TS808 vs. TS9

[waparker4]

Pretty sure the C6 mod is clipping the component out. Bypassing it with a wire sounds wrong especially since iirc the capacitor itself is in parallel with a resistor.

 

[chris m.]

Technically you are supposed to clip it and replace with wire, waparker. But I thought bypassing it with a wire should be pretty close to the same thing. I might be wrong on that.

Certainly if it were a resistor and not a capacitor, putting a wire across it would completely eliminate resistance. Maybe my electronics 101 assumptions are wrong: I figured that shorting across a capacitor would functionally take it out of the circuit for all intents and purposes just as it does for a resistor.

 

[luckett]

If you replace the cap with a wire, you will reduce that opamp stage to unity gain and eliminate the ability of the tone control to boost treble. Either way will work fine, but with slightly different results.

 

[11 Gauge]

Can someone clue me in on the difference?

It's 4 little parts that are different.

The 808 used two MA150 diodes for clipping that have a different forward voltage than the 1N4148 diodes used in the '9.

The 808 uses a different pair of resistors on the output - a "series" 100 ohm with a "to ground" 10K. The '9 uses a "series" 470 ohm with a "to ground" 100K.

The above parts are the only things that really make for a noticeably different sound with a 808 vs. a '9. I'm careful to say different and not better or worse, because it's all subjective. That said - most listeners (not just guitarists) can hear a difference between those parts in a true double blind.

All the other stuff about dielectric (capacitor) composition or some kind of magical op amps when all 4558 varieties are just cheap general purpose amplification devices are just things to distract someone, IMO.

But the above 4 components are really what separates the 808 from the '9, because you clearly have something profoundly different happening with how the clipping is processed, and the output impedance difference of the two.

 

[StormJH1]

The SD-1 is a great choice from the Tube Screamer family. Very cheap, sounds great out of the box, and the Boss platform is very sturdy, in particular the foot switch which is the thing that fails most on other versions.

There is a popular mod for it, which is to bypass the capacitor at C6. That's about as simple a mod as you could do-- just solder a tiny bit of wire across the two leads on C6- you don't even have to remove the cap. You could even A/B it by first just clipping a bypass wire across the cap to see if you like it better than stock before committing to the mod.

I wouldn't bother with the expensive AnalogMan or Keeley mods for the SD-1. I sent one to one of them (I won't say who) and after spending the money I concluded I liked the sound of the stock one better. Different strokes for different folks.

I have a Joyo Vintage Overdrive now-- the green tubescreamer clone with yellow knobs, and it sounds just great. Really cheap, but not super sturdy.

The other posters are correct, however-- none of the Tubescreamer-derived overdrive pedals are "transparent". But part of why they work so well on stage at gig volumes is for that very reason-- they shape the tone in a manner that is quite effective when playing live, with a band, at stage volume.

Agree with everything this guy said, from front to back.

And, actually, I've heard people say that the Joyo Vintage OD is an 808 clone, not a TS-9, but the fact that nobody can really tell the difference tells you all you need to know about how similar they are.

I sold my Ibanez TS-9 reissue because I had too many other pedals that could do the job the same or better. The Bad Monkey from Digitech is similar to a Tubescreamer, but with independent Bass/Treble controls. Often found for $25 used!

As said above, the Tubescreamer excels in live settings, in part because of the midrange hump. But if you are a solo/basement player, you may prefer a different sound, or a more transparent one. The Boss OD-3 is one of my favorite "mainstream" OD's - significantly more output and fullness to the tone - it just sounds great. The Joyo Sweet Baby (similar to the boutique Sweet Honey from Mad Professor) is another great low gain overdrive. But few things stack with other pedals as well as a Tubescreamer. It's a classic for a reason.

 

[kromanomo]

I prefer the Maxons personally. This video is by far the clearest explanation/demo I've seen on the subject.

http://youtu.be/Ak_nWBdEMhg

 

[waparker4]

Technically you are supposed to clip it and replace with wire, waparker. But I thought bypassing it with a wire should be pretty close to the same thing. I might be wrong on that.

Certainly if it were a resistor and not a capacitor, putting a wire across it would completely eliminate resistance. Maybe my electronics 101 assumptions are wrong: I figured that shorting across a capacitor would functionally take it out of the circuit for all intents and purposes just as it does for a resistor.

Thought experiment: for AC the bigger the cap the more bass it lets through. A wire, which lets all bass through, is like the biggest value cap ever and no wire is like the smallest value cap ever. Remove the tone cap from your guitar and you get the full brightness of your pickups. Replace the tone cap with a wire and you get a darkening volume control. IME IMO and ymmv

 

[woodwire]

to be honest, the biggest difference ive noticed between ibanez 808's and ts9's as well as clones and mods is the noise floor.

regardless of what the model is, id want the one with the lowest nose floor.