Stompbox Blog: Ibanez TK999US Tube King

Stompbox Blog

Welcome to the guitar effects virtual museum. I have been collecting stompboxes for the past few years and wanted to share some thoughts. I will continually add more pics and opinions. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks for looking.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Ibanez TK999US Tube King


There seems to be a lot of controversy surrounding the original Chandler Tube Drivers and BK Butler's Tube works line. Butler was a keyboard player and was looking for a device that would emulate the same overdriven sounds for his organs. Soon the BK Butler devices were spotted on pedalboards like Eric Johnson and David Gilmour(no shortage of tone here). He also had a hand in designing the US made(Japanese engineered) device and they sounded seemingly similar... almost too similar that a lawsuit ensued. The original TK999OD was marketed exclusively in Japan and featured a noise gate control and silver knobs. Considering that the Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer is a legend it's ironic that they never actually sported a 12AX7A tube like the TK999. Although the Tube Screamers are well-known for their smooth overdrives and ubiquitous JRC4558 chip, that's where the similarity ends. Ibanez wanted to fatten-up their tones with extra punch and power in a different way. When I removed the back I was delighted to see 3 TL027 Op-amps inside. The fact that it has 3 tonal controls for bass, mid and treble allows the user to sculpt the sound as well. This could make any solid-state amp sound tubey or act as a pre-amp to boost in direct recording and mixing. It's a shame it never garnered any cult following as it's cousins. for more info visit www.Ibanez.com

2 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

what's the rig you're playing this on? guitar, amp....?
it sounds awesome.

did you have the chance to compare it to maxon rod880? it's supposed to be the same thing basically, since maxon manufactured these for ibanez early on. they still do, but under maxon label.

May 27, 2010 at 1:16 AM  
Blogger KeyGhost said...

hey steve i got one just like it but i have lost my ac adapter. can you send my its specs? so i can buy anew one?

thanks ! :)

October 4, 2011 at 6:16 PM  

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