software

why do people mod their tubescreamers? what is wrong with them in the first place?

thanks

?

some people find they are too thin and lack bass. Of course it depends on their style amp; setup. My stock TS7 sounds great (so did my stock TS5) so I wouldn't want to mod them at all. I am sure some mod them because 'that is what they are supposed to do'.

I had mine modded because I wanted a little more gain out of my TS9 when I needed it, and I also wanted to beef up the bass response, at the same time mr. John Spina was able to take out that mid-spike that TS9's are famous for...turned it into a much more versatile pedal

Several reasons...quot;Most peoplequot; find that they lose almost all of their bass on a regular TS when they engage it...Alot of guys want more gain from their TS but they also want a cleaner boosted tone,and they complain about the way the mids are eq'd in every instance....Recent TS9s have an inferior sounding TA 57778 opamp and the JRC4558D chip sounds better and is warmer and smoother in the circuit.The newer chip was used for quot;supposedquot; instability problems,but I've yet to experience it?...It's nice to also have a pedal that is quieter due to better components and get more sustain and harmonics from the pedal...You have to know where and what to change and that's the magic of modding pedals...Even if none of the component values were tweaked,the pedal sounds a heckuva lot better to my ears by replacing electrolytic caps with good quality poly caps,and then replacing other caps and using metal film resistors,quiets the circuit..

I've been modding TS for about 6 or 7 years now and it was the first pedal I got a schematic for and tweaked until it suited my fussy ears...

I've not modded 1 TS yet that someone didn't like...Is the modded pedal better than stock? Not sure,but it is different...


Originally Posted by SepultuRickwhy do people mod their tubescreamers? what is wrong with them in the first place?

thanks

The ''mod'' craze strated when Ibanez decided to reissue the famous TS9 Tube Screamer in the early 90's. The reissues were made just like the originals except Ibanez cut cost and went with a few ''cheaper'' components. The original TS-808 had the JRC4558D which is the original op-amp IC chip featured in the pedal. Then in the early 80's Ibanez decide to re-release the TS-808 but housed in a new box with a new, bigger footswitch and the TS-9 was born. The 9 Series pedals lasted until 1985. It basically have the same exact circuitry as the TS-808 with the JRC4558D op-amp IC chip. In other words, it's a TS-808 in a different case. As we all know, these tube screamers became famous because of their smooth overdrive that doesn't color your tone too much compared to other overdrives at that time. SRV helped popularize the tube screamer, I don't even need to discuss that Then in the early 90's, Ibanez started to make the TS9 once again. These reissues looks exactly like the original TS9's but didn't have the correct JRC4558D op-amp chip that made the originals sound great. The reissues had the Toshiba TA75558 op-amp chip that wasn't quiet right for a tubescreamer. They sound harsh and weak. Ibanez used them to cut costs along with cheap output resistors that even made it even harsher sounding. So, people weren't happy with the reissues that's why they started looking for the old ones, the originals. The old one sound better. Why do you think the market for original TS808 and TS9's went sky rocketing. Until a software engineer from CT started tinkering with the pedal and found out what made the reissues sound not as good as the originals. He then found the original JRC4558D IC and basically brought back the reissue TS9 to it's original specs with the correct op-amp chip. And the mod craze begun. The original intention of the mods is to turn the tube screamers back to it's original specs. The hundreds of mods being done nowadays are sometimes confusing and was started by people wanting the TS to be not a true TS anymore and they want it to have more gain, more volume, Distortion, True bypass, more transparent and such. Basically making something different out of the TS. There's nothing wrong with the Tube Screamer, people just couldn't be satisfied with the good 'ol sweet sounding overdrive anymore so they tweak it further as far as they can get away with. It really is an amazing little pedal.

The TS craze...damm I have heard on that for 2 decades now
JRC4558D is actually not a very good chip in the first place, and I would bet solid money on that most of you guys would not be able to tell the difference if one stuck another op-amp in.
Lol my old Ibanez Metal-Charger should be worth a fortune then, four of those crummy op-amps is located on the inside of that damm thing
And I still think that it is a dull and way to nasal overdrive in stock form, a green little box with a boxy sound.
Huge seller....I'm still baffled some 20 years later.
Like the TS-7 though

John Spina modded my Tube Screamers because I've always felt that the TS-9 and TS-808 lack the open voice and tranparancy I prefer.

When I hear SRV stomp his Tubescreamer into action his tone gets hotter and more sustainful but at the same time it's more compressed and not as expansive. Works great for SRV, but not for me.

There's a compression to a stock TS that's like a chrome umbrella over my tone that keeps it from sailing off into the infinite blue sky. I wanted John to open up the tone and remove some of that chrome umbrella. And he did! John did a great job and my modded TS-9's both sound better to me and the voicing is more open and less stuffy than my unmodded TS-808.

I guess I'm a fan of a natural overdrive tone...that's why I really like that Duncan Pickup Booster. Very open, transparant and natural right out of the box.
Lew


Originally Posted by RidThe TS craze...damm I have heard on that for 2 decades now
JRC4558D is actually not a very good chip in the first place, and I would bet solid money on that most of you guys would not be able to tell the difference

The JRC4558D is actually no ''holy grail'' op-amp chip. But it is the op-amp chip that worked best on a the Tube Screamer circuit that's why it was used in favor of other more high-tech op-amp chip. That was simply the reason for it. The TA75558 is actually a high-tech chip but didn't sound as good as the JRC4558D simply because the TS circuit was not designed for the TA75558. Your old Metal Charger that has four JRC4558D sounds dull and nasally you said? This is simply because the Metal Charger doesn't have the same circuit as the Tube Screamer. Ibanez used the JRC4558D because it was the readily availble chip at that time and not all of their pedals that used this same Op-amp chip sounded great because it didn't always worked best with the type of circuit of a certain pedal type ( Chorus, delay, distortion, reverb, etc.). It just so happen that the TS circuit design sounded better with the JRC4558D. Look at Boss' SD-1 Super Overdrive which had a very identical circuit design to the TS. The pedal sounds great! Not surprising to see a JRC4558DD ( generic type) op-amp in it. Also, hundreds of botique TS clone out there use the same JRC4558D.
Yes, most of us guys couldn't tell the difference anyways but Eric Johnson did. He was one of the first to notice that the TS didn't sound the same.

i have an original ts-9 and find nothing wrong with it. other than its not true bypass.

however, its been broken for 2 years and i havent fixed it for some reason (a simple soldering thing on the imput jack, but i havent gotten aruond to it.....

I was not talking about the Metal chargers sound, sorry for being unclear about it
It was the various TS pedals that I have had through the times that I have all found to be very lacking, well Eric Johnson would have been better off playing a classical instrument
You can redo the TS so that it will sound the same with other chips, besides the chips not much is different from the 808 to the unpopular 10, as John pointed out a few nice components should cure it for the worst of its muffled basis sound.
The basis circuit is a sound one, those things are easy to dabble around with, it is like having a strat, taylor it to your own needs

lew or john, what's the difference in sound between the new JRC4558 and the other RC4558 variation?

The Tube Screamer sucks! I can't play Slayer stuff with it.


Originally Posted by JB_From_HellThe Tube Screamer sucks! I can't play Slayer stuff with it.

That's what's good about it...when I plug in the Tubescreamer I don't hear anything Slayer-like about it! Lew

All these TS gurus.....LOL....

With my modded Tube Screamers,it's the other component changes that I make within the circuit and the JRC4558D or the TIRC4558P are used,simply because that's the chip my ears were used to hearing back in the very early 80s when the 808 and TS9 came out....If I just swapped opamps in your TS9,you wouldn't hear any difference,unless I told you I swapped opamps...LOL...It's the component upgrades and knowing where to make the changes that matters the most..


Originally Posted by JB_From_HellThe Tube Screamer sucks! I can't play Slayer stuff with it.

I use my TS for a light singing overdrive....Who is Slayer anyway?


Originally Posted by Quencho092lew or john, what's the difference in sound between the new JRC4558 and the other RC4558 variation?

It's not one component but a sum of all the components and component changes together...


Originally Posted by Old GhostThe ''mod'' craze strated when Ibanez decided to reissue the famous TS9 Tube Screamer in the early 90's. The reissues were made just like the originals except Ibanez cut cost and went with a few ''cheaper'' components. The original TS-808 had the JRC4558D which is the original op-amp IC chip featured in the pedal. Then in the early 80's Ibanez decide to re-release the TS-808 but housed in a new box with a new, bigger footswitch and the TS-9 was born. The 9 Series pedals lasted until 1985. It basically have the same exact circuitry as the TS-808 with the JRC4558D op-amp IC chip. In other words, it's a TS-808 in a different case. As we all know, these tube screamers became famous because of their smooth overdrive that doesn't color your tone too much compared to other overdrives at that time. SRV helped popularize the tube screamer, I don't even need to discuss that Then in the early 90's, Ibanez started to make the TS9 once again. These reissues looks exactly like the original TS9's but didn't have the correct JRC4558D op-amp chip that made the originals sound great. The reissues had the Toshiba TA75558 op-amp chip that wasn't quiet right for a tubescreamer. They sound harsh and weak. Ibanez used them to cut costs along with cheap output resistors that even made it even harsher sounding. So, people weren't happy with the reissues that's why they started looking for the old ones, the originals. The old one sound better. Why do you think the market for original TS808 and TS9's went sky rocketing. Until a software engineer from CT started tinkering with the pedal and found out what made the reissues sound not as good as the originals. He then found the original JRC4558D IC and basically brought back the reissue TS9 to it's original specs with the correct op-amp chip. And the mod craze begun. The original intention of the mods is to turn the tube screamers back to it's original specs. The hundreds of mods being done nowadays are sometimes confusing and was started by people wanting the TS to be not a true TS anymore and they want it to have more gain, more volume, Distortion, True bypass, more transparent and such. Basically making something different out of the TS. There's nothing wrong with the Tube Screamer, people just couldn't be satisfied with the good 'ol sweet sounding overdrive anymore so they tweak it further as far as they can get away with. It really is an amazing little pedal.

Was all this copied verbatim off of Analog Man's website or what?

Surely you didn't spout all this out of your own mouth now did ya buddy?


Originally Posted by STRATDELUXER97Was all this copied verbatim off of Analog Man's website or what?

Surely you didn't spout all this out of your own mouth now did ya buddy?
LOL!! I had one of the early AnalogMan modded TS9 when he first started offering the mods. Mike's been a good friend of mine for quiet sometime now. I met him at one of the guitar shows on the east coast back when he used to just sell Vintage pedals. At the time, he was just hooking up with Alfonso to start with the clone chorus.


Originally Posted by LewguitarThat's what's good about it...when I plug in the Tubescreamer I don't hear anything Slayer-like about it! LewOriginally Posted by STRATDELUXER97I use my TS for a light singing overdrive....Who is Slayer anyway?

Sorry, I should've put a laughing smiley with my Slayer post... it was a joke, making fun of a guy on Harmony Central who said the TS-9 sucked because he couldn't use it for Slayer.

I actually really like the TS-9