$399 available @ Davis Guitar
This unit needs much toggling to get the sound you want.
The panel goes from right to left.
Please read the manual carefully.
Sound/Tone:
The "Vintage" mode has a warmer "less clear/growl" sound. The overdrive sounds a bit fuzzy.
The "Modern" Mode is great. it gives a great CLEAN GROWLish processed standard modern rock tone you heard on records. It's a safe tone.However the tube coloration is rather subtle compared to the "Vintage" Mode. The Overdriven tone has more "body" than the SansAmp's OD which sound "floating".
Pros:
It's a very versatile product though, I'm thinking of selling off the SansAmp.
No lag between switching betwwen Modern and Vintage settings, but EQ settings will need to be re adjusted all over as the 2 settings are very different.
If it came with 2 channels with seperate EQ, it would be great.
And it has little tube hiss/noise. Even with max gain presented no inherent noise from the unit.
Cons:
Right to left panel flaw. Bulky compared to other tube pedals in the market.
Fares badly in the tube sound department. My Behringer MIC 200 sounded warmer.
No indicator markings on the knobs. Surely something as ex as this would have a simple feature like this.
Settings:
Using it with my Bass Xciter(Aural Excier) and Punch factory(Pedal Compressor) and managed to increase its potential.
Turned Mid knob all the way, Bass and Treble knob down all the way to get the "best" tube sound.
The EQ controls are rather strange(no numeric labels/indicators)
Low 80Hz: 0db-15db
Mid 400/500 Hz: 0db-12db
Treble 6khz: 0db-6db
So you can really pump out the lows(Post Tube Pre), but for the highs you don't have much range to cover. Extreme turning of the knobs was needed for noticable change in EQ.
Slap tone is acceptable but EQ must be toggled. More on how your Bass can handle slap sounds.
Improvements: 2 channels with dedicated EQ settings, change the right to left configuration setings, run it dual tubes.
And end up copying the Mesa V-Twin Pedal. Hehe.
Other Comments:
I'm not sure what will happen if you change the tube. I'm tempted to, I'm used to the sound of ECC 83/S instead of the Slventa one. Unit does not get heated easily. There's some debate how long tubes need to get warmed up before giving better results but I'm not going there.
Overall: 8.5/10(for Modern Rock Tone) 6.5/10(Tube Department)
Don't expect much from ANY tube pedal with a single 12AX7 inside. It is not the ultimate pedal. There are defintely better tube pre-amps out there.
The redeeming factor is you have a choice between an Overdrive and a tube clean tone with 3 EQ knobs.
However, it's a good pedal for rock not dirt. However compression should be able to get a rougher sound from this unit.
EDIT: Swapped Pre-amp tube for a JJ ECC 803 S GoldPin and it sounds much sweeter and warmer now.
EBS Valvedrive
