In the market for a Tubescreamer...

[ORCRiST]

Hi all,

Found out I'm getting a nice little bonus from work, so I'm asking you all how best to spend it!  ccasion14:

Back when I was 15, I had gotten my hands on an Ibanez TS-9 Tubescreamer. And even through my 10-watt
Fender starter amp, it sounded phenomenal. I sold it all when I hit college, now I want another one for use with
my Blackstar HT-5 head + mini cab.

My question is: doing internet searches I found out there are a million different versions, mods, re-issues, and brand switches.

Do I go with what I remember from 20+ years ago (the TS-9) or get another flavor?

I mean there are TS-9's, TS-10's and TS-808's. People apparently give a lot of weight to the pedals with the JRC4558D
chips... I have no idea if my old TS-9 had one or not... then there are also the 'Keeley' and other flavors of modded pedals on eBay.

Just wondering if anyone out there can give me some clear direction on whats good, great, bad, or indifferent. My budget is
around $100 but can go higher for a exceptional example...

Thanks,

ORC

 

[AutoBat]

With 100 clams, I'd go a little different and put together a BYOC (build your own clone).  They have TS-808 specs with the original JRC4558D chip (the "overdrive" pedal) for 70 bucks.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

Try the Digitech Bad Monkey. Best bang for the buck.  :icon_thumright:

 

[OzziePete]

Bang for buck, I'd have to say the Digitech Bad Monkey....It's on all those F. A. vid clips that Phil X does, and went on the Bon Jovi gigs with him, so you get a variety of guitars through the same rig and using Bad Monkey for a hot setting. Take a look and judge the sound for yourself.

To get an original circuit Tubescreamer with the original processor would cost a bomb.......and maybe not worth the effort. Even Limited Edition reissues are costly.

 

[kboman]

The only one I've been particularly impressed with is the BJF/Mad Professor Little Green Wonder overdrive (Mad Professor = PCB and a bit expensive, BJF = handmade and more expensive).

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVX7YENYStc[/youtube]

Too bad so few people use overdrive like I do, it's hopeless to tell whether I will really like a specific pedal or not. The Bad Monkey has not impressed me at all so far :-\

 

[Patrick from Davis]

With 100 clams, I'd go a little different and put together a BYOC (build your own clone).  They have TS-808 specs with the original JRC4558D chip (the "overdrive" pedal) for 70 bucks.

I built one of these, the Overdrive 2 pedal, and it is very cool.  The chip is socketed so you can try all of the different op amps in the JRC4558 family and see what they do.  Truth be told, they really do all sound quite similar.  The exception for me was the Burr Brown.  It is a higher rated spec wise chip.  When you push it, it sounds really big.

All of that fun aside, it is the circuit from the original (or which version you want, they all can be implemented) at a reasonable price if you are willing to put some time in.
Patrick

 

[Strat Avenger]

I use a Keeley-modified TS-9, and I like it. I modified the switch myself.

I recommend that, or a Cusack Screamer, or perhaps a BYOC Tube Screamer. The Cusack probably costs a bit more than your $100 budget though.

 

[NLD09]

I personally like the visual sound route 808 pedal the best. I'm not much of a tubescreamer fan, but this one, I like.

 

[Strat Avenger]

When used by itself, it's really only good for Blues type stuff, but it makes an excellent Lead boost for a already overdriven amp, which is how I use mine. I set the Tone knob a little left of center, the Level knob around 2-O-clock, and the Drive all the way down.

 

[Kadmium]

It kind of depends on what you're going to use it for, but I personally love the Maxon series. They made the original Ibanez tube screamer pedals, and they still make them pretty much the same way in Japan, as well as some new ones. The OD820 Pro is a fantastic overdrive pedal.

 

[elfro89]

BYOC Tube Screamer.

Thanks for this, never thought about building my own pedals before, I really like the idea

 

[Patrick from Davis]

The BYOC overdrive 2 also has a boost circuit put on the tail end of it.  So if you want a boost but still want the drive set at a value, you can do both.  I cannot remember if the boost circuit is something similar to the Zvex SHO, wait, looked it up.  You have to get the MOSFET kit to get that particular flavor.  Anyhow, it is a very fun pedal, I have found it sounds quite nice through my Fender amps.  The other amps I have don't really require the overdrive pedal, they can do that sound on their own.
Patrick

 

[stubhead]

The Voodoo Sparkle Drive gets high marks because it has a blend control, and Visual Sound makes a dual pedal that lets you use one or the other at different settings or chained together a la Stevie Ray Vaughan's two Screamers. I'm sold on my Fulltone Fulldrive 2 w/mosfet, because it has some switches that let you get the middy Tube Screamer or the Rat/308 type of drive, which has a fuller range of highs and lows.

 

[ironeddie]

Try the BBE Green Screamer. 

I quite like it and it sits right around your price range I think...
Here is the link
http://astore.amazon.com/guitwebtric08-20/detail/B000HG7GKY

 

[ORCRiST]

Thanks for the relpy's all...

However, when I meant Tube Screamer - I specifically meant the Ibanez/Maxon Tube Screamers.

I have absolutely no interest in other brands.

#1. An Ibanez TS is what I had 'back in the day'.
#2. Adrian Smith and Dave Murray specifically use Ibanez/Maxon Tube Screamers.

ORC

 

[SustainerPlayer]

In my experience you can line up 5 TS-9's and they will sound as different as one TS-9 to one TS-808 ... and again 5 TS-808 will sound different to each other. I'm no electronics wizard but I've been told it is because of the components tolerances ... or lack hereof.

So my advice is ... try it out in your signal chain.