TC Electronic TUBE PILOT OVERDRIVE 12AX7-Equipped Real Tube Overdrive Pedal with Warm and Expressive Sound

This pedal is made really well, all metal casing. I love that it does not alter the tone of the guitar it just adds overdrive. The Overdrive when on makes my amp sound like a tube amp. Only two knobs, volume and overdrive, nice and simple. Very happy with purchase.

I am using this pedal for initial signal in my small from factor blues pedal setup. Using the Out level at noon and the tube drive at 9:00 o'clock is what works for me. YMMV. This allows me to have the touch sensitive breakup yet still create bell tone clarity when required. Thanks and the price was unbelievable. One thing to note is I find using a power brick having at least 400mA feeds this pedal's needs very nicely.

I had seen this pedal in a few YouTube videos and was intrigued so I picked it up on a whim when it was on sale and was pleasantly surprised. I use a Marshall super lead style amp with a complex pedal set up. I felt something was missing with my drive sound and this ended up filling a gap with a few caveats.I have several TC pedals and always really enjoy them. I think they are a great value for money brand. And I prefer them over a few more expensive brands.With just a volume and gain knob (no tone knob) I was a little hesitant but I am very surprised by how transparent it sounds. I would say say it colors my tone less than a “transparent” overdrive but it does have a bright characteristic (more on that in a second) that isn’t unpleasant. If you used it with a tube amp it would function like a one channel amp where it adds distortion and volume but not a lot of tone shaping. I tend to run over drives and distortions with a little less treble than my clean sound so to my ears it basically takes your clean tone and makes it louder and more distorted.I find the sound to be more power amp tube distortion like than an OD or distortion pedal and slightly fuzzy in a good way. By itself I was able to get a pretty cool classic rock style cranked amp sound that’s buzzy in all the right places. Some many not like it by itself but when you stack it with another drive, some real magic happens.I found it most useful as a stacked drive. I use an Archer Ikon before it and a Catalainbread Dirty Little Secret after it. I love the sound with all three and it’s 95% of the lead tone I’ve wanted for years.The lack of a tone knob is a bummer. It’s just a smidge too bright. Not unpleasant but just brighter than I’d like. I have yet to take it apart and mess with the trim part (which will help) and I seriously think that a tube swap to a tung sol or even a jj 12ax7 (something not as bitting) would be the perfect upgrade.I know this is a budget pedal but I think it’s a sleeper and with some tweaks to a new tube and in the right set up it adds a really cool tone. More tube like than a distortion pedal but not quite the same as a cranked amp (but close! I did a test). The lack of a tone knob sucks and cost it a star but there are many ways around that including eq pedals.I would say that if you want this as a main drive you might be disappointed but stacked with another pedal (like a boss super overdrive) it sounds killer. It’s got a spot on my board and I think the tweaks I make down the road will make it perfect.Edit: I adjusted the bias via the trim pot with a little over 1/8 of a turn just after I wrote the review. HUGE difference in sound. Biasing a tube can be a whole other can of worms but that slight tweak toned down the treble to a much more useable degree. I swear it also made the drive knob much smoother as well. 4 stars as is. 5 with the bias tweak. I had a spare JJ tube around and I put that in. I think a dark sounding tube would work well. I also ended up using it as follows: using an archer ikon as a boost into an eq pedal set to boost the mids and bass with a treble cut and then the tube pilot. Currently I am using it as my rhythm distorted sound and am happy. Final verdicts: sounds best with a tube amp, strongly recommend that you put an eq before or directly after it for tone shaping, benefits from a light distortion to boost it, bias the trim pot, and replace the tube. The lack of a tone knob still costs it a star but if you don’t mind doing a little work it’s a non issue.

Gives an acceptable warm tube tone and break up. I just started working with it not sure how it responds at different level settings. I am glad I bought it.

TC actually made a great pedal.........what throws it off is the tube in it. A cheap Berringer tube. The pedal comes off with too much gain and it's harsh. I treated it the way I used to treat my amps when they had too much gain. I put a JJ 5571 tube in it. Smoothed the pedal out so much it's comparable to my King of Tone. I give TC 3 stars and 2 stars to myself.

I have tons of expensive pedals and I can get ever imaginable effect but dollar for dollar this pedal offers sustain more than any other . A have several big expensive tube amps and I bought a little Fender Frontman 10G when I did not want to power up a big tube amp for a quick practice session and thought it would be fun to see what the Tube Pilot would do hooked to it and I am amazed. Turn up the Tube Drive control halfway and the Out Level about a1/4 way and wow... I also hooked up a EH Oceans 11 pedal and on the shimer setting the sustain is really strong and really cool sounding. A must have pedal that really performs

Maybe if I was a guitarist playing in a Beatles tribute band. I wanted to see what a real tune would do for the mix. It has a high saturation buzzy sound with no low end (I’m a bassist) and no tone control. And it is big and heavy. Samsamp or Darkglass micro tubes is way better.

This is one of the best and most affordable pedals you can find, it gives you the dynamic response you get from tubes and it’s saturation characteristics, it’s a perfect companion to in front of transistor based amps, modelers and ITB virtual amp sims.