Home › Forums › Help/Technical Questions › English Muff’n VS Hot Tubes (UK)

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  • December 12, 2009 at 4:56 pm #79506
    moonmin82
    Member

    I own an Orange AD5 valve amp, which only has a clean channel. I’m looking for a decent distortion pedal – I own a Big Muff but I’m looking for something more diverse and with more definition. I’m currently looking at the Hot Tubes and Engligh Muff’n.

    Can anbody tell me the differences between the two? I want something with a decent range from nice OD to heavy (but precise) distortion. Also (importantly) is the supplied adapter suitable for use in the UK, or would I have to buy a UK one seperately?!

    Cheers :-)

    December 12, 2009 at 5:31 pm #105236
    moonmin82
    Member

    Also, does anybody know of any Hot Tubes demos I can see / hear online? Can’t find anything on Youtube…

    December 12, 2009 at 8:34 pm #105248
    electro-melx
    Moderator

    Firstly if you buy it in the UK it will come with a UK power supply.

    I’ll let someone who actually owns both answer the other bit. :)

    December 12, 2009 at 11:55 pm #105254
    moonmin82
    Member

    Thanks for that :-)

    I can’t find any Hot Tubes demos on YouTube, only covers of Placebo songs using the pedal at fairly low gain! There are plenty of good Muff’n demos out there. My local guitar shop has a Muff’n in stock but won’t stock Hot Tubes, so I couldn’t compare the two ‘in the flesh’ either.

    To anyone who knows, how does the level of gain achievable compare between the two? I know the Muff’n has more tone control (Hot Tubes has no mid’ control), whereas the Hot Tubes has more gain control. Suppose I just want pros, cons and characterists for each :-)

    December 13, 2009 at 12:03 am #105256
    electro-melx
    Moderator

    The Hot tubes was actually discontinued a while back, there might be some around still but it might not be easy to find a new one.

    Also you can change the valves in the muffin for more/less gain. …. it comes with 12AY7 tubes, you can use 12AX7 for more gain/distortion and 12AU7 for less gain/distortion and you can use combinations of both too. Reports are that with 2x 12ax7’s it have more gain/distortion than you could possibly want, so if you like it tonally you might just need to play around with different tube types to get the right level of distortion for you.

    December 13, 2009 at 12:38 am #105261
    AshjaahsMuff
    Participant

    i own the muff’n and have tried the hot tubes

    tbh i didnt like the hot tubes, no matter what knob i turned and twisted it all sounded the same, just gritty and no use

    however

    the muff’n is a fantastic pedal, i still have the stock tubes in it, and its fantastic, does everything from nice, soft warm od, right through to a cranked marshall souund and full on madness

    its fantastic
    i could not ask for more than what this pedal does

    its great !!!

    get it and you will not be disapointed

    also the shop i use is one of the main suppliers for the uk

    http://WWW.HOTROXUK.COM

    check them out

    December 13, 2009 at 1:49 am #105264
    Fender&EHX4ever
    Moderator

    I have the Hot Tubes. I’ve never tried the Muff’n.

    One of the major differences is that the Hot Tubes uses a paracyclic filter instead of a traditional EQ section like the Muff’n. With a paracyclic filter, you don’t need a Mid frequency control. The Treble and Bass knobs interact with each other to create mid range frequency boosts, much like a wah filter. So the Hot Tubes’ strength is with creating very throaty, mid-rangey, cocked-wah tones.

    If you are looking for a crisp, high-gain, modern sounding distortion, I don’t really recommend the Hot Tubes.

    Here’s a soundclip I did comparing a Hot Tubes, a Deluxe Big Muff Pi, and a Germanium OD. Listen if you can guess which of the 3 is used in each section:

    http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6820524

    December 13, 2009 at 1:53 am #105265
    Fender&EHX4ever
    Moderator

    As far as other EHX distortion pedals go, I think the distortion tone on the Holy Stain had good definition. For the price, the size, and the extra bells and whistles, it’s definitely worth checking out.

    http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7428151

    December 13, 2009 at 6:58 am #105268
    Mr.Grim
    Member

    personally i just love the full version of the Metal Muff with top boost. i cant get over it i get nice subtle OD and screaming high leads to crunchy metal rhythm licks. its very versatile on the OD/distortion area with the included 3 band EQ

    although i personally wanted a tube distortion at first as well, im always wanting things to be all valve, but i still went for the MM because it had what i wanted sound wise and i still get the tube sound, because i play threw a tube amp, and use a tube compressor (Black Finger), so theres tubes on both sides of it in the signal anyway.

    December 13, 2009 at 9:44 am #105269
    moonmin82
    Member

    Thanks for the comments and sound bites. I think I’m pretty much sold on the Muff’n before I’ve even tried it. Having said that, I’ll try the Metal Muff and some Boss pedals for comparison. Think I’ll shop around for a good price online. This way I’ll end up with the sound of a decent 2 channel all valve amp without having had to splash out the extra 250 quid for a Tiny Terror amp!

    I play anything from Third Eye Blind, Oasis, Gomez, Smashing Pumpkins to Trivium and Killswitch Engage so I think the Muff’n will give me the versatility I require. Hear the stock tubes in the Muff’n make it sound like an Orange anyway, so what better to go with the AD5!

    December 14, 2009 at 8:22 pm #105345
    B.Daws
    Participant

    Moonmin,

    I have the Muff’n and Hot Tubes. They are like comparing apples and oranges. The Hot Tubes though is raunchy craziness that is basically a schizophrenic Big Muff. The Muff’n is more in your ballpark probably with the definition and clarity of overdrive you desire. I love EHX for sure but you might want to check out the Rocktron Silver Dragon. It has a tube side and a higher gain digital side, it is a favorite of mine.

    December 15, 2009 at 9:28 am #105381
    moonmin82
    Member

    Had a go on the Muff’n yesterday and liked it. Full of rich tone and still ‘jangly’ when driven. Wish I could try it through the AD5 but this particular music shop only let you play through one set amp when trying pedals!

    My final question is this: How different a beast does this pedal become when you substitute 12AX7 tubes? I loved the clarity and tone, but wonder exactly how much extra gain you could get with the tube swap. I want to be sure that its ‘the one’ before I part with my money!

    December 16, 2009 at 4:27 am #105424
    kreeper_6
    Member
    Quote:
    Here’s a soundclip I did comparing a Hot Tubes, a Deluxe Big Muff Pi, and a Germanium OD. Listen if you can guess which of the 3 is used in each section:

    http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6820524

    1. DBM
    2. Germ OD
    3. Hot Tubes
    4. Germ OD
    5. Hot Tubes
    6. DBM

    December 17, 2009 at 11:38 am #105472
    moonmin82
    Member

    I’ve recently tried a Metal Muff, which I liked but seemed a bit of a one trick horse.

    Does anyone know how the Muff’n pedal differs when you add 12AX7s? In terms of tone and the level of gain you get. Its the range and versatility I’m interested in, so if anybody can tell me about the extremities it would help (i.e. how heavy can you get by substituting the tubes)

    I also tried an Ibanez Tube Screamer but didnt think it had much character (or enough gain).

    December 17, 2009 at 7:40 pm #105487
    B.Daws
    Participant

    I have heard two AX7’s cause it to be buzzy and lose all cohesiveness. I have heard 1AX7 with the AY7 can be pretty awesome. AT7s also could work well with it but nobody ever brings up putting AT7s in there, I have all of these tubes and the Muff’n so I’ll try to post some clips for you.

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