Visual Sound Route 808

The Visual Sound Route 808 is an overdrive pedal designed to reproduce the tone of the original TS808 Tube Screamer from the seventies, one of the most copied circuits in overdrive pedals. MusicRadar describes it as "designed to give the same distinctive tone as the original (and now legendary) TS808 Tube Screamer from the seventies"¹. What sets it apart from most Tube Screamer clones is a bass boost switch, which MusicRadar calls "a great alternative to the rather mid-dominant sound of most Tube Screamer clones"¹.

What it does

Like the Tube Screamer it is based on, the Route 808 pushes the midrange and adds compression and sustain. Vintage Guitar's 2009 review found that "the Route 808 produces the anticipated thick, harmonically rich 'Tube Screamer' sound with a lot of midrange boost"³. The maker, now selling the pedal as the Truetone V2 Route 808, describes it as delivering "warm low-end response, punchy mids, and pick-attack sensitivity in a compact format"⁴.

The Bass Boost mini-toggle is the pedal's main departure from the classic design. Vintage Guitar noted that "the user can activate the pedal's Bass Boost mini-toggle to regain some of the low-end lacking in the classic pedal"³. For players who find the mid-forward character of a Tube Screamer too much on its own, the switch offers a way to keep the sustain and drive while putting some low end back.

What reviewers said

Reviewers have generally read the Route 808 as a recognizably Tube Screamer-style pedal with its own twist. MusicRadar, reviewing the related Visual Sound Double Trouble, referred to "that crisp Tube Screamer boost" character in the company's designs². Premier Guitar's reviewers, weighing the pedal's appeal, wrote: "Proponents will love the extra sustain afforded by its tube-like compression, and the warm coloration of its distinctive" sound, while noting that players wanting transparency should look elsewhere⁵. That is the honest trade-off of the design: the same midrange emphasis that gives the Route 808 its sustain and cut is what players seeking a completely flat response may not want.

Background

Visual Sound designed the Route 808 to give the same distinctive tone as the original TS808 Tube Screamer from the seventies³¹. Where the classic pedal leans toward a mid-dominant sound, the Route 808 adds a Bass Boost mini-toggle that the player can use to regain some of the low-end lacking in the classic pedal³. At that time the pedal listed at $109.95³. Visual Sound's wider range included the Visual Sound Route 66 and the VS-XO Premium Dual Overdrive, a two-channel design for players wanting more than one drive voice.

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