Tube Driver is the original brain child of B.K. Butler and THE one and only TUBE DRIVERĪn interview by John Roscoe for the TONE FROM HEAVEN Features ListĪll examples were recorded into UAD Luna.B.K. I've had experience with pedals when the EQ was either not very active or harsh. The EQ controls are adequate but not harsh. Plus, the flexible EQ made it easy to tweak the tone. Plugging the Reactivator insert wasn't as drastic a scene change as a TS circuit. The Reactivator controls treble and bass, which I used when swapping guitars and amps. I don't see the one-knob tone control on a tube screamer that helpful. Sometimes this can be welcome, but I don't find it desirable for me most of the time. I sometimes find it challenging to turn a Tube Screamer on and off because it's a drastic scene change. So my amp volume is often between 5-6 depending on the amp. I like a little hair, even on my clean sound. I rarely use a perfectly clean platform, such as a Twin Reverb. I found using the Reactivator quite pleasing when cascading to get rock tones as it maintained the sound of the pick hitting the guitar strings. I use Marshall, Vox, or tweed amps when using an amp as half of the gain chain. Cascading gain can allow for a more natural overdriven and less compressed tone than simply using a single pedal for all the gain. I use some pedals in a "chain," meaning the amp will be overdriven, and I add a pedal for additional gain. The Reactivator shined whether I used a Marshall Plexi, Vox, Blackface, or Tweed Fender. So, although I use tube screamers, they're not my go-to as they're pretty compressed and mushy. In general, I'm not the biggest fan of heavily compressed drive pedals. I tried the Reactivator with various guitars and amps and found it to pair well in all situations. I found making the Reactivator sound bad in my applications challenging which is a great problem to have. I also used the Reactivator as a clean boost pedal to push the front end of my tube amps instead of a Klon, EP Booster, or Fat Boost. This clarity makes the Reactivator an excellent pedal for rhythm guitar and lead. In addition, the Reactivator doesn't smear or get mushy, and notes retain definition. My favorite use for the Reactivator is getting mid to heavier overdriven tones as it excels in this area in a way other pedals don't. For example, you could use it as a preamp pedal in front of a clean or dirty amp to color the sound or slightly compress the tone with a real tube.
It's just as much about the flavor of each pedal. Choosing drive pedals isn't just about how much gain each pedal has. Sometimes, too soft of an attack or too loose of a sound won't suit a session or gig. Of course, this isn't surprising coming from someone with such a history in designing and making analog circuits. Jim Hagerman cleverly designed this tube pedal, making it easy to swap in and out of any pedalboard. Not convenient. Plus, the ability to ramp the pedal up to 12v for more gain is a nice addition as well! Often you need a separate power supply, and some of the older tube pedals had a power cable installed into the pedal. Right off the bat, you will notice the Reactivator runs on a standard 9v adapter which is rare for a pedal with an actual tube in it. That's where the name of this pedal comes from! Increasing power from 9V to 12V adds another 6dB of gain for even higher performance. Here is a little info from the Hagerman website:ĭuring the early days of TV, if a picture tube grew dim, servicemen could perform a trick called "reactivation," where heater voltage was overdriven to the point of regenerating a poisoned cathode, thus restoring brightness. Although it's similar in topology (solid-state boost into valve overdrive into the solid-state buffer) to a BK Butler Tube Driver, that's where the similarities end.
I was excited to try the Reactivator as it's an entirely new design for a tube pedal. Over the past couple of weeks, I've been testing out the new Reactovator pedal from Hagerman.
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