Electro-Harmonix LPB2ube

This post is about using this pedal with a Keyboard as there are a couple of previous confusing post, I have not tryed it myself but according to Paul White's review from sound on sound:
"The Electro-Harmonix LPB 2ube is a pedal-based stereo tube preamp for use with unbalanced line or instrument sources, including guitars and basses. The all-tube signal path (using 12AX7s) has two valve stages per channel, and is run at a high voltage, even though the external power adaptor might seem to indicate to the contrary. The circuit has been designed for a nominally flat 20Hz-20kHz response.

A rotary switch sets the input level between Lo (INSTRUMENTS) and Hi (LINE)"

Quite simple. But make sure you need IT (aka preamp), not overdrive. Since this thing is not an Overdrive. Get an English Muff'n instead, if you need overdrive.

It does what it should, and sounds really good.
I've used it together with Ehx Black Finger with my bass guitar, and it had much more punch in the sound.

It's quite solid (even though not as solid as the other non-tube ehx products). Wwent through several gigs with me, including one which I have no memory of - don't drink before you play!
The lamps are weak part - you'll have to change them once in a while, otherwise the thing start to produce lots of noise.

Never dealt with them.

Great thing, but you should be really sure about what you want from that pedal.
I've enjoyed playing around with mine for a year, then sold it together with Black Finger, and don't regret about it.
Tube sound is quite funny, but for the bass guitar I prefer transistors - they are much clearer sounding. For me.

Simple to use, two channels, two knobs (gain and volume), pretty basic stuff here. Can be used as splitter

Bought this to use as a tube pre-amp for direct recording bass guitar. This thing really warms and fattens up the bass guitar and now it actually sounds alive. I can ease up on the VST processing and get a nice deep bass sound.

Also tried it on my guitar through a Line 6 Flextone amp and it helps here too! My distortion lead patch sounds even better with this thing, amazing! It's actually quite shocking to hit the bypass button and then listen to what was there before. Total thinness compared to this thing.

Bought it used but so far no problems. Only for studio use so no worries here.

N/A

I got a decent deal on this used and buy another if I lost it. There are many tube pre's out but most are racks that I could not care for in my amateur studio. Although my main purpose is recording bass, using it as a pedal is great as well.

This is a stereo tube preamp in pedal form.

Contols are right gain, right volume, left gain, left volume.

Can be used as a booster with an amp or to increase output to line level for direct recording.

Another use I don't see mentioned hear is as a tube buffered true bypass loop. Run from the right output to effects and from effects output into the left input and you have a footswitchable effects loop that is tube buffered with adjustable send return levels.

Can also be used as a buffered splitter.

The main reason for this post is to respond to the misguided keyboard player who wrote the negative review.

First of an electronic keyboard is a line level device so it is pointless and redundant to use a preamp with it since the purpose of a preamp is to raise the output level to line level; you're only going to overload it. You wouldn't run a CD player through a microphone input right? Well that is equivelent to running a modern electronic keyboard through the EH 2ube. This would make a great preamp for keyboards that operate at INTRUMENT LEVEL such as a VOX Continental or a Fender Rhodes, and no doubt cascading the gain stages would give you a nice growl, but it's going to make the B-3 preset on your Nord Lead sound like a real B-3 (franlkly nothing will).

Secondly this is not a distortion pedal anymore than a microphone preamp is a distortion pedal so it is no surprise your keyboards internal distortions sound better. My toaster also makes toast better than my coffee maker. It is possible to create a subtle overdrive with a GUITAR by cascading the gain stages but that is NOT the point of the pedal. The fact that you are starting from line level means the input is going to be so overloaded it will probably clip before it even hits the tubes.

Now onto the point of this pedal which it to act as a preamp/booster for guitar and bass. As the name linear power booster implies it boosts your output in a very "linear" way meaning it is transparent or "what goes in comes out" the same only louder. This is a great way to boost something like a sansamp pedal to full line level and avoiding additional solid state gain stages. It also makes a nice direct box for bass and guitar.

Distortion pedal->2ube->speaker simulator would be a great alternative to a POD.

The unit is very queit and high fidelity while not sound hard, cold or flat, but instead warm, defined, and spongey.

Nice build like all EH pedals.

Never had a problem contacting them and getting straight answers.

It does what is advertised and it does it about as perfectly as anyone could expect.

this pedal is easy to get average tube sounds out of, but a bit harder to get great tube sounds out of. with the 2 drives and 2 volumes combined with a hi and lo input option, this pedal is very versatile. I actually bought it to warm up my solid state GK bass amp, but now I use it with guitar to get a great early break up for solo boosts.

this pedal has elevated my bass sound to new heights. along with the EH Black Finger I now destroy almost any other bassists at our shows. I can get huge sound with beautiful depth and warmth. I originally used this only as a boost for heavy parts, but now that I have an ODB-3 by Boss for actual distortion, I keep both EH pedals on all the time. its like having 4 preamp tubes in my setup.

I wouldn't buy this pedal if I already owned a mesa boogie or ampeg head for bass, but for guitar (and my needs) it rocks. also, try it in the studio when you're struggling to capture the warmth you're looking for. a great option to 'cheat' and get that vintage tone today's digital mixers just can't replicate.

although its designed for studio use, its an EH pedal, so you can gig it all you want. just don't be an idiot and take care of your stuff, and you'll never have to worry about this guy.

no idea

I use this for bass in a Doom band in the vein of Mono or Isis, and I love it. again, I use it in conjuction with an EH Black Finger, but it was definitely worth the money. just be patient when combining it with other effects, as you'll likely get too much feedback at first. take the time to alter your signal path or the settings and you'll be glad you did.

Well, even if this tube preamp seems really easy to use, you will need a little time to experiment different solutions and INs-OUTs combinations in order to get YOUR tone.

My preferred combination is:

guitar --> Boss NS-2 Input --> Out to AMP (Mesa Caliber .50+) --> Send from NS-2 --> LPB-2BE Right Input --> Right Out into Left Input --> Left Input of LPB-2BE into NS-2 Return

The NS-2 (Threshold set to MAX, Decay set to MIN) will clean-up any noise and you can use both Volume and both Gain controls on the LPB-2BE to get a warm, rich, fat tube overdrive that will give your amp a kick in the ass!!!

The unit doesn't generate any distortion and will never change the main features of your guitar or amp, it will add "just" more harmonics and tube warmth to your tone.

It can be a little noisy when used like I use it (right channel linked to left) but a Boss NS-2 will make it absolutely silent, even when volume and gain controls are set to high values.

I use it with a Mesa/Boogie Caliber .50+, a '88 Strat Plus with Seymour Duncan pickups and a custom guitar with Seymour Duncan as well.

well, now I depend on it...

It's Electro-Harmonix...you can gig with it wihout any fear!

Never dealt with EH Customer support....

I play hard rock (Deep Purple, Whitesnake) and I love '70 and '80 guitar tone.
With this unit and my amp, I get the tone I love more!

If it would be stolen...I would kill the thief!!!

It' very easy to use as a mono or stereo preamp two channels two knob. You have to work on the 4 knobs to find the right sound when used as an overdrive

excellent used as a preamp! It fatten the sound comng out from the amp and make a naked digital recording dressed with a warm coat.

excellent used as apreamp or overdrive with both ss amp or tube amp! you have to spend a lot of time dialing with the 4 knobs but you can find some great tones in it. Not metal distorsion or huge overdrive but some true crunchy dirty sound, great for rythim and dirty solos. I've swapped original tubes with 2 12ax7 tungsol and I've noticed a huge improvement in sound. take some time to experiment different tubes!

It doesn't change the nature of your amp in both cases (preamp or overdrive) it make it sound better

I've gigged a lot with it and used it in my home studio, it never let me down

Never dealt with them

I've been playng for about 15 years and I mostly play some indie pop/rock music and the pedal suits my need perfectly. I use a telecaster and a epiphone sheraton (both modified with Harmonic design pickups)a Fender Deluxe reverb and a Roland JC 77 and the lp2ube is the only pedal that give me the right overdrive through my amps (I've owned a lot of overdrive pedal!)

I surely would buy it again!

Very easy to use. I never peaked at the manual.

My basic complaint is that it's a useless piece of gear. I bought it to warm up my Nord Electro organ sounds. When I A/B dry verses effect the sound quality is slightly worse or not noticable. When I increase the gain to get a tube distortion it is not as good as the distortion effect on the Nord. I ran test on three different days to make sure I was getting a good read on it. No difference.

Never gigged with it or used it in the studio. Who knows? I just dumped it on craigslist. Traded it for a rack.

Not sure.

I can only say that I regret buying it because it added nothing but more wires to my rig.

two separate channel, each with drive and output volume control, and one gain level selector for both channel. just plug and dial your desired amount of tube boost.

my setup

guitar - LPB 2ube left channel - GNX-2 - LPB 2ube right channel - guitar amp fx return / P.A. System

i'm a newbie in tube sounds. i bought this unit to warmed-up my digital effect processor, Digitech GNX-2. My GNX-2 is doing his job very well to provide my a descent tone. when i add this LPB 2ube to my setup, i finnally able to feel a bit magic of tube. my GNX-2 sounds louder, has better clarity, punch, warmth, tone, and one thing that really amazed me, an awesome string to string definition.
i was able to give my GNX-2 a big notch.

it was made fom alumminum casing. it's very lightweigth but i think it should be able to handle some abuse. one thing to remember maybe if you really care of the look of your effect, alumminum is quite easy to be scratched. so be gentle with this unit.

never dealt with them

i play electric guitar. i rely to amp simulator rather than real amp to achieve my sound. the GNX series of Digitech is probably one of the best there available in the market. but to sound like a real tube amp, it needs a tube. this LPB 2ube could really helped you out.
one thing that is awkward to me is the tube provided from the factory are not the Electro-Harmonix's 12AX7, it's a Sovtek's 12AX7WB. it's still okay, but why should the company compensate their quality? i heard that the Electro-Harmonix's 12AX7 is a good stuff on the market.
one special note maybe for you who rely your tone on an amp simulator, tube are truly worth to buy for your rig. it provides better realistic sound. for those of you who preffer a cost-effective amp simulator and a tube, i recomend you Vox Tonelab, but not the Vox Tonelab SE.

This pedal is very easy to use, decide if you are going stereo or mono, set drive to desire and boost it with the volume knob... and you are rockin!!!

This pedal has been a great solution for my rig.

I play a Gibson Les Paul Studio (w/ Humbuckers) => Cry Baby => Line 6 POD PRO (rack)=> Boss DD-3 (delay) => LPB 2UBE => Marshall 9200 100 Watt power amp => Marshall 4*12 1960A Lead loaded with celestions... I play all kinds of rock & blues. My most common style and distortion sound is very similar to Slash of Guns'N Roses...

This is the greatest set up I owned. Before I added LPB in my rig, I had more of a digital and sharp feeling to my sound and it got worse and more noticibly digital as I cranked it. I tune my Pod to the JCM 800 setting, and I set the drive to 7/10 on LPB, there it was, it delivered me a very realistic tubed amp tone. I coulnt believe it. I always want to hear the tubes burning when ever I touch a string, or switch between notes, chords, and I can get that much of realism with this box. The JCM sounded like a JCM and so did any other amp models in my pod.

I also used this pedal with hybrid and solid state amps as a boost and still makes a big impact on your tone.
If you are planning on getting this item as a distortion or overdrive pedal, you are looking at the wrong product. This pedal does not distort to a decent level of satisfaction, but if this pedal is cranked with your distortion it ll really give you a big, warm, chunky, and a great sound that you'll love.

I gigged and studio recorded with this pedal since the day i got it. It is not noisy and the best part for me is: when cranked it really helps to cut thru the live mix, it adds a good presence and I am always heard on stage.

If I lost it or if it got broken on me, I d probably get another one...

Never had to deal with them.

Great pedal for all sorts of music. Reliable product, important piece in my rig.

very very easy...

Just about perfect. It is actually a studio equipment rather than a pedal you would take to a gig. I am forced to record digitally, therefore I have to cheat with LPB2ube and some tube plug-ins. So far I recorded synths and guitar/bass through and it really makes a difference. Well, even if you put two 12ax7 tubes in a cow - the milk would taste better. and I agree with the collegue that this is not a dist/overdrive.

I would never gig with it...

good... really good and warm. though I dont use it much, the last time it amazed me how it turned a small Fender amp into a tube beauty.
one more point for ehx
- excpept that I bought it too expensive

pretty simple 2 channels each with a level and drive control you can run it stereo or both channels in series mono

Well this would make a great booster! I loke it cause it just seems to fatten up the tone so well it just has this something I can't describe it just makes everything sound really big. It really warmed up a solid state amp I had and made it sing but running it in front of my dual rectifier made it sound huge!!!

no idea I'll know if it breaks... the only thing I could see being a problem is having 2 actual tubes in it. If you aren't careful they could get broken in transport.

It does a great job for boosting and fattening a tone but if you are looking for something to give you distortion your in the wrong place. This pedal can provide some grit but nothing substantial. If I lost this I'd get it again it sounds great!