Tube Screamer Style Recommendations

The Mighty Tube Screamer! One of the most copied circuits in the pedal business is the Ibanez TS9. Why? It works for a lot of different applications and it's easy to tweak it for different sounds. Everyone from Stevie Ray Vaughan to modern high gain shredders use TS pedals. They can be used for boosting an already hard driving amp, pushing a clean amp into breakup, adding drive to low volume amps, punching through for solos and tightening up the bottom end. There are some complaints, some people feel they boost the mids to much especially with modern mid focused pickups and amps. Others don't like the way that the bottom end rolls off while still others prefer a different type of clipping all together. But they are a great pedal and below is a short list of pedals I've played through and recommend depending on what your looking for.

Ibanez Originals

Ibanez TS808 The Ibanez reissue of the original, sort of. The circuit has changed some what over the years but it's still in the same seating section of the same ball park.


Ibanez TS-9 The Ibanez TS-9 is the most popular overdrive pedal in the world, especially if you take all of the clones and variants into consideration. And it stays that way for a reason.

Budget Recommendations

EHX East River Drive  This TS808 clone from Electro-Harmonix was designed with input from Analogman. It's cheap and sounds fantastic.


Ibanez Jet Driver  My personal favorite budget recommendation! Why? It's a tweaked TS9 with some of the most popular mods. It's true bypass, has more drive and volume, and a mids knob if your mix is getting muddy. It can easily cop SRV tones and does everything the TS9 does and more. Skip if you need more bottom end otherwise pick this up whenever its on sale.




Knob Tweakers

Way Huge Green Rhino  This fantastic TS style pedal adds knobs for the bottom end and mids and has plenty of extra volume on tap for pushing your amp.

Wampler Clarkesdale  Brian Wamplers take on the Tube Screamer adds an active 3 band eq. The drive is super smooth. Also check out his Paisley Drive a TS tweaked for Brad Paisley.

Earthquaker Devices Palisades  Is this the ultimate TS tweakers dream? This thing is great in the studio and will keep you tone hunting for months. Skip if you need simple plug and play.

High End

Ibanez TS808HW Cashing in on the boutique trend Ibanez released this amazing sounding all handwired TS808. It will cost you but it sounds amazing.


Mojo Hand Rook  A TS style pedal with amp like response and separate bass and treble controls this thing was a hit as soon as it was released. Check out the Rook Royale for an added EP booster.

Keeley Red Dirt  Mr Keeley got his start doing pedal mods for rock gods. He had several Tube Screamer mods and the Red Dirt is the culmination of his experience. It sounds fantastic.

Mini TS Pedals

Keeley Red Dirt Mini  Take Mr Keeley's ultimate TS pedal the Red Dirt make it mini pedal and add mini switches inside for four different levels of compression and gain. Skip if you hate mini pedals

Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini This thing sounds killer and just like the full size version. You can't go wrong here.

Muli-Drive Pedals

TrueTone Route 66 The TrueTone (formerly Visual Sound) Route 66 pedal adds a compressor that can also be used as a boost into a great 808 clone. Their Version 2 and 3 come with a lifetime guarantee. I know a few blues players that use this as their only pedal.

Wampler Dual Fusion  Mr Wamplers partnership with Tom Quayle is a tweaked version of his Paisley Drive and Euphoria pedals. If you like stacking low gain pedals you have to check this out.

Fulltone Fulldrive 3  The Fulldrive Mosfet 2 is one of the original boutique overdrives and one of the most successful. The Fulldrive 3 adds a separate boost that can be used independently of the drive side.

If you want more history on the Tube Screamer Analogman has a fantastic page HERE. Yes there are a gazillion more TS clones out there to choose from but one of these should get you what your looking for.

Ibanez JD9 Jet Driver Review

The Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer is a big favorite of blues and rock players everywhere, whether your playing through a high gain metal amp or a Fender twin it's great for boosting solos and cutting through the mix. It's also the most copied drive pedal circuit in history, almost every overdrive, amp in a box, and even quite a few fuzz circuits are tweaked versions of the classic TS9. Even Ibanez has put out more than a few variations on their classic pedal. I love overdrives and I almost always have some variation on the TS pedal on every board I've ever used. But this classic circuit does have it's share of complaints. Some people feel it needs more gain, more output, true bypass, more bottom end... ect.

Ibanez JD9 Jet Driver

I recently picked up an Ibanez JD9 Jet Driver. Ibanez markets it as a distortion which in my mind is a mistake. It's a TS9, with a few tweaks. First off it's true bypass, there is no tone coloration when this thing is off. There is more output (level or volume, what ever you want to call it) so it's great for pushing an already crunchy amp into drive just by doing that. There is also noticeably more gain than the typical TS pedal. It still has the famous JRC4558D chip, which some people feel is a big deal. But the real selling point of this pedal is a mids knob that allows you to adjust the 650 Hz frequency of the pedal. Mids are an important part of the guitar sound and help you cut through a band mix, but a lot of todays pickups are wound hotter which naturally boost the mid frequencies and paired with an already mid heavy pedal can sound muddy. With the mid knob on the JD9 you can take the mids to as flat as your pickups. It doesn't scoop the mids it just flattens the eq of the pedal.

With vintage single coils in my strat this thing can nail the Stevie Ray Vaughan sound that he used various TS pedals to make. Keep the Drive low and give it a bit of Volume boost in a cranked Fender sounding amp. Start with the Mids and Tone knobs in the 12 o'clock position and dial in your tone from there. I'm pretty familiar with the TS sound so I start with the Tone knob and then roll the mids to where I need them.

Playing a little #SRV today with my new JD9 and trusty Strat. #bluesguitar #tonetools

A video posted by @adhd_guitarist on Dec 28, 2015 at 9:07am PST

Most players will use this pedal to boost and cut through the mix for solos and the JD9 excels. All TS pedals are perfect for this but as I stated earlier a lot of todays hotter pickups are already mid heavy and can sound muddy when paired with a TS style pedal. So having the Mid knob comes in handy to roll back those mids a bit. Of course with vintage sounding PAFs or single coils this isn't a problem. The extra gain is nice and I guess that's why Ibanez decided to call it a distortion pedal but I always think of distortion with a bit of scoop in the mids and more bottom end. That is one thing to note: this pedal cuts the bottom end like a typical TS pedal. If your looking for more bottom end check out the TS9dx which also has a bit more gain than the standard TS9.

I've read that this pedal doesn't clean up well with your volume knob and while it doesn't go to perfect cleans from the higher end of the Drive knob it does clean up. With vintage single coils and PAFs if the gain is around 1 o'clock or less it will clean up just fine. With higher output pickups or the gain up around 3 o'clock it rolls back to a nice crunch tone. I've also read of a loud audible click when engaging the pedal but mine doesn't do that. It does add to the background noise with single coils but that's to be expected.

Interestingly this pedal averages $10 less than the typical TS9 and often gets discounted even more, so pedal snobs won't like it. There are more amp like screamer pedals, many with a different mid hump frequency or less of a mid bump. But I feel this pedal is a gem in the Ibanez TS line, in fact I would go so far as to say this is my new recommendation for a budget TS pedal! If your looking for a pedal with more gain, volume, less mids, or true bypass while keeping with the overall tube screamer flavor you owe it to yourself to checkout the Ibanez JD9 Jet Driver.

This review was completely unsolicited, I received no compensation for it and all views and opinions are my own

Gary Moore Gear Guide

ADHD's Gear Guides at any Budget. I'm a firm believer that the tone comes from the hands. If your trying to achieve a certain guitar hero's tone you have to not just have the chops but you've got to get down their style of attack with your picking hand as well. That said every step you take toward finding the right gear is often very inspiring and WILL get you closer to “that” sound. I'm going to break these down into Guitars, Pickups, Pedals and Amps.

Gary Moore Gear Guide.

Gary Moore with his Signature Les Paul

Gary Moore defines the sound of classic blues based rock n roll. It's the tried and true formula of a Les Paul through a Marshall that has been used by so many players through out the ages. In the Thin Lizzy days it was a Les Paul into a Plexi and then a JCM800. One of the most talked about sounds that Gary is famous for was on the album Still Got the Blues. Gary has said over and over again that the sound on that album was about stripping it down to the basics with a 59 Les Paul, a Guv'nor pedal, and a Marshall JTM 45 reissue. He also used a Soldano and in later years Marshall JCM 2000 DSL's (not to be confused with the TSL). Gary loved to try new gear but always sounded like Gary. He would use any number of pedals to act as a booster and other than the Guv'nor he often used a Tube Screamer or similar pedal to push the amp from crunchy to distortion.

Guitars – While Gary used quite a few different guitars including Fender Strats, Ibanez, and Hamer's, but he is most associated with the 59 Les Paul, he owned two which he named Greeny and Stripe. With the prices of original 59 Les Paul burst well into the 6 digit price range Gibson has begun offering the 59 reissue also known as an R9 Les Paul. These are still quite expensive but do have some subtle differences to the originals. If you have the cash and want the real deal check the labor intensive work over at Historic Makeovers the attention to detail is nothing short of outstanding. I've seen the process up close and the pain staking detail is extremely impressive. But if your looking to buy a guitar without taking out a second mortgage on your house there are some killer options out there.

The Gibson Les Paul Traditional – While the casual observer may not notice the differences between the Traditional and the Standard most players who have spent any time playing will notice them as soon as the pick them up. The new standards feel very different than the older Les Paul's and while they are a more versatile guitar the Traditional is what most people think of when they think of that classic Les Paul sound. The stock 57 Classic pickups are a favorite of tone hounds everywhere.

The Gibson Gary Moore Tribute Les Paul- After his 59's got to expensive to take on tour these were the guitars that Gary was seen using. A 50's profile neck, flipped neck pickup, and mismatched knobs are all tributes to Gary's beloved 59's. Differences include vintage style keys and a lack of binding. Word is that Gary was using the PG Blues pickups from Bare Knuckle before his untimely death in 2011.NOTE Gibson has stopped production of this guitar.

The Epiphone Les Paul Tribute Plus- Want something in the mid range price that even the cork sniffers won't laugh at? The Tribute Plus is the Asian made Traditional complete with USA made 57 Classic pickups, a maple cap (not just a veneer), Switchcraft electronics and Grover tuners. Check the message boards and reviews on this killer guitar.

ESP/ LTD EC-256 – while there are a lot of knock offs in the budget world companies like PRS, Ibanez, and ESP like to put their own spin on things. The LTD EC-256 doesn't look exactly like a Les Paul but is well built and is cheap enough to spend some extra on aftermarket pickups. In the sub $500 range it holds it's own against others and has a slightly lighter weight and thinner neck. Couple this with some upgraded pickups and you'll have a nice sounding axe that won't break the bank.

Pickups- Gary Moore used a lot of different pickups over the years, but in Greeny and Stripe they were stock 59 humbuckers. Greeny in particular had a flipped magnet in the neck that gave an interesting out of phase sound that Peter Green used more than Gary.

Boutique- Boutique pickups are all the rage these days and there are several companies who offer drop in replacements for the Gary Moore/Peter Green tone. Bare Knuckle Pickups PG Blues set and Lust for Tone Pickups Black Roses set both take slightly different approaches but offer fantastic results.

Seymour Duncan Vintage Blues Set- While the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop offers a Greeie pickup, if your on a smaller budget the Vintage Blues Set is excellent. The SD 59's are often compared to the 57 Classic's that come in the Les Paul Traditional but are said to be a little less gritty. If your looking to get classic sounds out of a budget Les Paul this is a great place to start. Flip the magnet in the neck pickup and play your Peter Green licks. 

The Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates- The legend is that the Pearly Gates Pickup was made to recreate the sound of Billy Gibbons 59 Les Paul. If your looking for an affordable replacement pickup with a little bit more nastiness checkout the Pearly Gates.

GFS Pickups- GFS Pickups have gained a lot of fans in the last few years. While they are developed in the USA they are made in Asia. And while not the quality of boutique companies they make very affordable, very good sounding replacement pickups that sounds much better than the standard budget guitar pickup. Their Vintage 59 pickup should fit the bill for classic Gary Moore tones.

Pedals- Gary Moore made the Marshall Gov'ner pedal famous. Interestingly there are not a lot Gov'ner clones out there and I have yet to try any of them. Gary however also used a Tube Screamers quite a bit.

Trex Moller- Gary used one of these the last couple of years before his death and spoke very highly of it. It is a TS type pedal with a few added features and has a very smooth tone. It also includes a nice clean boost feature that can be activated separately. If you want to try one without spending any money it's available to try in the IK Multimedia Amplitube Custom Shop. Pair it up with the JH Gold (JTM45 model) and try your Gary Moore licks, you won't be disappointed.

Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer- This pedal is so tweakable and sounds good in so many situations that it seems like almost everyone has one. It's famous mid range hump cuts through a live mix and it was a favorite pedal of Gary Moore and Stevie Ray Vaughan's.

Mooer Green Mile Overdrive- if your looking for a classic sound and need it in a tiny space you can't beat Mooer pedals. Their micro pedals have been a huge hit and sound very good to boot. The Green Mile is their take on the TS9 circuit and does such a good job Guitar Interactive Magazine featured it in their Gary Moore tone on a budget.

Joyo JF-1 Vintage Overdrive- Joyo has cloned a lot of pedals and while they don't have the record that Mooer does in the quality department the Vintage Overdrive is an very affordable TS9 pedal for the beginner.

Amps- Gary Moore's Still Got the Blues Album is a favorite of tone hounds everywhere and featured a Marshall JTM 45 reissue. In the Thin Lizzy days Gary used Plexis and JCM800's. In the 90's he mostly used Soldano's, mainly on the clean channel. But by the end of the 90's Gary had come back to Marshall's regularly using their JCM2000 DSL.

Marshall JTM45- The Marshall JTM45 reissue is available in a hand wired version and a PCB(Printed Circuit Board) version. It's not quite the same sound as a Plexi, having a looser bottom end but it was a favorite of Hendrix and Eric Clapton as well as Moore's

Marshall DSL- The Marshall reissue of the DSL is a very good mid priced amp. Available in a combo or half stack it sounds good at bedroom levels or on stage and while there were some early complaints about quality control it seems Marshall has taken care of most of these issues. There are also original used JCM2000's that pop up on ebay regularly. Just make sure you get the DSL not the TSL as they sound surprisingly different.

Jet City JCA2212C – The Soldano designed Jet City amps have become a favorite of low budget tone seekers. Guitar Interactive used this amp on their Gary Moore tone on a budget series and it's a very capable of nice clean tones as well as high gain distortion. Jet City has a range of combos and heads available from a bedroom friendly 20 watts on up to 100 watts.  

Obviously there are a lot of alternatives out there but these are a great place to start your tone search. 

The Fulltone Fulldrive 2, the Ultimate TS Pedal

I'm an Overdrive junkie. It all started with a friend of mines Tube Screamer back in the early nineties. It was versatile and could be used for so many different sounds, whether or not you needed a boost for a solo or used it to smooth out or fatten up your tone it could handle the job. Or maybe you were trying to get the Stevie Ray Vaughan sound. It seems like there are endless TS variations in the boutique market. Some people on forums like to point to all the Tube Screamer variations and laugh but the truth is the TS9 circuit is very tweakable.  It can have more bottom end, or less of a mid hump, more gain, or more touch sensitivity, there are really are a lot of different variations to be had. And of course experimenting is part of the fun here. One of the original and best boutique clones out there is the Fulltone Fulldrive 2.

There are even different versions of this from Fulltone and a lot of boutique builders have used this version of the circuit as a jumping off point. It features more gain, more bottom end, standard or mosfet clipping (for even more smoothness) and a transparent boost at the front to push the pedal into even more gain. This is perfect for everything from Steve Ray Vaughan to Steve Vai. The other day while thinking about my next overdrive I happened to look up this monster of a pedal and noticed the price has dropped everywhere to $119.20. Not sure when that happened or if it's permanent but if your looking for an Overdrive and haven't tried one, I highly recommend this beast. Check it out below.

ADHD thoughts on Clones and Forgeries

Clones vs Forgeries

 It's no secret that a lot of pedal makers have taken Tube Screamer circuits and changed out certain components to achieve a similar, but different sound. They've done the same with Big Muff circuits, Fuzz Face circuits and a host of others. This is taking an idea and adding something that they felt is lacking in the original design or using better components and trying to create a better version of it. It's fun and creative and a lot of pedal builders seem to start off this way, as more and more people become aware of what they are doing. Analogman and Keeley both offer their version of the tweaked Tube Screamer with slightly different sounds than the current reissue. So, if you buy a current reissue TS-9 and would like it sound slightly different you can do the research and send it to someone to tweak.

For the purpose of this discussion I'm going to refer to clones as something where they have copied a circuit often using cheaper components, but are naming it differently and the pedal looks very different than the original. I've talked about the Joyo Ultimate Drive which is a clone of the Fulltone OCD. The parts are cheaper, the battery door doesn't close and I wouldn't expect it to stand up on the road like a Fulltone. I've also read that some of the Joyo pedal clones are closer in sound quality than others.

A forgery on the other hand is made to look identical and may or may not be sold to an unsuspecting buyer as an original. The forgery often uses inferior components and it may sound similar, but is rarely as good the real thing. Once again, I wouldn't expect it hold up if your thinking of touring with it. 

But I know the argument

Several years ago I worked for an artist supply store where we sold a brand of airbrush that was very expensive, at one point one of our sales reps brought us another airbrush that was identical for less than a third of the price. As it turns out, the more expensive brand was having this company build their product for them and now the manufacturer was re-branding it under another name and undercutting them. A lot of our artists were thrilled to have a high quality airbrush for $60 instead of paying the premium price of almost $200.

With a little bit of research you can find instructions for building fuzz pedals for $25 in parts. So, if a pedal builder is doing this and selling it $200 I can see where people would be upset. Visual Sound is a company who make no bones about the fact that their pedals are built overseas, they make a very good sounding and durable product at an affordable price. Most companies buy at least some of their parts overseas because they are not manufactured in the USA.  MXR and EHX both use overseas parts, but do their final assembly and quality testing in the US. Both are very affordable. 

What to look out for

So what about the forgeries? I read a sad story the other day from a dealer who said that a guy brought in his new guitar for a setup. He had just bought what he thought was used, but good condition Gibson Zakk Wylde Bullseye signature guitar off of eBay. It was a fake. This guy had spent a great deal of hard earned money on this guitar and it was not a very well built guitar. These new forgery pedals have the logos and looks and possibly the similar sounds, but are not built well. If you got a great deal on a used Wampler Triple Wreck on eBay only to get it and realize it's not as good as the one your friend has would you be upset? Or worse, if you got one and didn't have one to compare it to and it broke or didn't sound good would you then trash Wampler to your friends? Then talk about what a piece of junk it was? Now, you're hurting an honest guy who has worked hard to build a great business. You might even like the real product. Do you see where this goes? No where good. Nothing good comes of it. Something else I would like to add is that I believe that this happens in the Vintage guitar market more than people would like to admit. If someone can fake a guitar that sells for 30,000 dollars for under $1200 I'm pretty sure someone is doing it. 

It comes down to: know your product, know your supplier, know the return policy, and if a deal looks to good to be true, it probably is. I'd like to add that while we hear a lot of about these awful Chinese companies who are ripping off companies, I think that there are a lot good companies in China who are trying to better their quality and make an honest living. 

Know your product

A Few Things to Think About

A few companies like Lava Cable and VFE pedals make every effort they can to buy quality parts from US manufactures. This of course creates more jobs in the US, but you may have to pay a higher price. It should be noted that both Lava Cable and VFE have more affordable options in their lines that are priced at similar price points to their overseas competitors.

Having a pedal won't make you a better player. I really do believe that the sound of your guitar and amp is the most important thing. If you're not happy with that sound you probably won't be happy when you add in a pedal. If you like to learn and research stuff, there is a lot you can learn about building circuits so can you build a pedal that sounds the way you want. 

I've read a lot of interviews with smaller builders and they often talk about tolerances in electronics. They may specify a certain value in an electronic component but when they receive their shipment they often find that they have to test and sort each little component one by one to find the ones that actually are within acceptable limits. 

 Something else to think about is that if your not supporting the creative people who are creating and designing these products they won't keep doing it if they aren't making a living. They will be forced to go do something else. Most of these guys aren't making a fortune, they are creating a business that supports their families and sometimes a handful of other people. 

I think that there is a market for most of these different types of builders. Whether they are tweaking a circuit, building a clone, or trying to come up with something completely original. If their goal is to provide affordable quality options for real world musicians that is a worthy goal. If their goal is to only buy parts for their products from their home country, whatever that country is, I think that is awesome and patriotic. I personally would like to see more transparency from companies, I appreciate what Visual Sound does, as well as companies like MXR and Wampler and Analogman. But I drawn the line at forgery. 

ProCo RAT 2 Review

Back in the late 90's I was using a Tube Screamer with an older Peavey amp for my setup. I tried a few different pedals but this was what I kept coming back to. About the same time a friend of mine picked up a ProCo RAT 2. He used it for a while but decided it wasn't working for him. A few years ago he let me borrow it, at first I wasn't crazy about it but after doing a bit of research on the net and trying out some different settings I'm sold.

The history of the RAT is pretty interesting. It started back in the 70's ProCo engineers were tweaking and hot rodding pedals like the Fuzz Face to try and get that big Fuzz into Marshall sound at bedroom levels. They decided that they could build something better. The RAT has become a popular pedal used by a wide range of players like Jeff Beck, John Scofield, Andy Summers, Joe Perry, Jerry Cantrell, and David Gilmour. It has a rougher sound to it than the Tube Screamer but that doesn't mean you can't get smooth tones out of it.

The ProCo RAT II

note the power adapter

The RAT 2 that I have is based around the original LM308 chip. It features true bypass switching and a red LED light in the A. The input and output are located on the top of the pedal (or back depending on how you look at it) as is the power supply. It doesn't use a lot of power and a 9V battery will last you a long time. The power supply is not the standard Boss style but adapters are cheap. I use the Visual Sound One Spot Combo Pack and it came with the adapter. On the front of the pedal you'll see 3 knobs, Distortion, Filter, and Volume. The Filter acts like a tone knob but is a bit different, it seems almost backwards in that it gets brighter when you turn it counter clockwise. ProCo has now moved production overseas and doesn't use the LM308 but from what I've read they have found a suitable replacement chip and it's still housed in a small metal box. You can see in the picture how small it is next to other pedals. I really like that the inputs are on the top of the pedal because you can put the pedals right next to each other. Sometimes I wish all pedal manufactures would move to this setup. These are also popular pedals to pickup and mod. I don't have any experience with this but like the tube screamer circuit the modded RAT circuit is very popular with a lot of  boutique builders

The RAT along with a few of my other favorites. It's small!

While looking around on the interwebs I've found a few different settings to try. John Scofield likes to use his RAT with the Distortion at 7, Filter 5, and Volume 2 o'clock respectively. David Gilmour used a RAT in the late 80's and early 90's and while he has always adjust settings he seems to like using it with the Distortion at 1, Filter 2  and Volume 2 o'clock respectively. I've found that running the Distortion around 1:30 or 2, the Filter at 2 and the Volume around 2- 2:30 works very well for me. With my Strat that is loaded with Seymour Duncan APS II's and into a clean sound the RAT by itself is similar to a Hendrixian "Fuzz into a cranked Marshall" type sound. A little less bottom end and a rough, fuzzy mids and highs. But here is where I have fun, If I click on an analog voiced delay behind it, the sound gets very smooth. This is great for Gilmourish lead tones. While it doesn't sound quite like a big boomy Big Muff that Gilmour is famous for it is a lot easier to tame. 

The ProCo RAT 2 is not an amp in a box. But it is worth spending some time with. It's a great classic Overdrive and Distortion unit that many distortion units have copied over the years. It's still fairly affordable and sounds really great once you've learned to use it. If your looking for something other than the classic TS-9 circuit this might be right up your ally. 



This review was completely unsolicited, I received no compensation for it and all views and opinions are my own.