Put a tube on your board! Vahlbruch Kaluna Review

[@gregorglasbruch6917]

This is without a doubt by far the very best overdrive pedal I ever had. Period.

[@mrchrispychicken]

For my, its the holy Grail of an classic Overdrive. I LOVE IT!

[@DMSProduktions]

It seems to flatter ANY amp you put it into! It does not fundamentally change the sound of your amp at all! Gives it more grunt & gain, even up frequencies, but still retains the amps character! Nice 1 Henn! \m/

[@Eventual420]

I like watching your pick hand, you have some cool moves. With the right attack through the right gear we get some really nice music, and that’s why I come here.

[@randysutton2120]

Your clothing choices made me literally laugh out loud. Thanks for the smile. Great demo, as always.

[@67er_matze97]

once again I realize that your shabat guitar sounds absolutely utterly amazing !! great demo, pedal and playing btw 👍🏽

[@tconnell1121]

definitely on my short list! (the pedal, not the outfit). Great to hear it when it's not on neck pickup 90% of the time, through a guitar that everyone can identify with.

[@HEZ63]

Das mit Abstand beste Pedal, das ich jemals hatte. Dem musste sogar mein eigentlich davor geliebtes PlexiTone weichen, einfach, weil im Vergleich das PlexiTone die Bässe zu sehr kappte, was ich so gar nicht mag. Weshalb ich auch nie ein Tube Screamer Fan war. Klingt sogar Standalone nur mit einer guten Cabinet IR fantastisch, da kann nicht einmal ein echter Tweed Champ oder Princeton ernsthaft mithalten. Zumindest meiner Ansicht nach. Nicht gerade günstig, aber jeden Euro wert, braucht man ohnehin nur einmal für's ganze Leben und wertet sogar bereits sehr gute (Tube) Amps deutlich auf. Ich sag's mal so, obwohl das auch eher eine Untertreibung ist, weil das Kaluna noch viel mehr an Flexibilität drauf hat, ein Plexi wird zum Dumble. Oder auch zum Orange - oder Hiwatt - oder sogar Vox oder Fender, wenn man weiß, wie man den Sound richtig einstellt... Ebenso ist Herr Vahlbruch sehr nett und kompetent, falls es doch Probleme gibt. Klingt für mich jedenfalls deutlich besser als die anscheinend zur Zeit angesagten Fake-Amp-in-a Box Lösungen diverser Hersteller. Aktueller Nachtrag 09/2024: Inziwschen habe ich auch noch das Kaluna II mit zusätzlichen Low und Hot Modes, also 3 Voicings. Gestacked bekomme ich mit denen so gut wie alles zwischen Vintage Clean und Engl/Diezel High-Gain hin, Marshall/Plexi Sounds sowieso und das eigentlich sogar ganz ohne Amp. Das meiste ginge sogar mit nur einem Pedal, aber beide zusammen klingen noch etwas vollmundiger und besser. Die Dynamik stimmt sogar stacked, die Nebengeräusche sind immer noch überraschend gering und der Sound aus vier Röhrengainstufen ist Oberliga. Zudem erlaubt die doppelte Tonregelung ein exzellentes Soundshaping. Eine gute Cab IR dahinter und es passt! Ein Hammer ist auch die clevere 8-Pin Stecker Röhrenbefestigung. Gehäuse aufschrauben, Stecker raus, Silikonring runter, Röhre wechseln, Silikonring rauf, Stecker rein, Gehäuse zuschrauben. Besser geht's nicht, ist aber anscheinend nicht der Normalfall, da habe ich mich bei anderen Röhrengeräten weitaus mehr herumplagen müssen, um überhaupt erst einmal an die Röhre(n) zu kommen. Das einzige Problem, das ich jetzt habe, was mache ich jetzt mit meinen Amps? ;-) Ein kleiner Tipp am Ende: Die ebenfalls clevere Volumeregelung erlaubt nicht nur Boosts, sondern kann auch mit niedrigen Einstellungen ohnen Soundverlust dafür verwendet werden um den meistens nicht vorhandenen Low Input von Amps zu simulieren. Man glaubt gar nicht, welche guten Sounds alleine dadurch möglich werden....

[@PooNinja]

Very versatile Vahlbruch she seems to go from Sublimely subtle to sensational Screaming so smoothly. Tubes like voltage and I heard it runs the tube at a proper power level 👍🏽

[@MichaelZola]

This is the right stuff. Would love something like this being a dedicated overdrive. The 12x7 is my favorite. So versatile. Love a drive with an eq. I have a multi tube pedal made by effectrode. Just played it today. It has the warmest tone. You can turn down the effects and still get the valve warmth. Great inspiration that natural compression is! Cheers Henning @HP42! This was an awesome review. This is a fantastic product. You played great through it and during the killer intro demo. A single tube can make anyone’s tone dreams come true.

[@nicolapasquale8115]

I’m driving the Kaluna into a 59 bassman RI with a Telecaster that mounts La Brea pick ups. It doesn’t sound bad with low gain but when I push the gain it sucks. It may be do the 10” speakers. Also, it does not stack very well with a tube screamer on blues breaker pedal in front. All in all my JHS morning glory does a better job though because it is as responsive a a tube drive but it preserves the amazing tone of the bassman. PROs: It is very responsive and the EQ knobs are very sensitive

[@marcoviniciopenapitalua9562]

Hennig you are a Ángel Guitar Player, hugs from Mexico! This Pedal sound is amazing!

[@travishein]

That magnetic switch is super neat. This is likely a "hall effect sensor" . I never thought of doing something like this in a pedal switch. Practically it might even be less expensive than sourcing the heavy duty multi pole push button switches, at the complexity of having a toggle function in circuitry. Very neat.

[@kirabarsmith9353]

Ugh, sounds amazing, I gotta have one. That's a wild outfit even for you, Henning, love it!: )

[@EytschPi42]

thank you Kira!

[@powertothebauer296]

Eine tolle Vorstellung dieses Pedals ,aber eines hast du vergessen , dieses Pedal kann man auch als reinen Booster benutzen um die Verstärker Vorstufen in die Verzerrung zu treiben.Klasse Gitarrenspiel.

[@gtmuse329A]

Great review...and really helpful to hear it through different amps.

[@ThorQuest]

Nice little gadget there I'm just wondering what happens when you connect it to a solid state amp. Isn't the signal basically just using the amps' speaker at that point?

[@gjvdspam]

I really like the solo at 1:10. It is an improvisation on a excising song right? I would like to know which one

[@Faydit212]

Sounds excellently, no doubt. But if I see at least 3 op-amps on the pcb-board, this is not really a tube pedal for me, but an op-amp driven pedal with also an additional tube. Similar to eg. the Blackstar pedals or the Tube Driver. So this is no real, 100% tube circuit for me. But it explains the sound, as this sounds you hardly can get out of a single preamp tube even with a high voltage circuit. Nevertheless a good hybrid design pedal. For a hybrid design very expensive, if you consider that you meanwhile even get complete tube amp at this price. If they also can sound comparably good, is another question...

[@artyom108]

Hey brother. What is the "upright" ish rack that holds the pedals on your desk? I'm looking for something similar. Is it somehting you made yourself, or fashioned out of another rack? Thanks, A

[@ernstweinbrand4994]

Very nice sounds, Henning! Since you seem to be using that diffractor thing for your combo more and more, why not try a Barefaced AVD cab? Those do exactly that and sound absolutely great. Cheers!

[@dmtrace2832]

Sounds awesome! 👍

[@terribleligadelmal4541]

"Into ... the tone king skyking over there, wich is the-OMG what im i wearing! HS! Imnotwatchingthisimnotwatchingthis". How to describe the sound... is like a clean... drive? The voice of the amp is still there. An enhancement definetly.

[@ironblast5]

How does this sound ran as a preamp or is it only good as a overdrive with a different preamp? If it does work as a pre what is it voiced after? Im looking into getting a tube preamp pedal to replace my marshall jvm210 live for my ampless guitar pedal board using a Seymour Duncan Powerstage 200 with a cab for front stage fill /stage volume and going thru a two notes torpedo cab m+ for my impulse and tube power amp simulation for the foh and iem mixes. Im eyeing the victory sherrif and kraken v4 pedal preamps and possibly this now if it can work in that scenario.

[@arpee915]

I prefer between 6 and 10 tubes. 1 tube in a pedal doesn’t quite cut it for me. Although, I do think that it is a nice sounding pedal though.

[@christopherdaniel8230]

Amazing solo. What backing track did you use for this?

[@lowyaw]

Could you please use less gain on the amps? all that crunch covers up a lot of the pedal's character. Not all clean, but just less. Friedman was outright distorted, for example. Synergy was about right gain wise.

[@angusbrown2712]

O , its Great. Just Try It For 14 days . Its free for you . I was wondering do you like{ Manley VOXBOX } as same as Avalon that came with your Apollox4 /?

[@kalidesu]

It sounds like The Jezabels - Hurt Me. 1:08

[@biomecaman3514]

real sweet sound

[@davidpickthall4974]

Can you review the plethora x5. Would love to know what you think of that

[@BcBaxley]

Dad rock maximum effort 😎

[@phko0001]

Does it djent? :-)

[@Ottophil]

But i need 6 tubes for my preamp sound.

[@FRANANGELICOONA]

What’s the big deal? Why ever use an overdrive pedal if not to boost a high gain amp?

[@EytschPi42]

you don't seem to look for a wide tonal palette, don't you?

[@FRANANGELICOONA]

EytschPi42 only good ones. Www.economan3000.bandcamp.com

[@adamdam]

Ooooopsy

[@olsza6969]

what reverb and delay did you use for recording?

[@EytschPi42]

the built in ones in the UA Ox

[@josearaujo8616]

12 ax7 has to be a pre-amp I think... and 330 euros for a 12 ax7 pre... its very pricy IMHO... You have the cheaper Audient Sono, which includes a 12 ax7 also, a 2x audio interface and the torpedo cab onboard... and its cheaper...

[@justsofrivolous]

Your a fashion icon Henning 😂

[@Miamiborne1969]

Sounds fantastic! But hella expensive even used.

[@kroadster3249]

Fuck ein geiles Intro Solo Henning.

[@kxmrock]

Finally a Tube Pedal Done Right, put a $100 NOS tube in there.

[@cchavez248]

Uhhh, Kingsley....

[@boomerbassmeme]

Wow! Adds such warmth and just the right push to an amp! Love that pedal! I could not wear that shirt though, my favorite red headed librarian would beat me up and steal it right off my back! (elder abuse!)

[@rocknrollamps]

Nice, very nice

[@angusbrown2712]

Are you using LUNA now > ???

[@EytschPi42]

nope, Cubase

[@briandevitt6903]

This is what happens when a crazy person gets dressed in the dark.😀

[@delbertstringbreaker7686]

Henning - do you hate Fender?

[@EytschPi42]

absolutely not... WHY?

[@delbertstringbreaker7686]

@@EytschPi42 In your excellent, (if eye damaging!), review of this Kaluna pedal you finished off with a multitude of amps - but not one Fender amp - even though they are renowned for their clean tones (an ideal backdrop for a pedal) and according to Lee Anderton - the Blues Jr is his best selling one, thus more likely to be in the home of your viewers - at least in the UK.

[@Bcwilderness]

gives that nice tube bite on the note, unlike these shitty 2d plugins, this or the victory kraken pedal, should kick my mesa nice, another good one half the price is the maxon tod9 these are a great way to give a bit more zing on your recordings even into an amp sim, and does wonders for the orange terror series :) happy days

[@johnstitt2615]

The big “Kaluna” ......There....I said.

[@arialiemeru9129]

Some say u can fry an egg when it gets too hot!!!🤔

[@johnmattei2799]

Why so pricey?

[@powertothebauer296]

John Mattei . because it is handmade, but you are one of the guys who buy a Gibson custom shop guitar for 10000$ worth 1000$ and says it is a cheap guitar

[@maxupp]

No Kiana. Why even watch?

[@eduardwilliams1245]

Yum.

[@RaxFx]

tastey solo noodle on the Shabat...

[@angusbrown2712]

Daw

[@ReplbliSCUMSareSICK]

It runs off of 9v? EPIC "Fail"!

[@powertothebauer296]

Another one who has no clue what he is talking about. epic fail

[@ReplbliSCUMSareSICK]

@powertothebauer Actually I DO know what I am talking about, if you knew ANYTHING about Vacuum Tubes, [ which YOU DON'T ], then YOU would "Know" TOO, instead of talking out your @$$!

[@joeywilder9708]

Well I’ll be a rootin tootin asshole!

[@terryenglish7132]

All the modelers sound good until you hear actual tubes.

[@JaySilva88]

All modellers sound like crap, you just learn it when you hear something better. I have a Micro Terror, and although it's not as good as a Tiny Terror it still kick ass in volume and tone.

[@todhollo1961]

have a tube amp no need

[@EytschPi42]

but maybe you do

[@BigMikeGuitar]

Cool footswitch tech - inducing spontaneous nerdgasm nowwweee…

[@vibratemutate]

zuerst verkauft er mir ein crazy tube circuits space charged V2 und jetzt das ... mein armes geldbörserl hat dir nichts getan bitte hör auf.