An Ibanez Tube Screamer is an overdrive/distortion pedal thatis mild compared to many, but allows the true sound of the guitarand player's technique to come through. The most popular use of atube screamer is to push a tube amp to make it overdrive more,but they sound good through almost anything.
149111 - late 1981 TS9, with JRC2043DD chip. 197833 - Early TS9 from 1981.As you can see, the JRC chip was used throughout thelife of the TS-808 and the TL4558P wasused sometimes. In AB tests, there is VERY little difference betweenthe three chips, although the JRC gives the strongest CLASSIC tube screamersound- the sweet vocal midrange. The Malaysian RC4558P chip was probably used to save some money as they were cheaper than aJapanese made JRC chip. We would be glad to use the RC chip in yourmod if you would like. They have a little bit more grit which some people might like. The early TS808 used a circuit board marked MP-D01201A,then in late 1980 or so they changed to the MP-D01201B board.
Ibanez Tube Screamer Serial Number Decoder
Around 1982 until 1985 the Ibanezpedals were repackaged and the 9-series of effects were made. Themost popular was the TS-9 tube screamer, which is almost the sameas the TS-808 internally. Externally the on/off switch grew tofill about 1/3 of the effect. The main change in the TS-9 circuitis in the output section. This caused the tube screamer to be abit brighter and less "smooth". The Edge fromU2 uses a TS9 for most of his overdrive tones, as do countlessother famous rock and blues players. In later years theTS-9s were put together with other op-amp chips,instead of the JRC-4558 which is called for in the schematics.Some of these sound BAD, especially the JRC 2043DD chips. Many usedthe Toshiba TA75558 which was continued on the reissue. Ifyou have an original TS9 with the 2043 chip, our 808 mods will makea huge difference in tone.
After the 9 series was discontinued, the MASTER or L seriespedals were made, without a tube screamer in the lineup.This series was only made in about 1985.They did include the SUPER TUBE model STL, which is like a 4 knobtube screamer. It is similar to the rare and valuable ST-9Super Tube Screamer which seems to have been sold only in Europe.These are like a Tube Screamer with an added MIDS control, which isbefore clipping on the ST-9 and after the clipping stage in the STL. Then in about 1986 the similarly made POWER SERIES or 10 seriesappeared, including the TS-10 tube screamer. Compared to a TS-808, a TS-10 has about 3 times more circuitchanges than the TS-9 had.From about 1988 through 89 when the 10 series ended, some TS-10 pedals were made in Taiwan, using an MC4558 chip. All TS-10s (and other L and 10 series pedals) used cheap jacks and pots whichwere mounted to the boards instead of the cases, so theyoften break or fall apart and cannot be fixed like a hand-made pedal (ts9 and ts808are all handmade, hand wired parts). There is also a ribbon cable insidewhich attaches the pot board to the main board.
In about 1993, Ibanez started to make the TS-9 again due to popular demand.This "reissue" is just about identical to the last"original" TS-9s in sound, circuitry, and appearance.They even used the old manual dated 1981 to confuse us more!The IC chip they use in the reissue is the same as some lateroriginal TS-9s, the Toshiba TA75558. They are a higher tech chipthat will work good in higher tech equipment (where you want alow noise op amp) but are not the best for a tube screamer. Ifyou want some of these chips I have several thousand slightly used ones! ;-)
In about June of '96 the reissue TS-9 was changed slightly,and finally can be told from an "original" TS-9 easily.There is a "CE" symbol on the back, which is requiredfor selling electronics in Europe. Also a capacitor was added tothe back of the board (the only component ever used on the backof a tube screamer board). This is to help with the switchingcircuit and should not affect the sound. The extra capacitor isno longer used, now they changed the value of C113 from 102 to103 (10,000pF). C113 is between the wires labeled 3 and 4 on theback of the board. If you have a 102 you can change it to 103 toimprove switching (switching is the one thing about TS-9s that sucks!). I think the new TS-9 sounds the same as the earlier reissues and last originals.
Here are the bottoms of the four different TS9s. On the right is an originalwith black label, easy to tell and date, if 1st digit is a 1, that would mean1981 (a VERY early TS9!). These usually have the JRC4558D chip, or sometimes the lousy JRC2043D chip. Second on the right is an original silver label TS9. The 1st digit is a 3 meaning 1983, you will see a lot of these with a 4 for 1984. These can have the earlier chips or sometimesthe TA75558 chip as used in the reissues. These are almost impossible to tell from the 1st reissue TS9. But the Reissue TS9 willusually not have a serial # starting with 3 or 4. I have reissueswith a 206XXX and 207XXX number here with a capacitor made in 1990, maybe a very early reissue from 1992. These have silver labels, an originalfrom 1982 would probably have had a black label. I also see a lotof TS9s with serial # starting with 1 with a silver label. These areall reissues as a 1981 would be a TS808 or a very early TS9 with ablack label. However I have seen a 1983 TS9 with serial number299866 with a silver label. It has the JRC4558D chip and capacitorswith 1983 date codes and resistors coated in green. So if the first digit is2 and the label is silver you will have to open it up to date it.I have also seen a 1982 Ts9 (chip, caps dated 1982 and green resistors) with the serial number 288379 and a silver label. Also a late 1982 (8250 caps, 2474 chip) serial # 205442 with silver labeland green resistors. If it's a silver label, it's hard to figure out if it's original unless the serialnumber starts with 3 or 4. if not, and the resistors are not green coated, or it's not an original JRC chip (see below and the TS808 TV mod for pictures of the chips) then it's probably no more valuable than a reissue (if it is in factan original). Yes this is confusing... you can also try to find date codeson the metal can capacitors. You may find 8302 which means 1983, etc. See below for more on dating the capacitors. Third from the rightis a 2nd version reissue, with the CE symbol. All TS9s with the CE are reissues.It still uses the original MAXON circuit board and MAXON on thebattery cover. The reissues all have the TA75558 chip. Note the boxhas bar code info, this will not be found on the original boxes.
In early 2004 Ibanez finally reissued the TS-808 pedal due topopular demand. It looks fine except the color seems a bit off.The reissue TS-808 uses the new 2002+ TS9 reissue board, made by Ibanez, not the older, slightly better quality MAXON board like the originalTS808 and pre-2002 TS9. It does have the correct JRC4558D op amp and outputresistors, so it sounds better than the TS9 reissue,similar to our CLASSIC TS9/808 mod.We have a cool mojo mod using NOS parts for the TS-808 reissue and also offerour SILVER mod on it. See my tube screamer page for more info.
The latest new tube screamer was made available about early 2000,the TS7 TONE-LOK pedal. It is made in Taiwan like the TS5 but ina metal case that should stand up better. There are severalcircuit boards inside, they seem to be generic and severaldifferent effects can be built using the same boards (they aremostly empty boards!). These have a HOT mode switch for extradistortion and volume, which is quite useable. The HOT mode stillworks after the mod, and gets a similar improvement to thetone (less harsh, smoother, but still has lots of drive). Most TS7 pedals come with the correct JRC4558D chip, so weusually don't have to change the chip in our TS7 mods. The TS7 is a lotcheaper than a TS9 but I don't think they will hold up as well tosevere use. They are not hand made/hand wired like a TS9 or TS808.All the boards, connectors, and cables inside add alot of complexity and there are many things to break. Alsothe tiny micro switches seem to be failing and we do notcarry replacements.
In order to make an Ibanez, Boss or other electronically-switched pedal true bypass, we need to drill a hole on top andmount a standard round metal stomp switch. On the TS9 there isalready a small hole under the plaque on top, and there is justenough room inside the pedal for a switch. We also need to hot-wire the circuitso it is always ON. We do offer true bypass mods on the TS9 and TS808. If youalready have a TS9 or TS808, and have too many buffered pedals on your board, then the truebypass mod could be a good idea. If you don't already have a tube screamer, and want truebypass, the Maxon OD9 is the obvious choice and will work out cheaper too with our 808classic or silver mods. The TS808HW Hand Wired has true bypass also, but isquite expensive.
Do you change the capacitors or other components in your mod? Our CLASSIC 808 mod does not change the capacitor values, it usesthe exact same values as an original TS-808. Anyone can find informationonline on changing various capacitors in a tube screamer to add low end.I have tried every mod I have seen online and many more that I came upwith, and none of the simple capacitor changes sound quite right. Theylose the sweet tone which is the reason to use a tube screamer,though it will sound good in a bedroom it may get very muddyon stage or recording with a band.These easy capacitor mods boost the low end like in the TS9DX modes,so it tends to get muddy. When we sell the DX we recommend ourMODE MODS on the DX, which changes the deepest mode to about the sameamount of low end as the 2nd mode on the stock DX. We also do not increase the DRIVE, as this does not sound righton a tube screamer. If you need more drive, it is betterto use another pedal either seperately or along with thetube screamer. Or many people use two tube screamers in a row, Trey from Phish and Kenny Wayne Shepherd are some of ourmore famous customers who use them this way. If you really need a little more low end we can add it at no charge, using thecommon boutique TS capacitor value, just put a note on your mod formthat you want a little more low end along with one of our 808 mods, no extra charge. 2ff7e9595c
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