Ethos Pedal

[alienlovefreak69]

New to the Forum here, so sorry if this may be somewhere else here. I was wondering if anyone who owns a Dumble or any of you with a good Dumble clone has tried this pedal yet? How close is it % wise compared to all the rest of em out there. I use to have an actual ODS, but haven't seen one of these pedals in person to try out yet. It sounds good on the clips, but that's never the same as trying it in person.

[bluesfendermanblues]

No, I use a Zendrive at rehersals, with whatever amp, available.

[guitarsnguns04]

I personally didnt care for the ethos pedal at all..I prefer the kingsley jester by a landslide

[LedZep1291]

Hey alienlovefreak. I'm new to the forum too. I've had my Ethos for about a half a year and it sounds great. Unfortunately, I'm thinking of selling it to get a Glaswerks. In my rig, the Ethos comes very close to a Dumble tone. I'm using it through a KT66 amp, so you should be able to get much closer Dumble tone with any other tubes. The knobs can be a bit intimidating, but after tweaking it for a while, you should be able to get a good tone. Also, there's something on the side called a GAC switch which, IMO, gives you a phenomenal tone. If I decide to sell mine, I'll shoot you a PM.

[alienlovefreak69]

250 views on this post & no one has a comment but 3 people???

[Structo]

I would guess that anybody that has a D clone would not buy this pedal as it would be redundant.

I haven't really ran into anybody that has the Ethos, although I think a few guys at TGP bought one.

[Rob]

I bought an ethos and just shipped it off to its new owner today. I have several D clones as well as a couple Dumbles. I find the best pedal out there is the zendrive. It makes a good fender amp pretty damn close to a good dumble (at least in the mix). If you put a timmy in front of it sounds even better.

The ethos had the character but I felt like I was fighting with it all the time to get the goods. The Zen gives you more of the vibe and more of the tone.

[alienlovefreak69]

Thanks for the reply Structo. My thinking was that if you did have a D-Clone or an actual Dumble, you might like a pedal such as this for times when you didn't want to haul an expensive amp out to a bar gig or such. That would be my intent for something like this at least. Surely it's not going to replace the real thing or a great D-clone amp, but seems like it would be very handy to have at times to get that same kind of tone. Even if it wasn't 100%. My orginal question on this pedal maybe Rob could answer since he actually has Dumbles & Clones as well. That is, what %age would you say it is to the real tones? And would you think it would be better than the Zendrive for direct applications with no amp involved?

[blue_lu]

i had one - did not really care for it - sounded a lot like a regular ts with the difference that it was SERIOUSLY dynamic/touch sensitive.

Zendrive/Zendrive SE/Hermida Distortion are way better imo.

I own/owned all of these and compared. the zen has a lot more bottom end (the se and the distortion even more) than the ethos. But even while the ethos has less bass than the zen the ethos is really A LOT more flubby and undefined sounding in the lower register. the zen is feels a little stiffer but is so much more defined.

the ethos' direct recorded tones are also really thin sounding. I've some noodleing online so you can compare. I was really disappointed by the ethos being used direct:

my ethos direct remixed (louder guitar signal) and zendrive se clips
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... dID=775582

Imo the ethos is way too expensive for its tone, I'm glad I sold it at no loss. get a zen se and be done with it.

[Structo]

Didn't the later versions of the Ethos have a bass mod on them?

[blue_lu]

they do - but the guy from customsounds inc. insisted that I had to send the pedal in again (I'm in Germany, so I'd have to pay all the import taxes and postage again + the charge for the mod) instead of connecting with a local trustworthy builder (telenordia).

I've no idea how the tle sounds - but the classic was not worth the money, and I doubt that a tighter bass would lead to an overall fuller sounding pedal.
the zen won, hands down.

[BluesManTim]

I have had the TLE for several months and have been happy with it. I run it through a Music Man 112 RP 100 (Sylvania 6ac7 /EL34 tubes) and I've received a lot of compliments on the sound. I also use a 70 LP deluxe.

My friends who have tried my Ethos have remarked about how they've enjoyed the touch responsiveness of the unit. And yes, there are a lot of nobs to turn. My only complaint is that it's easy to accidentally hit the knobs and change your settings. Now I just set the controls and put the unit on top of my amp. There's no need to be pushing the foot buttons anyway because I'll just control the sound with my touch and guitar controls.

I'm considering changing my tubes to 6L6's and other EL34's to see what effect that has with my Ethos . Other than that I'm very pleased with the sound.

[alienlovefreak69]

Thanks for all the responses everyone. I am very interested to try both this & the Zendrive at next years NAMM. I'm sure someone there will have one of these somewhere. Very interesting also is that it seems alot of players who ran the Ethos ran it throught the front of their amps which to me would change the tone since it now goes through another alteration on preamp stage. Not how I personaly run preamps through my tube amps, but hey, that's why guitar players are the most annoying critics out there right?! lol'. We all have our opinions based on what WE believe is the ultimate tone.

[mojo]

Thought I'd resurrect this thread for a few more views as I went ahead and placed my name on the list for an Ethos pedal. I currently have 3 ways to get close to Dumble-land - a Zen, a Fuchs Traynor mod, and a Ceriatone Overtone with vintage iron. The Ethos would be specifically for use direct as a grab n go rig (ampless) when a PA is in use and I want easy load in and out. Anybody with any more thoughts on these pedals over the past 5 years?

[ampgeek]

I have a very decent D'Style build but can't turn it up to the sweet spot in OD mode in most of the dive bars that I play. It has a marvelous clean tone at the "right" volume IMHO...so all is good!

The Guitarpcb.com Zenith Drive gets me pretty darned close to OD mode on the amp at the right volume for some really small coin. A few of our gig regulars are amp-knowledgable folks who have commented that, in the mix, they can't tell the difference. Not exactly so when played alone...but...the difference is minute. There is definitely a "feel" difference though.

It is a pretty cool circuit which is amenable to some amount of tweaking. Our own 10th TX developed a pallet of neat options!

Just my two cents!

Cheers,
Dave O.