Shawn Tubbs is a session guitarist and gear demonstrator with over 30 years of experience in Los Angeles and Nashville1. Players have come to know him through his session work, his touring work, or the demo videos he posts on YouTube, where Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio says he is known for "scorching fingerboard acrobatics and exceptional tone"2. His most visible contribution to the gear world is a signature pedal: the Revv Tilt Overdrive, an overdrive-plus-boost design he developed with the Canadian amp and pedal maker21.
Who is Shawn Tubbs?
Tubbs is a Nashville-based session guitarist and YouTuber2. Revv's own product page calls him a "Nashville session ace" and describes his career in full:
"With over 30 years as a premier session musician and gear demonstrator in Los Angeles and Nashville, Shawn Tubbs has spent a lifetime engineering the ultimate recorded guitar tone."
Guitar World's Paul Riario calls him a "session guitarist extraordinaire and influencer"3. His reputation among other working players is part of the story of his pedal: when session players asked to try the original design, the general consensus was that the boost side was very good7.
The Revv Tilt Overdrive
The Tilt Overdrive is a collaboration between Tubbs and Revv5. It is an overdrive pedal with a boost circuit, and it was the first dual-sided effect pedal Revv released46. The two sides are footswitchable independently3. Performer Mag's Chris Devine describes the drive side:
"It's a medium gain drive pedal with a boost; the drive side is voiced like a tube amp when engaged, and certainly has a clear vintage slant to things, however it's not an 'amp in the box' design."
Tubbs himself says he had the sound of a vintage non-master-volume amp in mind when he designed it8. MusicRadar quotes his own summary of the pedal: "It's an overdrive pedal with a boost circuit that has a really cool kind of Tilt EQ and some tweaks on it"4. Guitar.com reports the pedal was designed to capture the vintage sound Tubbs has become most associated with9. Revv says the signature pedal was rigorously tested and designed to work with any guitars and gear10.
The pedal found an unexpected pattern of use among players. Guitar World reports that Tubbs discovered many players using the pedal had become enamored with its boost side, with some foregoing the overdrive altogether and running the boost always on for its tone-shaping abilities3. The Tilt Overdrive also set a precedent for Revv: the company's next signature pedal, the Northern Mauler for Glenn Fricker, followed on from it11. On That Pedal Show, the Revv Tilt Shawn Tubbs Overdrive appeared in an episode comparing do-it-all overdrives alongside the Poly Flat V, the Kernom Ridge and the Chase Bliss Automatone Preamp MkII12.
Where to find his demos
Tubbs posts his pedal demos on YouTube, where he is described as a popular YouTuber2. His demo work spans a wide range of makers' pedals:
- The Vertex Dynamic Distortion, in a demo video on the Vertex Effects channel13
- The ENGL Alpha Drive Custom EP03, in a demo posted in English14
- The Anasounds Utopia Delay, in a video demo he posted15
Delicious Audio, which aggregates his videos on its blog, introduced the Revv Tilt coverage by noting that readers may already know Tubbs from those YouTube demos2.
News
Questions
What is the Shawn Tubbs Revv pedal?
The Revv Shawn Tubbs Tilt Overdrive is a signature overdrive pedal with a boost circuit, co-developed by Tubbs with Revv Amplification. It was the Canadian company's first dual-sided effect pedal, with two footswitchable sides: a medium-gain overdrive voiced like a vintage tube amp, and a boost with a Tilt EQ that shifts the whole frequency balance. Tubbs says he designed it with a vintage non-master-volume amp in mind.
Who is Shawn Tubbs?
Shawn Tubbs is a session guitarist and gear demonstrator with over 30 years of experience working in Los Angeles and Nashville. He is known for session work and touring acts, and for the demo videos he posts on YouTube, where players know him for his playing and his tone. He co-developed the Revv Tilt Overdrive, his signature pedal.
Does Shawn Tubbs play sessions in Nashville?
Yes. Tubbs is described as a Nashville session ace, and his career as a session musician and gear demonstrator spans Los Angeles and Nashville over more than 30 years. Session players who tried his original pedal design were the ones whose feedback led Revv to develop the boost side further.
Where does Shawn Tubbs post his pedal demos?
He posts demo videos on YouTube, where he is a popular YouTuber known for his gear demos. His demos cover a range of makers' pedals, including the Vertex Dynamic Distortion, the ENGL Alpha Drive Custom EP03 and the Anasounds Utopia Delay, and Delicious Audio aggregates his videos on its blog.
Sources (15)
- Revv Amp: Shawn Tubbs Tilt Overdrive, Revv Amplification
- REVV Tilt Overdrive + Boost (Shawn Tubbs Signature), Delicious Audio, 2022-11-18
- Revv Amplification Tilt Boost review, Guitar World, 2024-02-28
- Players' player Shawn Tubbs now has a signature REVV Tilt overdrive pedal, MusicRadar, 2022-05-19
- REVIEW: Revv Shawn Tubbs Tilt Overdrive Pedal, Performer Mag (performermag.com), 2023-02-14
- REVV Tilt Overdrive designed with Shawn Tubbs for vintage amp tones, gearnews.com, 2022-05-19
- REVV Tilt Boost is Shawn Tubbs signature pedal featuring Tilt EQ, gearnews.com, 2023-04-13
- The Top 5 Overdrive Pedals You Need to Know!, www.gearnews.com, 2024-09-25
- NAMM 2022: Revv Amps Introduces its first signature series pedal, the vintage-sounding Shawn Tubbs Tilt Overdrive, Guitar.com, 2022-05-20
- Revv Amplification Tilt Overdrive, Pedal of the Day, 2023-01-11
- REVV Northern Mauler, gearnews.com, 2022-11-04
- The Ultimate Do-It-All Overdrive? Poly Flat V, Kernom Ridge, CB Automatone Preamp MkII, That Pedal Show, 2023-03-10
- Dynamic Distortion Seafoam, vertexeffects.com
- Alpha Drive Custom EP03 by ENGL, RockBoard (rockboard.de PedalPedia), 2026
- Anasounds Utopia Delay, Delicious Audio, 2018-09-21