Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer Review

I wanted to talk about and review one of my favorite overdrive pedals, the Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer. This pedal has been widely used by a variety of big named artist - Stevie Ray Vaughn was one of the notable users in his time. Of course, they have modded versions of this pedal that give them different little characteristic such as more gain. It is hard to review pedals, especially overdrive pedals, because sound is subjective and everyone has their own opinion of what "good" sounds like. I will give you my take on this classic overdrive pedal and hopefully you will agree with my opinion. If you do, feel free to chime in and add information to the comments section - and if you disagree, please feel free to let me know why.  (Note that in this review I will be discussing the reissue of this pedal - NOT the original Tube Screamer.)

The Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer pedal is easy to use, consisting of tone, level, and distortion knobs - all right on the front of the pedal. The level knob is a “set and forget” knob that simply matches the effect volume to your guitar’s pickup volume. The tone knob, like the tone knob on most effects pedals, cuts or boosts the treble in your signal, and the overdrive knob dials in the amount of distortion that will be applied to the guitar sound.  Like most overdrive and distortion pedals, this one is very easy to use and simple to dial in great tone.  Be sure to play around with the tone and the overdrive knobs - you can greatly change the sound by a simple twist of a knob.

The TS808 is one of the best overdrives out there today for the price. If you are looking for a ballsy, tube-like sound then this is the pedal for you. This pedal can give you a crunchy, chunk overdrive that is great for rhythms or you can dial in a smooth, creamy tone for a nice bluesy solo. This pedal is especially good if you combine it with your amps distortion.  I personally like to use this pedal as something a little extra when I play my solos.  It gives me a little extra gain and sustain.  It does color your tone a little bit - but its not a boost pedal, so you should expect it too.

The Tube Screamer is built like a tank. I would have no problem with dropping mind from a high place on a concrete floor. You can either power it by a 9-volt adapter or your classic 9-volt battery. I would recommend using always the power adapter for any pedal!

I think that this is a great pedal for anyone on its own or if you are looking for more out of your amps distortion. You can get a great warm tone out of this pedal - if you dial it in correctly.  You can get a very nice crunch sound of this pedal.  Also, you can get a nice sustain if you add this pedal on top of your amps distortion.  There are, of course, higher end - better sounding - overdrive pedals.  (Or, if you can find one of the vintage TS808 Tube Screamers, even better!)  For the money, and even just in general, the Tube Screamer is an excellent pedal.  A lot of people will recommend the cheaper version of this pedal, the TS9.  I, however, do not.  It doesn't even compare to the TS808, and I think that you would be much happier going with the TS808.  I hope that you found this Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer review helpful - Rock on!

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