{"id":32953,"date":"2020-07-01T13:54:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T11:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pedaltown.nl\/whats-so-good-about-an-ibanez-tube-screamer"},"modified":"2026-04-12T21:49:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T19:49:54","slug":"whats-so-good-about-an-ibanez-tube-screamer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pedaltown.nl\/en\/whats-so-good-about-an-ibanez-tube-screamer","title":{"rendered":"What’s so good about an Ibanez Tube Screamer?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Tube Screamer from Ibanez is perhaps the most famous overdrive guitar pedal of all time and is therefore adored by many guitarists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introducing the Tube Screamer<\/h2>\n\n

It has been more than 40 years since Ibanez released the TS808. Although Ibanez has become known for it, the Japanese Maxon was responsible for the design of the small green wonder pedal. Maxon at that time had no opportunity to export products abroad and concentrated mainly on the domestic market. For that reason, Maxon also made pedals for other brands. The circuit of the Maxon OD808 therefore had the same circuit as the TS808 sold by Ibanez from 1979. The circuits and specifications of these pedals are the same.<\/p>\n\n

Tube Screamer was not an instant success<\/h2>\n\n

The Tube Screamers that came out at the time were certainly not an instant success. Both the 808 and its successor, the TS9 released by Ibanez in 1982, did not sell well. One of the first famous guitarists to use the Tube Screamer was Stevie Ray Vaughan. He mainly used the pedal as a clean boost, with the Drive knob almost completely closed and the volume knob fully open. The tone button was usually between 12:00 and 15:00, he wanted to vary with this. With the success of Stevie Ray, interest in the green pedal also increased exponentially.<\/p>\n\n

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Vintage TS808, vintage TS9, TS10, TS808 Reissue and a TS9 Reissue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trademark mid hump boost<\/h2>\n\n

Nowadays, the pedal has become indispensable and astronomical amounts are paid for an original TS808. The magic of the pedal is in the tube-like distortion, good sustain and the classic ‘mid hump’ for which this pedal is known. The frequency response of the pedal is designed to emphasize the center frequencies in particular. This creates a kind of hump that helps the guitar sound cut through the mix.<\/p>\n\n

The pedal’s circuit<\/h2>\n\n

In addition to this characteristic midrange, the circuit of a Tube Screamer has a number of other clever innovations (nerd alert). The circuit of a Tube Screamer consists of a number of parts: an input and an output buffer, a JFET bypass switch, a power section, tone\/volume and a clipping section. These parts together provide the characteristic distorted sound. The core of the pedal consists of the part where the signal is overdriven (clipping amplifier) and the tone\/volume part that comes next.<\/p>\n\n

Clipping amplifier\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n

In the clipping amplifier, the incoming signal passes through an amplifier (operational amplifier<\/a> or opamp). Part of the signal goes back to the input via a feedback loop from the output of the opamp. Two diodes are placed in this feedback loop, which ensure that a part of the signal is cut off. Because two diodes are used, there is symmetrical clipping. This means that both the top and the bottom of the signal are cut off. Cutting off the signal creates the overdrive of the pedal.<\/p>\n

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JRC4558 opamp is the holy grail\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n

Virtually all TS808 came with a JRC4558 dual opamp. This version is still considered the holy grail by many guitarists. Original TS808s with JRC4558 chip are currently being sold for a lot of money (around 750 euros). The successor to the TS808, the TS9, was initially also delivered with the JRC4558. Later models were made with the JRC2043DD and the Toshiba TA7558 opamp. There is much debate online about the contribution of the opamp to the specific Tube Screamer sound. Josh Scott of JHS and Brian Wampler conclude that the chip does not audibly contribute to the difference in sound. Other experts like Mike Piera from Analogman do hear a difference between different op amps.<\/p>\n\n

High and low pass filters in the feedback loop<\/h2>\n\n

The opamp’s feedback loop contains two filters, a high pass filter, which only passes frequencies above a certain value, and a low pass filter, which only passes frequencies below a certain value. The high pass filter ensures that especially the signal above 720 Hz is overdriven and all frequencies below are gradually reduced. The low pass filter ensures that the sharp highs are filtered out and the signal breaks off less abruptly (soft clipping).<\/p>\n\n

Tone\/Volume portion of the circuit<\/h2>\n\n

After this, the signal passes through the tone and volume portion of the circuit. Also here is a low pass filter in the circuit as well as an active tone circuit and a passive volume circuit. The low pass filter filters out overtones that are too loud before the signal passes through the tone circuit. The tone control then boosts the treble and restores some of the smoothing of the previous filter. Then the signal passes through the volume section and (depending on the setting of the volume knob) is boosted or attenuated in volume.<\/p>\n\n

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TS808DX, TS808HW, Anniversary TS808 Anniversary and Vemuram TSV808<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Magic of the sound<\/h2>\n\n

Now that we know the technical side of the pedal, the question is how this all sounds. A Tube Screamer is a real overdrive and certainly no distortion. It gives a mild, smooth overdrive with a clearly audible boost from the midrange, keeping the character of your base signal intact. It sounds like hooking up your guitar to a good tube amp and letting it overdrive a little bit. Part of the magic of the sound is also in the way the clean sound is mixed with the distorted sound. This happens in the clipping circuit and not, as with some other overdrives, in the output section. And finally, the way of overdrive, in which only frequencies above 720 Hz are overdriven, is an important part of the magic.<\/p>\n\n

Modern Tube Screamer alternatives<\/h2>\n\n

If you have been enchanted by green magic by now, you can of course purchase an original TS. In addition, many clones are made by renowned pedal makers. Below we have collected 10 alternative Tube Screamer pedals from 7 manufacturers that are definitely worth trying. The original circuit has been around for more than 40 years and can be improved on a number of points:<\/p>\n\n