube)

10

Progressive rock - PINK FLOYD
Try to use a tube 12AT7. The gain will be superior and the dist will have bitten more. Fuzz killer sound!!! E-mail-me!!!

Very easy 4 knops, what can i say nice

This pedal is the best overdrive I have EVER heard!!
I use a Blade Texas Custom strat type guitar thru the tube driver ,then into a ground control loop system. where i have i hottubes modifyed tubescrimer ,a hottubes booster thru a groovetubes trio preamp into a roctron hush noise gate into a lexicon mpx1 multi effex. Finaly into my awesome vht 2/50/2 power amp into my two mesa boogie halfback 2*12 kabs.
After i got the thandler tube driver i hardly use other than my clean channel in my trio, cause the over drive this pedal i delivering i so nice! It is so varm and sweet when u rool the volume knob on the guitar a little back and a sinning lead tone when u givet it full volume. I simpley gat to have me another one.

Just got it. Works fine

I give this pedal the best. Because the tone in it is the bedst i have ever heard. The sweetest nicest tone, you can get.

Very Easy to use- knobs for Level, Drive, Hi and Low. AC powered. Just plug it in and turn it on. I got it used with no manual. It was previously owned by Phil from Monstar Magnet.

Overall, it sounds pretty good. It seems to be a bit midrangy and flat, but I think that is caused by the Marshall JCM 800 that I am using. I heard that these really rock when you use a Plexi. It really pushes a Marshall very well, although I haven't tried it into my Fender. Mine seems to be kinda noisy, which is weird because I heard that they are really quiet. The switch pops when turned on and off, and it hums a bit when on. This may, again, be caused by the Marshall that I am using. I am using it in my lead channel, which goes strat> origional 1969 Italian Vox V846> Roger Mayer Octavia> 1969origional 1969 Fuzz Face> Tube Driver> Marshall JCM 800. This pedal really nails the Eric Johnson tone, or the Hendrix "clean" tones from the live albums. It also boosts the Fuzz Face really well, to get that raunchy Hendrix lead tone. It also works well with a wah pedal.

I haven't had it for very long, and I haven't giged with it yet. But it does have a tube in it, which can cause problems. I would keep extra tubes and maybe a backup on hand, as it seems a bit fragile. On the other hand, I give this category a high rating because mine was owned by Phil from Monstar Magnet and constantly toured with, and seems to be in really good shape for being taken all over the country.

I mostly play blues, blues-rock, funk, classic rock and jazz. This is a versitile pedal to use with any style. Works well with most pedals, and can go from a smooth clean overdrive to an all out cranked Marshall. I would buy another one if anything happened to this one, as it is one of my main stomp boxes. My only beef with it is the noisy switch and the humming. It doesn't "sing" as much as a tube screamer at lower drive settings, but it sounds warmer than a tube screamer. I prefer the tube screamer into a Fender amp, for that SRV tone. The tube driver seems to be made for a Marshall, although I have never tried it into the Fender. I would like to try it with a solid state amp, just to see if it works well with it, or if its best into a tube amp.

Easy to use. This is the floor unit as opposed to the rack-mount version. The "level" and "drive" knobs are the main features to be used. I don't really see a need for the EQ, but sometimes it is helpful to use it sparingly. The straight driven signal is good enough for a cranked up amp. The pedal is pretty versatile - ranges from smooth to gritty to not quite heavy. But why would you buy one for heavy music anyway? Bought it with no manual.

I currently use a Gibson SG standard through a Crybaby wah, the Chandler tube driver, Boss equalizer, and Boss dd-3 digital delay to an Ampeg 212 combo. I also use a Boss chorus ensemble for clean tones. My setup is designed for a killer clean sound, and a smooth clear distortion. I play mainly blues and jazz-rock. The Chandler pedal is not noisy at all, even at high volumes. I should note that this pedal sounds its best in two different ways. First, just put it in front of an amp with the amp volume cranked all the way up. Then use the "level" and "drive" between the 3 and 5 o'clock without using the EQ, and you get a pure smooth signal and a stellar tone. Eric Johnson, my main influence, uses the tube driver in this fashion. If you don't have the luxury or convenient location of playing that loud, then it is best to use the tube driver with another distortion pedal, with the amp at a lower volume. The sound quality of this unit is astounding and majestic. Using just the tube driver at low volumes can produce a nice gritty blues tone, but does not take full advantage of the pedal. But since I don't use the pedal that way, I give the overall sound a 10.

I have not had problems with this pedal. However, it does rely on a tube, and that does not count for much in the area of dependability. It's plastic knobs seem flimsy as well. But I do treat this pedal with the utmost care, for it is the backbone of my sound. So having said that, I am not too sure of what kind of damage can be done to it since I have been so protective of it. I do use a backup on stage, although I haven't had to use it, but having one on hand is a good idea.

Company stopped making these years ago.

This pedal is a perfect match for my playing style. I have been playing for about nine years, and I have gone through many distortion and overdrive pedals. I got so disillusioned from trying to find a good distortion unit, that I ended up just using the distortion built in to my amplifiers (they just seemed to sound better with the amps). However, I tried a Chandler out and quickly realized I had found what I was looking for. I would definitely buy another one; in fact, I am going to. I love the fact that it's a no-bullshit pedal. It's just made for pure tone. I've compared it to fulltone and tubeworks products, but they don't really compare. They are good pedals, but I just don't get the same feel from them. The Chandler totally refines and punctuates my lead playing with solid smooth tone.

Couldn't be easier. I have the rack unit. All the controls are knobs, and they all do what you'd expect. You can get an amazingly wide range of drives and tones out of this effect. Only thing I wish it had was an LED indicator for the boost, not just for bypass, so I'll give it a 9.

This is a great real tube overdrive. I has wonderful dynamic response, a wide range of drive levels and lots of tonal control. I have my tube driver in front of solid state and tube amps. It sounds good on any amp, but you need a good tube head to really do it justice.

I've virtually never played without this rack since the day I bought it (new). It's seen a good bit of use and travel. I've never had a single problem with it.

No problems, so I never needed support.

I play mostly blues influenced rock guitar (both lead and rhythm). I use the Chandler in front of a Budda 1x12 Stringmaster combo. The Chandler's sweat overdrive combined with the Budda's awesome tube power amp results in fantastic tone. I play a custom made Strat type guitar as well as a Les Paul standard. They have radically different sounds, but the tube driver works great on both. I also have a Marshall tube pre-amp (9001) that cost me more than twice as much as the Chandler, has lots more knobs & buttons, and sounds half as good. The Chandler Tube Driver is a great bargain.

Very easy to use!

I use humbucking guitars with it for a big sound with more gain.The rack model Chandler Tube driver is incredible for Rock rythym guitar.
By playing with the contour,mid,treble and bass knobs you can get almost any overdrive sound you can think of.All of the notes in a chord shine through with clarity.Doesn't produce a huge amount of gain
(ala. Rat,Smash-box,SM-9)but your rythym racks will ROAR with the ferocity of a Tyrannasaurus!

It's pretty dependable,just don't drop it.It'll change the sound.
Gigging with can be a hassle.It's not heavy,but it's a little bulky cause it's a rack unit.But in the studio,this thing is sheer hell!! Just don't forget to change the tube.

IDUNNO.

I play Metal,Fusion,Funk ect.,ect.The Chadler Tube driver makes the
TS-9 look like spam on a cracker...LUNCH! When you turn off the boost,
you'll get a classy,low-gain overdrive that can give you the BLUES.The
weird thing is,when playing lead on high gain it doesn't sound as good
as rythym...go figure.I wish it had a richer,nastier sound for lead, but for power fifths,fourths and barre chords it's AWESOME! Your lead
player better have his shit together cause this thing is NO JOKE! I like it because it's NOT overly nasty.Check one out.

This is an easy pedal to get to grips with. There's a Level pot, a two band EQ (hi and lo but no mid....odd) and a TubeDrive pot. The overdrive on offer is of the highest quality and good sounds leap from the pedal no matter where you set the controls. The unit is equipped with two LEDs. One red to show it is powered up( this is always on) and a green one to show you that the effect is engaged.
I have no manual but it isn't essential. I know what sounds I wanted from the pedal and I had no probs finding them and quickly too.

The sound is top notch. If you are a fan of Dave Gilmour,Eric Johnson,Joe Satriani or Steve Lynch you'll love this. The onboard tube adds warmth to the distortion and it is a pleasure to use the pedal. It does crunchy,driving and screaming tones all with easeI use the tubedriver with a Tele or a Strat (check out http://nadzb.tripod.com/thepedallair/ for more info and pics.) there is a little noise in the sound but this is probabley down to mine bieng old and perhaps I need a new tube too.

the TubeDriver hasn't let me down yet. Good solid build and very sturdy. I have enough distortion pedals to back me up but I can't see this thing conking out yet.

Chandler are out of business now so this doesn't apply.

I really like using the Tubedriver. It records well and is versatile too. I love the warm sound it has but a mid EQ control would be cool. This is a feature on the rack mounted version but I hate racks. I probabley will never get the chance to get one again - its only the second one I've ever seen in England and at the price I doubt i'll top this deal for value. I have lots of distortion pedals to compare it too but the TubeDriver has a character of its own. Don't believe the hype about the new fangled Tubeworks version either - this is the real deal.

simple layout and easy to get great tube tone out of this pedal.

i use a strat with an hs-2 through a wah, tonebender, tube screamer, tube driver, digital chorus. it sounds great. realy smooth and buttery even with a bridge single coil pickup. i find the tube screamer really hums a lot when the tube driver is infront of it. all the effect sound great! the onl way i can get it too sound like eric johnson (my favorite) is too put my jtm 45 on 10. could use a better stock tube.

it is very sturdy, but a little to "hollow" of consruction though i would have no problem not having a backup at gigs.

it is a great asset to my live and studio rig and i'm really glad i bought it!!!!!

This is the 3 knob model - leve, tone, and drive. Very easy to use, just dial until you hear the sound you're looking for. I've found, though, that the only useful tones are around 4-6 on both the tone and drive controls. It's slanted so it's easy to hit the botton.

I use a lot of different guitars with various pickups (mostly duncan though). My amp is a Carvin XV-112 (all tube). Surprisingly, the unit is not very noisy even at high gains. I had some problems with feedback but then the problem went away - could had been something else. I don't use the adapter. I use the Voodoo Lab Power Pedal to power it and I can't hear any tonal differences.

I find that the unit sounds terrible with single coil pickups. I used an LP at the store when testing it. Brought it home and used a tele (with duncan stack tele pickups) and it just sounded terrible - thin and buzzy. When I used a humbucker equiped guitar (DiMarzio pickups I believe), it sounded much better - full with lots of body.

I'm giving it a fairly low rating because it doesn't sound very good with single coil pickups and also because it sound terrible when the guitar is not "wide open" (full volume and playing). When I try to play dynamically or roll the volume back, it sounded thin and "farty".

I do like it for rhythm. But it's not very good for lead. I tried using an EQ pedal after it for solo boost - terrible. I tried using a lower drive unit before it (Jekyll side of J&H) and that worked - nice saturation and roundness. But when you use it, you have to play at "full force". Some have told me that this might be due to it's design ("tube starvation" - low voltage across the plate).

I do like it's rawless and bite though - sort of like the Marshall sound but less on the upper, upper mids.

It also sucks tone (takes away highs) in bypass mode. I have to put it after the Jekyll & Hyde to use the buffer circuit - that helps a lot!

It seems pretty reliable. If it ever failed on me, I would just take it out of the chain and just some other pedals to compensate.

haven't needed it - don't think I can get support for this pedal anyway.

I play all sort of styles. I mainly use this pedal for rock... from 80s to even more modern styles. I use it only for straight out rock rhymn parts and boost it for solos (it by itself isn't that great for solos - see above). I wouldn't buy this pedal again, in fact, I'll probably replace it soon. It does, however, get the tone I'm looking for. But it's lack of versatility and dynamics is a big con for me.

I choose it because it got the sound I was looking for - fat and saturated... great for power chords and good low end respond (nice "thump") for muted playing. I didn't try other types of playing until I got it home.

I tried it out against a black tube works real tube pedal, pro co rat, pro co brat, and mxr distortion+. I think it sounds much better than those other ones. I've also tried out the ibanez tube king before - the tube driver also sound better than that. Much more body and fatness.

This review is for the rack mount version, I've never tried the pedal version. It is fairly intuitive except for the 'Bias' and 'Contour' knobs. I'm not even sure what these knobs do but I almost always run them full clockwise. Both of these knobs seem to have the most pronounced effect in the last quarter turn or so. When both are on '10', the tone is thicker with more midrange. I also almost always run the 'High' knob on '0' (full counter-clockwise). This knob also seems to add midrange and thickness when turned all the way down (the midrange and thickness are only affected in the last quarter turn or so, i.e. when turning the knob down from say 2 or 3 down to 0).

My signal goes like this: USA Strat with EMG's David Gilmour pick-up set into Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde into a Crybaby 535 (no Q) into the Chandler Tube Driver into a Deluxe Memory Man re-issue into a home-made 50-watt Plexi (using one of Doug Hoffman's board kits; absolutely stunning tone) into a '71 Marshall 4x10 cabinet. The Chandler is not particularly noisy unless you dime the Drive control. It's not as quiet as a Fulldrive II (which I recently compared it to) but certainly no more noise than the Jekyll & Hyde. The boost doesn't work on my Tube Driver so I can't comment on that. It does affect your tone when off but I just live with it (adds a just little distortion and darkens the tone a bit). Not as versatile as a Fulldrive II or a Jekyll & Hyde but if the boost worked it would be a little better. The Chandler Tube Driver gives a really nice grind without a lot of fuzz or buzz to it, not really for heavy metal. Even though I don't play a Les Paul, the tone reminds me of early ZZ Top.

It's old and not in the greatest condition but it has never given me any problems.

It's no longer made by Chandler.

I really like the Chandler Tube Driver. I've compared it to a Fulltone Fulldrive II, a Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde, a Boss Blues Driver, an old Tube Works Tube Driver (3-knob version), and a Tube Works Real Tube. They all sound different but the Fulldrive II and Jekyll & Hyde are the only ones to challenge the Chandler Tube Driver. Between those three, it depends on my mood or the song. All three are very good but different.

I bought this new in '86. It came with an instruction card. Pretty easy to get great sounds if you are careful with output vs. gain controls.

I use a Fender Super Reverb ('65) and a stock Clapton Strat. There is some noise but it's not distracting. I brought this out of &quot;retirement&quot; and was really pleased with the great low end grind this unit is capable of. I had been using a Klon Centaur w/a TS9 Tubescreamer. This box is especially good in the sound it delivers when you are playing chords. Especially open position G and C.

I want to make a special comment here: This unit got RUN OVER by a Corvette. It then laid out in a huge rain storm for a half hour before I found it. Except for the sturdy chassis being a little bent and one LED light out, it worked fine!! I give this a &quot;Hall of Fame&quot; level award for surviving this trauma. I would keep a back up for this unit just like I do for my tube amp. Since I have three OD pedals in my chain I'm set.

This is one of the sought after &quot;Designed by B.K. Butler&quot; Chandler models. They are no longer made but I bet you could get a hold of ole BK himself by contacting his current company, Tube Works.

I chose this back in '85 because there was nothing else like it around. I have used the Tubescreamer, The Boss Blues Driver, The Fulldrive II, the Vox OD pedal and the Klon. They are all good in their own way and I still use the TubeScreamer and the Klon. The Chandler just has this really &quot;tubey&quot; soft musical grind that works well with open chords.

It is simple. They are four buttons of adjustments, Level, Eq1 (Hi) Eq2 (Lo) and Gain.

It is simple. They are four buttons of adjustments, Level, Eq1 (Hi) Eq2 (Lo) and Gain. They allow to reach extremely good sonorities. From Pink Floyd (fundamentally), Led Zeppelin... It is a great pedal of Dist. I compared that unit with a MT-2. The MT-2 are terrible if compared him. I can get the sound of Hendrix to increase Level and to almost decrease to the minimum Gain (with a lot of Lo and Hi Eq). It is a pedal that has the true tube sound. Its four adjustment buttons allow spectacular and varied sonorities. If you look for fuller sounds, place the button HI and LO in the position 5. It is perfect.
I play Pink Floyd (mainly), Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin. That pedal is inserted perfectly to the sound types that I play. I use a CS-3 sustain, NS-2 suppressor, SD-2 Overdrive, MT-2 Dist, E.H. BigMuff Pi, TUBE DRIVER, BF-2 Flange, CE-5 Chorus, GE-7 Eq, and RV-3 Delay/Reverb. I use a to Fender Strat with an amplifier Palmer 1970's, Made in Brazil (I don't change that amplifier for any other model). With Tube Driver, I reach all the sounds that I want. It is great.

Peacefully, I can trust that pedal. It never caused me problem, although I have bought him already used.

I play guitar there are just 6 years, I could try few models of pedals (in Brazil they just exist for sale three or four marks of pedals in the market). But, surely, he/she would buy again if it went precise.

This pedal is very easy to use, especially if you're using a tube-integrated amp because it's mainly used for that, seeing how it houses a 12AX7 preamp tube inside the padal casing. I actually used to use it in my Fender Princeton Chorus amp, and it sounded very grainy because I was playing a pre-amp tube pedal through a solid-state. To sound like Eric Johnson it is best to have a tube amp and get that smooth tone that can only be achieved with those vacuum tubes. The controls are pretty easy to figure out. It's actually four knobs: Volume, 2 equalizers, and drive. To get the bast sound, leave the e.q. alone and only adjust the vol. and drive; this lets the amp do all the work. It's a great pedal; took me forever to get one as old and in as good condition as I wanted it. This tube pedal is similar to that of Tube Works, but this one is the hard-to-find model by Chandler Industries discontinued circa 1988. Nothing else compares. The inner-tube can also be replaced with different tubes to get a different tone.

My chain of effects go as follows: Chandler Tube Driver, FuzzFace, CryBaby Wah-Wah, Maestro PS1A Phase Shifter, TC Electronic Chorus+, MXR Analog Delay, Maestro Echoplex

This pedal is great, but it can short out if it's overloaded to the extreme. It happened once when i played at a show in Madison, CT. There was a few more effects in my chain and I must have wired them wrong and the pedal quit on me during a solo, so I had to suffer and use my Rat instead. I wouldn't trade that pedal for the world, but it has its days

The company is no longer in existance. This makes the pedal all the more valuable for collection if you can find one that works well with no flaws

Very simple to use and operate. Has 4 knobs and 2 LED's (one to show its on, and one to indicate the drive is on)

Sound is pretty good. It dosent help much with the music i like (Metallica, Creed, Godsmack, Sevendust, etc.) but it is a very good pedal.

The casing the unit is in is very strong, but the power cord is the weak part. I bought this pedal at a garage sale for $5 cause the wires were pulled out and i would not come on. Luckily, i fixed the wires and it works fine now. Be VERY careful with the large power supply box, cause if you drop it and the cord jerks, its more than likely the wires are gonna break inside and its extremely hard to open that box thingy and fix it.

never dealt with them. all i know is that this model is discontinued, so good luck findin help from Chandler for it!

A very nice distortion pedal. It has served me many hours of enjoyment when there was nothing else to do. If i never had this, i don't know what i would have done without it. If you like "old style" rock then you'll like this pedal alot.

Very easy. only four knobs

The tube makes a peavey sound good. Congradulations Chandler. Crazy train is awesome one this pedal

It's got a tube but otherwise it's pretty good

Never dealt. Ithink they don't even make these any more

Great sound. Hard to find. Once you try it you'll love it.

No manual. No mystery. Output, Low eq, Hi eq, Gain. Set, Stomp and go. Requires lots of delicate tweaking to get a good tone, but that's part of the deal (and I'm pretty picky...)
Gotta plug her in...it has an honest to got tube (what a concept), so it needs juice.

I haven't been as thrilled with this as most other reviewers...The bandwidths they picked for the 2 eqs are not the greatest, and I've found that it tends to noticeably unbalance my tone. Take it easy on the Hi eq or you could have a real dental drill experience.
Part of the issue is (like with anything using tubes) finding the right 12ax7. I've used several different tubes with it, and they can drastically change the way this thing performs. Noodle with it enough, and I bet you'll like it better than other driver/distortion/overdrives/etc., but I wouldn't expect to take it out of the box (especially since you're not likely to find a new one...) and love it immediately.
I like a WIDE variety of tonal qualities at my disposal, and I've found it most useful in a setup like this: running a solidbody humbucker guitar (Gibson, Ibanez, whatever) into a high-wattage valve head at a beefy, but less than maxed overdrive, and back the guitar volume down a bit. Add the Chandler for increased gain, but not fuzzed-out distortion (unless that's what I want) to send it over the top. Cranking the guitar volume up in this setup can summon the national guard.
Don't bother using it as your "distortion" pedal with a solid-state amp. (hell, don't bother using a solid-state amp for anything but clean anyway...)
Mine is a bit older, so no wallwart. I found it pretty damned noisy, so I rewired it a little: I took the power/transformer unit out of the chassis to get it a few feet away from the pedal. It quieted down nicely. When I've got time, I'll re-do it right and just rig it with a real wallwart.

No problems. I've seen tougher, but it's built pretty sturdy.

N/A

I'm a sucker for sounds that aren't polished into sterility...warm, full, rough around the edges. So, I like it. If you want the supertight powercrunch, just save your cash and buy the damned Mesa already.

Easy to use? Definitely. I own an older one that only has output, hi and low eq, and overdrive controls as well as a switch to turn the effect on or off. Newer ones have all sorts of useless toys.

I'm using a '94 Strat Plus (lace sensors) into a '76 twin reverb. I have been looking for a good lead pedal forever. I've tried everything I came across and bought at least 4 of them. This is the first one to come close to the sound I seek. It is very quiet, and VERY SMOOTH for lead work. The best thing about this machine is that it has CHARACTER on just about every setting. It's very thick sounding, even with the strat. Don't recommend it for the les paul side of the coin though.

Seems pretty solid. Tube will need to be replaced regularly.

Model is discontinued, so good luck!

This is an excellent machine. If you are having trouble finding "the" pedal, then give this sucker a try for blues lead, rock, etc. It kicks all kinds of ass!

Went into my setup right away. No manual. There is gain, hi,lo and drive. Who needs one. Dial it in and away you go.

I use Fender Guitars and Amps. This baby gives me nice clean dirty tones very well. Listen to Eric Johnson do "Righteous" and you'll know what I mean. This distortion can be slight or great depending on how much you are driving that little 12ax7 tube in the pedal. I was getting great tones this way.

The fact that it has a tube in it makes me lower this rating. But the tube is replacable so baby the pedal if possible. No wall wart to deal with. The newer ones have it though.

Never called them. I think this pedal is discontinued so good luck finding one.

I was pleased with this pedal. It meshed in nicely with my rig and guitar. I'm still teetering on what is better the Fultone Fulldrive or this. They sound real good together as well as with the Fulltone Soulbender.

This is a very easy pedal to use. Four controls--output level, high frequencies, low frequencies, and gain. Warning: turning the gain all the way down will NOT result in a clean sound; rather it will turn the signal down altogether. Bring it up a bit and you will hear a clean sound, but you'll have to adjust the output level if you want to have it as loud/louder than the bypassed signal. The output level and the gain level are to be used together. You can't just put the level at say 3 o'clock and think that it's going to be the same level no matter what gain you dial up--it's a bit more interactive than that. There's one solid button to step on, and there are two lights, one to indicate that the Tube Driver is on (and remains on), and another that indicates that the effect is in use. They're green and red but I can't remember which is which, sorry! Another warning: this pedal is "on" as soon as you plug it in (it has its own huge wallwart attached to it), and the effect can be turned on or off without any cords plugged in. So bear in mind that the pedal is on all the time so you don't end up blowing the tube inside from too much idle time.

I play a '72 Custom RI tele through a Fender SF Twin. The Tube Driver is not that noisy at all. You don't have to crank the high freq. control at all imho, but you might want to boost the low control (which seems to be more subtle). I like something a bit more gainy than the usual tweed/Fulldrive crunch, but nothing too outrageous where you can't hear the notes of the chords. The great thing about the Tube Driver is that it can sound a Fulldrive or a really gainy liquid-y overdrive--and have the range to sound like anything in between. (Of course, it doesn't have two channels like the Fulldrive, which is a nice touch.) So I can attain a nice tone that I can use for rhythm *and* lead.

This is a very heavy steel box, and the adapter attached is burly (as is the cord). However, the fact that there's a tube inside brings down the reliability score just a tad.

I'm going to say that because they discontinued the model, Chandler is very unhelpful and unfriendly.:)

I play lots of musical styles, but mostly pop with emphasis on clean tones and warm overdrive on occasion. This is a great pedal for my sound. I would definitely try to hunt another one down if this were stolen or lost. I love the tube inside, I love the range of sounds I can get, I love the two-band EQ, and I love how rugged and big the pedal is. I wish it didn't get so weird on high gain settings (anything past 10 o'clock on the gain control is only good for solos) but I never really need it that high anyway. I have gone through two OD pedals before this--the Sansamp Tri-OD and the Voodoo Labs Overdrive. Each one marked an increase in quality, but the Tube Driver beat both soundly and sent them to bed. THis one is warmer and has more range from the really clean to the really gain-y, more tone control, and a better tone overall. Plus, it has lights, which the Voodoo Labs did not (the Voodoo Labs also had no EQ control whatsoever). I kinda wish it had two channels so you could set rhythm and lead settings. It's definitely a musical pedal and very inspiring. I play it with Boss pedals--an EQ pedal, a digital delay, and a tremolo/pan pedal. This is a great pedal for those who don't want to sound like they just turned on a vacuum cleaner when they want overdrive--it sings. I hear Eric Johnson played one. Good for him. Can he petition to have it reissued? These are great values because you'll probably find one used. Mine was $125 and I traded in an old pedal and just gave 'em twenty more bucks. It was totally worth it. Play one and you'll see.

This is very easy to use, it has analog controls for gain, EQ (low, mid, high), master, contour (like a Marshall) and Tube Bias. Tube bias lets you fatten the signal but it is farily subtle. It seems to enhance the tube harmonincs (even) but I am just guessing about that. There is a boost control which allows it to function like a two channel device. Simple. The boost and bypass are footswitch controlled.

Stomp boxes simply cannot compete with this unit. There are better high-end units out there, but not in this price range. The tone is nice and warm, and the boost control gives it a nice kick. It gets a bit noisy with high gain and master settings. The treble EQ adds noise too, but again, this thing sounds very nice. It really makes a tube amp sing and it gives solid state some much needed warmth.

I have no idea, but since it has a real tube in it I will always keep a few back up tubes handy. The chassis seems solid as a rock, and I keep it in a rack mount case so I expect no troubles.

No clue, but this is out of production so there I don't expect much.

I've been playing for 15 years, and I can say for sure that this is one of the better pre-amp units out there. There is not one stomp box that sounds this nice. For real, and I've tried a bunch. There are better pre-amp units on the market, but if you can get a hold of one of these for under $100 BUY IT! I use a customized 1970 Strat with active electronics (hum/sing/sing) with a variety of amps. Run this through a little Fender combo and you'll be shocked at how sweet it sounds. Run it through a solid state combo like a Roland JC120 and it really warms up the signal without sacrificing the clarity.

This is one of the easiest peadals I've used. All you do is decide how much drive you need, fix the EQ and play away. Since I bought it used, I don't have a manual - but the only thing to remember it to keep the volume turned past 5 or 6.

This is a very quiet unit and does not sap your tone when off. The distortion is smooth and very sensitive to any variations in playing. The distortion also gets stronger depending on volume from the guitar, so you can control the distortion level. The only thing is that certain types of tubes make the unit's distortion sound slightly different. I've played ont with a 1970 dead stock Sovitek(it think) tube, and the distortion was definatly smoother, but mine sounds good as well.

The only problem that I can see with this is the fact that you can blow tubes, just like in an amp. It also may feed back a little at higher volumes if the pedal is colse to the amp. I do, and will use it without a backup.

No idea, but I know Chandler doesn't make Tube Drivers any more.

I love it and would definatly buy it again, even over a Tube Screamer. This is the perfect pedal for overdrive and blues/rock stuff, but it is not a stack of Marshalls. Also, Eric Johnson uses one (not that that's why I bought the pedal).

easy

good

good

I would buy it again.

This preamp is very easy to use.

It is a bit noisy on the high end but other than that it is preaty much quiet. The overdrive is very good, but I wouldn't recomed it with sigle coil guitars. The bias is preaty much useless, since I had this preamp for a while and never used it once.

Yes, it is very dependable. I have giged with it many times with no problems at all. By the way my band consists of Alex S and me Mike B. We are called Tangarine Dream.

I never talked with Chandler people but I suspect the are a bunch morons.

Yes I would buy it again not just for the overdrive. If you put the boost off and the drive down to zero and your transistor amp to 7 you can get a preaty good tube sound. Not as much juice and wormth as the old famous Fender Bassman can provide, but still gives you that added tube sound to your cheap trans. amp.
P.S Grunge sucks the bag!!

tube overdrive/distortion, easy to dial in settings. The mannual was pretty basic-4 or five settings were described. Mounted in a one space chassis.

Line noise low as opposed to some of the older solid state devices (like MXR). The tube circuitry is very quiet. Two lines in, two lines out, one rackspace high. Pretty clean for the signal/noise ratio.

Very dependable. Robust.

Never talked to cs, no problems

Better than most distortion units, because it will give settings that surpass the effects sold as distortions that are really just signal boosters. I have seen these used for 100-150.