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BK Butler Tubedriver

I ended up messing about with the Tube Driver until 2 am last night & figured out a godo use for it. Imo, as a stand alone distortion unit, it's too raw & fuzzy for my tastes. However, i sent the controls for 3/3/3/4 & bias on 2 & then use it to boost my Xotic Andy Timmons pedal who's gain I lower from 10 to 5 & this thickens up & adds a grit to the whole tone which is really nice.

I do think the Tubdriver is too fuzzy & loose sounding to use as your only pedal & I have no idea who Andy used it for all those years & got such a nice creamy tone. Either way, he's switched to Xotic BB pedals, which, imo, are better pedals.
 
I have to agree about the pedal's usability as a stand-alone high gain lead channel (in it's stock form).  I use a Stiletto II (like his) and can tell you that when Timmons said the TD doesn't sound good through many amps, he wasn't joking!  The Stiletto loves overdrive pedals, so I think I got lucky, as I never intended on using these as part of my sound.  I'm positive his is either sprinkled with magic tone dust or modded in some way lol.

Edit:  Through a tube amp at stage volume this pedal totally shines stock!  I don't think I mentioned that.  I don't think this pedal is a good part of a bedroom setup as-is.  I like your idea of using it to push another OD pedal, as many have suggested it does this well.

Also, the TL series chips tend to have a brighter tone which can sound harsh with higher gain settings.  The rat pedal uses the LM308 for a warmer tone, which you may also find more pleasing.  An diff chip may be just what the doc ordered for this pedal without resorting to lower gain tubes. 
 
maybe it is just me, or the unit I have is just old and special
but I have used it in the lineup for so long I cannot not useing it
Of course, I play blues and Jazz so maybe the difference is the way I like distortion. I stopped using  soaking form of distortion back in the hair metal days and switched to a lot cleaner tone with the grit building with the attack, I use the distortion form my amp as a base setting and use pedals as a way to supplement that.
in the lineup for distortion I will use the Butler, a Russian made unit that uses and optical drive that when it goes is not replaceable, an original ds-1, TS-808 tube screamer, a BD-2, FZ-5 and DN-2. Also available are a Fuzz face out of the 70s, a Swollen Pickle, a big muff, and a rat, I have picked up some stuff I keep in the closet and pull out to experiment along the way that probably is not made any more. I buy clearance pedals and usually give them away. Oh wait, I have a Digitech bad monkey, you need to make a true bypass pedal just for that thing but it is worth the effort, that pedal is quirky but once tuned in it can be insane.
So you can see I have tried a lot of stuff and when playing out it is the Butler that always goes, most of the other stuff sits in the music room waiting to be noticed. I am playing a lot with the Bad Monkey a lot though.
 
it is a mess to tune in but once there it is a great pedal
pus it does not have true bypass and you need to make a bypass pedal for it, but those are easy to make, 4 input jacks, a 6 point dpt switch and a peanut can works
with that you use the bypass switch to control it otherwise it leaks into the chain
 
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