STRATDELUXER97
Stratoblaster Tone Meister
Hello guys....I have another TS5 that I Just picked up from e bay and modded it identically to the one I sent Bob(Midnite Man)as a backup Tube Screamer and to experiment with...Bob's and mine both have early 80s JRC4558D opamps...Mine and Bob's both have a very full and throaty sounding tone with just the right amount of gain with the drive control maxed in an effort to retain note clarity without tonal mush...I find with my strat through my Marshall that I Like the drive maxed,the tone control on the TS5 set just a bit below mid point and the level right at mid point for the best tones...
Today I thought I'd check out both the TI RC4558P chip and also the TI RC4559P chip....Both of these chips sound almost identical to meSome things I Notice when using these chips...There's a very slight decrease in volume level,the note articulation seems a bit better,but the lows get stripped away a bit as does the overall gain of the pedal..These two chips seem to give my TS5 more higher mids which allows the pedal to cut better but I also end up having to turn the TS5s tone control back some as I Lose the warmth of the JRC 4558 D chip....
The JRC4558D chip in my TS5 has an old 4 digit number starting with 0....0 being the year I believe(1980),and it's an early chip...My TS5 with this chip in place of the TI s above is night and day..The JRC removes some highs but it has more output,adds a touch more gain,and seems to emphasize the lows and lower mids more and it does it in a much smoother way...The notes sing and sustain much better out of the pedal with this chip...This is still the correct sounding chip for the Tube Screamer series...I was pretty disappointed with the TI chips above in my TS5....I had to turn my TS5 up to about the 1 o clock position to match the output I had with the JRC chip at mid level or noon on the level control...It's noticible...This extra output is enough to notice extra balls and gain with the JRC chip...Turning up the volume with both TI chips just brings the mids and highs out more without any increase in gain...
However....I favor the TI RC 4558 P in my SD1 mods as it keeps the SD1 having it's own identity..The SD1 isn't as articulate as a Tube Screamer and has 1 extra diode to generate it's distortion and so fairs better with the cleaner sounding TI chip...The SD1 has more overall gain and the TI chip works well in this pedal...I won't use this chip in any of my Tube Screamer mods though because the JRC was just a very noticible difference in tone over the TI...
In no way does either of the TI chips sound bad...They are real smooth sounding,but the JRC 4558 D chip sounds alot ballsier in the lows and smoother with a nice rolled off highend tone that is easily brightened by a small upward tweak to the tone control...I don't hear any difference in tone that I can recall between the RC4558 and the RC4559 but both of these chips eq differently compared to the JRC....
Wanted to share my findings with all of you..
John
Today I thought I'd check out both the TI RC4558P chip and also the TI RC4559P chip....Both of these chips sound almost identical to meSome things I Notice when using these chips...There's a very slight decrease in volume level,the note articulation seems a bit better,but the lows get stripped away a bit as does the overall gain of the pedal..These two chips seem to give my TS5 more higher mids which allows the pedal to cut better but I also end up having to turn the TS5s tone control back some as I Lose the warmth of the JRC 4558 D chip....
The JRC4558D chip in my TS5 has an old 4 digit number starting with 0....0 being the year I believe(1980),and it's an early chip...My TS5 with this chip in place of the TI s above is night and day..The JRC removes some highs but it has more output,adds a touch more gain,and seems to emphasize the lows and lower mids more and it does it in a much smoother way...The notes sing and sustain much better out of the pedal with this chip...This is still the correct sounding chip for the Tube Screamer series...I was pretty disappointed with the TI chips above in my TS5....I had to turn my TS5 up to about the 1 o clock position to match the output I had with the JRC chip at mid level or noon on the level control...It's noticible...This extra output is enough to notice extra balls and gain with the JRC chip...Turning up the volume with both TI chips just brings the mids and highs out more without any increase in gain...
However....I favor the TI RC 4558 P in my SD1 mods as it keeps the SD1 having it's own identity..The SD1 isn't as articulate as a Tube Screamer and has 1 extra diode to generate it's distortion and so fairs better with the cleaner sounding TI chip...The SD1 has more overall gain and the TI chip works well in this pedal...I won't use this chip in any of my Tube Screamer mods though because the JRC was just a very noticible difference in tone over the TI...
In no way does either of the TI chips sound bad...They are real smooth sounding,but the JRC 4558 D chip sounds alot ballsier in the lows and smoother with a nice rolled off highend tone that is easily brightened by a small upward tweak to the tone control...I don't hear any difference in tone that I can recall between the RC4558 and the RC4559 but both of these chips eq differently compared to the JRC....
Wanted to share my findings with all of you..
John
