Valve/Tube Pedal - Damage Control any good?

[Daywalker]

Apologies if this is a repetitive thread that we have seen before...

Would like to get a decent valve pedal - Have been recomended the H&K TubeMan and the Damage control range...(Womaniser) etc..

I fully intend to try the final few out but i need to narrow it down because there seems to be loads and it's hard to find a shop i can try them in these days...

What have people used and been impressed with?

I want to get sounds ranging from blues to 80/90s metal (Iron maiden/Metallica) etc...
It will be going through the clean channel of a Marshall Valvestate 8080

Thanks

[Cleveland Metal]

Dunno, the clips for the damage control things were seriously unpleasant.

[toejam]

Dunno, the clips for the damage control things were seriously unpleasant.

They sure are. H&K has a great reputation, so I'd get one of their pedals long before a Damage Control.

[Cleveland Metal]

Seems Damage Controls are Peavey (JSX and 5150) with some ex line 6 guys... You'd think they'd be potentially cool. But they are quite craptacular sounding...

[Dave L]

I wouldn´t pay half of what Damage Control wants for their stuff. The Tubeman smokes them all any day of the week, but is in its own right more of a floor preamp than a distortion pedal due to the channel switching... which features are you looking for?

[Daywalker]

I wouldn´t pay half of what Damage Control wants for their stuff. The Tubeman smokes them all any day of the week, but is in its own right more of a floor preamp than a distortion pedal due to the channel switching... which features are you looking for?

Primarily i've reached the limitation of my pre-amp valve sound in my Marshall valvestate and wanted to get closer to a poweramp valve sound. I would love to get something like a H&K switchblade but as i said ive just serviced my marshall and would like to keep it if possible.

Hence the search for a half decent valve pedal - I don't have a Mic or pre-amp for my PC so i have no way to record backing stuff at the moment. I was going to look at M-Audio FireWire Solo with a decent mic but it struck me that the red box in the H&K could remove the need for this in some aspects? Is it as easy as plugging the H&K tubeman into my PC and hey presto decent riff recording with no background noise or have i missed something?

Thanks for all your replies!

[Dave L]

Well, plugging the Tubeman into the PC could yield pretty darn decent results. For those applications you might also consider a POD or something similar, or better yet any of the Tech 21 Sansamps.

But for running thru the clean channel of the Marshall, and also doing some OK direct recording, you might also want to check out the Koch Pedaltone. It´s got three 12AX7´s in the preamp and an extra 12AX7 that acts as a teeny-tiny power amp, and gets some pretty cool tube thump that way. It´s very good, and can get pretty mean with a bit of tweaking.

[slayer]

I had and regretably sold an Ibanez Tube King pedal. That was the nicest tube pedal I have ever payed thru. It absolutely smoked the Boss overdrive pedals. I regret to this day ever selling it Jack.

[Dave L]

I haven´t seen a Tube King in ages! They are pretty cool, but I´d say there still are better options out there. Of course, this depends on whether you want a tubeloaded distortion/overdrive or a full floorbased tube preamp with channel switching and what not.

[Daywalker]

I haven´t seen a Tube King in ages! They are pretty cool, but I´d say there still are better options out there. Of course, this depends on whether you want a tubeloaded distortion/overdrive or a full floorbased tube preamp with channel switching and what not.

Im not really bothered about the channel switching or the amp modelling. Thinking about this over the weekend i think im just gonna line up some full valve amps (laney VC-30, LC-30's) etc try them out with my Jackson.

Interestingly am i right in thinking that if i can get all valve 30watt (dont need to gig) for my practise room i will be able to turn it up higher and getter better valve sound than if i had a 100watt valve amp?

For example the 50watt marshall heads for practising must be much better than the 100 watt ones?

Thanks

[442w30]

I think you will find them all pretty damn loud.
A Fender champ is 6 watts and with it's 8 inch speaker sounds great cranked, but will still draw attention (good or bad). A 30 watt cranked will be very loud.
Try a Tech21 or Cube 30 if you want controllable, good bedroom amps.

Otherwise look for something "champy" with a dirt pedal

[MSGfan]

The first and last "Tube driven" distortion pedal you'll ever use is the ToneBone Hot British. Does it all, from blues to full out metal into a clean amp. Works best with non master vol. tube amps.
Here's a tip!: Change the original tube to a Tungsol 12AX7.
Oh Yeah, the Ibanez Tube King is a close second, much better than a Tube driver pedal.