Ibanez TSA (Tube Screamer Amplifer) Owners Club

I didn't see one here so figured why not. Share your thoughts , experiences , mods or other useful info about these amazing little amps.

I have had the itch to trade in my Vox Vt50 and get a low powered tube amp. I have been looking for a few weeks and looked at Egnater Tweaker , a Vox Ac15c1 , Vox Night Train, Blackstar HT5, and a Blues jr. Each one of them had something good to offer but i had to pick only one , so back i went to GC and a couple other local music shops and pawn shops.

I spent the better part of the day narrowing my choices down. What i did decide was as much as i loved the sound of the Vox Ac15 i really wanted a head only, i didnt want the amp to be married to a cab forever and i also really wanted a FX loop. so the AC15 and blues jr were off the list, I really wanted at least 15 watts so the HT-5 was cut. There was just something missing to my ears with the Night train so i bumped that as well . I guess i was pretty settled on the Tweaker went back tried it again was ready to buy it at GC . The sales guy said let me go see if i have one in the back , when he returned empty handed he offered to sell me the floor demo unit. I wasn't really thrilled with the idea of paying full price for a "used" amp and he wasn't willing to budge so i spun foot and left.

I knew another place the next town over that had them for a few $$ more so there i headed to get me a tweaker.

When i walked through the door the owner and his sales guys were in the middle of the store setting up some TSA combos they had just got in. I walked over to see this unusual white combo saw it was Ibanez! Ibanez makes amps? i asked the guy, He said you wont believe how good they sound this little amp is great. In plugged my tele and my jaw nearly dropped. this thing has some studio class cleans with great headroom for its size.
The i hit the TS section , ohh yeah that sounds like a tube screamer sweet! it has a FX loop! cool , it uses 6V6GT like the Tweaker it has Triode / Pentode modes to run at 5 watt or 15 watt bonus the Tweaker does not have that feature. It has a optional foot switch which is great .well built and i got it for 20 instead of 29. It well worth having to switch to another channel (though not really) but it sounds like you have and i guess thats what counts. hit that boost switch to up the signal 6db for solos , real nice feature of the pedal. Speaker jacks are well laid out with many config choices. No reverb? np i'll use my Lexicon.

Honestly I fell in love with this amp right away and TSA15H went home with me that day and I forgot all about the Tweaker. I feel like i made the right choice and am happy i stumbled on this Jem (no pun intended :mrgreen:). for the price it cant be beat. I would have liked to see some features like a mid's control on the amp side and maybe a separate gain for the amp side. The 30 watt version has them but i dont think they make a head only version hopefully that will be coming with a power attenuator which the 30 watt combo seems to currently lack.

I had a old Randall combo with a older model Celestion 70/80 12 inch speaker the amp had fried so i fit a piece of mahogany in its place and cut out for a 1U rack device and slapped in my Lexicon MPX 110 , now i just need a foot switch for the MPX to engage its bypass.

I used the $100 bucks i saved over the Tweaker and bought a Fender Mustang 1 just to have something to plug headphones into . Life is good.

Here is a picture of my little rig. I'm loving it!

http://allthesound.com/synths/1_Ibanez-TS15H/ts15h.jpg

I keep an eye out for used ones, they never seem to show up!

Ordered mine yesterday. Anxiously awaiting it's arrival.

Ordered mine yesterday. Anxiously awaiting it's arrival.

Very cool! did you order the head or combo? Let us know what you think of it when you have a chance to mess around with it.

Those look very cool and I like the pricing. Aren't they coming out with a 30 watt version too?

Very cool! did you order the head or combo? Let us know what you think of it when you have a chance to mess around with it.

I got the head. I will be running it through a Marshall 4X10 from the 80's. I will definitely post after I mess with it a bit!

Those look very cool and I like the pricing. Aren't they coming out with a 30 watt version too?

The 30 watt combo is out now. No word on a 30 watt head yet.

So my TSA15h arrived today. I've only spent about 45 minutes with it, but the general feeling is that I love it, and it's everything I wanted it to be. As I said before, I'm running it through an old Marshall 4X10. Its punchy. Its warm. It sounds tube. It doesn't piss off the neighbors. Been using mostly the 5w setting.
One thing I notice though is hum, especially on the TS side. The TS sounds great, really, but as you add volume and/or overdrive, i notice the cycle hum a lot. Maybe this is because my Sovtek Mig 50 ear destroyer has been my only amp for a long time, and I practice with it at about .5 -1. Anyone have thoughts on this? Am I just not used to lower wattage amps?

The 30 watt combo is out now. No word on a 30 watt head yet.

That would have to be the ideal amp. I love my TSA15 Combo but the extra features would just make it sublime.

I didn't see one here so figured why not.

Lazy individual. It was on page 3:grin::grin::grin:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/amp-owners-clubs/235853-ibanez-tsa15h-fanciers-club.html


Love mine, got a few entries in the aforementioned thread.

Who knows, if they're as well built as the Ibanez pedals (and I've had no problems in 9 months or so of gigging), these things may become big buck collectables...:mrgreen:

Well no i did look and saw that one and also noticed it was TSA15H specific. I didn't see a general all inclusive TSA club and figured one might be useful. I can imagine now the 30 watt is out someone may decide to make a TSA30 specific club and so on.

Just like there is a Fender Mustang I & II club and a Mustang III club , Vox Night Train club and a Little Night Train club and so on and so on.

I certainly wasn't being lazy or trying to step on any toes. If anything i was trying to be practical.

PS I wouldn't go piss in your club.

Well no i did look and saw that one and also noticed it was TSA15H specific. I didn't see a general all inclusive TSA club and figured one might be useful. I can imagine now the 30 watt is out someone may decide to make a TSA30 specific club and so on.

Just like there is a Fender Mustang I & II club and a Mustang III club , Vox Night Train club and a Little Night Train club and so on and so on.

I certainly wasn't being lazy or trying to step on any toes. If anything i was trying to be practical.

PS I wouldn't go piss in your club.

Geez. I was JOKING...
Obviously a smile doesn't email well. Never mind.

Its all good Dave_O No harm no foul ;-)

I really enjoy mine.

I really enjoy mine.

Cool which one do you have? Are you using any pedals with it? Im trying to decide what the best reverb pedal would be to use with mine. Im kinda leaning toward the holy grail or the Boss RV5

I have the head and cab. I have the green footswitch to go with it. I don't use pedals with it, if I did it would probably be a Wah/Volume and a reverb.

I don't have a reverb pedal yet, but the RV5 is one of the ones on the "short list".

Cool which one do you have? Are you using any pedals with it? Im trying to decide what the best reverb pedal would be to use with mine. Im kinda leaning toward the holy grail or the Boss RV5

Try a Cathedral - I love mine, and its worth the extra money over the grail, and contains the grail as well.

Try a Cathedral - I love mine, and its worth the extra money over the grail, and contains the grail as well.

I had not heard of that one , i just checked out of info looks very interesting thanks!.

Love my TSA15H. Used with a Lopoline vertical slant 2X12 w/ Celestion V30 and G12H + optional footswitch. 'Must have' reverb/delay pedal and I currently use a Behringer DR400.

Considering a TSA30 but may hold off to see if a Head version is soon released. I only wish the boost function was adjustable (with a knob on the rear of the amp) from 0-15db so that solos could be made to stand out better, especially single note solos.

The lack of reverb is easily fixed w/ a rvb/dly pedal sitting on the cab, which I place "in-the-loop" and leave on continually.

Great value! Have had it over a year now.

Love my TSA15H. Used with a Lopoline vertical slant 2X12 w/ Celestion V30 and G12H + optional footswitch. 'Must have' reverb/delay pedal and I currently use a Behringer DR400.

Considering a TSA30 but may hold off to see if a Head version is soon released. I only wish the boost function was adjustable (with a knob on the rear of the amp) from 0-15db so that solos could be made to stand out better, especially single note solos.

The lack of reverb is easily fixed w/ a rvb/dly pedal sitting on the cab, which I place "in-the-loop" and leave on continually.

Great value! Have had it over a year now.

I bet it sounds amazing with that speaker combo! I havent heard any official talk yet on a TSA30H ,

I did get a chance to see and hear the TSA30 combo, its quite nice. though there are not as many speaker jacks as the TSA15H and no wattage selector. Hopefully a head version will have them as well as a adjustable boost feature. For the time being a boost pedal could work out for ya.
Good to hear yours has held up for a year, they have not been out to long but i haven't seen any real chatter about reliability issues which is encouraging.

I had purchased a Line 6 POD HD300 and had it for a couple of months but I just couldn't seem to find an amp that matched up to it very well. It sounded great through headphones but it seemed to me that any amp you used it with "colored" the sound too much. I tried it straight through to my PA system and still didn't like the sound, I knew a lot of people were just buying Mackie "Thumps"-powered Pa speakers and running their PODS into those but that sounded "tinny" to me (to say the least). So, I finally gave up and sent the POD HD300 back to where I bought it and traded it for the Ibanez TSA 15 Head and WOW!. I think that it was the best move that I ever made. I absolutely love this 'little' Monster of a Head. I run it into a Marshall 4X12 Cab that I had "sitting" around and can't get over it, it sounds fantastic. Especially in the Triode (5 watt) setting-it still rattles my windows and sounds great doing it. Every time I walk into the local music store, the first thing that I hear is "Did you bring your head?"-seems like everybody wants to play through it and they all love it. Funny, because they are an authorized Ibanez Dealer, but they only stock their guitars-they sell, primarily, Peavey Amps (no Peavey guitars tho). Really happy with this Ibanez, a 30watt head would be cool, but I just made a deal on a Fender Bassman LTD '59 ReIssue (which is 45/50 watts), so I'd have no real need for the 30watt TSA-I like the 15watt because it gives me plenty of volume when I want or need it, and sounds great without P.O.ing the neighbors....It's all Good.-Jim
P.S. I've had the TSA15 for about 8 months now. Just FYI.

I bet it sounds amazing with that speaker combo! I havent heard any official talk yet on a TSA30H ,

I did get a chance to see and hear the TSA30 combo, its quite nice. though there are not as many speaker jacks as the TSA15H and no wattage selector. Hopefully a head version will have them as well as a adjustable boost feature. For the time being a boost pedal could work out for ya.
Good to hear yours has held up for a year, they have not been out to long but i haven't seen any real chatter about reliability issues which is encouraging.
Yes, it does sound great through that cab/speaker mix. I had a couple of small issues with the amp: 1) the standby switch 'froze up' and had to be replaced under warranty...done quickly @ no cost. 2) One of the fuses blew a week later. Took it to the same svc. cntr. and it was thoroughly checked out. Cost $15 since fuses are not covered by warranty. Did not find the cause of the blown fuse; perhaps it was weak, but have played the amp for months and months now with no recurrence.

I do use a boost pedal, actually an EQ with all freq's set neutral and the level adjusted up to required volume.....works great, but I'd prefer not to have to use an external boost. One less device to have to set up.

Still, I'm anxious to give the TSA30 a test :grin: What does the additional 'mid' tone stack do for tone, and what is the range of clean to dirty using the "gain" knob (without the TS engaged)?

I had purchased a Line 6 POD HD300 and had it for a couple of months but I just couldn't seem to find an amp that matched up to it very well. It sounded great through headphones but it seemed to me that any amp you used it with "colored" the sound too much. I tried it straight through to my PA system and still didn't like the sound, I knew a lot of people were just buying Mackie "Thumps"-powered Pa speakers and running their PODS into those but that sounded "tinny" to me (to say the least). So, I finally gave up and sent the POD HD300 back to where I bought it and traded it for the Ibanez TSA 15 Head and WOW!. I think that it was the best move that I ever made. I absolutely love this 'little' Monster of a Head. I run it into a Marshall 4X12 Cab that I had "sitting" around and can't get over it, it sounds fantastic. Especially in the Triode (5 watt) setting-it still rattles my windows and sounds great doing it. Every time I walk into the local music store, the first thing that I hear is "Did you bring your head?"-seems like everybody wants to play through it and they all love it. Funny, because they are an authorized Ibanez Dealer, but they only stock their guitars-they sell, primarily, Peavey Amps (no Peavey guitars tho). Really happy with this Ibanez, a 30watt head would be cool, but I just made a deal on a Fender Bassman LTD '59 ReIssue (which is 45/50 watts), so I'd have no real need for the 30watt TSA-I like the 15watt because it gives me plenty of volume when I want or need it, and sounds great without P.O.ing the neighbors....It's all Good.-Jim
P.S. I've had the TSA15 for about 8 months now. Just FYI.

Sweet Jim welcome to the forum! ,I'd love to hear a FBM59RI. Your a lucky guy!

Thanks Allthesound. The Fender '59 Bassman LTD Reissues are still available at several places-Sweetwater and Musician's Friend have them new for $1399.99 MF has a used one in Condition 1 (like new) foe $1199 and Elderly's here in Lansing Michigan has a used one in Exc. Cond. (I've seen it) for $925-they also have a Fender Blues Deville 60 watt 4X10" all tube tweed reissue in excellent condition for $625, but they no longer ship used items for some reason-cash and carry only. The one I grabbed has really seen some abuse-the tolex on all four bottom corners are ripped and worn and the thing is so dirty that it has a purple hue to it, but I traded a Crate Flexwave 120/212 and a Dean Exotica Acoustic Electric for it-so I figure it at about $500. I got it from a local music store that went through it and replaced tubes, power cord and dog-bone handle-I'll put some chrome corner protectors on those bottom corners to make it look better, but it really does sound sweet and that's really what it's all about. Neighbors probably aren't too happy because you really have to CRANK it to get it to break up and this baby is LOUD! I'm digging it. I tried a little "Tough Stuff" cleaner on a small section of the tweed tolex and it cleaned right up nicely, but not sure if I really want to try and "clean" it-I figure the dampness from the cleaning product may damage the tolex as it dries-I figure that the dirt adds to the character. Thanks-Jim

I've searched and searched, but can't find any video or even audio demos of the new TSA30.
If anyone has seen one, would you please post a link :grin:

Find the speaker a bit harsh and peaky but have a vintage JBL K120 from 1970 doing nothing so may try that and also have a couple of Jensens from 69.

Love what it looks like plus it's silent-running, reminds me of my old blond 63 tremolux, does seem to mark easily.

Am duplicating this post elsewhere - anyone try a different speaker in it aside from the Texas Heat in a post prior ?

I have the TSA-5 combo and love the sound of Celestion Tube contained, for jazz - mellow sound. For blues & rock I prefer to connect it to my Ragin' Cajun, more power, heavier sound. Check here the difference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqr5AWJ5o80

Is there a way to add Loop In/ Out, or, at least, Line Out? Maybe headphones out?
Love the sound, and little controller buttons (no mids...)

I've found the Ibanez JD9 pedal works great for adding a classic rock sound to the TSA15