There are plenty of stompboxes out there that will take your sound and turn your guitar into more of an electronic noise controller than a true instrument with its own character. Some have so many knobs that you actually spend more time trying to dial in a sound than you do actually playing and creating. The Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer is neither of these. It doesn’t change the sound of your guitar all that much at first, and you’ll only be fooling with the gain knob for a minute before hours of endless playing ensue. This is exactly what makes it so good.
To be fair, the TS9 does do something subtle to your tone beyond just driving the original signal. It also boosts the mid-level frequencies of your signal so it doesn’t get lost in the mix. This is one of the main traits that distinguishes it from many of the clones and other self-described transparent overdrives. This nuanced mid-boost is also a reason why many players use it as an “always on” pedal, even when they don’t need much drive at all. Turn down the gain knob and the TS9 still provides a warm boost, giving your tone the presence necessary to hang with other instruments in a live setting.
If Stevie Ray Vaughan was the original prophet of the Tube Screamer gospel, he’s had no shortage believers. John Mayer, Trey Anastasio (who notably daisychains two TS9s together), Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and The Edge have all been prominent users. Reading that list, you might draw the conclusion that Tube Screamers are not for hard rockers, but keep in mind that it has a place in Metallica’s rig as well. Beyond what it does on its own, the Ibanez Tube Screamer is an interesting boost to add in front of or after your other pedals. Many people think of Eric Johnson’s iconic fuzz tone as his signature sound, but most of his touring rigs feed a TS808 into a Fuzz Face. It’s one of those pedals that is almost unavoidable, a no-brainer addition to your signal chain, even for most guitar-straight-into-amp purists. Give it a shot and play around with the settings and signal chain order. If you’re one of the few that really doesn’t like what it does, you can always count on finding a buyer.
Aren’t there a bunch of pedals called the Tube Screamer?
The Ibanez Tube Screamer (TS9/TS808) is a guitar overdrive pedal, made by Ibanez. The pedal has a characteristic mid-boosted tone popular with blues.
Yes, there have been six Ibanez models with the Tube Screamer badge, not counting reissues, modern hand-wired versions or Maxon-branded units. The TS5 and TS7 were lesser known, cheaply made iterations. The TS808 (original) and the TS9 are the pillars of the family tree.
While they all essentially affect your signal in the same way (boosting mids, slightly compressing, remaining mostly transparent), the desirability of the JRC4558D op-amp in the original TS808 and TS9 models with their hand-wired internals set the standard for clones and debate.
How does the TS9 differ from the other Tube Screamers?
The TS9 and TS808 were the most well-built Tube Screamers without question. The others used cheaper components and construction methods with different chips. Compared to each other, the TS9 is regarded as having a slightly less smooth tone compared to the TS808. This is likely due to the TS9’s different output stage, and in later models, different op-amp. The TS9 is more affordable while still offering the same build quality as a TS808, and some people prefer the slightly harder tone.
I see a lot of modded ones on Reverb. What’s the deal with that?
Modding pedals has been an art as long as stompboxes have existed. The more popular the pedal, the more community knowledge there is about the way that pedal works and what tweaks may or may not sound good. So the Tube Screamer, with its thirty-plus years of populating the market, is one of the most modded pedals of all time. There are some established variations that both Robert Keeley and Analogman pioneered, but many simply add true bypass, higher gain options or both. Because original TS9s are significantly cheaper than TS808s, a popular mod is to switch out the opamp to match TS808 specs. If you have never played through a Tube Screamer, we suggest you pick up an standard TS9 or TS808 reissue first and make a decision from there.
The Ibanez Tube Screamer (TS9/TS808) is a guitar overdrivepedal, made by Ibanez. The pedal has a characteristic mid-boosted tone popular with blues and rock players. The 'legendary' Tube Screamer has been used by countless guitarists to create their signature sound, and is one of the most successful, widely copied, and 'modded' overdrive pedals in the history of the electric guitar.[1]
- 3Design
Description[edit]
The Tube Screamer has a drive knob, a tone knob, and a level knob. The drive knob adjusts gain, the tone knob adjusts treble and the level knob adjusts the output volume of the pedal. The pedal is used to try to mimic the sound of a vintage tube amplifier. The classic Tube Screamer sound includes a 'mid-hump', which means that the circuit accentuates frequencies between the bass and treble ranges (mid-frequencies). Some guitarists prefer this sort of equalization, as it helps to keep their sound from getting lost in the overall mix of the band.[2]
Variations[edit]
The pedal was produced with many variants:
The Tube Screamer pedal was preceded by the orange 'Overdrive' (OD) and green 'Overdrive-II' (OD-II). These came in narrower boxes without battery covers. There was also a reddish 'Overdrive-II' which had a housing very similar to the TS-808/TS808. The green OD-II had a circuit similar to the TS808; however, the OD and OD-II had a more distorted circuit.
- TS-808/TS808: The first Tube Screamer, the TS808, was released in the late 1970s. It was equipped with the Japanese JRC-4558 chip. Some units however had the Malaysian Texas Instruments RC4558P chip.
- TS9: From 1982 to 1985, Ibanez produced the '9-series' of overdrive pedals. The TS9 Tube Screamer is almost the same internally as the TS808 but the TS9 had a different output, which caused the pedal to sound brighter and less smooth. In later years, TS9s were assembled with a wide variety of op-amps, instead of the sought-after JRC-4558.
Once Ibanez discontinued the 9 series pedals, they introduced the 'Master' or 'L' series. These were only made in 1985, and did not have the Tube Screamer in the line-up.
A rare and valuable version of the Tube Screamer was the ST9 Super Tube Screamer, which was sold only in Europe and Australia.[citation needed]
- TS10: In 1986, Ibanez began production of the 'Power Series', which included the TS10 Tube Screamer. The TS10 had three times as many changes to the circuit than the TS9 had had. Some TS10 pedals were made in Taiwan, using a MC4558 chip. All TS10s (as well as other L and 10-series pedals) used floating jacks and pots, which were mounted to the boards instead of the cases. This is weak point in the design sometimes causing the jacks to break off.[citation needed]
- TS5: The plastic TS5 'Soundtank' followed the TS10 and was available until 1999. The TS5 circuit is very similar to the TS9; however, it was made for Ibanez in Taiwan by Daphon. The first year of production had a metal casing, afterwards the casing was made out of plastic (which resulted in more noise than a typical TS808/TS9 box made out of metal). However, these plastic versions still have a shielded and grounded metal bottom plate for a slight interference reduction plus the needed weight to keep the pedal from sliding because of its light weight.
- TS7: The TS7 'Tone-Lok' pedal was released in 1999. It was made in Taiwan like the TS5, but in an aluminum case that was more durable. The circuit inside had a 'hot' mode switch for extra distortion and volume. Most TS7 pedals came with the JRC4558D chip, like the TS808 and TS9.
- TS808HW: In early 2016, Ibanez revealed the TS808HW. Marketed as a premium, limited edition pedal, TS808HW is hand-wired with select JRC4558D chips and uses high-end OFC cables from Japan. HW is encased in a dark green, heavy duty metal box. It also comes standard with True Bypass, a feature many had to mod into the circuits of previous Tube Screamers.
The TS9 and TS808 pedals have been reissued, and according to the company, feature the same circuitry, electronics and design components that helped shape the famous Tube Screamer sound. Some musicians have a technician perform modifications to the unit to change the sound to their liking. Also, Maxon, which produced the original Tube Screamer pedals for the Ibanez brand in the 1970s–1980s, produce their own version of the Tube Screamer (called Overdrives: the OD-808 and OD-9 as opposed to Tube Screamer, TS).
- TS9B: Released around 2011, it was designed for bass player, in a dark green stompbox with 5 knobs : Drive, Mix, Bass, Treble and Level controls. The Mix and 2-band Eq. controls allow bassists to produce the sound they want while still maintaining the feel of the original Tubescreamer and keep their low-end original signal.
Design[edit]
Serial Number Idm Terbaru
According to Susumu Tamura (田村進) of Maxon, the designer of the Tube Screamer, the initial design concept was to create something to compete with BOSS OD-1 and MXR Distortion+.[3] In doing so, he used an innovative circuit, using the monolithic operational amplifier device, introduced in early 70s, to create a pedal sound different from the 'discrete' transistorized 60's fuzzes.
The overdrive is produced using two silicon diodes in anti-parallel arrangement into the negative feedback circuit of a operational amplifier ('op-amp') circuit, to produce soft, symmetrical distortion of the input waveform. When the output exceeds the forward volt drop of the diodes the amplifier gain is much lower, effectively limiting the output to + and - one diode volt-drop, although due to the exponential I-V curve of the diodes this is not a hard limit. A 'drive' potentiomenter in the feedback path provides variable gain. The original 4558 based circuit uses transistor buffers at both the input and the output, to improve impedance matching.[4] This is mathematically equivalent to mixing the input signal with a clipped version of itself, however. Thought of this way, it is said that this 'preserves the original dynamics of the input signal which otherwise would get lost at the threshold of clipping' and 'avoids muddiness and vastly improves clarity and responsiveness.'[5]
Characteristic of the distortion is the symmetrical nature,[6] which produces mainly odd-orderharmonics for a sine wave input.[7] All this justifies the 'vacuum tube' sound, and the 'screaming' tone. As well, Tamura added a simple but effective post-distortion equalization circuit with a first-order high-pass shelving filter that 'is linearly dependent on its gain', an approach called 'progressivity'.[5] The overdrive stage is followed by a simple low-pass filter and active tone control circuit and volume control, using the second op-amp available on-chip.
The circuit uses transistorbuffers at both the input and the output, and a modern electronic field-effect transistor (FET) 'noiseless' bypass switching to turn the effect on and off. The TS7 allows switching between a 'TS9' mode, in which the circuit and all relevant component values are identical to the vintage model, and a 'Hot' mode, which introduces an additional gain stage. Yet another variant is the Ibanez ST9 Super Tube that features a fourth knob ('Mid Boost'), which provides a harder attack.
JRC4558D op-amp[edit]
Much has been made of the operational amplifier chips used in the various versions of the Tube Screamer pedal, and several 'fairy tales' about the merits of these devices have been written on the subject.[8][9] The JRC4558D chip is well-regarded by some.[1]
The (RC)4558 is a low priced, general purpose dual operational amplifier, introduced mid 70's by Texas Instruments as an 'improved' version of the early 741, and used in thousands of consumer and industrial designs.[10] In fact, JRC4558D is nothing else than the licensed product manufactured by Japan Radio Company (日本無線株式会社), and identical to any other 4558 chip. Other popular chips used included the TL072 (a JFET input type, highly popular in 80's), 'original' TI RC4558P, and OPA2134.[citation needed] The TA75558 (yet another version, made by Toshiba), standard in the TS10 alongside the 4558, is strangely regarded as the 'ugly duckling of TS opamps'.[1]
In reality, the type of op-amp has little to do with the sound of the pedal, which is dominated by the diodes in the op-amp's feedback path.[11][12] (See Op-amp swapping.)
Notable users[edit]
The pedal was popularized by Stevie Ray Vaughan. Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio implements two TS9 Tube Screamers in his rig. It is widely used in genres as diverse as country, blues and metal. The Tube Screamer has since spawned many clones and modified versions.[13] Possible modifications include use of mismatched, or different diodes (for example, a silicon and a germanium device), or more than two diodes in various arrangements, or modified tone circuits. It is also used by many metal guitarists before the lead channel of the high gain amps to make distortion more focused and to cut the low end. Notable modifiers of the pedal include Robert Keeley of Keeley Electronics and Steve McKinley of www.TubeScreamerMods.com.[14]
Notable users:
- Trey Anastasio: TS9
- Joe Bonamassa: TS808
- Cliff Burton: TS9
- Jerry Cantrell: TS808HW
- Gary Clark Jr.: TS9
- The Edge: TS9
- Noel Gallagher: TS9
- Rory Gallagher: TS808
- Kim Gordon: TS9
- Buddy Guy: TS9
- Billie Joe Armstrong: TS9
- Kirk Hammett: TS9
- Greg Howe: TS9
- Joan Jett: TS9DX [15]
- Eric Johnson: TS808
- John Mayer: TS808, TS9, TS10
- Gary Moore: TS9, TS10
- John Petrucci: TS9DX
- Carlos Santana: TS9
- Kenny Wayne Shepherd: TS9 (mod. by Analogman), TS808HW
- John Squire: TS9
- Andy Timmons: TS808
- Alex Turner: TS808
- Keith Urban: TS808
- Steve Vai: TS9DX (Modded by Robert Keeley)
- Stevie Ray Vaughan: TS808, TS9, TS10
- George Lynch: TS808
References[edit]
Ibanez Tube Screamer Serial Number Lookup
- ^ abcHunter, Dave (2004). Guitar effects pedals: the practical handbook. Hal Leonard. pp. 68–71. ISBN978-0-87930-806-3.
- ^CSGuitars (9 December 2013), How Not To Dial A Metal Sound, retrieved 7 February 2016
- ^Bolembach, Kevin (3 October 2013). 'State of the Stomp: Maxon's Susumu Tamura Interview'. Premier Guitar. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/TStech/tsxtech.htm
- ^ abTopaktas, Bogac. 'Tube Screamer's Secret'. BTE Audio. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
- ^Zölzer, Udo; Xavier Amatriain (2002). DAFX: digital audio effects. John Wiley and Sons. p. 125. ISBN978-0-471-49078-4.
- ^'Harmonic distortion'. rhordijk.home.xs4all.nl. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- ^'Ibanez Tube Screamers History'. Analogman.com. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
- ^Möller, Andreas. 'The 'true' TS-808 chip ...' Stinkfoot Electronics. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
- ^http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/rc4558.pdf
- ^'Converting modern Tubescreamers into the real 808 version'(PDF).
And do remember that the op-amp has very little to do with the actual clipping in a TS circuit. It's just there to amplify the signal - the diodes [do] the clipping. Changing one or both of the diodes will make a huge impact on the overdrive character, while the differences incurred by different op-amps are minute.
- ^'The JRC4558 Myth'. electrosmash.com. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
in a guitar pedal there are a lot of factors that can modify the sound even more than the opamp can do: the components placement, values tolerance, circuit layout, the power supply, etc ... by actual listening test as well as oscilloscope traces and spectrum analysis, there is no audible difference between today's 0.5$ NJM4558D and the old ones.
- ^'Ibanez Tube Screamer'. musicradar.com. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
- ^Tucker, Lindsay (November 2011). 'Builder Profile: Keeley Electronics' Robert Keeley'. Premier Guitar. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
- ^http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/22363-rig-rundown-joan-jett-and-the-blackhearts