Jacques Stompboxes Tubeblower

What a box! Low low noise, high high quality! Fresh and lively, and the eq is fantastic,worth the unit for itself. I use the tube blower to boost a sans amp original, or a korg classic overdrive properly set, or any amp and you don't believe the results. Go try one, difficult to explain that. Another set-up I have is yamaha aex1500(jazzbox w/piezo)-boss cs3 compressor-jacques as equalizer with drive set to zero. The boss smoothens the piezo and the jacques refresh and focuses all(boss is dull of course). The result is very lively and natural. I won't part with my jacques!
The dc jack is clever(a second one is there to supply other units, why does everyone else make just that???) and the miniphone type becomes a must when you play far from the supply:any shop has extension cords for phones... The device itself feels very solid, and its size just the good one. Marvelous little thing!:-)))
I have to say you get a slight delay, but no drop, when switching,it just feels unnatural. But who cares, Jacques is really the best!

Level, bass, treble, and drive. That's it. Very simple. Manual is brief, and doesn't really describe everything. Such as, it has an output jack called "send" and I don't know what that is for. Hook up to another unit? Daisy chain power out? I suspect it's so you can send the effect to a board.

Unbelievably great sounds out of this baby. The best overdrive/distortion I have ever used, and I've used them all...up until now, the Boss Blues Driver was my favorite, but this one is insane. I wanted a box that would drive my Fender Blues Junior, but not just overdrive it, make it scream with pain. Kind of like a tubescreamer, but better..much better. More gain, and a bottom end that the TS-9 is missing. Super gain!!! Think Billy Gibbons with a Marshall Plexi and you're there. Superb tone. Sounds great at any volume level. Of course it sounds better cranked, but it even sounds awesome at bedroom levels and below!

The battery was jiggling around in the battery compartment making it a bit hinky on the connection. I had to put a piece of cardboard in there jammed up against the battery to hold it securely. Don't know if they're all made this way or if mine is an aberration; when I get the proper AC adapter this won't matter.

Haven't dealt with yet.

I play blues and blues rock; ZZ Top, Trower, Hendrix, Zep, any 70s arena rock, plus BB King, Albert King, some SRV. Heritage Blues Deluxe semihollow into a Fender Blues Jr. I like things simple. It cracks me up to see guys pay 7-900 bucks for a nice tube amp, great pristine sound, then complain about how they can't find the right tone. Then they run down their rig: "I go through a noise suppessor then a tubescreamer then a DS-1 then a Toneworks overdrive then a flanger then a phaser then a digital delay then a reverb all into a Maxon Ibanez Boss thingamjiggy ..." then wonder what happened to their tone. Keep is simple, stupid! The amp is generally all I need, the drive knob crunches it up nicely for my style, but when I need an extra boost I use the tubeblower. It doesn't such the amps sparkly tone. It sings and rings. It makes a great amp better. All the other pedals turned my Blues Jr. into a solid state amp. Not this baby. I don't want to put my axe down now. This pedal is by far the best pedal out there for OD. Not metal but that's not what I do. Really high gain rock and roll with superb definition and tone tone tone! Creamy, rich, milkshaky leads and powerfully defined chords. Beats any boss, Ibanez, etc. hands down. I even tried several of the pedals with 12AX7 tubes in them and this one slays them all. Did I make myself clear? TONE TONE TONE TO THE BONE. I may buy another one and put it on the shelf so in 20 years when this one wears out I'll have another brand new one (New old stock!) because by then they'll be a thousand dollars if you can find them. If you want tone, go to www.ts808.com and check out Jacques. He hand makes these in France and has sound bites on this website. I heard them and HAD TO TRY THIS PEDAL. Unbelievable!

It's a stompbox, easy to use as every stompbox, unless you have an IQ below 80 you won't have any problem to use it

I play a Fender Strat with 57' custom shop PU, a custom 62' Telecaster, and an Epiphone Sheraton with Gibson custom shop 57' humbuckers on an old fender The Twin (red knobs), my usual effects are two Line 6 DL4 and DM4... I play some kind of a blues rock country folk music...I played for years many different effects ( even Roland guitar synths) and i had some years age a true TS9.... It's THE BEST TUBE BLOWER FOR THE LAST 30 YEARS I ever had !Versatile, no hum, solid...It sounds like a TS9, with more gain, with two tones, with more distortion...something like a customised TS9...

No problems since i use it

I wrote Jacques by Mail and a few days later I get my stompbox...

I am actually recording an album and use it on almost every song, ever with clean sound to be a little more "punchy"... My only regret is that there is no memory on it to store all the sounds I found... I probably should have to buy three more for the stage or call Jacques to make something special for me...But if you don't like this gear you should buy other ears or a brain, or stop playing guitar !

4 knobs,it`s hardly rocket science boys and girls!

i`ve bought and sold virtually every overdrive that`s commonly available[in england]including a mesa bottle rocket,boss od-3,american tubescreamer re-issue,rat,guv`nor,sparkle drive and various budget pedals and i have to say the tube blower beats them all.you have to fiddle with the tone controls a little bit to find the right sound but when you hit that sweet spot boy is it sweet.i`m buying the jacques sleep talker soon, hope it will be even better.

the switch is sensitive but that doesn`t mean it won`t stand up to copious amounts of stomping.otherwise it is built like a tank.i`ve only had the thing a week so i`m not going to rate this section.

jacques replyed to an e-mail i sent him within 24 hours and was very helpful in response to my queries.

an excellent overdrive pedal made by a true enthusiast and thoroughly nice bloke.

4 knobs : bass / presence / gain / volume. It is basically a Tube Screamer with a bass knob added, so it is pretty easy to use.

My guitar is a USA 62' Reissue Stratocaster loaded with Kinman AVn Blues pickups and my amp is a Tweed Bandmaster replica made by Beckar Amps in Spain.

It is the best overdrive pedal I've tried, among Ibanez TS-9/808, Vox Valve-Tone and Banzai Cold Fusion Overdrive (the CFO is excellent but the drive mode was too dirty to my taste).

Compared to my ex TS-9/808, the Tube Blower is way better because :
- it has the same sweetness
- it has a more dynamic tone (I've always found Screamers "flabby")
- the bass knob can add all the low end you want (when turned on, a Screamer sucks your low end and it is really anoying)
- the presence knob is more usable
- it has a cleaner boost (when drive on 0 and volume maxed)
- it has MUCH MORE gain
- the high-mids are sweeter

How, this pedal isn't true-bypass. No matter, it is very transparent, and preseves your clean tone perfectly when switched off.

If you like the tone of Tube Screamers, but want more from it, the Tube-Blower is what you need.
It deserves a good "10".

I own it for about 3 months and it is still like new.
I would certainly depend on it because the case is made of strong metal.

The switch is strange (sensitive), but after a little time getting used to it, it is nice.

Jacques is very nice. He always answer to your E-Mails, and his answers are always helpful.

it is an excellent pedal. Before buying a new reissue TS-9 or another million $ boutique Screamer clone, think twice and try a Jacques Tube Blower. Even the price is cool !

One more knob than a Tube Screamer. Simple stuff, Bass, Treble, Drive and Volume.

This thing sounds like a dream and is much more versatile than the simple configuration might make it look. It seems to take on a lot of different voicings dependant on your amp volume and where you set the control knobs. Got a LOT of room to find your "sound", and it's ALL good.

This little gem is solid as a rock. A bit bigger than an MXR pedal and about twice as heavy. You can tell this is quality stuff just by picking it up and feeling the weight of it. The first night I bought this I lent it to a friend for a bar gig where it was duct-taped to the floor, repeatedly stomped on by him (and probably a few members of the audience, too). It came out unscathed. I would gig wthout a backup with confidence.

My ONLY issue with this unit is that the ON/OFF switch is a little sensitive for my tastes. I could see a misplaced stomp brushing against it and shutting it off durring a live performance. I remedied the problem by mounting up and out of the way on my pedalboard to give it some distance from less-than-precise pedal stomps.

I will subtract one rating point for this, even though it's a pretty trivial thing.

Haven't needed it yet, probably never will.

I suppose that I am not unlike most guitarists. I've been on the quest for the "ultimate" overdrive/distorttion unit for years and years, and i've tried more pedals than I can even count. My search is over. I tell you, this is the Holy Grail of overdrives, it's what i've been looking for.

I went into my fave music store looking to try out some of the Maxon stuff, in particular the D&S II. I wanted something that was able to produce thick, warm bottom end, more gain than a Tube Screamer and minimal raping of my original tone. My buddy at the store handed teh Tube Blower to me and said "I just got this in, you HAVE to try it. It's amazing". I demoed it against just about every OD pedal in the store and won hands down. I can't believe how fantastic this thing sounds. It's a dream come true.

I play Strat through a '74 Hiwatt Custom 100. My sound has always been a little too bright and this box does a beautifull job of adding just enough "color" to my sound to even it out and beef it up. The drive is thick and natural sounding, all the way from light overdrive to raging eat-your-face-off full stack distortion.

Do yourself a favor. Get your hands on one of these and try it out. You will not be dissapointed.

Pretty simple, an update on the fabled Tubescreamer, 4 knobs, gain high low and level. You just cant get a bad sound out. Simple box and manual, but its all you need.

Oh Jacques, you've done it man. I've been an avid Tubescreamer user for for more years than I care to remember. I a/b'd this with my old TS9 and my Sparkledrive, the Tubeblower tube blows them right into the weeds. It has MUCH more low and high end (individual controls for each which is the key) and it doesnt have the mid boost of the TS's. It goes from almost no gain to about double the gain of a TS - another big plus in the comparison. Side by side, the TS and Sparkledrive sound really weak, and frankly cheap. I just cannot use them again. It's just an absolute beauty. Real clarity, fat as you like, with no bass loss. Even on minimal gain, it sounds fantastic. Sadly its not hard wire bypass on the switch, but I can barely detect any sound degradation on the straight through sound and the switch is totally silent in compensation, so I cant mark it down for that.

Its metal cased, though the footswitch part is plastic. It has a kind of Far East manufacture look to it, really sleek switching mechanism. Havent had it long enough to test reliability, so wait and see. I'll give it an 8 just for the look

I have exchanged e-mails with Jacques, who has come back to me within 24 hours each time as advertised, so it has to be full marks on experience to date.

I'm totally blown away. Its the same price here as a TS9 RI and the Sparkledrive. It cans them both - honestly. Truly fantastic update on the old Tubescreamer act. Miles better basic tone, more controllable, much bigger useable gain range so more versatile too. Get one bought!