The Tone City Green Tube is a Tone City overdrive pedal. Close alternatives include the Sonicake Blue Skreamer and the Wampler Moxie TS10 Tube Screamer Style Mini Overdrive. It pairs well with the Friedman Dirty Shirley and the Fender Prosonic.
Tone City Green Tube
Tone City · pedal
The Tone City Green Tube is a Tube Screamer-style overdrive that makes no secret of its inspiration in name, colour or voicing, and unusually for Tone City it comes in a full-size rather than mini enclosure. It delivers the familiar mid-gain, midrange-focused overdrive: warm and smooth with a pushed midrange hump that helps leads cut, and enough compression to even out pick attack. Controls are simple -- Volume, a Tone dial adding treble as it opens, and Drive for gain -- while a dual-drive feature widens the range, so it works both as a light, gritty edge-of-breakup boost and as a fuller driven rhythm tone. It pairs well with single coils and humbuckers alike, adding heat and attack to an already-driven amp. True bypass, 9V.
What stands out
“The Tone City Green Tube is a Tube Screamer-style overdrive that makes , colour or voicing, and unusually for Tone City it comes in a full-size”
— from the listing
“mid-focused ts-inspired character at very accessible pricing”
— from the community notes
“budget blues and rock players who want tube screamer-style overdrive at low cost find the green tube a practical option”
— from the community notes
“Build quality is adequate for the price”
— from the community notes
“It delivers the familiar mid-gain, midrange-focused overdrive: warm and smooth with a pushed midrange hump that helps leads cut, and enough compression to even out pick attack”
— from the listing
- overdrive
- mid
- rock
- ts
- mid gain
- midrange
- bypass
- smooth
Good for
- Busking
- Live
Genres the Tone City Green Tube is commonly used in
- Blues
- Rock
- Blues Rock
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag. - Alternative
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag. - Country
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag. - Classic Rock
cited
Inferred from shared tonal signals, not a stated genre tag.
Amps that pair well with the Tone City Green Tube
Friedman Dirty Shirley
Friedman
28% matchgain stackingStacks two gain stages for more saturation than either produces alone. (mid-forward → high gain)
Put Friedman Dirty Shirley in front and the mid-forward tone leans further toward high gain
Comes later in the signal chain
Fender Prosonic
amplifier
25% matchfills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (bright → warm)
Fender Prosonic leans warm right where the bright tone needs it
Comes later in the signal chain
Mesa/Boogie JP-2C John Petrucci Signature 60/100-Watt
Mesa Boogie
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Put Mesa/Boogie JP-2C John Petrucci Signature 60/100-Watt in front and the mid-forward tone leans further toward high gain
Blackstar HT Stage 100H MK III Snakeskin
Blackstar
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Put Blackstar HT Stage 100H MK III Snakeskin in front and the mid-forward tone leans further toward high gain
Marshall Vintage Modern 2466
Marshall
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Marshall Vintage Modern 2466 leans warm right where the bright tone needs it
Blackstar Series One 200
Blackstar
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Blackstar Series One 200 layers high gain onto an already mid-forward signal
Hughes & Kettner Coreblade
Hughes & Kettner
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Put Hughes & Kettner Coreblade in front and the mid-forward tone leans further toward high gain
Marshall Studio JCM900 SN20H
Marshall
tonal matchComes later in the signal chain
Put Marshall Studio JCM900 SN20H in front and the mid-forward tone leans further toward high gain
Pedals that stack with the Tone City Green Tube
MXR Micro Amp
MXR
26% matchWhat MXR Micro Amp brings here leans toward clean boost — that's worth building a pairing around
EarthQuaker Devices '- Speaker Cranker
EarthQuaker Devices
21% matchfills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (bright → warm)
EarthQuaker Devices '- Speaker Cranker leans warm right where the bright tone needs it
Walrus Audio Monument CS
Walrus Audio
21% matchsits in the right chain slotPlaced for where it does its job cleanly in the chain, not for a tonal interaction with the anchor.
Run Walrus Audio Monument CS after Tone City Green Tube in the signal chain, clear of Tone City Green Tube's own gain stage
Comes later in the signal chain
SahBro? Audio Ross Kempressor
Sahbro Audio
16% matchfills a frequency gapFills in a frequency range the other side doesn't cover, instead of piling more onto what's already there. (bright → warm)
SahBro? Audio Ross Kempressor's own compressed character is the real reason this is worth trying
Comes earlier in the signal chain
T-Rex Junior Roomate
T Rex
13% matchsits in the right chain slotPlaced for where it does its job cleanly in the chain, not for a tonal interaction with the anchor.
T-Rex Junior Roomate's warm voice goes after Tone City Green Tube in the signal chain — it's not there to compete with Tone City Green Tube's own mid-forward character — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)
Comes later in the signal chain
Alexander Pedals Now We Are Ghosts Reverb
Alexander Pedals
12% matchsits in the right chain slotPlaced for where it does its job cleanly in the chain, not for a tonal interaction with the anchor.
Run Alexander Pedals Now We Are Ghosts Reverb after Tone City Green Tube in the signal chain, clear of Tone City Green Tube's own gain stage — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)
Comes later in the signal chain
Caline CP-31 Hot Spice (Black)
Caline
tonal matchComes earlier in the signal chain
Caline CP-31 Hot Spice (Black) goes in front of Tone City Green Tube — a wah tracks picking dynamics best on the raw signal
Matthews Effects Architect
Matthews Effects
tonal matchMatthews Effects Architect sits in the same chain slot as Tone City Green Tube
Alternativessee all similar tone character →
Sonicake Blue Skreamer
Sonicake
74% similarityShared character: light, wide range, blues players
Wampler Moxie TS10 Tube Screamer Style Mini Overdrive
Wampler
66% similarityShared character: compression, middle, smooth
Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer
Ibanez
62% similarityShared character: single coils, wide range, blues players
Ibanez TS808HW Hand-Wired Tube Screamer
Ibanez
61% similarityShared character: single coils, true bypass, middle
Vertex Tone Secret
Vertex
61% similarityShared character: blues players, pick attack, treble
Behringer TO800 Vintage Tube Overdrive
Behringer
61% similarityShared character: light, single coils, compression
DigiTech Badder Monkey Tube Overdrive
Digitech
61% similarityShared character: smooth, overdrive
Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini
Ibanez
60% similarityShared character: single coils, blues players, middle
NuX Drive Core Deluxe MKII
Nux
60% similarityShared character: true bypass, lead, overdrive
J. Rockett The Dude
J Rockett
60% similarityShared character: blues players, overdrive
Mooer Demonfx TS Green
Mooer
59% similarityShared character: warm, overdrive
Cornerstone Antique v2
Cornerstone
58% similarityShared character: single coils, volume, compression
See all alternatives to the Tone City Green Tube (cheaper + boutique) →
Questions people ask
What are good alternatives to the Tone City Green Tube?+
The closest matches in character are the Sonicake Blue Skreamer, the Wampler Moxie TS10 Tube Screamer Style Mini Overdrive, the Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer.
What pairs well with the Tone City Green Tube?+
Strong matches from rig and tone-complementarity evidence: Friedman Dirty Shirley, Fender Prosonic, Mesa/Boogie JP-2C John Petrucci Signature 60/100-Watt — Put Friedman Dirty Shirley in front and the mid-forward tone leans further toward high gain.