I’ll start out by saying this is not the greatest review, or even a review at all, but I didn’t really know where to post this.

Anyway, after saving some money, selling old crappy pedals and buying most of my dream rig, I finally got a Tube Zipper. (it was up between the tube zip and the stereo polychorus, but i already have a small clone, dmm, and small stone so i figured i’d be safe without the polychorus for now, unless someone here thinks i should still take the plunge immediately).

Like most people I saw the demo and was pretty much sold, but holding off cuz of price. I got it today, plugged it in and…well i had no clue what the hell i was doing with it.

Tried out some of the settings in the manual and really liked them, but can’t remember them off the top of my head since there are so many knobs and switches. This pedal was very overwhelming in the first 2 hours I dinked around with it.

I decided to toss the instructions aside and think of it in terms of two systems - the env. filter and the dist. -  and play with each individually until i got a grasp of it. this helped a ton! as i got comfortable with the env. i started introducing the distortion and am loving the crazy quacking, zipping, funking sounds i’m getting.

what at first seemed unapproachable and sounded unplayable is now challenging me to play differently and think about the interactivity of controls. it’s opening my mind and making me think of all sorts of possibilities and foresee crazy, and applicable sounds. it’s really tripping me out.

one thing that i’m still not used to and may just come with time is being able to recall how i got certain sounds. i’m not someone who likes to paint positions on a pedal because i’ll want a number of different sounds, so i’d just get lost with lots of markers.

if anyone has other ideas on how they approached their zipper i’d love to hear them! any settings you’d suggest i’ll definitely try out.

I am also wondering this—when my tube zipper is plugged in there is a bright glow coming from inside the chassis where the tubes are. I have an english muff’n and it does not have any sort of light coming from inside, just the filaments in the top of the tubes. is this bright glow normal and just because there are three status lights? another thing is the drive knob is exceptionally tight—anyone else experience this too?

so in summary—it’s an insane pedal, makes very unique sounds and is fairly overwhelming at first. that’s just because it has WAY more depth than any other pedal i’ve used before—including the holiest grail and the microsynth.

Thanks for reading all that!

Congrats on your new pedal!

I’m a sucker for pedals with a plethora of controls, and the Tube Zipper definitely fits that bill.

I look at it this way - EHX pedals, like the Flanger Hoax, or the HOG, or the SMMH, or the Micro Synthesizer - they are instruments in and of themselves. The more you practice with them, the more intuitive you get with them. Once you get comfortable with the interactions of the knobs, you won’t really need to write settings down anymore. You’ll be able to recall them either from memory, or by the logic of their controls.

Fender&EHX4ever; - 02 July 2009 03:21 PM

Congrats on your new pedal!

I’m a sucker for pedals with a plethora of controls, and the Tube Zipper definitely fits that bill.

I look at it this way - EHX pedals, like the Flanger Hoax, or the HOG, or the SMMH, or the Micro Synthesizer - they are instruments in and of themselves. The more you practice with them, the more intuitive you get with them. Once you get comfortable with the interactions of the knobs, you won’t really need to write settings down anymore. You’ll be able to recall them either from memory, or by the logic of their controls.

That’s exactly why i love my ehx pedals! I’ve had the day off and have been planning on getting other stuff done, but i’m absorbed in the world of the tube zipper now, going on 5 hours with it!

Anyone else have one and able to tell me if the drive knob is unusually tight on theirs or if they have intense light coming from inside of it?

Thanks!

add tube zipper to the mix, right between the double muff and micro synth.

btw, just been messing with the microsynth’s frequency rate and attack delay going into the tube zipper. pretty crazy swells!

mattcasey - 02 July 2009 02:02 PM

I am also wondering this—when my tube zipper is plugged in there is a bright glow coming from inside the chassis where the tubes are. I have an english muff’n and it does not have any sort of light coming from inside, just the filaments in the top of the tubes. is this bright glow normal and just because there are three status lights? another thing is the drive knob is exceptionally tight—anyone else experience this too?

The glow is just an LED for effect.  I have a Hot Tubes that has it a my Muff’n doesn’t.  As for the tight knobs, my Hot Tubes drive knob is god awful tight as well.

Ditto…My Tube Zipper’s Drive knob is tight…as I tell my customer’s in the Harley industry…it may be a characteristic and if there is no malfunction, then there’s nothing abnormal. 

Makes me feel better at least.

I also downloaded the instruction manual pdf format from the website and printed it out.  Then I took white out and colored in the pointers on the knobs on the suggested setting page so they were all “blank”.  Then I ran off a number of copies at work…I know…misappropriating company resources again….then used them to scribble in settings I stumble upon while experimenting with the Tube Zipper. Works pretty well

dawson1488 - 06 July 2009 01:15 PM

mattcasey - 02 July 2009 02:02 PM

I am also wondering this—when my tube zipper is plugged in there is a bright glow coming from inside the chassis where the tubes are. I have an english muff’n and it does not have any sort of light coming from inside, just the filaments in the top of the tubes. is this bright glow normal and just because there are three status lights? another thing is the drive knob is exceptionally tight—anyone else experience this too?

The glow is just an LED for effect.  I have a Hot Tubes that has it a my Muff’n doesn’t.  As for the tight knobs, my Hot Tubes drive knob is god awful tight as well.

Just an idea, but maybe there’s a different type of pot that EH uses just for the drive pots.. :? Like a double pot or something. That would explain the similarity in the pedals.

Personally I like a tight pot (ahem..) because I know I won’t knok my settings around. And it allows super-minor-tweaks. :D

I got a Tube Zipper question - when you turn the sensitivity control down does it act like a regular distortion pedal ? I’m really liking the demos I’ve seen of it, and I’ve played it in stores a few times, just trying to decide if it’s a pedal I actually need - although it’s high on my want list !!

with the sensitivity and resonance down, it acts like a regular distortion pedal with a single tone knob - very smooth and versatile, and it sounds very unique. from there, you just turn the resonance up and hone in on certain frequencies, sounding alot like a stationary wah pedal running into a dirty amp.

my favorite distortion tone is actually with the sensitivity set normally and the resonance all the way down; there isnt really any wah effect when you pick, just a subtle shift in tone that sounds quite appealing to my ears. the best part is that you can just turn the resonance up when you want the wah sound again, rather than having to find the sensitivity’s sweet spot every time.

I’ve been VERY intrigued by the potential possibilities of adding the Tube Zipper to my pedal array. I currently have a BassBalls pedal in my chain and I love the sound that thing puts out but I’m thinking that the two pedals might not get along. Does anyone use the Zipper in series with the Bassballs pedal, and if so, any recommended settings?

Wow, it seems like just about everyone is really satisfied with the Tube Zipper.  While it seems like it’s worth the steep price tag, I can’t bring myself to pay two-hundred dollars for a pedal.  So, if there is anyone out there who wants to sell theirs or knows where I can get a good deal on an EHX Tube Zipper, please let me know.

try ebay, these a few of them on there and just wait until you find a used one with a low price.

Believe me, I’ve tried.  I just missed an opportunity to get one for less than a hundred bucks.  It broke my heart!  But, you’re right.  Keeping a close eye on Ebay is probably my best bet.

I dig the Tube Zipper, I’ve been using it as my main dirt pedal. The envelope can be brought very subtly into the signal…I use just barely enough to be noticeable, it adds an expressiveness to pick attack that I’ve never heard in another pedal.

companyman - 09 April 2010 10:28 PM

... I’ve been using it as my main dirt pedal. The envelope can be brought very subtly into the signal…I use just barely enough to be noticeable…

Me too.

And I want to add that I like the Tube Zipper better than my old late 70’s Mu-Tron III. So much better that I sold it.