Original Tube Screamer designer Susumu Tamura has joined forces with Godlyke for a limited run of the Tamura-Mod TS808, a re-creation of the “best-sounding Tube Screamer of all time.”
For three years, Tamura has been analyzing “hundreds of TS808 variants” in quest of the “best-sounding” units. According to Godlyke, the designer found that all these stompboxes contain chips from a particular brand and production period. And the Tamura-Mod TS808s come with those chips.
Per Godlyke, the chips add to the pedals’ tonal characteristics, providing “transparency, clarity and note-to-note separation so uncanny that it makes other drives sound as if they are being played with a blanket over the speaker.” Since those chips are a rarity today, the Tamura-Mod TS808 pedals are available in limited quantities.
Last year, Maxon launched the Tamura-engineered Apex808, which is also spec’d from the same “hen’s tooth” chip. Compared to Apex808, the Tamura-Mod TS808 features some extra tweaks that make it closer sounding to a vintage unit. The NOS Toshiba silicon diodes found in early TS808 versions let it achieve better clarity and warmth.
Each Ibanez TS808 Tamura-Mod Tube Screamer comes hand-signed by Tamura and retails for $349. Pre-orders for a second run are now open, with shipping starting in September.
