Ibanez Tube Screamer

The Ibanez Tube Screamer is an overdrive/distortion pedal that is mild compared to many, but lets the true sound of the guitar and the player's technique come through¹. It is the overdrive most players reach for when they want to push a tube amp harder rather than create distortion inside the pedal itself, and it has been in production in one form or another since 1979. The Ibanez Tube Screamer family now spans the vintage TS808, the TS9, the TS10, and a long line of reissues, anniversary editions and modified versions.

What defines the pedal's character is its midrange focus and its soft clipping. Not all of the signal is clipped, and it gets less clipped the more bassy it goes, which is part of why the pedal tightens up an amp rather than smothering it². The most popular use of a Tube Screamer is to push a tube amp to make it overdrive more, but they sound good through almost anything¹.

What it does to your sound

The Tube Screamer is a mid-focused overdrive. Its circuit rolls off low end before the clipping stage, so bass frequencies are less clipped than the mids and highs². The practical result is a pedal that adds sustain and midrange push without flubbing out the low end, which is exactly what players want when they are driving an amp.

RockBoard's PedalPedia describes the TS808 as revered for its smooth, tube-like tone and midrange clarity⁷. Analog Man's history of the pedal puts its appeal plainly:

Because the effect is mild, many players use it with the gain rolled off and the level up, treating it as a boost that pushes a tube amp into greater overdrive. That use is covered in more detail below¹⁸.

The controls: Drive, Tone, Level

Every classic Tube Screamer shares the same three-knob layout, from the TS10 to the anniversary editions⁹¹⁰⁶.

The 40th Anniversary TS9 has controls for Drive, Tone and Level¹², and the 35th, 40th and 45th Anniversary Edition Pro TS808s all use Overdrive, Tone, and Level/Balance controls¹⁰. Three knobs is the whole interface, which is part of why the pedal is so approachable for a beginner: set the Drive for the amount of grit, the Tone for brightness, and the Level to match or exceed your clean volume.

From the OD-808 to the TS808, TS9 and TS10

The circuit was designed in 1979 to 1980 by S. Tamura, a Japanese engineer working for Nisshin Onpa/Maxon⁴. Tamura was seeking to create a circuit to compete with the Boss OD-1, and the pedal he inadvertently developed was first sold as the Maxon OD808, which was then rebranded for Ibanez as the TS808 Tubescreamer¹³¹⁴.

The early hardware went through several box styles. The TS-808 was produced from 1979 to 1980⁵, with v1 and v2 built in narrow boxes and v3 through v7 in the standard box¹⁵. Tube Screamers were manufactured for Ibanez by the Nisshin company from 1979 to 1981, in both small- and large-box versions¹⁶.

The TS9 followed, produced from 1982 to 1984³. In a ToneQuest Report interview republished by Analog Man, the relationship between the two circuits is spelled out:

The main change in the TS9 circuit is in the output section, which caused the Tube Screamer to be a bit brighter and less smooth than the TS808¹⁸⁶. ToneHome also notes that different op-amp ICs were used across TS9 production³. Both the TS808 and the TS9 have since been reissued⁵⁶³.

The TS10 Tube Screamer Classic, produced from 1986 to 1993, provides the sound of an overdriven tube amp with the same Drive, Tone and Level controls¹¹. Alongside it sat the ST9 Super Tube Screamer, produced only from 1983 to 1984: essentially a stock Tube Screamer with an added stage, a semi-parametric midrange control¹⁹. ToneHome describes the ST9's sound as similar to the TS9 but delivering more sustain and drive, and it has two JRC4558D IC chips instead of one, as on the TS9²⁰. The ST9's manual claims a +25 dB midrange boost, though some who have measured it calculated closer to +8 dB¹⁹.

Anniversary editions and later versions

Ibanez has marked the pedal's birthdays repeatedly, with 35th, 40th and 45th Anniversary Edition Pro TS808 Tube Screamers representing ten years of Anniversary Tube Screamers¹⁰. The 35th Anniversary Edition also has a sort of butterfly graphic on its side¹⁰.

The 40th Anniversary TS9, announced in January 2022, is pretty much exactly the same as the regular version, just in a different color with a 40th Anniversary label, in a limited-run metallic red finish. It is Made In Japan and runs from either a battery or a standard power supply¹².

Later versions have branched out from the original circuit:

• The Ibanez Nu Tube Screamer, announced in January 2018, Made In Japan with true bypass and Drive, Tone and Level controls²¹.
• The Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini, a compact version of the classic TS808 with the addition of true bypass²².
• The TS808HW Hand Wired Tube Screamer, which uses a "select" JRC4558D chip, has true bypass and comes in a cool box, per Analog Man²³.
• Modified versions built around the original design, including the TS808TM2 Tamura-Mod v2 and the TS9-TM Tamura-Mod, both designed by Susumu Tamura himself²⁴²⁵.

Bypass and power

The original TS808 is not true bypass, so it needs a JFET switch circuit to activate and deactivate the effect⁴. In mass production, true bypass switches are expensive and labor-intensive because the wiring has to be done by hand, which is why Ibanez avoided them⁴. The TS9 likewise includes a buffered input⁶.

On That Pedal Show, the hosts were direct about the practical consequence:

Powering is simple. The TS9 draws 8mA at 9V⁶, low enough for a battery, and the 40th Anniversary TS9 runs from either a battery or a standard power supply¹². The TS808's input impedance is 446K, almost the value of the 510K biasing resistor that sets it⁴.

Using it as a boost for a high-gain amp

This is the use that made the pedal's reputation. Dave Hunter, writing in Guitar Player, notes that several name players, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Johnson among them, used Tube Screamers for their amp-boosting functions¹⁶. Tone Island's review agrees on the modern application: it works great as a boost pedal, and metal players love it for chugging riffs because it makes high-gain amps feel tighter²².

For players who want more output than a stock pedal provides, the modified versions push the idea further. The Tamura-Mod Level Boost versions add a +6dB level boost for increased output level²⁶²⁷²⁸, and the Fortin-Modded TS808, now discontinued, offered an extreme output level 2.5+ times louder than stock to push any amp to its limits²⁸.

What reviewers said

In a Guitar World demo video comparing the stock TS808 against the Tamura Mod version, Paul Riario found the stock pedal "a little more immediate, a little more not as warm," with a sharper attack, less fullness, less compression, mids really pronounced, and more clean signal bleeding through²⁹. On That Pedal Show, the hosts settled the lineage question simply: "I mean the 808 is the actual original"².

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Tone Island's reviewer found the Tube Screamer Mini extremely well-built with controls that feel like quality, and had kept one in his collection for a long time²². Availability of the reissued TS9 is good, per ToneHome³.

Videos

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Questions