This bears the Ibanez name but is manufactured by the folks over at Tube Works. Like their Blue Tube and Real Tube pedals, the Tube King relies on a 12 AX7 tube to provides the overdrive. From the factory, these are supplied with flighty Chinese tubes that have a way of changing the character of each TK-999 quite drastically. I'd test a few out if you have the option because with a sweet tube installed, the Tube King is a really a fine pedal. We tried a few different new old stock tubes (RCA & Sylvania) in this and it went from just ok to great really quickly. For those who can remember, I'd say this is much like an Ibanez Sonic Distortion in terms of all out crunchiness. The well-voiced 3 band EQ section is highly tweak-able and can clean up or dirty up your signal as you see fit.