Crazy Tube Circuits Killer V Overdrive/Vibrato

jeffwhitfield

jeffwhitfield

Well-known member
So I was reading this post on Guitar Lobby about Billy Gibbons Guitar and Gear List. One of the parts that intrigued me was this Magnatone amp he liked to use. So I wondered if there were any pedals that could get the same voicing and such. I found a couple after a bit of research and landed on the Crazy Tube Circuits Killer V. I have one of their Constellation fuzz pedals and really like it so figure I'd give this one some serious consideration.

After listening to a few demos....man, it sounds incredible! Nice breakup and tremolo effect combo. If this pedal is emulating the same amp, I can see why Gibbons like them. Pretty much did it for me so I bought one. Can't wait to try it out. :D

I'm surprised there aren't any DIY boards based on the Magnatone stuff. I know some tremolo ones exist...but no amp ones. Hmm...
 
I think those are the same guys that make a pedal called the Falcon. It sounded pretty convincing as a tweed deluxe in a box. This one seems even more cool because it is doing both the amp sound and the Magnatone vibrato. It seems like it would be a good pedal to own since there is near zero chance of me buying the actual amp.
 
thewintersoldier said:
I think the key to making any AIAB emulator/preamp work well is using it into a neutral amp and playing it thru an equivalent speaker that the original used. I have never had favorable results using any Marshall aiab pedals thru a fender, it just sounds like a fender pretending to be a Marshall, its a walmart Marshall. Play a hiwatt aiab thru a Marshall, some thing. I imagine they modeled the pedal after the actual amp's preamp and gain structure but will it sound like the real thing thru your rig? Pedal demos are incredibly misleading in a lot of ways. I hope you dig it, I wish I had favorable results with these type of pedals. I learned what amp tones I liked and got those amps, and use pedals that play to those amps strengths.
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I'm thinking of doing one of Rob Robinette's micro plexi amps at some point but I doubt I will get to it for months. I kind of wonder if it is the same thing as the pedals not quite matching the real thing. It's essentially the same circuit as the big amp but with preamp tubes and smaller transformers. The alternative is to get a proper full size one and an attenuator or some sort of cab simulator capable of taking full amp loads.
 

I might have to take back what I said about doubting I will ever want to own a Magnatone. At 9:37 he plays a real 480 and it sounds quite a bit better than the pedal. Pretty cool amp.

So now I just need to find a 100w super lead, a Magnatone 480 and a blackface Princeton.
 
Honestly, I'm not interested in it replicated the Magnatone exactly. Heck, I don't think that's the case with most Marshalls-in-a-Box pedals. What I'm after is the flavor of a Magnatone. The breakup is very, very similar and, with the right impulse response and amp combo in my Helix, I can probably get the rest of the way there pretty easily. :D
 
a couple things ... the maggies used by zz top have more in common with marshall amps than they do vintage magnatones. of the vibrato effects pedals I own or have tried on an extended basis, the magnavibe is pretty disappointing and is more or less the modulation effect that always gets tacked onto pt2399 based delays ... the btmb maggie is amazing, expensive, and stereo ... and of course the boss vb-2 is amazing at vibrato in general.
in the demos, the killer v sounds about the same as the maggie, just lacking stereo ... having that dry+wet might make up for that ... I've requested the btmb maggie before, may still be somewhere on the current wish list
 
thesmokingman said:
a couple things ... the maggies used by zz top have more in common with marshall amps than they do vintage magnatones. of the vibrato effects pedals I own or have tried on an extended basis, the magnavibe is pretty disappointing and is more or less the modulation effect that always gets tacked onto pt2399 based delays ... the btmb maggie is amazing, expensive, and stereo ... and of course the boss vb-2 is amazing at vibrato in general.
in the demos, the killer v sounds about the same as the maggie, just lacking stereo ... having that dry+wet might make up for that ... I've requested the btmb maggie before, may still be somewhere on the current wish list
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Yeah, Gibbons prefers using Marshall amps I think. But for really bluesy stuff I think he likes using the Magnatone amps for some recordings.

I'm not really trying to go for a ZZ Top sound. I just noticed the part about Magnatone amps and thought it was interesting. Considering the trend of pedals that are "amps in a box" (ie. Dumble, Marshall, Vox, etc.) this one just sounded like something off the beaten path. Figure it would be something I could play with and explore.

I've noticed that many of these kind of pedals don't sound great with every amp. Case point, I put together a Dumbloid clone and noticed that the Jazz setting sounds like shit on most amps. But put it on a more vintage amp or jazz-style amp and it sounds great. It's the nature of these kind of pedals really. So, yeah, I don't expect to be able to get the exact Magnatone amp sound. I just like the flavor of the tone and breakup. Figure with the right amp and IR it'll sound remarkably different than many of the other pedals I use for certain styles.
 
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thesmokingman said:
I don't worry about these things when there aren't the votes to back it up ... you may only end up selling one to me

I'm well aware of my interests in things not matching up with the marketplace
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There is absolutely no counting of beans taking place over here.... there are plenty of projects here no one asked for. :ROFLMAO:

The votes on the wishlist are just to help me gauge urgency, they're not a contract or a rule.
 
Robert said:
There is absolutely no counting of beans taking place over here.... there are plenty of projects here no one asked for. :ROFLMAO:

The votes on the wishlist are just to help me gauge urgency, they're not a contract or a rule.
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I think it’s safe to say that we all appreciate your efforts. Always enjoy seeing quality boards of new pedals to play with. 👍😁
 
jeffwhitfield said:
So I was reading this post on Guitar Lobby about Billy Gibbons Guitar and Gear List. One of the parts that intrigued me was this Magnatone amp he liked to use. So I wondered if there were any pedals that could get the same voicing and such. I found a couple after a bit of research and landed on the Crazy Tube Circuits Killer V. I have one of their Constellation fuzz pedals and really like it so figure I'd give this one some serious consideration.

After listening to a few demos....man, it sounds incredible! Nice breakup and tremolo effect combo. If this pedal is emulating the same amp, I can see why Gibbons like them. Pretty much did it for me so I bought one. Can't wait to try it out. :D

I'm surprised there aren't any DIY boards based on the Magnatone stuff. I know some tremolo ones exist...but no amp ones. Hmm...
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Cool pedal, My understanding is the vibrato can't be used seperately from the Drive????
 
There’s always the magnavibe, I’ve seen several perf and vero layouts for it. Just the vibrato part but from the clips I’ve seen it sounds great.
 
Matmosphere said:
Is that a homemade vactrol? What did you use if you don’t mind me asking.

I haven’t made this one yet because I always forget to order an extra vtl5c3 for it. Might just have to happen now.
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I used a 5mm Red Diffused Super Bright 600mcd LED & 20K Light / 20M Dark LDR.
I used Black shrink tube to enclose the LED & LDR which are pointing at each other.

Enclosed LED - LDR.jpg ​

 
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