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Understanding the most copied Overdrive Pedal of all time
​By Robert Witmeyer  (Blue Skool Records)

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So crucial to Guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan's legendary tone, the seasick-green Tube Screamer is almost synonymous with the Texas Blues sound.  Uber-popular amongst electric blues players like SRV, Buddy Guy, Gary Moore, Joe Bonamassa, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and Gary Clark Jr, the Tube Screamer is also versatile enough to be an integral part of guitar tones found in hard rock, metal, and grunge acts of the last 30 years.  Other notable (non-blues) TS users include: Eric Johnson, John Mayer, Carlos Santana, Steve Vai, Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day), Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains), Mike McCready (Pearl Jam), John Petrucci (Dream Theater), Kirk Hammett (Metallica), Joan Jett, and Trey Anastasio (Phish).

Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer Circa 1980's

Blues Legend Stevie Ray Vaughan

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Humble Origins

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In the late 1970s, Susumu Tamura of the Maxon company designed the original Tube Screamer circuit in an effort to compete with Boss OD-1 Overdrive, and MXR's Distortion+ stompbox.  Prior to that era, pedals achieved distortion through the use of transistors, but by the end of the 1970s, effects circuits were utilizing Operational Amplifiers (Op Amps) to produce soft clipping textures similar to that of an overdriven tube amp.  As with many pedals, diodes were used to create symmetrical clipping with mainly odd-order harmonics, much like a vacuum tube, thus the name, Tube Screamer.

Tube Screamer's creator Susumu Tamura (Image credit: Future / Phil Barker)

​The Tube Screamer design is so ubiquitous and popular that the modest three-knob pedal gave way to many further iterations from Ibanez, as well as a whole market of clones, mods, and spin-offs of this humble circuit.  It's safe to say that the vast majority of overdrive pedals on the market today are a clone of, based on, or a modded version thereof, the Ibanez Tube Screamer.
The OG Tube Screamer, the TS808, was released in the late 70s, and rocked a JRC-4558 Op Amp IC.  From 1981-1985, Ibanez produced the TS9 iteration, which was internally the same as a TS808, but with a wide variety of opamps that yielded higher outputs and a brighter tone.  In 1986, Ibanez began production of the TS10, which featured some changes to the original 808 circuit.  Reissues of the TS9 followed, with 2016 seeing the addition of a TS808HW hand-wired pedal featuring JRC4558 chips, a true bypass footswitch, and custom enclosure.

 "It's safe to say that the vast majority of overdrive pedals on the market today are a clone of, based on, or a modded version thereof, the Ibanez Tube Screamer."

Photo Credit Reverb (How to Use Your Tube Screamer to Dial-In the Tones of Five Famous Players)

TS808 Circuit Board Photo Credit (https://www.analogman.com/tshist.htm)

The Tube Screamer circuit is famous for its loved/hated mid hump, which puts the guitar out front in the mix.  While some players adore this mid emphasis, and use it to boost the guitar signal and drive the amp for solos, others find the tone nasal and honky.  Obviously, the guitar, pickups, and amp play a huge role in whether or not the Tube Screamer fits well into the desired timbre.  For example, the Fender amps that SRV used tended to have glassy highs, tight bass, and a bit of a mid scoop.  So, adding a mid hump to an amp with a mid scoop filled out the frequencies without getting too honky.  Had SRV preferred a Les Paul through a Marshall, perhaps the Tube Screamer would have produced a very midrangey tone, and history would not have been made.

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Beyond the Blues:
Enter the Modders

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Thanks to the work of pedal gurus like Robert Keeley and Brian Wampler, we now have innumerable mods for the humble TS Circuit, with the most common mods addressing the lack of bass and lower mids inherent in the pedal's design.  Likewise, many pedal hackers enjoy experimenting with diode combinations to achieve higher/lower gain settings than the stock pedal has on tap.  Finally, many people often opt to have their reissue or other iteration modded to original TS808 specs, which involves changing two components: swapping out the stock (R13 and R15) resistors for a 10k and 100 ohm, respectively. In addition to taking your circuit to the OG TS specs, below are a few other popular mods we can perform on your stompbox, should your Tube Screamer fall short of expectations.

LED clipping diodes: for more gain and crunch
MOSFET Clipping diodes: for Huge Gain tone
(Other combinations of diodes like Germanium with LED)
More Bass mod - opens up the low end
More Gain mod - More sustain and crunch with drive knob all the way up
Clarity Mod  - for more sparkle and definition between notes
(Changing-out OpAmp chips to original spec, or something exotic if you desire...)

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About the Author

 Obsessed with building and modding pedals for the past 10 years, Robert Alan Witmeyer is a local professional musician and multi-instrumentalist in the South Bay Musical Community.  He received his first pedal as a gift during high school, and instantly became a pedal addict.  While Witmeyer recently won the KFOX Riff Off, earning him the title of "Best (unsigned) Guitarist in the SF Bay Area", he is also proficient on 163 other instruments including piano, bass, mandolin, banjo, vibraphone, organ, and various percussion.  After releasing multiple albums on itunes, amazon, spotify, etc, Robert found his live tone lacking, and began researching what big name acts did to achieve their legendary tone.  Upon learning about the art of "modding", Witmeyer began altering all his pedals, and later, started building his own effects using his label name, Blue Skool Records.  Throughout the years, Blue Skool worked with other companies to create unique circuits, including designing and promoting an original Fuzz and Octavia pedal, mini Amp, and other circuits for Peacekeeper Guitars at the infamous NAMM show.  As a music journalist, Robert reviewed pedals for Guitar Player magazine, and was a contributing writer with pedals as his forte.  Today, Blue Skool Record's stompboxes are on the boards of many local pros including Simon Santiago (the Houserockers), Rome Yamilov (Aki Kumar Band), and Jim Thomas (The Mermen).