For years I was highly critical of this little green box.
Back in August, I was gifted An Ibanez Ts-9 with the only caveat that give it an honest chance. I have drug the Tubescreamer through the mud, bitterly at times. If you don’t want to read to the end, I believe my feud with this circuit has ended.
So what changed?
In short, my ears, my rig, and my playing overall. I have owned more overdrive pedals than I can count at this point. But I believe a lot of my preferences can be traced back to the days when I was boosting my ENGL amp with a Fulltone OCD, then I moved into a Xotic BB preamp for many years along with a rack rig.
When I moved into using my Marshall Silver Jubilee I reached for another classic, the Boss SD-1, and I didn't look back. As years have passed and my ears and playing have changed I am putting away the high gain tones, and high output pickups, and im reaching to those classic foundational items.
When setting the Ts-9, I set it up for my PRS DC3 and my trusty old Fender Stratocaster. Both have 60s-style single-coil pickups. I set the Tubescreamer subtly until my ears tell me it's right that day. Sometimes a dash more gain, sometimes a dash less. I don’t care much for the grainy texture of the gain on this circuit anytime it is past 11 o’clock. I prefer getting any gain from the amp.
I can't say I've had the same luck with my Humbucker-loaded guitars, to my ears I just haven't found settings I enjoy with my rig. I'd argue that most of my initial dislike for circuit design comes from this same experience previously. I am hopeful this will change as I slowly replace all my humbuckers with something lower in output.
The funny irony is not lost on me that I now would like to acquire more Tubescreamer variants. An Ibanez TS808 is on the wishlist, I've owned two Maxon OD808s and have not enjoyed them. so I am genuinely curious if I'd prefer the Ibanez one more. I also Hope to get myself a TS-10 when im at the Dallas International Guitar Show in May.
I do plan to send this pedal to my friends at Analogman for a modification, im very curious about the Brown Mod Mike does. Oz Noy uses this one, I’m a big fan of Oz who also likes to play jazz with a Stratocaster and a Marshall.
Your next question might be if I had to suggest the TS-9 or the Boss SD-1. What would I suggest? I would look at you and ask, well. What sort of amp are you using and what do you like? Do you have a Les Paul and a Marshall JCM800 and like John Sykes? Then im going to tell you to grab the Boss SD-1 or do you have a Stratocaster and a Vox AC-15 and like Rory Gallagher? well, then Im going to tell you to go with a Tubescremer. Pound for pound, you can easily get both on the used market for the price of one Ibanez TS-808. Try them both and go with the one that sounds better to your ears! Im just a guy on the internet talking about gear I can only get you so far!
That said, I do know the SD-1 way better and I can get my SD-1 to sound like a Ts-9 I cannot make that work the other way around. The two circuits aren't that much different apart from how they clip your signal. The internet holds many schematics on how to convert your SD-1 into a TS-9/TS808, the difference is predominantly the clipping diodes and the buffer Boss places in the circuit.
I recently talked about a BK Butler Tube Driver that I picked up. In that article, I spoke about how shocked I was at how little midrange is in that pedal. Do you know what has a midrange bump? The Tubescreamer! Combine the two and you have a very happy me!
All of that aside, I now look forward to happily stomping on my Tubescreamer in tandem with my Bk Butler Tube Driver for the near future. While I find myself enjoying the TS-9 by itself it is together with the Driver that im finding a sound that is inspiring to play. If someone could build me a Tube Driver and Tubescreamer cross-pollinated together into one pedal, well that would be amazing! If you can do that, Let's talk!