DemonFx Tube Screamer

The DemonFx Tube Screamer is an analog overdrive and booster pedal made by DemonFx. As its name suggests, it is a clone of the Ibanez Tube Screamer, one of the most widely copied overdrive circuits in guitar history. DemonFx's own product page describes it plainly as an "Ibanez Tube Screamer Clone"¹.

DemonFx's stated rationale for building clones is economic. The maker argues that as soon as a product becomes famous, its price climbs steeply, while the parts inside a pedal cost only a few dollars, so buyers are effectively paying for the brand and the creativity behind the product¹. The DemonFx Tube Screamer is the company's take on that idea applied to the Tube Screamer circuit.

What it is and what it does

RockBoard's PedalPedia lists the pedal's effect type as "overdrive booster," which places it in the same category as the original Tube Screamer: a low to medium gain overdrive that can also push an already-driven amp harder¹. The Tube Screamer family has long served both roles, and the DemonFx version follows that template. The Red version of the pedal carries the same "booster overdrive" effect type listing and the same analog circuit type².

The Tube Screamer circuit itself has a long lineage. It grew out of earlier designs, with the Boss OD-1 acting as a precursor to the Tube Screamer, and the original circuit drawing on the frequency response of old treble boosters. Its symmetrical clipping stage is one of the features that distinguishes it from asymmetric designs like the Boss SD-1³⁴⁵.

The Red version

DemonFx also makes a DemonFx Tube Screamer Red. On paper it matches the standard version closely²:

The Red version has its own English-language manual published by DemonFx, available as a PDF on the maker's site².

Power and current draw

Both versions run on 9V DC with a center negative plug, the common standard for modern pedals, so a typical pedalboard power supply will work¹².

The current draw is where the DemonFx units differ noticeably from the originals they copy. RockBoard's PedalPedia lists 100mA for both the standard and Red versions¹². By comparison, Guitar World lists the Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer at 8mA on 9V⁶. The DemonFx pedals therefore draw roughly twelve times what an original TS9 draws, which matters if you are running several pedals from one isolated output or a supply with limited current per outlet.

A Tube Screamer clone among many

The DemonFx Tube Screamer is one entry in a very large field. Guitar World's Paul Riario called the Ibanez Tube Screamer "undeniably the most copied clone and modified guitar effect of all time"⁷.

Clones exist for several reasons. One is price, which is DemonFx's own stated motivation. Another is features: Guitar World's buying guide notes that most original Tube Screamer units are buffered rather than true bypass, so a player who wants a true bypass Tube Screamer may find that a faithful clone suits them better than an original⁸. Related pedals in the same family include the Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer, the Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini, and the Ibanez Nu Tube Screamer, alongside other Tube Screamer-derived designs like the Fortin Mod Mini Tube Screamer.

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