Tubescreamers: Not just another thread...

[JoeNeri]

My understanding of SRV’s tone is that it was primarily derived from his dime-ing his guitar and his amps, and placing a dimed Tubescreamer, with the gain set relatively low, in between. It didn’t really matter which version of the pedal he used at any point in time since he was using it to further boost his signal. And, back in the 80s, there weren’t a whole lot of pedal choices for doing so. The famous/infamous Tubescreamer mid-hump didn’t hurt, but I doubt he cared one way or another about it.

 

[schenkadere]

I'd be willing to guess it was just what he had laying around at the time and it just stuck.

 

[schenkadere]

I’ve got a Bad Monkey for you.
Ive never cared for a TS. I’ve revisited it once or twice and I just don’t care for it. My Bad Monkey sits on a shelf.

Now is the time to unload it! Strike while the iron is hot!

 

[Festofish]

Now is the time to unload it! Strike while the iron is hot!

Its a heavy one too.

 

[Fiesta Red]

I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say here, but…

Some form of Tube Screamer (whether a model 5, 7, 9RI, 10, 808RI) has been on my board since 1990…sometimes more than one at the same time…and occasionally with another brand/type of overdrive pedal that was eq’d to emulate a Tune Screamer.

That’s with different guitars, amps, bands and genres being played.

I guess it works for me.

 

[thunderbyrd]

i had never played any type of TS until i got a JHS Doublebarrel, which has what's supposed to be a TS 808. fantastic sounding pedal as far as i'm concerned. it sure don't make me sound like SRV, tho.

 

[dasherf17]

Ok, this is not just another thread about the various iterations of the Ibanez Tubescreamer. It's a little more nuanced.

We all know that SRV was famous for using some version of a Tubescreamer. My question is this: Why a Tubescreamer? Why not some other overdrive pedal? Was there something specific about the TS? Beside the bump in the mids?

Was it either a TS or a Metalzone because there were no other pedals on the market in the late 1970s and 1980s?

I cut my teeth on SRV, but I haven't had a TS in 20 years. I just got a American Professional II Strat...and a couple days later a TS Mini. And man....wow! For years and years, I've been relying on a ZVEX Double Rock, which is fantastic, no complaints, I'm not getting rid of it. But it is a MIAB pedal, a JTM 45 specifically. So really, that's the only kind of overdrive/distortion I've heard for a long time. I put the TS on the board and A/B'ed the DR and TS, and there is a definitely difference in sound, a pleasant one.

Is it possible that a TS has been the missing ingredient in my tone?

"Why a Tubescreamer?"
My first thought is...personal preference...?

 

[sinecrafter]

There's nothing especially magical about any overdrive pedal. There's only a few ways to make an overdrive pedal, but everyone has their own tastes, which is why there are so many on the market. Each pedal has its own special blend of amplification stages, clipping methods, equalization, blending, in some particular order, and the ones that became popular usually did so not because of any particularly outstanding technical merits, but because they worked well enough and happened used by a popular guitarist, like SRV, Hendrix, or (much later) Mayer.

The Tube Screamer was one of the earlier designs that became available in the 1970s, so that's what people used back then. It has persisted largely because people came to associate that sound with "what an overdrive pedal should sound like". Me, I'm not particularly a fan of the Tube Screamer, but I'm not alone in that. I also think the Klon Centaur is underwhelming, compared to other designs, although both the Tube Screamer and the Centaur are perfectly fine overdrives, and if you like the way the sound, you should use them and be happy.

Metal Zone?? Boss had how many overdrive and distortion pedals on the market before the Metal Zone? The MT-2 was released in 1991!

And for the record, the differences between IC op-amps are so minuscule that they are not relevant to "tone", so if you think you need to have a NOS JRC4558 or whatever, trust me, you do not. Pretty much any old octal op-amp chip will slot right in and sound virtually identical.

What's on my main guitar pedalboard right now for overdrive is the DSM & Humboldt Electronics Silver Linings, and on my jam session/practice mini board it's a tc electronic MojoMojo overdrive, which to my ears sounds better than a Klon Centaur by a significant margin. I paid $30 used for the MojoMojo.

 

[Wooly Fox]

It's the nose of the TS tone curve that makes it so useful for certain player types. TS into a cranked Marshall is the hair metal and rock tone of the 80s and 90s. It takes out low end and takes high end using asymmetric clipping (one side of the audio waveform is cut more than the other similar to a tube) and the 700-800hz EQ peak is pure mids territory which makes the guitar shine.

Klon is close but has more bottom end and top end and the EQ peak is at 1khz so more upper mids.

For me as a Tele player, I don't need more mids so a TS isn't something I aspire to own. My Tru-Fi Colourdriver is all the drive and boost I need most of the time as it has bass and treble controls and can push a lot of level to clip a preamp without needing the gain on at all.

 

[Sixstring3370]

It's funny that Diaz said he changed it to a ts10 and nobody noticed. People are all caught up in ridiculous thoughts that there was a miraculous piece of gear responsible for the sound. Stevie used a plethora of equipment through the years, but he always sounded like Stevie.

 

[birv2]

I've had several tubescreamers, but I always go back to my Arion Tubeulator. It's much smoother and less harsh.... though you probably can't find one even used nowadays.

I've got one! I did a very early Wampler mod on it.

 

[Baron_63 Canada]

Ok, this is not just another thread about the various iterations of the Ibanez Tubescreamer. It's a little more nuanced.

We all know that SRV was famous for using some version of a Tubescreamer. My question is this: Why a Tubescreamer? Why not some other overdrive pedal? Was there something specific about the TS? Beside the bump in the mids?

Was it either a TS or a Metalzone because there were no other pedals on the market in the late 1970s and 1980s?

I cut my teeth on SRV, but I haven't had a TS in 20 years. I just got a American Professional II Strat...and a couple days later a TS Mini. And man....wow! For years and years, I've been relying on a ZVEX Double Rock, which is fantastic, no complaints, I'm not getting rid of it. But it is a MIAB pedal, a JTM 45 specifically. So really, that's the only kind of overdrive/distortion I've heard for a long time. I put the TS on the board and A/B'ed the DR and TS, and there is a definitely difference in sound, a pleasant one.

Is it possible that a TS has been the missing ingredient in my tone?

Relax.

An old Donner "Fush" and an old Donner "Blues Drive", will knock your socks-off!

 

[Baron_63 Canada]

Relax.

An old Donner "Fush" and an old Donner "Blues Drive", will knock your socks-off!

I know.

 

[Jakedog]

I've heard the same thing, which is why I went with the TS Mini: fits my board better, and sounds so good that I doubt anyone would hear a difference. In fact, I watched the Anderton's TS shootout with the guy from Pedal Pawn who claims he has over 100 TS's and brought a bunch with him. They choose 6-7 to shootout and the Captain admits he can't tell them apart. IF that's the case, why not purchase one of the least expensive, smallest, best reviewed TS I can buy?

I have put my TS Mini up against an original 808 and couldn’t tell any difference whatsoever. I had to try it after I got it (the mini) and upon plugging it in was sure it was pretty much identical to the two old 808’s I used to own.

 

[trandy9850]

I have put my TS Mini up against an original 808 and couldn’t tell any difference whatsoever. I had to try it after I got it (the mini) and upon plugging it in was sure it was pretty much identical to the two old 808’s I used to own.

The Mini TS may be the best one they make these days.

I mentioned this before, but I AB’d one against an 808… no one, myself included, could hear a difference….plus it’s made in Japan just like the 808… plus it’s roughly only half the money…a definite win-win all the way around.

 

[Baron_63 Canada]

Simply put, my old Donner "Fush" and Donner "Blues Drive" are incomparable. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

 

[Baron_63 Canada]

There's nothing especially magical about any overdrive pedal. There's only a few ways to make an overdrive pedal, but everyone has their own tastes, which is why there are so many on the market. Each pedal has its own special blend of amplification stages, clipping methods, equalization, blending, in some particular order, and the ones that became popular usually did so not because of any particularly outstanding technical merits, but because they worked well enough and happened used by a popular guitarist, like SRV, Hendrix, or (much later) Mayer.

The Tube Screamer was one of the earlier designs that became available in the 1970s, so that's what people used back then. It has persisted largely because people came to associate that sound with "what an overdrive pedal should sound like". Me, I'm not particularly a fan of the Tube Screamer, but I'm not alone in that. I also think the Klon Centaur is underwhelming, compared to other designs, although both the Tube Screamer and the Centaur are perfectly fine overdrives, and if you like the way the sound, you should use them and be happy.

Metal Zone?? Boss had how many overdrive and distortion pedals on the market before the Metal Zone? The MT-2 was released in 1991!

And for the record, the differences between IC op-amps are so minuscule that they are not relevant to "tone", so if you think you need to have a NOS JRC4558 or whatever, trust me, you do not. Pretty much any old octal op-amp chip will slot right in and sound virtually identical.

What's on my main guitar pedalboard right now for overdrive is the DSM & Humboldt Electronics Silver Linings, and on my jam session/practice mini board it's a tc electronic MojoMojo overdrive, which to my ears sounds better than a Klon Centaur by a significant margin. I paid $30 used for the MojoMojo.

Agreed. Matters not any "snob appeal", but what you can accomplish.

 

[Baron_63 Canada]

Agreed. Matters not any "snob appeal", but what you can accomplish.

Sometimes, an accumulation of pedals is like my own: inexpensive, but wall of sounds.

 

[Red Ryder]

that's what you think
i am gonna make a little forecast here and say that 80% of the respondants (by, let's say page 3) don't address the point you've raised

Do I have to wait for page 3? I've already forgotten what the point is.

 

[JustABluesGuy]

I've had several tubescreamers, but I always go back to my Arion Tubeulator. It's much smoother and less harsh.... though you probably can't find one even used nowadays.

You find the TS harsh? I haven’t tried a Tubeulator, but I have a TS9 and a Boss SD-1, and prefer the SD-1 because it sounds “grittier” than the TS to me, but in a good way. I do like some grit in my ODs.

As I understand it the TS also passes some of the original signal through as well.