THE BEST TUBE SCREAMER TS808?

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The Review

The Tube Screamer TS808 is the original overdrive that made a massive impact when it was released in the late 70s. Although it was called the Overdrive Pro. It just feels so right when paired with a tube amp, and, although it sounds great with lots of guitars, the Tube Screamer just loves single coils.

If you’re reading this, then there’s a very good chance you already know of the huge list of famous players that use of have used the TS 808. So let’s just say: Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Edge, John Mayer, Kirk Hammet, George Lynch, and lots more. Many of these also used other varieties such as the TS9 and TS10.

The iconic sound of the Tube Screamer is due to the mid hump, at around 750 Hz. As mentioned on the shoot-out review between the Tube Screamer, the Klon KTR and the Nobels ODR-1 this is actually achieved more by rolling off the lows and highs rather than boosting mid frequencies.

This mid hump is what really makes the pedal special, providing an almost perfect tone to cut through the mix, and fatten up those single coils. The fact it rolls off lows and highs also makes the Tube Screamer a favourite on many pedal boards aimed at producing high gain tones.

This is because it really tightens up the sound, removes unwanted boominess, and shrill highs.

Another aspect of the pedal’s iconic sound is due to the JRC4558D op-amp chip which has been used in many of the clones and ‘improved’ versions of the Tube Screamer released by just about every major pedal manufacturer.

If you want a more technical explanation for the tone of the Tube Screamer and how it was pretty unique at the time of release, Susumu Tamura, the brains behind the pedal, says that before it was released pedals placed the clipping stage after the amplifier stage of the circuit, whereas the TS808 had it in the negative feedback loop of the op-amp, giving a smoother overdrive and maintaining the guitar tone.

This accounts for the other typical tonal aspect of a Tube Screamer, especially the 808s, ie how creamy and smooth they sound.

There is no doubt that every guitarist should have a Tube Screamer ( they really are that good ), the questions is: which one?

There are so many different versions now by so many companies, and just about all of them claim to be the best.

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