Electro-Harmonix Hot Tubes

This is the EH reissue hot tubes with two 12ax7s in it.

fairly easy to use. 5 controls: volume, gain, drive, bass, treble. Only confusing if you don't know the difference between gain and drive but a few minutes twisting them and you will figure it out.

Sounds exactly like a big muff. Instead of a tone control you get bass and treble, and instead of a drive knob you get gain and drive. Big deal, still sounds exactly like a big muff. The only advantage of this over a big muff is that you can get subtler shades of fuzz, but who buys a big muff to turn the gain to 1? I like the sound of big muffs, but i would buy a bm for $50 before this for $225. for that, i give it a 5.

it's got tubes and an ac adaptor. Because of that you have to be a little more careful with it so ya don't break em. It's got a large metal shield over the tubes that looks like the ventilated barrel of a tek nine which should hold up well, and the case is made of pretty durable steel. Looks fairly reliable.

haven't dealt with em.

A good pedal, sounds great. But it's basically a big muff with tubes, which doesn't make it sound any different if you ask me. MIGHT be slightly smoother gain with the tubes, but I think the older bmp's sounded pretty smooth anyhow. I'm returning it due to the fact that it's basically an overpriced big muff with tubes.

out of the box it is very intuative but the tone notching takes a little time to get used to

i use an italia modena, gibson sg and a fender tele with an enchanter 20 custom amp simular FE3 tweed deluxe. i found myself frustrated using the pedal because deluxe amps are so transparent and the hot tubes pedal seemed to give me the same sound no matter what guitar i was playing or even which pickup the guitar was switched to. pedal sounded like tree bark feels. along the lines of a hepcat mated with a big muff. if you want to play mc5's kick out the jams this is the pedal for you.

seemed to be well constructed. used for one gig and then headed to the nearest mail box to send back.

owen is a cool dude. very easy to get along with

fran the man knows her sound well and sticks to it. i tried it but just had to pass.

Never got a bad sound,(excluding excessive gain & being too close to amp type scenarios).BLEW AWAY My 70S BIG MUFF!!!! Im talking about totaly stomping it. a 10.

I play lap steel guitar,so my tastes are somewhat dictated by the fact I only have one pickup to work with. The pedal is kinda dark toned, which is cool for lap guitar in all settings but C&W(no distortion here).I can afford the treble loss. use with Fender Deluxe Reverb (blackface)with Fender,Gibson,National&custom lap guitars.In short,Killer!

Bought from friend for 10 bucks,a solder joint wasnt quite up to par. how that connection survived all those years without failure mystifies me still. resoldered it 8 years ago,still goin strong.I HAVE gigged it without backup!!!!

No clue here.

I have been playing rock,blues,country &"experiMENTAL" for eons. I own various gutars and amps i have aqquired over the years.Stolen,HAH,this thing is so ugly people are too scared too touch it, much less steal it.I love Fuzz,Distortion and Overdrive pedals. no such thing as too many.One question,why slide switches? yech.

Five knobs- everything is very, very sensitive. I really would have liked a more complete technical manual, with the actual frquency cutoffs, bandwidths, etc... The 'manual' was nothing more than a sheet which told you what the knobs were. Thanks, guys, I really coulkd have just assumed that from the writing on the unit... I spent (and still spend!) a lot of time playing with it, it is very versatile and allows for a plethora of sounds which are very easily acessible. All you gots to do is turn those knobs...but I still don't know how the circuit really functions. If they had included a more technically specific manual, I feel as if I could really use this unit to the utmost potential.

Oooooooooooooohhhhh...I love love love it! I play a Tele through a Silverface Twin (non-boost master volume) and have longed for a box that drives my amp and adds some grit without sounding too artificial. It really is like another channel in the amp. It is very natural sopunding, and highly sensitive. On the more extreme settings, you can really get anything ranging from Big Muff to near Octavia, but I generally bypass the bass and treble settings and just use a little bit of drive, just enough gain, and try to match the master volume to the output of the channel on the twin. This gives me a great, natural Keith/Ronnie sort of tone and allows me to do the ol' turn-down your-volume-knob trick for dirty/clean variation. I really am not a huge fiddle on stage sort of person, so I generally run my Crybaby into the Hot Tubes, into a delay, followed by a Small Stone. Using this setup I am able to utilize all of my effects without any muddiness. An excellent box, not too noisy on the non-extreme settings.

It seems utterly dependable- but the proprietary spade/pin adapter connector for the transformer seems suspect. It is not very sturdy and seems like it could break. And the other day, it sparked when I put the already-plugged-in transformer into the pedal. That is another bummer- no seperate on-off switch. 12ax7a tubes are tough but having them plugged/unplugged constantly- I really don't know how good it is for the pedal. I would have liked to have seen a built in power supply for this with a standard ac plug. For the price they ask, it would seem appropriate. Other than that, the box is well constructed, and seems like it would (hopefully) last a lifetime. I don't really have a backup super-tube-pedal, so I would use it on a gig and pull it out if it failed, turning up my amp channel to compensate.

I have loved this pedal since I first checked it out in a boutique music shop in NYC. I got it on a blowout, which is why I now own it- the asking was 180, I got it for 139- much less dear. I want to own and use this for a long, long time. It is really almost everything I've ever wanted in a gain pedal- clean warm gain, distortion, overdrive, intense tone shaping- I just wish it had: 1. A power switch; 2. Another gain stomp, i.e the visual sound Rt. 66, so I could have two discrete gain settings; 3. A more precise manual covering more overall aspects both technically and sonically; 4. A built in power supply or a non- proprietary standard barrel adapter. For the price I see it at most of the time- upwards of $190- all of these things should be part of the construction and presentation of this unit. I highly recommend buying this pedal if you have the means. The only other thing that comes close is really any 808-style OD, but you really don't get the chunky warmth or the tone-shaping capabilities or the sensitivity you get with this unit. I am only giving it an 8 because of the deficits mentioned. I really love this pedal and will be a lot less tense once I buy a new pedalboard and can just keep it plugged in and set up all the time.

This is the new Hot Tubes Overdrive, which uses two 12AX7 tubes (housed under a metal bracket, which is held in place a screw at each side). Controls include master volume, gain (distortion), drive (overdrive), bass, treble, footswitch, and two led's (one for power, one for effect on/off). The electronics are housed in your typical E-H (industrial looking) metal enclosure, and comes packaged in the trademark E-H pine box.

This box really took some getting used to. The controls (especially bass/treble) are VERY sensitive and abrupt. When I first plugged into this I immediately turned the controls to max and struck a power chord. My my first impression was that this is just a Big Muff with tubes (for the novelty factor). From there, I fiddled with the tone controls, but could get nothing more than a few fuzzy sounding squeals and burps (Cool sounding, but not what comes to mind when I think of "Overdrive"). After 30 or 40 minutes, I finally got a feel for the controls, and actually got some nice sounding OVERDRIVEN sounds. The manual is no help here, just work at it!

My set-up changes weekly, but I'm currently playing a G&L Commanche and US Masters Vector through a VHT Valvulator (line driver/power supply)--> Tech21 Killer Wail Wah--> Guyatone ST2--> Fulltone 70--> E-H Hot Tubes--> Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive--> Line6 MM4--> Boss NS2--> Line6 DL4--> Tech21 Trademark 60.

The Hot Tubes covers a LOT of sonic territory, so for comparison purposes, I will use the Fulltone 70 and Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive. The Hot Tubes can get a nice overdriven sound (not unlike the Sparkle), but lacks the midrange sweetness of the Sparkle Drive. It can get dirtier and nastier, but the you really have to search for the sweet spots. They are there, but it doesn't come easily.

As mentioned above, you can get some Big Muff tones from this thing (and really GOOD sounding tones as that), and at extreme settings it can get pretty bizzare square wave distortion. The Fulltone 70 can not get quite as extreme as the Hot Tubes, but the Hot Tubes couldn't match the 70's range of sweet spots. Where the Fulltone really left the Hot Tubes behind is how it interacts with your guitar. Turn your guitar volume down through the 70, and your tone cleans up beautifully. Turn the volume down through the Hot Tubes.....well, it just turns the volume down. At lower settings (on the Hot Tubes) it did clean up, but lost a lot of top end and sounded muddy. Also, regardless of settings, the Hot Tubes always seemed to be a bit noisier than both the 70 and Sparkle.

Seems pretty sturdy and well built, but time will tell.

Never dealt with them.....Hope I never have to.

I play a variety of music, but primarily dabble with heavier blues/rock, and also play on a church worship team. I've been playing for 20+ years, and have owned enough guitars, amps and pedals to last 50 life-times. I know rating anything is going to be a bit subjective, but having played through hundreds of "blue collar" and "boutique" stompboxes over the years, I feel I can give this pedal a fair assessment. So, what is my rating? Pretty good pedal. Is it worth the money? Possibly. It does cover a lot of sonic territory, and if you're looking for a good sounding do-all overdrive/fuzz, this could fit the bill.

I have th ere-issued version of this pedal so it has five knobs on it as opposed to the five on the previous versions. I really had to play with it to get the sound that i wanted as the treble and bass controls alos change the sound dramatically rather that just those two tones (the treble for instance seems to add an almost 'wah' like quality to it). The there is also the drive control which if crakned up too migh just gives far too much middle

Once i did find the setting i wanted though i banned anybody from touching it cause it would just spoil it. The sound i have found is a real AC DC sound which is just a really nice distortion without picking up too much feedback. I have also found some other good tonesin there. It can sound a lot like a big muff (which i also have) and so this could be good for Pumpkins type stuff. However the dials mean that there is a huge amount of tones in it, you just have to make time finding them and then dont do what i do and forget to make a note of the ones you liek as i lost a really great tone once and cant find it again (doh!)

I own four EH pedals and haven't had a problem with it that isn't fixable. The only slight problem i had with it was i dropped it and one of its vavles popped out of its cradle but all i had to do was take off the cover and pop it back in again. It works fine now. I have had no other problems with it (although the power supply is really bad in UK plugs)

Never had to deal with them

Great pedal if you are prepared ot sit down and play with it. I wasn't at first ut i came round to it after playing with the dials all day. If you want a broad sounding cool distortion pedal then you cant do much better than this. The Tube king is also great but i prefer this one as it has more Big muff qualities than the tube king

three knobs,in, out, switch to step on...is there anything more on a good overdrive pedal?

m'kay, i bought this from a vintage shop in the area, when i tried it out, i had a sears silvertone wonderously ancient tube head running through a peavey(ich!) 1/12 cabinet(the only thing with matching ohmage), it took a moment to work, which made me hesitate, waiting is not good,ESPECIALLY if it's a solid state unit, i was assured it was old, and since i've had it, no more waiting...anyway, i grabbed an axe, an early 70's mustang(71,72?) as i fiddled with the knobs on the guitar (to get the right pickup on) the signal started coming through the amp. of course, being a devout mc5/stooges fan, the overdrive was set on 11, tone on about 7, volume on 11...normally, mustangs tend to sound a little thin at low volumes...NOT IN THIS CASE!!!
i had the bridge pickup in a mustang sounding like the neck pickup in a les paul...it was thick, creamy, and just plain beautiful, a tear came to my eye, for i had found the single greatest distortion unit on the planet!!!
m'kay, so that was at the store, right? it's always different at home when you set it up with your rig isn't it? i use a DiPinto galaxie(four pickups, heh.) and a laney linebacker l50r(i know what yer thinkin' but it's only for practicing at lower volumes!)as i set up my rig, i told myself not to get my hopes up, things always sound better in the store...HA! open E chord, everything cranked... like a kick in the gut with a lead shoe!!!!THICKER THAN THE TONE DROPPED TO THE BOTTOM ON A BIG MUFF!!! i just got way too exited...

i've had it for only 2 months, practice, gigging, bedroom, i get very aggresive when i play, and tend to flail and thrash, and jump around alot, and fall frequently! i also abuse(i.e. throw) my equipment around, ala townshend, and it works pristine, like brand new, oh and it is not a reissue, it is an older one...i don't know how old though

i've not dealt with E.H. but if i ever had a problem with the pedal, i'd search the universe for another...or buy a reissue, which ever i feel like doing at the time.

i play a wierd sort of music at the moment, kind of "industrial, with nutra-sweet" modern rock billboard 40 stuff, i play live guitar, no studio stuff yet, and my wayne kramer/"sonic" smith style works pretty well with the music,(my stage amp is a kustom 100 212 combo...tuckn'roll...heh.)it's a single guitar based group, a few of our songs require two guitars though. when you double the decrepit sound of my "vintage" junk rig, with my singer/bassist/on/off guitar player's smooth mesa, digital, line six "look at me i'm cool" in a pretty box guitar sound, it really molds well, really cruddy, and super-perfect, the two sounds together can't be beat! the perfect balance of analog and digital! i never thought that could happen!!!
ELECTRO HARMONIX ARE THE GODS OF PEDAL MAKING!!! NEVER USE ANYTHING ELSE!!!!!!!!!!!!

as my colleagues said: three knobs and there we goohoooooo...

it's marvellous! it's the grown up brother of the big muff: it clearly sounds similar, but with less distortion/fuzz and more delicate. oh, it's surely no tube simulation, but it's a wonderful distortion unit! it's really strong at midrange and i use it for lots of guitar sounds that require some "kiss my a%%" attitude, my favorite GLAMROCK-distortion: sweet, delicate and even somewhat controlable.

i nearly took it onto stage, but i have to rely on more distinctive tools. if i was forced to take a "fuzz" unit, this one would be my choice!

there's a ac cable fixed to the unit. i didn't gig with it, but i guess i won't break at once!

i give it a ten - for about three decades of wonderful effects manufacturing!

my glam rock diamond, my rock and roll jaws, my rhythm'n'blues bitch... do i have to tell You more?

you plug in, and there is a button---not so difficult. oh and its own built in ac----------dont have to fuss with wearing out a battery.

warmth. really warm. i have a 59 duo sonic and a 67 bronco. tones are warm. real warm. sunn head.

nothing went wrong.

mike? i dont know him.

why bother getting something else, youll just end up getting this in the future.--------if your ears know good tones-ha ha very few do.

Three knobs, one for distortion, one for tone and one for volume. There is one input and two outputs, one direct out (uneffected signal) and another for the effected sound. Getting a good sound out of this pedal requires a good amp basically, it sounded great at any volume through the clean channel of my tonemaster, but my AC30 needed to be on about quarter volume before I could get it to sound acceptable, with a bit volume from the amp, this pedal really starts to sound great, if you want great dirt at bedroom levels, forget it, at this level it sounds really quite bad, but at gigging volumes is one of the best pedals I've owned (and I've owned quite a few)

If you max the volume out you get an enormous boost in level especially when overdriving a clean sound, but background noise is quite high if you set the volume above three-quarters. The best sounds to be had from this unit are obtained from bypassing the tone circuit (there is a tone-bypass switch) as the tone circuit isn't really up to much, and setting the distortion no higher than around 8, otherwise it gets too fizzy, if you set the volume to match the level of your clean sound when the pedal is off, you should get a decent crunch, but if you set the volume too low, you don't get much balls.

I've only had it for a week, it seems sturdy enough, and the internal wiring looks good enough and it's an original not a re-issue so if it's been around for all this time and still all original and working fine, this to me is a testament to it's good build quality. It has now entered the ranks as top gigging distortion unit

Never dealt with them, but New Sensor who now deal with all things E.H. seems to be quite helpful and informative.

I would certainly buy it again, and I possibly will if I find one in better condition as mine is fairly cosmetically-challenged but is still working fine. The sound is one of the best I've heard from a solid-state distortion unit, the only thing I don't like is the inability to get good sounds out of it at low volumes (bedroom levels). When buying this pedal I must have tried about every distortion pedal in the shop, but this won on all scores. If you want a good pedal for solid crunch, check one out !!!