Vintage TS9 and TS808 vs. Modern Variants

glpg80

glpg80

Well-known member
Talk to me about which direction to go for pedals? Better to go the vintage route with certain chips or is it better to go with modern takes of them and if so, which ones? I’ve heard a lot about the Maxon 808. What’s your opinion?

For the record I’m not a pedal pro and all I’ve got is a basic run of the mill SD-1. I want to grab some rock solid staples to have on hand.
 
glpg80 said:
Talk to me about which direction to go for pedals? Better to go the vintage route with certain chips or is it better to go with modern takes of them and if so, which ones? I’ve heard a lot about the Maxon 808. What’s your opinion?

For the record I’m not a pedal pro and all I’ve got is a basic run of the mill SD-1. I want to grab some rock solid staples to have on hand.
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Most of them are more similar than they are different. The Maxon OD808 is a good industry standard.

Beyond that, it depends on how much you want to tweak. Do you want to adjust the bass, or clipping types, or etc... ? The Green Rhino and Precision Drive are probably a couple of my favorites for tweaking.
 
It depends on what you're going for.

As far as modern variants, my go to TS variants are as follows:

1. For versatility, there is no boost that even gets close to the KSR Eros. It has a TS mode, a clean boost mode, and a distortion mode, with full BMT tone stack, as well as a three way low end switch that's VERY useful.

2. For simplicity/ease of use and value, the voodoo labs sparkle drive is the absolute bees knees. The clean blend is so useful, and you can get them for stupidly cheap.

Most of the expensive variants of the TS circuit are snake oil IMO - i've owned everything from the fortin mod stuff to a bunch of other boutique models, and for whatever reason, they all sound almost exactly like a stock modern maxon/ibanez.

The vintage ones do have a certain flavor, but IMO the tone to price ratio is off.

Basically any modern variant with a tone stack instead of a tone knob can be dialed in to sound like the vintage ibanez pedals.
 
I haven't tried them all, but I've played a vintage TS9, one of those bigger ones whose model I forgot, the Maxon 808, the TS mini, and a bunch of clones...

They're all more similar than they are different. If I were to A/B them without looking, I would be hard pressed to tell when somebody switched the pedals

I went with a used beat up modern TS9

It was cheap, it sounded good, and it's built like a tank

IMO if you want a "rock solid staple", just get the real deal @ Ibanez or Maxon

Other clones may have more features, but that's not what the records we hear and the shows we went to used. Might drive you mad flicking all the switches and knob combos to get "that sound" when an Ibanez/Maxon gets you there already.
 
Plain Jane green boxes the Maxon OD808 is my favorite. I have an Ibanez tube screamer that's collecting dust that I need to plug in soon. I bought it a few months ago and have been using an FM3 since. I have a synergy system coming tomorrow so looking forward to trying it out since it's been a long time since trying a standard ts. I also got an HM-2 being delivered this week. I've never used one except for clone version
 
I’d take a VFE Standout over a tube screamer. I believe he had a write up that the standout or dragon was basically a tube screamer, but the user could determine the frequencies they wanted vs having a factory single setting.

That said, don’t overlook a nice vintage EQ like the MXR 10 band or Boss GE-10. They can get most if not all of a TS tonal affect.
 
I keep my ts9 and maxon 808 both . It’s enough to cover me . But if you get a mtl2 get a koko boost v 1 to try . It’s sweet
 
I've had a few.

Out of the "traditional" Ibanez/Maxon Tube Screamer, the Ibanez TS808 is my favorite. It sounds the most like you'd expect a Tube Screamer to sound: squishy, creamy, tight, mid-focused, dirty, etc.

The Maxon OD808 isn't a whole different animal, but I feel it's cleaner and dare I say "more transparent", which is personally not what I want a Tube Screamer to be.

But to be honest, I've had the Maxon OD9, OD808, Ibanez TS9, TS Mini, and TS808, and they all do 98% the same thing.

Out of the modern variants, I like the Duncan 805. The EQ makes it really flexible.

I personally also really like the Boss SD-1 that you say you have. It's another TS variant, really, that has its own thing going on.
 
Rex Rocker said:
I've had a few.

Out of the "traditional" Ibanez/Maxon Tube Screamer, the Ibanez TS808 is my favorite. It sounds the most like you'd expect a Tube Screamer to sound: squishy, creamy, tight, mid-focused, dirty, etc.

The Maxon OD808 isn't a whole different animal, but I feel it's cleaner and dare I say "more transparent", which is personally not what I want a Tube Screamer to be.

But to be honest, I've had the Maxon OD9, OD808, Ibanez TS9, TS Mini, and TS808, and they all do 98% the same thing.

Out of the modern variants, I like the Duncan 805. The EQ makes it really flexible.

I personally also really like the Boss SD-1 that you say you have. It's another TS variant, really, that has its own thing going on.
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I like ts9 more than the 808 . The 808 has a weird mid thing for me .
 
psychodave said:
I’d take a VFE Standout over a tube screamer. I believe he had a write up that the standout or dragon was basically a tube screamer, but the user could determine the frequencies they wanted vs having a factory single setting.

That said, don’t overlook a nice vintage EQ like the MXR 10 band or Boss GE-10. They can get most if not all of a TS tonal affect.
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The VFE Standout is the one I end up using most of the time. Having the LPF /HPF allows you to control the sound and feel of any rig.

The other one I like from the Tube Screamer family is the KHDK Ghoulsreamer. It's the 808 with mods you can turn on and off.

For the SD-1 family I use Fulltone Fulldrive FD-3 and FD-2V2.

Basically all these pedals do the same thing - cut bass and push midrange. I would be fine with any of them built by anyone.
 
I've borrowed lots of vintage TS808's and TS9's from a friend. They have that warmth and other good qualities you'd expect from vintage pedals, but overall I still wasn't that impressed. For newer TS's I liked most the recent Tamura and Fortin modded ones, but I no longer use any TS style pedals. For high gain amps I mostly just use my klon when I boost (silver no horse) and occasionally the 1st version Furman PQ3 or TC Integrated Pre. I prefer those styles of boosts to TS's
 
I have a maxon 808 and a boss sd1 both new.

Apart from that, I did build some DIY clone boosts like the Fortin 33, a 33 clone with B/M/T EQ and a TS style boost with the 808/TS9 and sym/asym clipping options on switches.

Musikding Germany sells whole kits, so no headaches about sourcing parts.

Of course, some guys swear by the vintage ICs in those old pedals, but I can’t comment on that
 
glpg80 said:
Talk to me about which direction to go for pedals? Better to go the vintage route with certain chips or is it better to go with modern takes of them and if so, which ones? I’ve heard a lot about the Maxon 808. What’s your opinion?

For the record I’m not a pedal pro and all I’ve got is a basic run of the mill SD-1. I want to grab some rock solid staples to have on hand.
Click to expand...
I had @griff10672 make me a sd1 varient. I literally sold every other boost pedal after. My ts808hw had been a staple for 5 years, and it was rendered useless. My 80's made in japan sd1 also
 
Personally, I'm not very interested in boost pedals and I use a cheap Nux OD-3, which is more than enough for me. But I was quite impressed with the Maxon ST9 Pro+ in the video below. But, who knows, @killertone can extract good sound even from a can of ants...

 
My quick two cents:
* Tubescreamer iterations (808, 9, 10) all sound mostly similar to the point where I doubt I'd be able to pick out which is which in a double-blind test
* I can't tell the difference between various "coveted" chips when I swapped them and actually recorded them. I thought I did until I recorded them and started really playing them back. Instead, tweaks to the actual circuit that adjust bass and output response resulted in much greater differences.
* I don't think a lot of the "modern" boosts can get quite there as the classic ones do. Even the slightly tweaked ones that add like a Baxandall EQ to them instead of a "tone" knob sound kinda different IMO
* I actually don't think an EQ can do quite the same thing as a tubescreamer, but it also depends on how you run it. Wampler goes into good detail why here:


Since you already have an SD-1, I'd jump straight to a modern boost. Whether it's a VFE variant of some sort (Dragon/Standout/Pinball), a Precision Drive, KSR Eros, or some other variant - they'll all work and give you a more modern and cutting sound with way more level and tweakability. Then I probably wouldn't think about it too much after that unless you're dead set on deep diving into boosts. If you really want a standard tubescreamer, the TS Mini is absolutely killer for the price and sounds identical to its big brother from my experience.
 
Smash said:
I had @griff10672 make me a sd1 varient. I literally sold every other boost pedal after. My ts808hw had been a staple for 5 years, and it was rendered useless. My 80's made in japan sd1 also
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@griff10672 please tell me more about this SD1 variant. I’d love to hear about it.

I approached Wayne about custom SD-1 circuit designs, gave him some custom schematics, said he’d look into it, and then told me he had no interest in teaming up and to piss off. So I’m very curious what this custom SD1 is and why he’d even bother offering it.
 
glpg80 said:
@griff10672 please tell me more about this SD1 variant. I’d love to hear about it.

I approached Wayne about custom SD-1 circuit designs, gave him some custom schematics, said he’d look into it, and then told me he had no interest in teaming up and to piss off. So I’m very curious what this custom SD1 is and why he’d even bother offering it.
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My Superdrive is nothing but a stock SD-1 circuit .... that I upgraded parts for ... removed the buffer ... and layed out the boards to my specs to increase the ground planes ... to keep things ultra quiet ... these boards were done way before you hit me up to " team up :
I would have to check our discussion for " full " schematics ... I just remember you talking about a few ideas that I wasn't interested in at all ....
My opinion was ... there is enough sd-1 variants out there ....didn't have the time to create another just to sell 3 or 4 pedals
Simple as that
 
glpg80 said:
Talk to me about which direction to go for pedals? Better to go the vintage route with certain chips or is it better to go with modern takes of them and if so, which ones? I’ve heard a lot about the Maxon 808. What’s your opinion?

For the record I’m not a pedal pro and all I’ve got is a basic run of the mill SD-1. I want to grab some rock solid staples to have on hand.
Click to expand...
I am a boost maniac and have vintage ones as well as modern ones. Depending on what you're after I would suggest a few.

You already have an SD-1 which I love. One of the OG Standards for good reason.

A couple current boosts based on old stand by pedals are the SD 805 (TS9/808), and the MXR CMBOD (SD-1). Those are great pedals and can be had super cheap used.

Modern boosts that I love are: Airis Savage Drive V3, Fortin Hexdrive, Lichtlaerm Aesahaettr, and the Maxon ST9 Pro+. Those will take you further than any standard TS9/808 style pedal. By that I mean they have more output and more tone sculpting available.
 
griff10672 said:
My Superdrive is nothing but a stock SD-1 circuit .... that I upgraded parts for ... removed the buffer ... and layed out the boards to my specs to increase the ground planes ... to keep things ultra quiet ... these boards were done way before you hit me up to " team up :
I would have to check our discussion for " full " schematics ... I just remember you talking about a few ideas that I wasn't interested in at all ....
My opinion was ... there is enough sd-1 variants out there ....didn't have the time to create another just to sell 3 or 4 pedals
Simple as that
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I think the cool thing about the sd1 is the assymetric clipping. The variant you did not being so fucking noisy was very speciaL. Dont sell yourself short. Sometimes what a design needs is the most slight of a change because it is already so fucking good.
 
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