Godlyke TS808-TMv.2

The Godlyke TS808-TMv.2 is a modded overdrive pedal based on the Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer, and it is the second Tamura-modded collaboration between Godlyke and Susumu Tamura, the Tube Screamer's original designer¹. Where a stock TS808 pushes the midrange forward, this version goes the other way: Godlyke describes it as "dumping the mid-hump in favor of a bottom-heavy thump that moves more air and adds more hair to your tone"².

Guitar World's coverage put the same idea in plainer terms: the mod "ditches the midrange hump of the much-adored pedal in favor of a bottom-heavy thump," emphasizing the low and low-mid ranges³¹. For a player used to a Tube Screamer as a tight midrange boost in front of an amp, that is the headline difference: this version is voiced fuller and heavier at the bottom end.

What it is and what it does

The TS808-TMv.2 is the latest incarnation of the TS808 pedal, and gearnews described it as offering "a distinctive blend of 'more hair' and a 'bottom-heavy thump'"⁴. The "more hair" part is Godlyke's own phrasing for the added grit and texture the mod brings; the "bottom-heavy thump" is the low-end emphasis that replaces the stock pedal's midrange push²¹.

The circuit pairs Tamura's redesign with NOS Toshiba 1S1588 clipping diodes, new-old-stock parts that Godlyke describes as giving the pedal a unique sonic profile⁴¹. Clipping diodes are the components that shape how an overdrive distorts the signal, so swapping in a different diode type is one of the most direct ways a modder changes a pedal's character.

How it differs from a standard Ibanez TS808

The stock TS808 is known for its midrange hump, the scooped-low voicing that has made it a long-standing choice for cutting through a band. The TMv.2 keeps the TS808 as its base but reworks that voicing toward the low and low-mid ranges, which Guitar World described as a tone that "moves more air than the factory pedal"³¹. The pedal also uses a Carling SPST plunger footswitch in place of the stock switching⁴.

The Tamura-modded series

The TS808-TMv.2 is an overdrive pedal, the latest incarnation of the TS808 pedal⁴. Godlyke describes its sound as a distinctive blend of "more hair" and a "bottom-heavy thump"⁴.

The TMv.2 is built with a Carling SPST plunger footswitch⁴. Godlyke later extended the Tamura-modded series with the Tamura-Mod Level Boost TS9TMB³.

Price

At launch in December 2023, the first 50 pedals sold carried an introductory price of $299, with all units sold after that priced at $349⁴¹. Both figures were reported by gearnews and Guitar World at the time of the announcement.

Where the TS808 came from

The TS808 that the TMv.2 is built on has its own long history. TONEHOME's documentation of original TS-808 units distinguishes several versions: the v1 narrow box with "flying fingers" graphics, described as extremely rare; the v2 narrow box without them, still rare; and the v3, which carries the registered trademark symbol, a knurled nut on the power jack, no level markers, a PCB marked "A", and the TS-808 name with a hyphen⁵⁶. Susumu Tamura, who designed the original, is the same designer behind this mod⁴¹.

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