Ibanez TS-7

real easy to figure out. i always start all my pedals off at the dummy setting of everything at 12 o'clock and tweak from there. it's not very trebly but more so than a sd-1. i like a harsh overdrive for some parts, kinda like a weakened distortion pedal, this works very very well. there is a switch to change from the ts-9 and hot mode. that's really it.

guitarists have been using tube screamers for quite a while now. i couldn't begin to list how many this and the 5 series ts don't get very much praise but for the price compared to a ts-9 or ts-808 (easily double if not triple the ts-7's price) it does a good job. i use ibanez rg's and fender mustang/jag-stangs into a fender twin and this sounds nice. i haven't tried to have it overdrive a dirty amp as my amp is ridiculously clean. not very noisy on the ts-9 setting, it does make some feedback when on the hot setting.

the tone-lock series seems to be a very dependable series of pedals. doesn't need a back up

never dealt with em

great pedal, not as amazing as the originals but for the money it's a great overdrive

3 knobs,a mode switch and the pedal its self.In and out jack.If you need that manuel............I'm very sorry.lol

Well I use it as a clean boost for my Silver Jubilee Marshall.I run it on TS-9 setting with the distortion completly off.I set the tone to match my amps natural tone(well as close as can be)then boost it a hair for more cut.And I run the leval about 6.5.Just a volume sustain boost realy.
The pedal sounds pretty decent for a $60 pedal.Nothing to rave about but I compared it in the store against a Boss DS-1 which is buzzy evan with the dist OFF and a Digitech Bad Monkey which was pretty nice,but the Tone-Lok TS was smoother for lead work.The Tubescreamers are nice but they do loss a little body and add a mid hump to your tone when on.Great for leads but a hair narrow and middy for rythm work.Not bad for a lead boost its pretty cool.But I'd like to try one of those new boost only clean boost pedals Duncan's pickup booster or Keeley's Katana boost.Good lead pedal.BTW my TS-7 is pretty good as far as noise so I'd say its studio worthy.

Well I'd baby it its a cheap pedal with flimsy plastic knobs.I know the lock that holds the pedal down as a battery release,broke on another one I saw.Baby it and it should be fine no stomping the pedal or trying to turn the knobs mid song with your foot they'll prolly break off.

N/A

OK pedal.Good deal if you want a lead boost with some mids for a creamy lead sound.If you want a pedal for heavy/hard rythms this won't cut it.Or if you want a pedal to duplicate your amps own tone just w/ more boost and or distortion this ain't it,it adds an inherant mid hump.
I also would look for a more durable pedal for a tour.But for clubs,bars weekend gigging it should hold up OK.

Easy? Easy. C'mon, you need fewer neurons than this thing's got knobs to use it. Oh, and a dinky little switch to go between the classic, more mellow "TS9" channel (comparable to anything between a slight peach-fuzz to a rhythm-chunk buzz on a Marshall DSL100's OD1 channel) and a "HOT" channel (sound ranging from a sufficient grind to a howling, hot solo a la above-said Marshall's OD2 channel). The switch is too small for operation from afar; if you were playing on stage (as I haven't yet) you'd literally hafta bend over and click it over to change channels. For performing, I'd suggest using it as a Clean/OD switch, or leaving it on with a little fuzz into an amp's own Clean/OD footswitch and using it as a booster on the OD channel. But the knobs are easy to use, push-in/push-out so as to keep the clumsy-footed from inadvertantly changing their sound. Drive level, Tone level, and Volume level knobs, and dinky switch: 8.

Considering a "Brown-sound" or TS808 upgrade service via eBay. Gotta look into it more. Germanium diodes? Sweet :)

Don't use weak pickups unless you want a weak sound. Here's mine:
Epiphone G400 > Vox wah-wah > Ibanez TS7 > Crate BFX-15 amp.
Sound whack? It is. The amp's a 15 watt BASS amp with built-in effects. If I EQ it right, it sounds decent, but especially benefits from a good boost in the bottom end. The effects have actually served me more as a sampler of what effects sound good for my sound. The only ones I appreciate are the Room/Hall reverbs, Delay, and Octave. The lack of a decent upper-end means my TS7's Tone is usually maxed, and without being tinny or buzzy, so I can't complain about that really.
My Epi (think Gibson '61 Reissue SG) actually has a maple (not mahogany) neck; coupled with an EMG-81 (bridge) pickup and an EMG-85 (neck) pickup, the guitar sounds much more Les-Paul like than a newer stock Epi G400 (Epiphone switched back to mahogany necks) and in general is good for Slash/Zakk Wylde sounds. Having hot, noiseless, high-output pickups really brings out the best qualities of the TS7.
I'll also use the CIT-modeled output jack of a Digitech Metal Master to EQ the sound more closely to a Marshall full-stack. Goes well placed before or after the TS7, though I rarely use the Metal Master for it's own effect anymore.
I play a lot of Led Zeppelin and other classic rock, and this pedal is perfect for that, perfect for AC/DC, and even good for some of Black Sabbath's funkier stuff like Vol. 4. On other ends of the spectrum, Rolling Stones, early The Who, The Doors, The Beatles, and other 60's bands are pretty much off-limits--wrong kind of sound; I've also gotten into Iron Maiden, Slayer, and Pantera, and this pedal doesn't sound hard or edgy enough for them, though you can elicit some NOTB/Powerslave-era Maiden sounds.
Modern bands may or may not benefit from this pedal. If you're going for a '70s classic/power/arena rock sound, great, buy this pedal and you're set. but for fuzz or harder distortion, or just something more unique like for indie or garage rock, I'd suggest looking around more.
The Drive level has great variation when you play with it and has excellent response. The Tone level knob doesn't work as great; the most variation seems to come from between the range of 9.5 and 10; it could be how hot and bright my pickups are, or it could be the fact that I only have a 15-watt bass amp, but between 0 and 9, the tone doesn't seem to do much.
But as my favorite band is Led Zeppelin, and I love to be able to recreate their sound for my own songs, I'm very pleased with this pedal and it's range of sound when you mess with the knobs: 9.

It's not as thick or heavy as a Digitech or a Boss, but no pedal has ever been made invincible. These are electronics that people are bashing in and kicking about on stage; most are built tougher than your cell phone or iPod but you should still care about them and the money you invested in them just as much. That said, I don't perform live yet, but I have gotten into jam sessions with this pedal and it's held up admirably so far. At first I was put off by how light it is, and I was almost fooled into thinking it was plastic. Compared to cars, Digis and Bosses are like Hummer H2's: big, heavy, clunky, and made unneccessarily heavy-duty. They're meant to take more abuse than they'll ever see. The Ibanez is like my trusty little Civic: it's tough enough to take everything on the road, and you can drive the damn thing into the ground for an eternity before it poops out. I've f**ked with this pedal for as long as I've had my car and neither's pooped out yet, so yay! 10!

Haven't dealt with Ibanez yet.

This pedal is great for when I wanna rip some Zeppelin or other '70s rock sounds. It's also perfect for AC/DC, '70s The Who (play Pete's first A-chord on "Don't Get Fooled Again" with a Gibson SG or Les Paul through this and you'll see what I mean), and I have fun playing Black Sabbath songs like "War Pigs" "Sweet Leaf" and "Under The Sun" through it too.
Now that I'm starting to write my own songs, I'm looking into changing the sound of the pedal a bit; there are a lot of upgrades available for it on eBay, and I'm considering one.
Reason being, I want a more original sound but without looking at pawn shops for equipment made by brands nobody's heard of. So now I want an Orange AC140 Twin-Channel head and two big amp cabs (likely Marshall 4x12s), and either a Telecaster or Stratocaster with Seymour Duncan or DiMarzio pups. Well-known equipment, but off the beaten path of bigger bands playing Marshall stacks and Les Pauls. Once I get the Orange stack, my TS7 will likely serve as a slight boost instead of being my dominant sound itself.
But until then: if anything happened, I'd replace it in a flash; I didn't really compare it because I heard it and loved it from the get-go; I picked it because it's simple and has a great sound like I was looking for; and it's more conducive to making my style of music than my Metal Master.
Can't remember what I paid, but it's been worth it.

3 Knobs. Pretty easy to figure out. Start with everything at 12 o'clock position and tweak to your liking.

I use a few different Stratocasters with a Fender Hot Rod Deville 2x12. Like most people I use it to drive the tubes for a solo.

Stock I found the sounds too gritty and too much like a distortion box. I replaced 2 resistors on the outboard pcb (100k with a 10k, and the 470ohm with a 100ohm) and the sound is much smoother and more mellow. I wasn't looking for a high gain screaming sound so if you do this mod don't expect that kind of an effect. It really smooths out the drive in my opinion and it's more of a mellow dirt sound.

Like a few others have commented, and I have to agree the tone control is really bad, but at the same time I guess that's what EQ pedals are for. But if you just strum a chord with a perfectly clean amp and turn this pedal on you'll notice a big change in your tone no matter which direction you turn the tone knob. To much treble or too much bass. Never seems to matter which way you turn it...But as I said...that's what EQ's are for.

As a stock pedal I give it a 6. After my mod, I give it an 8. As most people are buying a stock pedal I will rate it accordingly. Again though this is my taste. I don't like gritty dirty sounding overdrives. It should be smooth and enhance your already clean sounding amp in my opinion.

I haven't had any problems with it. It's a nice metal case. I've heard some say the switches wear out or break. Mine hasn't yet so I can't comment. It seems well built though overall.

I've never had to deal with Ibanez but they are a large company and I'm sure once you get through the automatic phone system and can talk to an actual representative they would be helpful. I'll rate as No Opinion but they should be alright to deal with.

I play blues and classic rock. I've been playing for 15 years. If it were stolen or lost I'd probably see what else is out there. We all eventually want to try a new sound or get a new tone so experiment and find what you like and when you want something new, move on. Overall a stock TS-7 is probably a 5 or 6 depending on what you are looking for. However, if a brittle, gritty, raspy sound is what you look for in an overdrive pedal than maybe this pedal is for you. But if you are really looking for a nice mellow smooth overdrive pedal. Either mod this one or try something else, and for the price if you screw it up with mods, it's not that expensive to replace.

Three knobs.....one switch. Very basic, simple and straight-forward. If anyone has any trouble trying to get this thing to work or sound right then either the pedal is messed up....or the person trying to work the pedal has a SERIOUS learning problem.

I play an Ibanez Artstar AS120TR(a la ES335-style) through the Traynor TRM40 amp. Although I've got a Ibanez DS7, I prefer the warmer, more subtle-edged sound of the TS7. I play with few other effects. Most of the time, I've been jammin' with just the TS7 and the chorus/reverb effect both set at relatively low levels in order to truly hear the nuances of the pedal. The sound that I'm after is similar to the jazz/blues/funk '70 fusion style of Lee Ritenour and Larry Carlton...this pedal is pretty darn close.

From how it's built, I'd be willing to be that it will hold up for a long time to come. But then, it's not like I plan on actually abusing it to start with.

If I have to deal with the company, that means I have a problem with the product. So far, so good.

I'll certainly give an update six months from now....

I play a little of everything, but my man focus is jazz, blues and funk and this pedal is the missing link that I've been looking for. I've been playing for about 8 years and have the Ibanez WD7 Weeping Demon(wah pedal), the PH7(phaser) and as mentioned before, the Ibanez DS7(distortion). I would certainly get it replaced if it were stolen. I did compare to the Boss OD pedal before buying. I choose this not because I have a bias toward Ibanez but because Ibanez makes great quality products for great prices.

Now before I give you my final thoughts in my next statement, I will account for the fact that "SOUND" is subjective. What may sound good to me may sound like crap to you. That said, let me make sure that those reading understand one small but VERY important fact....THIS IS NOT A DISTORTION PEDAL!!!!!!! Overdrive and distortion are TWO different things! Sad to say so many players that I jam with and chat with online make little to no effort to seperate the two. Even the big online stores put both the overdrive and distortion pedals in the same category, further adding to the confusion. Do not purchase this pedal for that heavy-metal, death metal extremely distorted sound! The TS7 was NOT made for that! The purpose of this pedal is to add a warm, subtle "edge" to your guitar. Again, if you're looking for something that will "wake the dead" or whatever extreme playing you desire, don't bother getting this pedal.

very easy to use, 3 knobs and 1 switch (normal/hot)

I use this though some old solid state road amp and a Epiphone Thunderbird Bass.

I love bands like Motorhead,Black Sabbath, Primus, Dead Kennedys etc.. really crazy tone on the hot setting. I like my tone over the top and a bit metallic.. a bit insane.... so this one is right up my alley... probably reminds me more of a Motorhead/kennedys mix than anything else in intensity but wouldn't say it sounded the same.

I crank up the drive, turn down the tone and balance out my level so it ain't to loud and I can get some pretty wicked tone.

It's got stepped on, dropped, rocked off my bass amp, etc, etc, etc.. It hasn't died yet, pretty damn solid if you ask me.

hadn't had a problem yet!

I play jazz/punk/funk, I don't use it for the really thick funk, but when I want that utter insanity and explosiveness of punk/metal I'll throw this bad boy on for that boost.

I'm not a pedal connoisseur by any means but I know what I like to hear. I plugged it into a bass at the store and instantly thought "motorhead." I've tweaked it so it's more like Les Claypool molesting Lemmy or something (specially when I through in a chorus pedal) but hey, whatever, it's not too much like anything I've heard before I really enjoy it.

The TS7 features three knobs: Drive, Tone and Level. The knobs are easy to use; Drive is gain, tone is eq, and level is output volume. The included switch is also mentionable. It is called Hot and turns the pedal into very sustaining distortion. There is a manual with three basic setting suggestions. Overall, I think the Tone knob could be expanded to encompass a wider spectrum.

This is my first Tubescreamer and I am very impressed. My setup is a 70's Reissue Telecaster Custom with two humbuckers into the TS7 and then into an Epiphone Galaxie 10. This is the first pedal that sounds transparent and doesn't change the tone of my guitar much. All of my other pedals (Jekyll & Hyde, Rat, Big Muff, Guyatone HD-2,Roland Cube Distortion, Distortion +) were either too muddy or too fuzzy. This pedal is really great sounding. I suppose you can get the sound of anyone using a stack or an overdriven tube amp: Black Sabbath, T. Rex, Free, The Stooges, Kiss, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, etc. I plan on buying a Dyna Comp to smooth out the distortion a bit. I don't use that many effects, obviousbly. My only complaint is its almost too transparent. If you don't like the sound of your pickups, this pedal will not change it.

I bought the first one used on ebay and it did not work. I got a refund...
This one is new from Musicians Friend so hopefully they are reliable.
Maybe the other was abused?

I play alt/classic/indie/experimental rock. I like the tones of The White Stripes, The Stooges, Free, Black Sabbath, Howlin' Wolf, etc.
I have been playing for three years and if it was lost I would upgrade to the TS-808 with the Keeley mods. I hate the way the TS9's look.
For the price this pedal is amazing. It doesn't sound like a pedal it sounds like a real overdriven amp. Superb!

- this pedal is very easy to work with
- good manual

- I use this pedal for preamping my Line6 Flextone III XL combo
- guitar is Fender Lite Ash
- on clean sounds when set level quite high it can be noisy, otherwise when adding more sustain/preamping it sounds pretty thick and full
- I think the effect is always good
- the basic distortion without the hot mod position is GREAT!

- very rugged because of the whole metal casing, won?t break easily

- the Ibanez web pages are very informative for example sound demo clips are good, it is sad that they don?t update the older models database anymore or I don?t think they ever did...
- japanese pages are crap, why don?t they translate...

- This is absolutely the best effect that I have!
- It sounds good with almost any amp channel setting, I don?t use or like the hot mod position
- Very good value for money, I would buy a new one

No brain required...

Off the shelf, this sounds better than a TS-9, and close to a TS-808. Quite acceptable for a $40 pedal. If you want the classic Tube Screamer sound at this price, get a Digitec Bad Monkey ... read my review on it for the full story. Having said that, I have a modified TS-7 on my pedal board in addition to the Bad Monkey. I use it in ?hot? mode with the drive maxed out for more of a Mesa Boogie hi-gain sound, which the Bad Monkey can?t do. The TS-7 does this quite nicely. The addition of the "hot" mode is quite nice. In hot mode the output gain is a bunch louder, plus less low-end is rolled off. It generates quite a lot of self noise in hot mode ... but that's kinda par for the course.

I've heard too much bad stuff about the switch to give it top ranking. I will say, however, that the thing looks like it's "built like a tank".

I got mine on sale at SamAsh for $30. Put a few bucks into a mod kit (available all over ebay), and wound up with a pretty good sounding TS pedal! If it get's stolen or quits working ... what the heck, I'll just buy another one ... it costs less than filling the Van up with gas!

It's as simple as can be. And it has a TS9 and Hot switch too (TS9 is mellower, and Hot is more grungy loudy)

Eh... I'd pass on it. At the time I bought it, I needed a distortion pedal for under 50 bucks because I was very short on cash, and I brought it back to my little Fender Champion 30, and the built-in distortion on that tiny amp sounded better than it most of the time. If you're broke and you need distortion, it's an decent choice.

Seems pretty sturdy.

If you ever buy a distortion pedal, it will be the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff ?. That is assuming you have more than 35 dollars.