The best tube screamer

[rockskate4x]

Between ibanez, keeley, modtone, bbe, mxr, visual sound, ts7, ts9, ts808, etc... my head goes dizzy thinking about all the different tube screamer copies out there. To a certain extent, I doubt that there can be that much difference between them to justify the existence of so many on the market, but it still begs the question: which tube screamer is the best? What were your favorite tube screamers?

 

[Paul-less]

My favorite tube screamer is a slightly overdriven Fender Twin Amp.

As for pedals, eh. None of them have tubes, and none of them scream.

 

[jalane]

My buddy has an AnalogMan-modded TS9 (modded to TS808 specs).  As far as tubescreamers go, it's pretty good i guess.  Nice for some things, less nice for others.  Personally, i'm not really that into it.
What i do have and highly recommend, though, is this:

808 circuit but with true bypass and a clean boost knob, and you can blend the clean/dirt.  IMHO those two upgrades make the tubescreamer so much more desirable/useful/versatile, and over the years this has become a pretty important part of my signal chain.

 

[Velcro]

I don't like tube screamers not pushing an amp into overdrive, distorting an allready overdriven amp, not for nothing.

 

[Justinginn]

Actually, I don't mind the Bad Monkey. Spend the extra money somewhere else.  :headbang1:

 

[dudesweet157]

I love my Xotic AC Booster.  It's basically a Tube Screamer with a (much needed) Bass control (Tube Screamers significantly cut your low end).

 

[NLD09]

I like the visual sound one. It seems smoother to me than my ts-9. And has a bass boost.

 

[Kadmium]

My personal favourites are the Maxons. They made the original Tube Screamers for Ibanez and are still made in Japan. The OD820 is a wonderful unit, with a higher voltage than normal to give it more headroom, and I think they sound lovely.

 

[rockskate4x]

thanks for the suggestions. As you all have different opinions it seems, it didn't make my decision much easier  :toothy11:

I think I know someone with a sparkle drive. I'll take another look at thatd if i don't dig the bad monkey overdrive I'm gonna try out soon.

 

[Cagey]

Something you might want to consider if you have a tube amp is the Electro Harmonix LPB-1. It's not a distortion or fuzz or anything like that, it's simply a Linear Power Booster. A very simple device; all it does is make your signal bigger without coloring it or modifying the waveform at all. You use it to beat on the input stage of your amp, which usually results in some very nice distortion. They're also very inexpensive, even new, because there's nothing to them. I think there's only about 8 parts in there. You don't even need a PC board. We used to build them ourselves years ago, because it only took about 10 minutes. There's more money in the battery and case than there is in the electronics.

 

[jalane]

thanks for the suggestions. As you all have different opinions it seems, it didn't make my decision much easier  :toothy11:

I think I know someone with a sparkle drive. I'll take another look at thatd if i don't dig the bad monkey overdrive I'm gonna try out soon.

Cool.  If you do give the sparkle drive a spin, make sure you really put it through it's paces.  There are A LOT of tonal options in that little pedal given the blend between drive & clean boost.  I typically use mine more as a clean boost with just a hint of "hair", but it's nice to have the pure tube screamer tone in my back pocket when need be. 

 

[Patrick from Davis]

I got the BYOC Overdrive 2 and built it myself.  The nice thing about it is that you can have more than one set of diodes and have several eq's on switches.  I have a Burr Brown op amp in there and it does scream.  It also has a boost on the tail end of it that is essentially modeled after the ZVex SHO.  Another pedal, like Cagey mentioned, that is about 10 parts and a wonderful addition to the rig.  The drawback, for some, is building it yourself.  I found by adding sockets (even individual ones for the diodes) I could swap things out very quickly and see what I liked.  Red leds are great sounding in my opinion, as well as the Burr Brown chip.  The boost is a lot of fun with tube amps.  It really gets that tube pre snarl going.  And you can add a 1 meg load resistor to the front of it to get the sparkle of the high impedance load on your pickups if you wish. 

Pretty much has all the options of the pedals listed above, in one unit.  Again, the drawback is building your own, and figuring out what you like.
Patrick

 

[GoDrex]

I have a custom made tubscreamer clone pedal and I think it's excellent. It really tightens the tone up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqECIyBJU_Q

I've got number 002

unfortunately he's not making any more. I think he made 25 of them.

 

[Strat Avenger]

I like my Keeley-modded TS-9.

 

[GMGM]

I've got probably a dozen different tube screamers, full drives, clones, mods, etc... 

The one I keep coming back to is actually the cheapest one. The humble Boss Super Overdrive SD-1. Same basic circuit as the TS, but with an extra diode in the clipping stage. Offers a slightly better gain profile for me, and better bass response. And the kicker is they can be bought NEW for $50, and they are a steal. It's not as "brag worthy" as a boutiquey box, but I've never found one that sounded better.

 

[stubhead]

I just traded for a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 Mosfet, and it's really good. It has some switches that let you get either a mid-humpy Tube Scream, or a more full range OD like the 308-based chippers, the RAT, DOD250 , Boss OD etc. I believe that the Boss Super Overdrive is a 308, and one of their others (Blues Driver) is the JRC4558 Tube Screamy model? I do TRY not to get too wonky about this stuff.... :tard:

 

[Cagey]

Pull its pants down and look. If it's the same circuit board, check the component values. It may very well be the same thing, plus or minus a few fractions of a microfarad here and there.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

Personally, nothing beats a Ts9 or rat and any old equalizer pedal, I have soo much fun fiddling with those pedals, getting so many different sounds.

 

[Strat Avenger]

I've got probably a dozen different tube screamers, full drives, clones, mods, etc...   

The one I keep coming back to is actually the cheapest one. The humble Boss Super Overdrive SD-1. Same basic circuit as the TS, but with an extra diode in the clipping stage. Offers a slightly better gain profile for me, and better bass response. And the kicker is they can be bought NEW for $50, and they are a steal. It's not as "brag worthy" as a boutiquey box, but I've never found one that sounded better.

I've always liked the BOSS SD-1 too.

 

[jay4321]

I've been through the Boss SD, Ibby tube screamers (new and vintage), and the Boss Blues Driver. At the end of the day I'm glad I just wound up with the Pod X3 Live. It's not as charming or authentic, but it's simpler/cheaper than pedal setups and it dials in close enough with some effects to the point where only tone hounds notice the difference (much less care). Take the amp models out of the equation it's a pretty good ME, the boost works pretty well into my little Bugera 30w.