Ordered the TS-808 RI

Should be here in a couple days. I'll let y'all know how it does. I've got several things to compare it to: an old tube screamer that is in one of those UE boxes with a compressor and chorus (9 series era) AnalogMan modded TS9DX TS5 modded to 808 specs by Rick Erickson

I'm curious, I see those on ebay with the mod for $50 or so these days...I'm curious. Does it how more bottom end than the typical TS ? I've had the unmodded TS5 and 7...both were fine, but I wanted to get away from the SRV thing when I played a strat.

Thanks,

John

What do the new 808's cost?

I'm curious, I see those on ebay with the mod for $50 or so these days...I'm curious. Does it how more bottom end than the typical TS ? I've had the unmodded TS5 and 7...both were fine, but I wanted to get away from the SRV thing when I played a strat.

I like my TS5. I rarely use it. I bought it solely as a backup for the AnalogMan modded pedal. I really didn't know how reliable the AnalogMan modded pedal was going to be - I was just covering my butt. As it turns out I probably didn't need to bother - Mike does top notch work and that pedal is built like a tank to begin with. If you're trying to get away from the SRV thing then you'll probably want to get away from the whole Tube Screamer type pedal. Maybe try a Boss Blues Driver. I have one of those with the Keeley mod and it sounds absolutely killer - smoother than a stock pedal and it's got much more teeth than a Tube Screamer. AnalogMan does Blues Driver mods too that I have not had the pleasure of trying out.

Where did you order it from?

Where did you order it from?

http://www.music123.com

Thanks! I've always wanted one, but I think I may wait to get one from Analog Mike and have him do the "Silver" mod to it. Nice to see the price isn't all that bad.

What I'd really like to be able to do is to have all of these things lined up to do some sound comparisons. I'll be able to compare 3 TS pedals once I get this one but it'd be nice to be able to compare it to more.

Hey Tim. You can borrow my original 808 if you want to a/b it. I'm up in Sultan but we can find a way to get it to you sometime.
brian

Hey Tim. You can borrow my original 808 if you want to a/b it. I'm up in Sultan but we can find a way to get it to you sometime.
brian

Thanks! We should get together to make some noise. How long would it take to get from Sultan to Issaquah (or vice versa)?

The Ts-808 reissue seems like a gimmick to me. Just a way to cash in on some hype.

With the abundance of high quality, true bypass overdrives on the market I can't really see paying that much for a "production line" pedal. Just my 2 cents. :)

The Ts-808 reissue seems like a gimmick to me. Just a way to cash in on some hype.

With the abundance of high quality, true bypass overdrives on the market I can't really see paying that much for a "production line" pedal. Just my 2 cents. :)


I agree. There are sooooooooooo many "808" pedals that will smoke the reissue built by hand why bother. Support the little guy.

My .02 :D

Support the little guy.



Exactly. That's what it boils down to for me.

The Ts-808 reissue seems like a gimmick to me. Just a way to cash in on some hype.

With the abundance of high quality, true bypass overdrives on the market I can't really see paying that much for a "production line" pedal. Just my 2 cents.

That's funny. That hype is exactly what the boutique pedals are cashing in on. And 95% of them are literally copying the 808 circuit so they don't even have any investment in designing the product.

All of those "high quality, true bypass overdrives" are doing their darndest to sound as good as a "production line" pedal.

I agree. There are sooooooooooo many "808" pedals that will smoke the reissue built by hand why bother. Support the little guy.

I'm assuming by that statement that you've tried the reissue. Care to post your findings in more detail?

As for supporting the little guy, it's not that straightforward. It can cost you a lot of time and money to support the little guy. It's not always worth it either. They are not all of equal quality and reliability. They don't all sound good. For the most part you are rolling the dice because there is no place I can go to try them out.

I agree. There are sooooooooooo many "808" pedals that will smoke the reissue built by hand why bother. Support the little guy.

I'm assuming by that statement that you've tried the reissue. Care to post your findings in more detail?

As for supporting the little guy, it's not that straightforward. It can cost you a lot of time and money to support the little guy. It's not always worth it either. They are not all of equal quality and reliability. They don't all sound good. For the most part you are rolling the dice because there is no place I can go to try them out.

Tim I agree with some of your points and I am a small guy builder. Ya know what.. yer right they don't all sound good and it is a roll of the dice..

I would love to have a ton of store front dealers BUT
they want your creations for Half price.. They rather sell the mass produced stuff they can pick up for $30ea. and sell it for $125. It does suck with all the talented boutique builders out there so few places to try them out..

Not all boutiquers stick to the classic ts design. I don't. I think that design sucks... It's kinda like throwin your amp inside a blanket or better yet a sleeping bag..

I agree. There are sooooooooooo many "808" pedals that will smoke the reissue built by hand why bother. Support the little guy.

I'm assuming by that statement that you've tried the reissue. Care to post your findings in more detail?

As for supporting the little guy, it's not that straightforward. It can cost you a lot of time and money to support the little guy. It's not always worth it either. They are not all of equal quality and reliability. They don't all sound good. For the most part you are rolling the dice because there is no place I can go to try them out.
I agree with Tim... there are so many boutiquers out there now to weed thru. You can spend a fortune and wait a long time for pedals, and you don't know who's on the level and who's out to just make as much money as possible. Plus there's a lot of guys just copying circuits from Jack Orman and a bunch of other DIY sites and selling stuff for a small fortune. I'm glad we have sites like this and the Weber boards where at least you can get some valid feedback from people you learn to trust on different builders. But I'm starting to become much more wary that's for sure... and as for the 808 circuit, if I could get over the midhump(which I can't) I would just buy a modded one from Analog man... tried and true stuff.... if it's good enough for Jim Weider it can't be too bad.

I've not played the reissue model. But I've played and /or owned TS808's, TS-9's modded to 808 specs, & 10-12 of the boxes inspired by the TS circuit. I guess there are boutiques out there somewhere that are dogs, but really, I've not yet encountered them. I can honestly say that I prefer any of the boutiques I've played to the 808's & modded TS's. Not because of some snob appeal or because they're more hip, but because, in my humble opinion, the original has been vastly improved upon. Hype is in fact responsible for some degree of success with any product - but there are tons of players who can clearly see past all that, & choose what they use as tools based on what works for them, nothing more, nothing less. I think the succcess of some of the boutiques is due to the fact that, while players generally dug the basic sound & feel of the TS circuit, as time went on, it had certain shortcomings that some players & builders sought to alleviate or eliminate.

Probably my biggest beef with a standard TS is low output & headroom. For most of the music I play, pedals are part of my base tone, & I just clean up with the guitar's volume knob. I've found that the best tones I've got from pedals combined with amps, are with pedals with lots of headroom, run at above unity gain of the amp's base tone. This is a real trick to manage, volume-wise, if you do use your amp's base tone for cleans, but I don't, & as I said, prefer the tones as described above. In terms of output volume, a TS will almost always be the weak link in the chain, other than perhaps a germanium fuzzface, & low output is the nature of that beast generally. From time to time, I see folks mentioning using TS's as clean boosts... it's hard for me to consider using anything that colors the basic sound as much as a TS-type circuit in this manner - but boxes that have more output & headroom than a basic TS, such as the Menatone Red Snapper, are much more successful in this regard.

If the attenuated bass & the exaggerated mids of an original TS are your thing, and/or that particular EQ curve matches up well with your gear, & you dig its somewhat grainy, gritty tonal character, well cool, your search is over, you're done, enjoy & make some noise. If, however, you like the basic circuit, but would prefer -

* better bass retention & less midrange honk to match to your paticular amp;

*more high end cut to mate better with darker sounding amps;

*smoother, less gritty tone;

*two independently tweakable channels or a stacked gain boost;

*a more complex tone with some note bloom;

- well, they're all out there, & are available for players that seek them. Or, if you're so inclined, you can build your own.

On the true bypass vs. buffered thing - any signal chain that has several true bypass pedals will benefit from having a buffer in line, preferably early in the chain, as loading & cable capacitance will otherwise attenuate high end. A TS could be your buffer. I prefer a superior buffer such as that of a Klon, but a TS will do the job. There's always a flip side; for instance, most fuzz guys prefer fuzz before an OD; but OD > fuzz is also a cool texture which I've used quite a bit. A buffered pedal such as TS or Klon in front of a germanium fuzz can sound like crap, whereas a true bypass pedal will generally work just fine.

On the mass produced vs. boutique "little guy" thing - I like the fact that some of the small independent builders I've dealt with have been willing to work with me on a one on one basis, & tweak/perfect circuits according to my individual needs. I find this to be invaluable. That's not going to happen with Boss or Ibanez, obviously.

I've held on to my Analog Man 808-modded TS-9. It's cool because it's small & is great to carry along to jams & low key situations. Mike accomplished exactly what he set out to do - make it sound like an 808. But I have to be honest & say that what winds up on my gig pedalboards are boutique, upgraded takes on the little green monster. Because they sound & work better for me, nothing more, nothing less, no hype, no justification.

That said, I really don't think anyone should be swayed too much by the opinions & preferences of myself or anyone else. If a reissue TS, or for that matter, a $400.00 Landgraff pedal, makes you happy & pleases your ear, then there really should be no reason to justify your purchase or preference to anyone other than yourself.

Great post!

I only had about 15 minutes with it this morning and have not done any A/B comparisons. So far it sounds really cool. The first thing that sort of startled me was how clear the guitar signal seemed to be coming through it. It's hard to describe. I'll post more when I've had more time with it.

I agree with Tim's perspective. I also like my Analog Mike 808-mod TS-9 because its a predictable sound that's so easy to use in a pinch - you know exactly what tone you'll get. I have mine on my 2nd pedal board. That said, I'm deliriously happy with my recently aquired Menatone FishFactory (Red Snapper + Blue Collar in one "channel switching" pedal). I don't even care about the intracies of how close to, or different from, an "808" Menatone claims they are. They just sound outrageously good. They have "clean" headroom and do not force you to live with that mid-hump, and you could leave it on all the time if desired. Yes, they are pricey pedals but for my taste, worth every penny.

Any one else have one?

Yep, I've got a Red Snapper. Not a 808 at all i.m.h.o., I prefer to use it as a not-so-clean-boost.

Agreed, Snapper is not an 808. It is however another example of a box inspired by the original TS circuit, & tweaked to the builder's liking. One of the more distinctive sounding examples in my opinion. I've always been curious about the Blue Collar but have never played one. That Fish Factory looks like a cool pedal. A little useless trivia about how it got its name, as I understand it -
Red Snapper = Fish + Blue Collar = worker > Factory. Fish Factory.