If you’re building a true-bypass version, the TS-10 doesn’t have anything new to bring to the table except a 220 ohm resistor in series with the clipping op-amp’s input that has no impact on the tone. The circuit was revised slightly and a number of additional parts were added, but mostly related to switching stability. The Tube Screamer was restored to Ibanez’s lineup as the TS-10. In 1986, the Master Series was discontinued and the “Power Series” was introduced, more commonly referred to as the “10 series”. Additionally, the “ STL Super Tube” was the same circuit as the ST-9 Super Tube Screamer except that the variable-frequency boost was cut-and-pasted after the clipping stage instead of before. The “MSL Metal Screamer” is an identical circuit topography, but with a capacitor changed to lower the corner frequency from 723 to to 413 Hz, giving it a fair amount more bass. The Tube Screamer actually made two appearances in the Master Series, but under different names. In 1985, the 9-series was brushed aside to make room for the “Master Series”. In the ST-9, a “Mid Boost” control was added, which controls the frequency of a fixed-gain boost stage that comes before the clipping stage, allowing you to create some really interesting new sounds. This is an extremely rare effect, having only been released in Europe and Japan in extremely limited quantities. The TS-9 would be discontinued in 1985 due to underperforming sales, but not before a variant was released called the ST-9 Super Tube Screamer. This has no real effect on the sound, but does affect output impedance, so it could potentially affect the way it interacts with pedals that follow (or the amp). Only three very small changes were made to the circuit from the 808: the 100R and 10k resistors on the output buffer transistor were changed to 470R and 100k respectively, and the op-amp was changed to a TA75558P. The TS-808 reappeared as the TS-9 Tube Screamer, dropping “Overdrive Pro” from the name (which curiously would later be reused for the Maxon OD-820 Overdrive Pro). CP-9, SD-9) and redesigned their enclosures. In 1982, Ibanez rebranded their series of effects pedals with the “9” suffix (e.g. This is probably because Ibanez was in a hurry to get it to market and they couldn’t wait for the new PCB design to be finalized, so they just used Maxon’s existing design for the first run. Interestingly, according to Analogman’s Tube Screamer History, some of the very first TS-808s actually had the original Maxon OD-808 circuit, with two MC1458P op-amps. The result was the 1979 release of the TS-808 Tube Screamer Overdrive Pro. Maxon licensed the OD-808 circuit to Ibanez, making a few tweaks by dropping the op-amp input & output buffers in favor of the now-ubiquitous transistor buffers, likely as a cost-savings measure since op-amps were much more expensive back then. (LM1458 is an equivalent.)Īround that same time, Ibanez was in need of an overdrive pedal to compete with the Boss OD-1 OverDrive, which had been released in late 1977 and had become very popular among guitarists. Both dual op-amps in the pedal are MC1458P, which has nearly identical specs to the 741 used in the MXR Distortion+ but in a dual package. It was not called the Tube Screamer, but is nearly identical except that it uses op-amp input & output buffers instead of the later transistor-based buffers. They originally released the “ OD-808 Overdrive” in 1979. In the mid-1970s, they formed a partnership with Ibanez, who was at that time only a guitar manufacturer, and licensed their designs exclusively to them, though they reserved the right to release them under their own name as well to the Japanese market. Maxon (Nisshin Onpa) had its origins in pickup manufacturing, but started making effects pedals in 1969. I am indebted to a few really good sources for the information that follows: Analogman’s Tube Screamer History, an interview with circuit designer Susumu Tamura, and an interview with John Lomas, a former product manager at Ibanez. The Tube Screamer is easily the most popular overdrive pedal ever created, and accordingly, there’s a lot to say about its origins and history.
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