Ibanez TK999HT Tube King Distortion Pedal
Get massive distortion from a pedal that acts as a tube preamp. It makes any amp sound just like a tube amp.
Overall User Ratings (based on 23 ratings)
Submitted December 15, 2010 by a customer from aceweb.com
"Performs as advertised!"
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It's a welcome addition to my pedal collection and will fill a gap I didn't know I had until now!
Sound
You might prefer the tone as-is it comes with an Electro-Harmonics 12AX7 which is a very fine tube. I replaced the EH 12AX7 with an EH 12AT7. The 12AT7 reduced the gain and made the tone smooth and creamy. It shaved off the fuzzy character and really pulled the chords together with nice even harmonics. So for doing what the manufacturer claims it can do, making the sound of an over-driven tube preamp, I must rate this pedal as a " 10 ". The cool thing about anything that uses tubes is you can change tubes until you find your tone.(Don't do the tube swap if you are not aware of the precautions required when working on tube amps, you can get a real hot shock.)
Features
Has it's own easy to use noise gate, which really helps if you have a noisy setup, crappy cords and guitars. Always use the best cords with any gain setup.
Comes with a wall wart otherwise that tube would eat up batteries too soon. It's heavy so it won't tip over or walk away.
Ease of Use
Easy to use just like any other pedal, nothing extraordinary there.
Quality
All metal, rugged foot-switch. Even the tube has a stainless steel holder so it is shielded and won't rattle.
Value
Like I said, this pedal works as advertised
Manufacturer Support
Haven't tried them.
The Wow Factor
It looks good it's not a gaudy color or anything.
Musical Background:
lifelong addict
Musical Style:
Classic rock and Blues
5 of 6 people (83%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
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Submitted February 17, 2013 by Paul A in McKinney, TX
"a marvelous sounding high gain pedal"
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Clearing the air a little bit. The EH tube this unit comes with sounds great, I love the thing myself. Has a better sound than most of my higher gain units.
The idea you have to rip the tube out of this and ruin your warranty to have a great sounding pedal is a goose egg and half.
If you want less gain why not just get the White overdrive model??? Seriously the white one is an overdrive model the red is a HIGH gain pedal.
This unit has 100v internal plate voltage and I think it sounds great, helps if you know how to set the knobs. I do not use the "void"control which some wrongly define as a NR circuit. It chops up the sound for more palm mute chug if that is your thing. I find it sounds better off.
Seriously, the best sounding Zeppelin or ZZ type tones ever. One of the best gain pedals there is, not an over the top fizz fest but real body, thick low end and great sound. For the money it is steal.
Musical Background:
decades playing, I probably have 16 pedals I love this pedal nothing replaces it
Musical Style:
heavy fusion everything from blues to metal, no country
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Submitted January 19, 2010 by a customer from att.net
"All Hail The Great Tube King!"
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zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
Perfect cant be better. I can live without it now. My search is finally over. Thank you Ibanez and zZounds. Now I can thrash and my tone leaves nothing to be desired!
Sound
Truly the best distortion pedal I've ever owned. Perfect for metal tones. I use mine with my Marshall JCM 2000 that I also bought from zZounds. I kills the Ultra Gain channel on the Marshall. I've owned just about every distortion pedal like; Metal Muff, Keeley DS1, MXR Dis III, Hardwire Metal, Tube Screamer TS-808, Boss Metal and so on. None are worthy enough to be on my pedal board with my Tube King! It even kills my TS808 on the Ultra Gain channel. Tube Screamer is ok but it gets noisy if you add overdrive to a gain channel. Tube King not only gets filthy - it also cleans up the unwanted noise with the built in gate. A must have for any metal guitarist.
Features
Hi Gain tube distortion ad a noise gate seals the deal!
Ease of Use
Not to hard to use a distortion pedal..
Quality
Built to last. Solid metal housing. Built like a tank.
Value
Invaluable! Priceless!
Manufacturer Support
You wont need it.
The Wow Factor
I've got it and from zZounds! The most underrated music retailer on the net!
Musical Background:
Hobbyist
Musical Style:
Rock/Metal
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Submitted January 16, 2009 by a customer from yahoo.com
"Great... but AFTER a tube swap!"
Verified Customer
zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
If you're a blues player, or versatile in what kind of rock you play, BE PREPARED TO SWAP TUBES. Keep in mind it's easy and not expensive. If you get this thinking it's a tube amp in a box, not even close in character without a swap!
Sound
In stock form, this is a heavy metal player's pedal, as noted on page 1 of the manual. If you are a true connoisseur of tubes with real life experience, you will hate this pedal in stock form. The junk Chinese 12AX7 is shrill, brittle and has no headroom. Even with the gain at 50 percent, it's distorted enough to play most any heavy metal. If you want to improve the sound TENFOLD, give the stock tube to one of your tone deaf buddies and install a 5751. It's 30 percent less on the gain scale than a 12AX7 and alive with warmth, character, headroom and more clarity than you can imagine. Plus it still gets distorted enough to do anything you want. This pedal did not impress me in the slightest until I did this, and once I did, it was night and day.
Ease of Use
Plug & play!
Quality
It's built like a brick outhouse, has good switching components and is an excellent value. But if you have any taste or experience with tone, scrap the junk Chinese 12AX7 in favor of a 5751. Even an EH or Tesla 12AX7 is too hot in this pedal, IMHO.
Value
Great value!
Musical Background:
Paid, working musician
Musical Style:
Hard rock, blues, classic metal
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