The hunt for PERFECT tone! A quest that has plagued many guitarist, myself being one of them. Many guitarist think the pinnacle of overdriven guitar tone rests in one small green box.

The TS-808 Overdrive, built for Ibanez by Maxon in the late 1970's. The design is actually a maxon one, and many tubescreamers have a maxon stamped circuit board inside them. I could go on about the history but what I want to focus on is my experience with the many different types of 808 pedals and clones I have played, which I hope will allow you to make a choice about your next tubescreamer purchase.

The tubescreamer is one that some guitarist love, and some hate. They are characterized with a strong mid boost, and tone coloring (in a good way IMO). They can be used to create overdrive within them or by turning the pedals gain down volume up to hit the front end of a tube amp hard and make the amp itself break up easier.

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The Ibanez Models

TS9 Reissue - This is a fairly affordable version of the pedal, stock it's a decent overdrive (classic growl and mid hump which works best with a tube amp), but it seems that buying one stock is getting harder and harder to do nowadays with all the mods out there. The Stock Op Amp in the new Ibanez TS9 is not up to snuff and by swapping it out you'll hear a definite improvement in tone, but these stock pedals can be had for a decent price if you are patient.

TS5 - The Ibanez TS 5 is a model that came out in the 90s, black plastic enclosure, circuit board mounted pots, cheap... DO NOT PAY MORE THAN 50 BUCKS FOR A STOCK ONE OF THESE. The components in these are small, smaller than a stock TS9, cheap construction and components give this thing an OK tone but your money could be better spent else where IMO. You can mod these, which will really help the tone, but still doesnt help the fact that these have cheap switches, pots, and sub par components.

TS7 -  Part of the TONE LOK series, the ts7 has a hot switch which is similar to that of the TS9DX. Stock it's an alright pedal, but same as the TS5 I would save and spend my money elsewhere, the switches on newer models are more reliable but still prone to fail. The tone is alright and the hot switch adds some juice to the pedal, it's a real, "Get what you paid for" effect IMO.

TS10 - in the mid 80s the POWER SERIES pedals came out, this pedal has a slightly different take on the classic TS9 and 808, this tubescreamer has noticeably less gain than it's cousins. It's warm and a great booster and supposedly what SRV had at his feet in the early days. If it's what he was using at Montreux then count me in.

TS9DX -  The Turbo Tubescreamer - Essentially the same as the TS9, but with an added switch that changes the clipping and bass response. If you need versatility, the Turbo is the way to go, the 4 modes give you a huge palette of tones and they can sometimes be had for pretty cheap used. They have the same board as a TS9 except it has an added board which gives you all the different parts for the 4 modes. A Op Amp swap in this pedal helps tremendously.

TS808 Reissue- The holy grail...reissue, the Ibanez version of the Maxon pedal. Has the same circuit as a TS9 with 2 different resistor values and a better op amp, classic tone and personally I prefer it over all the other versions right of the box because of the better components that can keep my soldering iron cold.

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CLONES and ALTERNATIVES

Fulltone Fulldrive II -  This is probably one of the most recognizable and best selling boutique OD out there. It's a take on the classic TS circuit and improves the control of the gain, better bass response, less tone coloring, etc... a clean pedal that really doesnt have a ton of gain (isn't that what a overdrive is supposed to be like) and a extra boost built in to give your signal some more Push. The FDII sits on top of a big pile of clones and while some say they have trumped this bad boy in tone no one can say they have beat it in popularity. It's a hand down great pedal and while it's got a different feel than a TS9, if you can afford it then it's a great alternative to the ibanez pedals its copying.

HBE Powerscreamer - Home Brew Electronics really got it right when they made this pedal. It is similar to the Fulltone but has more gain on tap. They cut well, and will just add some nice color to your signal. It also has a boost, but unlike the Full Drive you can't adjust the amount of boost. Thats the only thing that takes away from this pedal IMO, apart from that it's an amazing TS clone. Is it better than the Full drive, if you need more gain, then yes.

Boss SD-1 - Ok, this pedal has almost a dead ringer for the TS9 circuit. It has asymetrical clipping which gives it smoother gain and more of a tube like break up. It can be had for cheap and stock it's a great pedal to push a tube amp. You can mod it to have the same circuit as a TS808. I feel that the SD-1 has less mid hump than a TS. It's a great pedal  for cheap.

Arion Tubulator - The cheapest tubescreamer copy out there! This pedal has a plastic enclosure and feels pretty cheap but when you plug it up, TONE! I have seen these for sale online at music instrument web sites for less than 15 bucks and it really sounds amazing for that much money. Stock it's a really smooth clean sounding TS9 clone, it has a great amount of gain and works wonders with a tube amp. If you need a TS tone on a budget, dont think twice about this pedal. You can mod this thing and after you mod them, they really sing. It's pretty incredible. The only thing bad about these pedals is the fact they have a cheap switch and enclosure. You could rehouse it (a big PAIN!), or use it in a true bypass looper!

Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive - This thing is pretty much the same thing as every other TS but it has a clean blend knob. You can mix your overdrive and clean tones, which is just...cool. You can can even turn the gain all the way down and use this pedal as a clean boost. It's a pretty straight forward pedal besides that.

Visual Sound Route 66 - A TS808 clone and a Compressor, the older models are alright, the compressor is noisy. The overdrive side has a good TS feel, but I think you could save and just buy the real deal and a decent compressor and be happier in the long run.

Smart People Factory Green Line Overdrive - A smart take on the TS9 Circuit, pretty straight forward except it has some switches to change the gain and bass response. It's a very clear and smooth OD, pretty pricey though. But it's a pedal that will give you some great tones and can you put a price on that?!?!

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I hope I've helped you how to approch tubescremers and their copies. I've only talked about the ones that I have played but maybe now you can pick out pedal that is the pefect one for you. Got and questions, send me a question and I'll help you out.