Tube Screamer TS-808, zero to hero.

[Heath]

I tried a Tube Screamer years ago and was completely unimpressed.  I couldn't understand why anyone liked them, much less the legion of dedicated users and big name adherents.  I figured maybe it was just me being the odd one out.

I should mention that at that time I had only really used solid state amps and knew very little about real equipment (not meaning to slag off solid state amps, some of which are very nice, there's just a different dynamic and they're usually more affordable for a broke-ass young musician).

Quite often I would see it referenced here as there seem to be a tone of circuits based off of it.  I would tend to see that and think "Oh, yeah, next..."

Well, I got bored today and figured I'd give the TS-808 another shot as most pedal users seem to think that it's a cornerstone of any pedal collection.  It was simple enough for a lazy Saturday distraction.

I built this one with the added clipping options switch.

I plugged up a my new Slick 52 (a cheap but Rockin guitar with vintage wound and aged humbuckers) into my 22watt TUBE AMP and struck a power chord and HOLY MOTHER OF SHIT!  

Tried it with a home-built guitar loaded with a Dimarzio Bluesbucker pickup (a very P90-ish sounding humbucker) and was equally pleased.

I get it now.

[IvIark]

Yes I found the tubescreamer to be very boxy and dull with a solid state amp but playing it through a decent tube amp gives it a whole new dimension.  Good job too or 85% of all effect pedals would be off limits

[inefficiency]

I think the whole point of a TS, at least in my opinion, is to use it in front of an amp that's already on the verge of breaking up or even breaking up a bit already. Use the volume of the pedal to push the amp a bit harder and dial in a tiny bit of grit and you're set.

Lots of metal guys like it as a kind of boost/tone shaper. They can boost the amp to get more gain, whilst utilizing the mid-range hump of the TS to help them cut through the mix better.

Personally, I never seem to use it with the gain past around 9 o'clock. I love it for just adding a little bit of hair for bluesy playing. I modded mine with a switch to try and remove the hump and give it back a bit more bass and that works a treat.

To conclude though, they do sound like garbage through a solid-state amp.

[AC_FX]

Word.  Nothing else has managed to push my 808 clone off the board yet.  I just built a centaur, though, and it is a damned good drive as well.

[alltrax74]

I like the way the TS stack with other dirt pedals, but on their own I'm not a big fan, for that use I prefer transparent ods like the Jan Ray fe

[Heath]

Here's mine:

[Frank_NH]

Very nice, Heath!  I'm thinking about trying a TS-808 type circuit, but I just today saw the layout for the Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive!  I like the clean blend idea, so I'll probably go ahead and build that - it's supposed to sound tube-screamer-like with the clean blend rolled off.

[Heath]

Frank_NH wrote

Very nice, Heath!  I'm thinking about trying a TS-808 type circuit, but I just today saw the layout for the Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive!

I've been on the verge of building that one many times :)

[Heath]

IvIark wrote

Good job too or 85% of all effect pedals would be off limits

Ha!  Yes, I've definitely been unknowingly and inadvertently fooling around with several Tube Screamer offspring circuits without realizing it.  I owe that to having purchased a decent tube amp shortly before I discovered this site, so without realizing it I made my rig "Tube Screamer friendly" just in time!

[inefficiency]

I got one too! I think everyone really needs to own one at some point.

[Vince]

Another to try is the Mesa Boogie Grid Slammer. A massively loud and cleaner tubescreamer and with the mod switch you can add in the diodes to get a regular screamer.

[dbat69]

The Tubescreamer was one of the first pedals I bought - got it second hand in the early 80s (might even been late 70s ).  I had a number of dirty pedals I used to use until I got my valve amps, then I stuck with the Tubescreamer, Marshall Guv'nor, Tokai Metal Driver and Boss HM2.

But as already said, the tubescreamer into a already cranked valve head was/is the business - made for lovely creamy overdrive