What Tube Screamer is your favorite?

[Inkstained]

Re: What Tube Screamer is your favorite?

I have too many pedals, too many options and sometimes I'm too confused. When I'm in an overdrive mood, I switch between a TS-9 and BD-2. But now I'm looking at a Way Huge Pork Loin.

Wish I could settle down with just one "favorite" pedal.

 

[dano8180]

Re: What Tube Screamer is your favorite?

I may be in the minority here, but of all the variations, my favorite was the TS10. I liked the, for lack of better term, thin "squawk" it produced in the tone. I now use an MI Audio Blues Pro because the thicker bottom end sounds more even when I go to my clean tone. I could use a little more bottom and have been kicking around the idea of the Green Rhino for the bass boost it has.

 

[Bludave]

Re: What Tube Screamer is your favorite?

I have three Tubescreamers. One is a TS9 that Stratdeluxer97 modded for me & it is my main OD. I use it more as a lean boost. I keep the gain down all the way & I adjust the volume to push it from clean to a slight overdrive tone. I use thi mostly on the clean channel with my Shiva but occasionally I use it on the dirt channel too.

My second Tubescreamer I bought on Ebay. It is also a TS9 but it has a chip holder so I can switch the chip if I choose. It sounds very good with my Deluxe Reverb so thats where I use it. this one I have the gain set at about 40 to 50%.

My third one is a TS808 made for me by Xssive. Mike & I got to know each other when we were both hanging out at Cris Mirabellas shop on Saturday's. He was toying with the idea of building these pedals. He made a few of them and sold them to Forum members I believe. It is essentially a TS808, but has a few other options. It has a three way mini toggle that allows you to add or remove some bass. It seems like it has a lot more gain then a typical 808 but it also maintains a lot of clarity. I use this exclusively with my komet 60. It sounds great with this amp. It has a tremendous amount of harmonics, but I'm not sure if its the pedal or the amp. One of my favorite overdrives...

 

[Stratman]

Re: What Tube Screamer is your favorite?

Suhr Koko Boost with Shiba - nice

My own modified TS9 (Modified it back in 1998)

But really, I have gotten away from TS9 type pedals.

ZIM pedal is also so nice.

 

[crguti]

Re: What Tube Screamer is your favorite?

 

[Hoss]

Re: What Tube Screamer is your favorite?

Green Rhino was awesome!

MI Blues Pro is one of my all time fave pedals period.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: What Tube Screamer is your favorite?

I have three Tubescreamers. One is a TS9 that Stratdeluxer97 modded for me & it is my main OD. I use it more as a lean boost. I keep the gain down all the way & I adjust the volume to push it from clean to a slight overdrive tone. I use thi mostly on the clean channel with my Shiva but occasionally I use it on the dirt channel too.

Same for me. My two favorites are the two TS-9's that John modded for me.

I also have a brand new TS-808 still in the box after five years! Took it out just to see how it compare's to the two Spina modified TS-9's and it sounds identical to the two TS-9's - so I think I'll sell the TS-808. Anyone interested?

 

[guitarded]

Re: What Tube Screamer is your favorite?

What's wrong with the unmodded TS-9? I see everyone who likes one has some sort of mod. I have tried every overdrive I could afford and I would trade mist of them for the stock TS-9 reissue I bought a couple months ago.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: What Tube Screamer is your favorite?

What's wrong with the unmodded TS-9? I see everyone who likes one has some sort of mod. I have tried every overdrive I could afford and I would trade mist of them for the stock TS-9 reissue I bought a couple months ago.

There's nothing wrong with the stock TS-9. But it can be modified as some people want more drive, some want more bass, some want less compression, some want less of a nasal quality to the tone and some want more of a "natural" tone - "natural" meaning more like the guitar sounds w/o going through an overdrive and just through a cranked up amp.

The TS-808, to me, has a slightly more open tone than a TS-9. Maybe slightly less compressed? Maybe more "breath"? More air?

But I used to drive my Vox AC30 (when I had one!) with a stock TS-9 and felt that I was getting the best overdriven tone I'd ever had.

The Analogman King of Tone is all I need though. I don't think my Vintage Rat or my Tubescreamers are going to see much use now that I have the KoT. I'll probably sell them and just keep the KoT.

 

[guitarded]

Re: What Tube Screamer is your favorite?

There's nothing wrong with the stock TS-9. But it can be modified as some people want more drive, some want more bass, some want less compression, some want less of a nasal quality to the tone and some want more of a "natural" tone - "natural" meaning more like the guitar sounds w/o going through an overdrive and just through a cranked up amp.

The TS-808, to me, has a slightly more open tone than a TS-9. Maybe slightly less compressed? Maybe more "breath"? More air?

But I used to drive my Vox AC30 (when I had one!) with a stock TS-9 and felt that I was getting the best overdriven tone I'd ever had.

The Analogman King of Tone is all I need though. I don't think my Vintage Rat or my Tubescreamers are going to see much use now that I have the KoT. I'll probably sell them and just keep the KoT.

The thing I found about the TS-9 is isn't as picky with what amp I use as the other pedals are. I have a VOX AC30 CC2, a Mesa Mark IV, and a Epiphone Valve Senior 20 watter. The TS-9 can be dialed in to drive each the right amount without getting harsh. It seems to be easier to dial and has less short comings than the other pedals.....

Here is the short list... OCD, PLIMSOUL, BB PREAMP, MXR CUSTOM BADASS, HARDWIRE TUBE DRIVE, BOSS OD-3, WAY HUGE GREEN RHINO, BAD MONKEY, SD-1, COFFIN BLOOD DRIVE... These are just the ones that stuck around long enough to be remembered. Some are more like distortions, but I used them all to get roughly the same thing. I was just surprised the plain TS-9 was so easy to dial. The Plimsoul stayed on my board as well.

 

[Grenade]

Re: What Tube Screamer is your favorite?

I like my Visual Sound Double Trouble but my axes are sounding a lot different to me to me today.

Ok, these pedals need felt washers or rubber o-rings under the knobs. I looked at my settings this morning and everything was out from where I usually keep them. No wonder my axes were sounding different last night.

 

[wahwah]

Re: What Tube Screamer is your favorite?

I've had some form of TubeScreamer in my rig for most of my playing career, starting with an original TS-808 when they first came out in the late 70s. That was always the benchmark for me, and I learned a lesson when I stupidly sold it for $35 in 1983, thinking that I could always easily get back to that sound again. When I first heard the TS-9, I knew I had made a big mistake selling my 808, because the TS-9 was a horrid, compressed, thin sounding junk pedal by comparison. It wasn't until I got a TS-10 in the late 80s that I heard something approaching the 808 again, but the pedal was so poorly made, with the jacks soldered straight onto the circuit board, that it became a liability after a couple of years on the road. The next viable option was offered up by Dave Ulbrick, who kindly made me a custom version of his 12Axe pedal, using some of the original 808 parts that he wisely put aside when he heard the TS-9, and realized the 808 would be missed. I still have Dave's pedal, and it's probably the closest thing I have to an original 808. For the past few years I have been using a Landgraff Dynamic Overdrive, which is simply a beautifully tuned and tweaked 808, with a few alternate diode options on a toggle switch and roadworthy build quality. A lot of people get confused by John Landgraff's paint jobs on his pedals and think he's selling snake oil with swirly paint, but the truth is he has a masterful knack for tuning pedals with componentry and tolerances to produce stunning results. The LDO is a brilliantly versatile TS pedal, with outstanding quality at very stage.

Here's some examples of these two TS variants, in both cases going into clean amps.

First, from my self produced solo album from 2008, the Ulbrick 12Axe...

http://geoffwells.bandcamp.com/track/floydy

And a live clip featuring the Landgraff Dynamic Overdrive, on a version of the Free song, "The Stealer"...




Cheers.............................. wahwah

 

[nedcronin]

Re: What Tube Screamer is your favorite?

Analogman man TS-9 with the 808 mod. GREAT pedal! Fat, & warm as toast.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: What Tube Screamer is your favorite?

I LOVE the Jaques(sp?) Tube Blower.

 

[ToneScavenger]

Re: What Tube Screamer is your favorite?

My favorite Ibanez Tube Screamer it's the one I have... a 1983 MIJ TS-9 with an original JRC4558D I bought in craigslist from a garage sale for $30 "I got extremely lucky" and I don't think it doesn't need any mods My other Favorite it's my friends Analogman modded TS9DX RE-J Project because of its versatility.