I can't imagine anyone has played more Tubescreamer based overdrives than I have, LOL! I've been building the Luther for 10 years now, and it's still my favorite of all the hot-modded TS flavored pedals. I was originally inspired by some of the earlier 808's and 9's that always seemed to have a little more top end and sparkle, without quite as much of the heavy mids you get from the modern reissue Ibanez versions...so I set out to build a brighter tubescreamer style unit...enter THE LUTHER!
I was able to maintain the integrity of the vintage TS808 style, mild and tasty overdrive, yet give it a little more clarity and brighter response in the Classic mode, (Sun+Tube logo = Brighter Tubescreamer) while still keeping the smooth drive and just the right amount of compression. In Classic mode, its my number one favorite single unit overdrive. In LoudMod mode, (Headphone logo = LoudMod), you get a more non-compressed overdriven boost with lots of extra volume on tap to push your tube amp into glorious, juicy, seductive, tonal-bliss.
Celebrating 10 years with the new, VERSION III, I've upgraded and updated both the guts and the skin. The tone is still the same, yet by investing in higher quality components, (metal film resistors, pop-reduction circuit to eliminate LED pop,), and giving the circuit board a makeover, I've been able to maximize the function of both the MODE switch, as well as the EQ control...both of them are really giving you full throttle goodness now! The gain structure has been modified to produce more available gain, but keep the voicing exactly the same as before...just more juice if ya want it. Also, the LoudMod is no longer asymmetrical...its now symmetrical clipping and is less compressed...and more LOUD! YEAH!
Cosmetically, I've switched to a classic, off white, matte finish box, with silkscreened logo, featuring the giant sized "L" , as well as V-D-Q (Volume, Drive, EQ) labels above the knobbies, and finally, a tone-ranger heiroglyph symbol to notate CLASSIC (Sun+Tube), or LoudMod (Headphones). It's a makeover that's long overdue, yet keeps the classic ugliness that I'm known for. Ha!
All pedals are signed on the inside, and come in a scrumptious box along with a couple of little goodies and some lovely shredded paper inside. Yep!