Ibanez Tube Screamer(s)?

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DeNilson

DeNilson

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Hi guys!
I'm a supernewbie in this forum, and this will be my virgin post (I am however a relatively experienced audio technician). Well, this topic goes out to all guitarfx freaks...;)

I recently tried an Ibanez Tube Screamer TS7 and I was really stunned by the (to my ears) perfect warm overdrive sound.
(Pic: hxxp://medias.milongamusic.com/Photos/Zoom/111251Z.jpg)

I've for long been looking for a good overdrive sound, but failed to find any satisfaction. Well, rather, an economically satisfying... - I know I would really like to have a vintage Marshall Plexi amp, but I sure don't have the money at the moment.

Well, we all know sound is highly subjective, but what I would like to know is if you guys have any comments or recommendations. My fav dist (for heavy dist guitars) is the original ProCo Rat, which I have, but I don't particularly like the Rat when it's used with subtler "overdrive" settings. I've had a Boss Super Overdrive, but that pedal always deeply disappointed me, so I sold it. I've tried the Marshall Guvnor pedal, but I think it sucked bigtime compared to the Ibanez Tubescreamer TS7.

So to conclude my question:
What do you guys think of the different Ibanez Tubescreamer versions (there are quite a few). Are they any different? Should I beware of any? I REALLY liked the TS7 (I think I've fallen in love, so please open my eyes if it's needed). And what about the other Marshall pedals (DriveMaster, Shredmaster and Bluesbreaker)? Any opinions on them? Or any other overdrive pedals from other brands?

I'm very thankful for feedback on this topic, even if it is bound to be subjective. And, oh yeah, forgot to say I basically use two guitars,
one '74 strat and one Epiphone Les Paul.

Regards,
DeNilson.
 
Don't get me started. I just opened the Pandora's Box of distortion/OD/fuzz pedals.

I've had a Fulltone 69, which I bought to sound bright, brittle and spitty, which it does, but makes it rather limited. I tried the Jekyll and Hyde, which has a good fake tubescreamer, and an ok DS-1 like distortion. The Hyde side was useless on my Mesa Boogie, but the pedal worked well enough on my little Crate V33 that I got curious. Based on reviews, I got a T-Rex Mudhoney, which is outstanding. I put the 69 in front of it, to get tight, punchy, hair-metally lead sounds as well. I have a MI Crunchbox and a Subdecay BlackStar on the way now. The Crunchbox seems to perform as well as a Box of Rock or an OCD, and costs less than either, although the Catalinbread Supercharged Overdrive was hard to turn down. The SubDecay is just so damn flexible that I'm sure it will do something I like.

On my to-do list are also an Ultimate Octave, and/or a Fuzz Factory, for audio weirdness, and a sound so thick you could eat it with a fork. I tried a Satchurator, which is a shockingly flexible pedal, it would be a great all-a-rounder.

Tubescreamers: I have a Bad Monkey, which is a no-brainer for the money, and is the best bass OD I've heard so far. My personal favorite among new pedals are the Ibanez TS808 and the Maxon version.

Check out YouTube for proguitarshop, it's some store with 360+ and counting demo videos, which seem quite accurate.
 
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Thanks a lot for that feedback, ermghoti!
Sorry for Pandora, I know there's a vast and highly subjective universe of distorsion out there; but that's why I asked here :). I have not particularly
much experience with different stomp fx; I've been quite traditional in that respect (which on the other hand probably have saved me some energy from getting frustrated...).

The T-Rex Mudhoney, SubDecay and Ibanez TS808 sure sounds interesting, think I better check em out. Forgot to say I only have a Fender Superreverb '77 amp, but I will change to Marshall when the time comes.

Just wanted to point out to others that what I meant was I am quite satisfied already how to get different heavy dist "brickwall" sounds, there's no problem. My problem has always been how to get those warm, classic, relatively subtle overdrive sounds (man, how subjective was that expression :). So, here's one objective example; the intro guitar in The Who's "The Seeker" is very likeable IMO. That's something like what I'm after, but I don't know how to get it (without miking up and overdriving my Fender Superreverb, which I can't do without getting harassed by my neighbours...) Therefore I run my guitar through a dist, then a Zoom amp simulator and into my computer (or bypass the simulator and use Soundforge Acoustic Mirror with different Marshall amps). That's how I have to work. Until I get myself an isolated studio and a Marshall Plexi, that is...

I'm thankful for more opinions, particularly on different Ibanez Tube screamers. And does anyone think the Marshall boxes does not suck?
 
FWIW, the circuit and components in the TS7 are the same thing as the much more expensive TS9, but it's a lot f'ing cheaper because of the lower-grade box it's in
 
I bought a TS-10 when I was 17 and used that until I stomped it to death. Those boxes aren't as sturdy as the TS-9s either.

I recently got another old one on ebay for nostalgia's sake, but it didn't sound the same (in fact, it sounded *bad*), despite being made in japan and all. Then Somnium7 pulled a bunch of old JRC4558DX opamp chips out of his console and I traded him some other opamps for a bunch of them. I put one in the TS-10, and -- zap - it was just like I remembered (and by that I mean *good*).

But I only ever used it in front of a JCM800 half stack - I really don't know what it sounds like by itself.

Another pedal in this area that I really like is the Fulltone Fulldrive2.
 
I own a TS7 and find it better than, say, the Boss DS-1 I am trading away (even as we speak) but I STILL am not sure it is the best for me. Overall, I would say it is good enough. And I am actually quite impressed by the case- but I don't abuse ANY of my equipment like I know some folks do.

Tone distortion- regardless of where it comes from and what makes it- is such a wide topic, I have come to believe that it is as individual as one's DNA.
 
I have one of the 808 reissues and like it quite a bit though it's the most expensive 'new' Tubescreamer..
It's definitely a 'subtle' overdrive. You simply aren't gonna get saturated hi gain type sounds out of it.
But it does the classic rock overdrive really well and when you get the gain (what there is of it) cranked, it really does that "note decaying into feedback" thing well. I like it just for that.
But stevieb makes a good observation ...... every distortion seems to have it's own sound. It's really amazing how different they can all sound when it's all distortion. I bet if I could afford a big huge custom pedal board, I could find space for 5 or 6 distortion/OD pedals.

I currently lust for an Ethos pedal but they're $400.
And every time I go to a boutique pedal site I see several distortions and OD pedals I want.
 
I have a TS7...it's ok...dont hate it...don't love it. I prefer something a little more subtle. I find the TS7 just a little harsh sounding but that could be my combo. Frankly it's the best pedal in my collection so I guess I'm still searching for my perfect tone.
 
how do you set it?

i've noticed that the TS7, and really most tubescreamers, seem to work best with the drive turned most of the way down, and the tone/level knobs in the neighborhood of 12 o'clock, give or take a couple notches depending on what you're after
 
Two things I would like to add, on the subject of tube distortion:

The TS7 IS the best distortion/tube OD PEDAL I have found FOR ME, so far. I saw a pedal on the Atlanta Craigs list a while back that had it's own 12AX7 tube- wish I had grabbed it for comparison...

The tube OD SOUND I like the most is from my little Monkey-Wards 5-watt all-tube amp. At any volume above about 4, it is well into tube OD territory, and it is so dirty-sweet.
 
The best Ibanez pedal I ever owned was the SM9 closely followed by the Bi chorus BC9. I lost the SM9 gigging on the road years ago but still have the BC9 that I used for years in the studio as a send effect with stereo return. Got some great weirdness from it.

couple of pics.
 

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Since you are an experienced audio tech, you should enjoy cycling thru a bunch of pedal mods like I did......

www.monteallums.com

is a good place to start. Allums has the same mods everyone else has, but he sells you the kit (parts, pics, instructions) for $20-30 bucks and you install it yourself........ instead of paying someone else (like Keeley or Analogman, et al....) over $100 bucks + to do it for you.

Other than the inflated prices, there is nothing wrong with Keeley mods or Analogman or others. But we are talking about a stomp box and some distortion. How can their mods be worth another $100 or $150 bucks, unless they have access to some super classified military grade components that nobody else knows about?

That being said, you can find bargains on ebay on pedals that are already modded. I just got a Allums modded MXR Dyna Comp for $40 bucks. That Boss SD-1 you mentioned is a whole different animal after it's modded. These modded pedals will put any stock off the shelf pedal to shame. I had a Whizzer modded TS7 myself, and that is actually the wake up call pedal that got me into doing my own mods. It was more distortion power than I wanted, so I sold it.

Modded pedals that can really kick butt with the kind of sounds you are describing would include BD-2, SD-1, GE7, MXR 10 Band EQ, TS7, 808, there are even mods for DOD and Voodoo Lab. Just google guitar pedal mods and do some more research before you decide, maybe get a cheap BD2 and mod it yourself, make a clip of before and after, etc. I got an SD-1 new for $33 bucks, and the mod kit is $22. That's $55 bucks for a new modded pedal that can keep pace with any stock pedal any day.

If you want to limit yourself to stock pedals, the Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive is nice because it is clean, and it has a blend knob for the dry sound. You'd be amazed at what you can do to your lead sound with a simple clean boost like a BBE Boosta Grande.
 
ocd

I bought a fulltone OCD, fully expecting it to be just my first step on the od journey. I figured, it sounds good and has excellent resale value in case I didn't like it.

I liked it. I love it very much, from the Classic Rawk thing to more aggressive, abrasive sounds. Very good for "touch sensitivity," meaning I can control the amount of breakup with my pick hand alone. I don't play metal, so I don't know how well it does for that, but I play just about everything else and this thing is money.

Resale being what it is, buying one is all but a free trial. I don't think I'll sell mine, but I am interested in the Sparkle Drive and the Rat.
 
The TS7 IS the best distortion/tube OD PEDAL I have found FOR ME, so far. I saw a pedal on the Atlanta Craigs list a while back that had it's own 12AX7 tube- wish I had grabbed it for comparison...
Click to expand...

for the record, tube screamers don't have tubes in them
 
Thank you very much for all that feedback (no pun intended) in such a short time. Very good! And I am not afraid of the modding universe - I build electronics gear, loudspeakers and microphones myself - so I know what it all is about. I will research and build my own Overdrive, but not right now, too much other things to do (but I think ermghoti above already has unintentionally given my future own-built OD a name - "Pandora's Box" it will be, hehe). Prob is I don't feel I have much energy scouting that whole overdrive universe (including modding), so what I thought was to get the (to my ears) best sounding (most important) and versatile (not that important) overdrive pedal which my economy allows, let's say 100-140 USD.

Since many of you seem to like, at least not trash, the Ibanez pedals, it seems I might be on the right track. But I definitely must test the TS808 before I decide which Ibanez it will be (if it will). Nobody says anything about the Marshall pedals, so I reckon they're not anything special (or?).

Thanks again, guys, and if there is any particular (non-modded, so I can try it) pedal which I definitely must try (in a music shop), then please say so. I will try to find all pedals already mentioned and try them. The best thing (god I'm lazy:p) would be to hear sound examples of clean strat/les paul played through different pedals. Well, guess I will head over to the YouTube area someone mentioned above...
 
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Ibanez makes my rectifier sound thin and anemic. I have a Maxon 808 tubescreamer which I think sounds much better $135 i think.
 
Ironklad Audio said:
for the record, tube screamers don't have tubes in them
Click to expand...

Well,...

1. I didn't call it a "tube screamer," you did.

2. Whatever this thing was, and it was an overdrive unit of some sort- it DID have a tube. Pics were quite clear, and there is no reason some would Photo Shop a pic for something the buyer would see before he bought.

3. Digitech RP-6's and -7's have a 12AX7 in them, that is used for TUBE OVERDRIVE.

So, you might want to check your facts first.
 
I have an OLD Tubeworks that was supposedly a forerunner of the Chandler, and it does have a tube in it. So does that RP7 as you mentioned.
There's actually quite a few pedals that have tubes although the 'Tubescreamer' is just named that to describe what they were claiming it sounded like.
 
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