Ibanez TS9DX

Please read previous reviews ...The major thing about this unit that many of the negative reviews fail to recognize this is a Overdrive pedal not a Distortion pedal...

This pedal if used properly will give you what it is advertised as a Tube Screamer..It is not a high gain distortion pedal..The TS9 and Turbo mode are the two settings i use the most..I use the TS-9 for pushing leads and the Turbo for a warm rhythm setting..
In the TS-9 mode it is mostly used with the lead channel of my Marshal to give it the extra push through the mix that is sometimes needs .When using it in this manner i kick it on as needed not as a full time pedal ..
In the Turbo mode it reminds me a whole lot of the BBE green screamer which is one of my favorite overdrive effects boxes..When using it in this mode i use it on the clean channel along with a EHX soul preacher for a warm mellow slightly overdriven tone..

It appears pretty tough although i do have a problem with it..The board that connects to the power supply jack has cracked and a piece fell off so that i must be careful not to push the board back into the box when connecting a power supply..

I have never owned any other Ibanez pedals but have owned 3 different Ibanez guitars...I have found the people easy to deal with at Ibanez as far as the guitar side of there business goes..But have not tried to contact them about the pedal although i may on the previous mentioned problem..

I play mostly electric Blues and blues based rock..With occasional hard rock and metal thrown in when the feeling hits to relive earlier days..I have been playing for 25 + years with the majority of those years as a professional musician making a living one way or another in the music industry..
There really anything super remarkable about this pedal it does its job and does it well ..It is a real working class pedal..It is something needed for my kit but not the type thing to rave about..
I compared it with the regular TS-9 and 808 along with the BBE green screamer..I think all those pedals fit into the same category as this one ..Truth be told i like the BBE green Screamers for full time tone better but this is more versatile for lead work as well as the full time previous mentioned tone..
If it came up missing i would replace it with a pre modded Keeley version instead of having this one modded as i plan on doing ...That will make this pedal something to rave about ..

Ibanez TS9DX. Same as TS9 plus 3 alternate modes. Tone knob, gain knob, level knob, and the mode selector knob. I give it a 7 because of the volume boost between modes.

The sound on this pedal is very authentic. It sounds very close to a tube distortion. Not quite there, but close. The modes drop in gain while increasing in volume from TS9->Plus->Hot->Turbo. I am using mine in conjunction with an MXR Distortion 3 on Turbo mode. The TS9DX provides most of my tone, while the distortion 3 adds extra gain. I am going guitar->distortion 3->TS9DX->other effects->amp, and it sounds wonderful. I have my amp set to a clean sound and use the distortions to boost it into overdrive. It is FANTASTIC as a "channel" switcher. I would not recommend it as an "always-on" style pedal, as it mudds up the clean tone if doing your switching from the amp.

It seems very sturdy. I plan on gigging without a backup.

N/A

Overall, an excellent pedal. Like I said, I need to add the distortion 3 on top of it to get a nice thick distortion. But this box has all the tone you could need, just needs the gain boost to be used for more high gain situations.

Very, very simple. Foolproof.

Love it. Gritty, fat (if you want it to be) just the right amount of gain for most grown up types of rock music. None of the fizzy high-freq overlaying artifacts that I get with BD2 or other pedals. Personally I could occasionally do with a little more gain depending on how pushed the amp is by it's self. I use hot PU's so this also helps get me in the zone. Having said that I've put Single coils into it and it still hangs in there with the right amount of gain/distortion.

I've spent too much money lately on pedals. I have been very disappointed with several boutique pedals which do not come up to scratch build-wise. One of the reasons I love this pedal is because it has all the right build ingredients and design features. It's heavy for it's size and instills a sense of confidence. I have Ibanez pedals that I have used for over a decade and are still going strong.

This is always the section that tarnishes a good product reputation... either because you need it or because you don't... I have never needed it. There's always a 50/50 chance so I'll give them 5.5 and round it up.

I read a few of these other reviews. Look, this is a pedal with a switch. It's designed to be switched on and off to CHANGE the sound of your amp/guitar. It's not going to fix a bad sounding rig, there is no magic, it won't cover up your sloppy musicianship. so in that respect this is not your answer. It's not transparent and I would be disappointed if it were. For 100 bucks... I want to hear something happen. If you are feeling that you need to leave something switched on to tailor your sound then perhaps you rig is not up to par. Perhaps you're not playing the right guitar/amp.

Also addressing the JRC chip issue: If it matters to you, the JRC4558D is the one chip that was common in both the TS9 and the 808. It is the one that is in the current production model. If you still believe that the chip matters more than, or even [i]as much as[/i]??? a cable or a preamp tube, for example, then watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpTv2jAree8

Then go play your guitar...

Very easy.

Not good. I too bought this pedal based on the reputation of the "Tube Screamer" name and thought the DX would have a little more flexability if I needed it.

I ran it through a ISP Decimator into a BBE sonic stomp and into my amp: B52 AT100. My hope was that this would at the slightest amount of dirt to my clean channel to make it sound more vintage and enhance the overdrive channels to give more life to my crunch and lead..basically an "on all the time" pedal that would increase the overall signal received by the amp.

The result was not what I wanted. First of all the pedal has a lot more break-up than I expected. I basically had to turn down the gain knob to almost zero to get the kind of clean drive I wanted. The other problem was that the pedal is not really transparent. It kind of muddies up the sound unless the tone knob is wide open...like a tone knob on a guitar.

A few other things I didn't like were that the pedal's breakup was kind of scratchy when I played hard. There may have been a defect in mine thought. Also a very important point...Musician's Friend, where I bought it from advertises this pedal as being built with the same chip that comes in the 808 model...the one that everyone mods the TS9 to have. This was a major reason I had for buying it but it isn't true. I opened it up and saw the same chip that the TS9's come with stock. Could be the reason for the crapy sound. Not too cool of MF.

I've always heard these things are built like a tank. I don't really see them being any more solid than any boss or digitech pedal out there.

I tried mine out for a day and then sent it back to MF. I was kind of disappointed because for the price I expected better. I used to have a Digitech X Series Tonedriver pedal and a Line6 Crunchtone, both of which sounded much better than the DX(especially the digitech).

I won't buy the DX again. I have always been curious about the 808 reissue but I don't think I'd ever pay that much for a simple overdrive pedal.

Very easy to use but pretty over-rated IMHO.

I bought mine online and it was advertised as having the JC4885DC chip that the original 808 has. I always here that people have to get this in a mod for this pedal so I thought maybe Ibanez decided to improve the design. Not the case. This pedal was falsely advertised and comes with the chip that everyone gets removed. I don't understand why a company would manufacture a product that most people have to pay extra to modify.

I tried this on my 100 watt all tube head which I use in my live set up. I play schecter 7 string guitars with seymour duncan pickups(JB/'59) and not many effects; just a TC Electronic rack unit in my live rig that I use mostly for reverb. I wanted this pedal to be an "on all the time" unit so that I could have a hotter signal throught the front end of my amp for a tiny bit of dirt in the clean channel and a slightly more reactive overdrive channel.

The closest I could come to a usable sound was on the TS9 setting with the level at about 9 o' clock, the gain at just about one notch from zero and the tone cranked all the way open(Interesting note: the tone knob on this thing isn't like those on other distortion pedals I've used. It acts like a passive tone pot on a guitar: bypassed when fully open and can only cut frequencies when turned down. It isn't like an active tone circuit that boosts when you turn it one way and cut when you turn the other way).
Anyway, on the clean channel of my tube amp, I got an increase of volume but with a scratchy, crackeling sort of break-up that was totally unpleasant and just sounded like the pedal was clipping because it couldn't handle the signal.
It just made my overdrive channel sound fuzzy and less articulate though it did increase my sustain by a good amount.

Another point: the other three mode settings; Hot, + and Turbo, while they do change the voicings and increase saturation and low end, also decrease the volume on each setting. The TS9 mode is at least twice as loud as Turbo on the same level setting. This seems very counter-intuitive to me and was very unexpected.

It doesn't seem as solid as other people have said. I'd trust a boss or digitech pedal over this any day.

I play progressive metal and I've been playing guitar for almost 15 years. And of course, since we guitarists are especially suseptable to G.A.S. I've played through many, many distortion and overdrive pedals. This one has been the most disappointing one in a long time. It is possible that this unit was defective but that just makes me all the more disappointed in Ibanez for neglecting quality control on a line of products that is supposed to be a modern musician's standard go to pedal. For my purposes I could probably get a better result from a compressor or a simple boost pedal. But for classic overdrive sounds, I can think of at least half a dozen other pedals that sound better than this and cost half as much. Try before you buy.

Can't get a useable sound.

Ropey.

Don't know.

N/A

I bought this unheard on the strength of its reputation. Judging by the other reviews here, maybe there's something wrong with mine but it was a complete and utter waste of money. I play a PRS RG4 through a Blackstar A30 (a really good valve amp) and a blackstar HT boost pedal (also really good). I wanted to add something to get a 'singing' solo sound for home practice or recording at low volumes, nothing too fancy, just a useable lead sound. Forget it. All it did was add some toneless fizz with no body or anything. ??90 down the drain.

If you bought one of these, you know what you are seeking. I thought it would more of a distortion pedal but it is more subtile and you have to develope an ear for it. As an antagonist for a tube amp-- it is standard equipment. Some experimentation with the modes is in order to find the shape you want. it is not difficult.

ts-9- classic, creamy chock full of mid range. The closest to a tube amp you can get in a box under $200. the "hot" and "+" are not useful to me as far as I can tell. The "turbo" setting is awesome especially if you use a guitar with humbuckers- it has great bass responce and a real compressed mid range growl that is just slightly evil! With my strat it is just kinda of bassy but not bad. If you use another distortion pedal, put this in before it in your chain. If it is after your dist, it will get a real nasty spitting grunge that is really cool if you want to use that effect ( think a really overdriven tube amp about to crapout its speakers)! I use this through a Randall SS and Fender Frontman 15R. I have a Peavey 212 Classic in the shop and I would love to see what this will sound like with that!

tank...I have been using Ibanez since 1982 and they all are still working fine!

none

you have to have a ts-9, why not have one with extras? It has lots of output so keep your level down. The Turbo and + modes have increased levels so watch that too. I have been using it with a Randall SS amp and I get a great tube thang when I need it. The Randall has enormous gain and I am a gain junky but a Strat through a Randall to get a bluesy sound is difficult s the single coils just shout, " hey...this is solid state!!!!!!!!!!" Jimi would kill you!!!. Enter the TS-9 DX with the extra gain available! I play in a blues outfit also and this is great through a Fender Frontman 15R coupeled with a Danelectro FAB distortion. With a strat, it is priceless- perceptibale distortion with not alot of color taken out of your tone. With a humbucker ( mine an Electra Phoenix or Dean ZX) a great growly compressed distordion very unique sounding. GET ONE!

Easy to use. Only 4 Knobs. They are all clearly marked and self explanatory.

On the origional TS9 setting it sounds great no matter how it is set. I use it with a Tele through a class A Fender tube amp. I couldnt imagine a better set up. Crisp, crunchy and clear. Think SRV tone (now all I need is to learn to play like him- wish me luck!). The turbo and deluxe settings seem worthless to me, with these settings the distortion decreases, while volume and bass are added progressively. Each setting just gets louder, flabbier and boomier. Im glad I got the DX to stisfy curiosity, but would have done just fine with the standard TS9.

I had it for 6 months, and the on/off switch crapped out on me-doesnt work at all. I never even stomped on it with a shoe. I play bare foot, and am very gentle, it looks brand new. Thats faulty maunufacturing, and Ibanez says I have to pay for shipping to get it repaired. What a crock. If it didnt sound so damn good I would choke it up as a loss.

I had it for 6 months, it craps out and I have to pay for shipping. Thats one crappy warantee.

Ive been playing 15 years. Mostly bules, reggae and alt rock. It sounds great, though the deluxe settings arent useful to me. I wish the quality control and warantee was beter.

Very easy to get the right sound out of it

I play a Jeff Beck strat into an AC-30 Vox - great blues and rock tones but i needed it to kickit up when soloing or for playing harder rock.
This does the trick!
It makes my strat CRUNCH and ROAR and SING.
Great for solo boosts. Hard to believe its a strat at those times.
The Turbo mode is my favorite and packs the fullest and tightest tone.
Definitely mid-dominated but that is what the strat lacks.
I have noiseless pickups so it is silent.
I use a BigMuff Pi for fuzz and cream and use this for crunch and concrete.
It's a cross between overdrive and subtle distortion.

Seems solid.

No need.

Great for blues and rock.
Better than Marshall Guv'na.
Would definitely replace it if stolen.
Great buy.

Simple to use. Changing modes on the fly takes practice, as the output volume gets significantly louder as you go from "TS-9" to "Turbo." Once you get familiar with the settings, this ceases to be a problem. If you're using a pedal chain, I recommend placing this pedal after your other distortion/overdrive units (i.e., closer to amp).

I play a gibson les paul studio (1994) through a fender twin reverb (blackface reissue). Pathway is guitar > Teese RMC-3 Wah > ts9dx > EH Metal Muff > MB V-Twin > Dunlop Univibe > EB Volume pedal > amp. With this particular setup, I am primarily using the "Turbo" setting with 1/4 gain and 3/4 tone. This serves as an excellent boost. I am able to add volume, bass, and a slight bit of overdrive to Clean, V-twin, or Metal Muff driven signal. I find it a lot more satisfying, tonally, than simply using the volume pedal. It really adds balls to your sound. With my pickup selector in the treble (bridge) position, and a little more gain, I am able to get a passable AC/DC tone with the clean signal at garage-band volume. This is not a Marshall Plexi substitute, but it makes for a fun and useable imitation (again, in a garage band) for a lot less money. I did get the Analog Man "808" mod about 5 years ago, and it made the tone slightly warmer and less bright. I like what the mod did for my sound, but I don't think it's a must-have feature. Comparing pedal to pedal, for a bluesy-overdriven/crunch sound, I prefer my V-twin. That being said, I would feel crippled if I didn't have my TS-9dx to beef up the V-twin. It also changes the character of the Metal Muff from a heavy metal distortion to a dark/grungy heavy overdrive without muddying up the tone much. Again, this is not a replacement for a high-gain diezel or mesa boogie amp, but I think it gets the job done for the semi-serious musician hobbyist on a budget.

I have owned this pedal for roughly 8 years, and I have not had any problems with it. I bought it used, and it works as well today as it did the day I bought it. Its very sturdy.

I have never had to deal with Ibanez customer service.

I have been playing for about 12 years, and I have owned this pedal for quite a long time. I posted a review 7 years ago on this very same pedal (dinesh, 1/29/2000), and I am just as impressed today as I was back then with the tonal qualities of this pedal. My gear has changed slightly over the years, but I'm more or less using the same style setup. My ratings and opinions are based upon using this kind of setup (les paul through a fender tube-amp plus "boutique" overdrive pedals). I'm currently playing in a garage-band that plays everything from Santana to The Ramones to Tool to Smashing Pumpkins to Grateful Dead. I use this pedal during most songs, especially when I need to cut through with a solo. I would certainly buy another if lost or stolen. Highly recommended.

4 knobs; level, drive, tone, a 4 position mode switch. A hair more difficult than a standard TS-9, but it's quite easy to operate.

On the TS-9 setting, it sounds like a TS-9 reissue. As you notch it to turbo, you get subtle drive intreases without straying away form the original character. TS-9's generally add light overdrive (not highgain distortion), or it can boost other drive units/amps. The TS-9DX doesn't get too fuzzy, or harsh, and I've run this with another TS-9 to do a 2 stage overdrive and it worked great. I already had the TS-9 Reissue and was looking for the same sound with a little more boost, and the DX delivers.

The casing (i believe designed by Maxon) is solid, but I managed to break a shaft on the level pot, making it a handy on/off kill switch. I was able to replace it with a standard pot. otherwise, no problems.

Follows the TS-9 vibe quite well. The price is right, and it can be modded to a TS 808 type sound (which would be interesting to hear a TS 808 with the 4 modes). Even with the boosting, I still use it as an overdrive, for highgain distortion I use a Marshall Gon'Nor II pedal.

Very easy to use. The "Drive" control is like a distortion pot adjusting the overdrive, then there's a switch with four settings as already described, along with a gain pot and a tone pot, and the foot stomp button indicated by a LED. This is not an all-out distortion or fuzz pedal and the settings are subtle yet distinct levls of overdrive.

Exceptional tone and very quiet with my rig. I use this in a bedroom set-up with a Warmoth tele I built with Bill Lawrence pickups and Bill's five-way switch. The guitar goes into an old Ampex 6V6 push-pull tube amplifier I turned into a head after a complete rebuild job with fancy film and foil caps and a new power supply, along with a speaker cabinet I built with a 16-Ohm Eminence 12" speaker (their clone of the Celestion Vintage 30). This setup was very clean but needed some more gain to drive it, and after some research I guessed that the TS9DX had a little more range than the other Tube Screamers. I guessed right and am very happy with its versatility: between the guitar's five settings and the Ibanez' four, I get a variety of tones from Esquire-like high-end sparkle to near-marshall stack roar. And no noise at all. None. Zip Nada.

Don't know yet, but it looks to be very well built. I use it in my bedroom every night without a backup.

Dunno yet.

I play my own music which ranges from blues to country to alternative. I find this to be a perfect fit.

4 knobs, all basic functions; Drive, Level, MODE, and Tone. The Main difference between this tube screamer and the TS9 is the addition of the MODE knob. You can choose between 4 different Modes; TS9, TS9+, Hot, Turbo.

I use this pedal with my Peavey 5150 II Head and Randall 2x12-1x15 cabinet and a Jackson King V USA with Seymour-Duncan JB pickups. The 5150 sounds good on it's own, but lacks the midrange and sustain needed to get a really brutal death/black metal tone. That's where the tube screamer comes in handy. I front end the pedal (Guitar>Cable>PEDAL>Amp) and use it as sort of a Compressor/EQ. In the TS9 mode I jack the Level up to about 8 and the Tone to 7 and just a bit of drive(3)to give it a little more gain. The pre-amp (gain) is set to about 4 and a half on the 5150. I also have the bass set to 4 and the MID to about 2 and the High is up to 10. This set-up is relatively noise free, I don't use a noise suppressor. Overall I really like the sound the pedal gives me, more midrange and sustain. The tone is suited for Arch Enemy, Avulsed, and Emperor inspired metal.

These pedals are known for being as tough as they come. They feel heavier than other pedals their size and it seems to be made very strong. The knobs are recessed far enough away from the footswitch so no worries about accidentally messing up the settings with your dumb feet.

N/A

I listen to Black, Death, Progressive, and Thrash Metal. I've been playing for about 9 years now. If it were lost or stolen I might get another one. I love the boost in distortion it gives me. I think it could be a little less harsh sounding but it still sounds great. I like the flexibility of the MODE knob. Overall I like this pedal and it does what I want it to do.

4 knobs: Drive, Level, Tone, Mode. How hard is that? In case you are in doubt, there is a manual, which explains: "that knob controls this, this knob controls that, that knob changes modes..."
I only use the TS9 setting, however I can get a Santana sort of sound with the + setting and midrange boost on "Blackie," my Eric Clapton Strat.

Strewth! I got this pedal on a whim; I had never tried one before I got it. I was blown away by how smooth this little seasick-green box sounds! There is that middle hump that is associated with the Tube Screamers, which I like. Although, with the midrange boost on Blackie, it's a bit much. I mainly use the TS9 setting as I said, although it's nice to have the extra settings there if I decide I need it. It's not noisy, except on really dirty settings on the amp. I mainly use this with a little MS-2 mini Marshall to get a nice overdriven sound (nice to my ears anyway!).

Built like a tank. Dropped it a few times and it's still tickin.

Never dealt with Ibanez

I've been playing about 18 months now, and I've got an Eric Clapton Strat, an Epiphone Les Paul 100, and a Maton J808 acoustic. I play mainly blues, classic rock and Christian rock, and it suits these styles perfectly. It's not a distortion pedal, it's an overdrive pedal! Not for metal! If it was stolen (I wouldn't lose it!), I would get another one straight away, although I might think about so-called "holy grail," the TS808. I love everything about this pedal, it's dead simple to use, easy to get a good sound out of it. I do wish it had some sort of control for the amount of mid hump you want, but I don't know if that's possible. I bought this pedal because I read that a few guitar heroes used them (SRV - the most famous Tube Screamer user, Carlos Santana, Tommy Emmanuel's electric stuff) and wasn't disappointed.

Very easy to use. I only use the ts-9 setting. drive at 8-9oclock, tone at 12-1oclock, level around 2-3oclock.

It could be my imagination but having owned one of the standard ts-9 re-issues to me the TS9DX sounds better. More depth in tone. It has the standard ts-9 mid hump which I like but there are some songs which can do without it so I use my Rat for those. I run an early 70's Telecaster through the Dx, Rat, Bossce-2, Bossdd-3 into a Vox ac15 or Pro Junior depending on the gig. Very nice.

Tough as nails. Look after your gear and it will look after you.

I'm a working musician so I play a whole variety of gigs from my original music to 'rent paying' cover gigs. Playing for around 21 years and own too much gear to mention, not that I'm a gear freak its just gear that I've bought over the years. I'm really happy with the combination of effects I'm using at the moment the ts9dx is a great all round overdrive.

I must mention that mine seems to be one of the earlier pedals as it has the Maxon circuit board. Maybe some one can comfirm this??
Fabulous pedal, easy to use and easy to get a good sound from.

I use a telecaster through this with a Rat and dd-3 through various amps depending on the gig. The ts-9dx has a very transparent but thick tone to my ears and is fabulous as my cleaner o.d pedal. I use the Rat to dirty it up a bit more.
Very pleased indeed!

very, very dependable......for all you young cats jumping around on stage playing your "Blink 182 post punk" don't jump on your pedals THEY WILL BREAK!

I wish people new what they were talking about and how to use thier gear before placing reviews!! Some one even suggested that it has the same circuit board as the Boss DS-1...PLEASE!!! If you're experiencing noise from this pedal you are probably a bedroom player with gain and tone knob cranked to 10 trying to play Metallica's "Enter Sandman".
this is a brilliant pedal IMO better then the standard ts-9. having said that mine seems to be one of the ealier versions with the Maxon circuit board, that may be the difference....I've been playing for almost 20 years, many styles of music, this pedals does it all.

Easy to use, of course! I would have liked a manual with more settings, it would not have hurt! Not so easy to get decent sounds.

This thing is really poor. Noisy, lifeless and simple. You'd better trust in a good amp tho get the natural overdrive. Expensive for the price as ithas the same schematics of a Boss DS-1 and the likes (really!). It comes with a crappy chip and components. I would have replace it with a LM833 as one of my friend said--noiseless and with a greater clipping. I do not have any idea why is it that this pedal does not come with a better chip, as they are not really expensive. The JR4558 is crap compared to the LM833, and the one that comes factory is even crappier. The sound is mediocre. I would recommend other great pedals for the price--there has been too much hype about the TS808 and TS9. Look for Carl Martin's Hot & Drive MKIII, the Jaques Fuseblower, Toadworks Death Rattle II, T-REx Mudhoney (a clon of the MXR distortion+), etc. TS9DX is not so versatile, despite you can choose the clipping stage diodes, which sound more or less the same. It does not matter what do you use it with.

Why do you want to depend on it? Get a better thing and save some bucks. There's too much hype about it PERIOD. CHeap components.

Not needed.

I regret getting this ugly thing. Hard to re-sell. A nightmare.

Four knobs in all -- one of them selects the style of effect. Really simple to find something you like.

I play mostly early 90s type rock, some blues...using a Gibson Les Paul Standard or a Gretsch Duo Jet (with dynasonics) into a Traynor YCV20 for recording, or a Fender Blues Deluxe for gigging. The pedal has some very nice sounds -- three of the four settings sound great, the last I had no use for.

Unfortunately, as nice as it sounds when active, it completely kills the sound when it's turned off. Especially when you play single notes, you can hear a lot of buzz after every one. I actually thought my amp was busted, but as soon as I unlugged the TS9 the buzz was gone. It's really too bad, because it's a nice sounding pedal when in use.

feels as solid as anything I've owned.

Never used them

Well, a pedal is only as good as it sounds -- I would give it a zero for the noise it generates when off, and a 10 when tuned off. The avg. is 5. So, that's what I'm going with. I replaced it with a Boss SD-1. The sound isn't as natural and it doesn't have a true bypass switch either, but it's MUCH quieter...not to mention cheaper.

Its easy, 4 knobs 1 footswitch

Alright about time a pedal that was better than I expected. I put the TS9DX Tubescreamer in the loop of my Boss NS2( Noise Suppressor ) that goes into my Ampeg Vh140c halfstack. If you know anything about that Ampeg its a High Gain solidstate that emulates a Tube amp. Kinda like Mesa Lows with Marshall Highs. I love the sound of the head by itself but the TS9DX adds more definition and flexibility to my sound. The Four modes are cool,I use only the TS9 and + settings on my distortion. The Hot and Turbo settings are too much on top of distortion. On the clean channel it could be used for tighter low to medium gain stuff so the Hot and Turbo modes are not useless. Its a really great pedal kicks the Boss SD-2 ass all over the place.

The guy I bought it from said the Turbo mode didnt work, well on my rig it did and everything was working like expected. But anyways this feels as well built as my boss pedals.

I really wanted the TS-808 but those are really expensive plus I think the TS9DX was made for metal players so it fit me perfectly. Im goin to buy as many of these as I can find its that good. Dont pass it up even if you think you dont need one, you really do. Bad ASS all the way.

4 knobs. level, mode, gain, and tone. how hard can it be?

i am using an epiphone sg standard loaded with an emg 81 and 85 through a line6 spider2 30watt 112. i use it on the metal channel to give that channel some more kick. it also smoothes it out. sounds awesome for a boost to the clean channel too. its good to use if you want to give a pre-existing dist. some kick and if you want to play blues. i mainly use the + and ts9 settings. good stuff.

solid as a tank.

if i had it stolen, i more than likely would get another one. but don't use it for a straight up distortion. use it as a boost to a pre-existing dist. or for clean sounds.

4 knobs - cinch! I always use the ts-9 setting but it's good to have something to play with once in a while.

As I said above, the unit really rests on the ts9 setting. The reason I bought this and not the TS9 was simply because I needed a good overdrive and my local shop only had this one (so they gave me a TS9 price and less). Tried it out and thought is was ok enough to buy (in the store I was using some sort of average humbuckered Godin through a Fender Hot Rod type thing). Well once I got it home and got her cooking it totally blew me away...it was EXACTLY what I was looking for. You can go from a kinda chunky dry hollowed tone to a more saturated hendrixan type effect pretty easily. After that I kick in my SD1 for smoother solos etc. I have a small collection of effects most of which are ehx but my current simplified setup is Tele (replacement pups/pots/switch and callaham bridge) => Boss TU-2, Dunlop 535Q, Ibanez TS9DX, Boss Super Overdrive SD1 => '69 SF Super Reverb Amp w/4x10 Weber california speakers. That's it. Just a plank through a tuner and wah and two overdrives and into one of the best amps ever made. This sounds glorious by itself but add in a band and man oh man! This pedal just reacts BEAUTIFULLY with the Super Reverb at band level where the amp itself is beginning to break up (holy grail clean tone). We play a particular tune where all I'm doing is single strumming open chords Em, G, C, Am, D, Em, A, B one chord to each bar with the odd little fill and embelishment. Each strum I draw out and articulate and nuance with the inspiration that this sound evokes. You know that if you start romanticising about simple chord progressions then there's something special going on!

No problems at all. Keep a spare battery around - you don't even need a screw driver or 5 cent piece to open it!

Local dealer has it sorted - like I'd need them! :)

I play in a pop/rock/suburbs/piano based/whitlamesque band and this pedal fits the bill perfectly for me and how I approach the guitar and my role in the band. I just love it because I find myself squeezing all I have out of the neck of my tele to get her howling and wailing and just cooking good and proper. I think there are a lot of botique pedals out there with this chip and that chip and the original this and that etc etc but all in all this pedal has an attitude and sound that I just love. The pedal simply gives me *Exactly* what I was looking for!

File under; Jangly, Thinline, Edgy, Cool, Beer, Girls Dancing, Pubs.
Cheers!

sencillo de usar! 4 botones, que mas quereis? drive,level y tone, y claro, un boton para los distintos tipos de distorsion, el modo ts9, ts9+ el hot y el turbo. simplemente es mas distorsion en cada paso.

SI BUSCAS UN SONIDO VALVULERO AQUI LO TIENES! sin lugar a dudas la mejor compra que he hecho, el ts9dx te da ese sonido overdrive que andabas buscando! y en el modo turbo llega a una buena distorsion, PERO MUCHO OJO! esto es un overdrive!!!!! nada de distorsion, no encontraras metal en este pedal! la mejor manera de usarlo es con un buen amplificador con distorsion, encima de esta. te teletransporta a un sonido que no pensaba que pudieses entrar nunca, con los harmonicos que andabas buscando para tus solos. yo lo utilizo para el sonido crunch de mi amplificador.

stratocaster del 74 y epiphone lespaul-fender pt10-whawha crybaby-IBANEZ TS9DX-marshall shredmaster-boss os2-mxr phase 90-daneletro reverse delay-bossdd6 conectados a un fender twin reverb.

a pesar que te lo dan nuevecito, no es muy dificil desgastar su pintura, al a?o lo tienes picado de por todo...

de momento nada de nada

toco desde radiohead hasta oasis, britpop del bueno! indi-rock y algo de blues, y en todos estos estilos el ts9dx me da lo mejor de el, si lo perdiese compraria uno nuevo, y si no tambien, pienso comprarme otro y usarlos en cadena!

Real sexy sounds come through this beast. Eeasy to shove in some great tones especialy with a strat and VALVE amp. Takes time to find your own kinda sound but when you do get it is just lush.
No manual don't need it though if you bought an overdrive pedal you really aint gonna screw abouit readin a manual.
No dont know or care its just reall hot ok dudes!

Mex strat- boss wah- compressor- boss sd1- ts9 - BIG MUFF! - Carvin Bel air 212 or marshall avt 150.
Real quite and suppressed.
Always cooks up my tubes and kicks the amp over real good.
Carvin bel air is employed mostly. "cook those valves up brother!"
Come on SRV is the man and if a TS9 is good enough for him it has to be for me i just bought dx for the bonus of harsher distortion settings of turbo hot etc!

Yes cause i can my pedals are treated like golf balls but they can all take it especialy mr green. SD1 always with me for back up.

no need it wouldnt break

top man dude!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Roery Gallagher SRV Hendrix pink floyd Muse bify clyro bach mozart Yngwie Malmsteen buddy guy rage audioslave punk n e thing good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Coming into third year of playing(still crap)
Buy another but probably t=get TS808
Favourite feature is the fact you can shove it through a cranked valve amp and just go to heaven (almost) thats not to say it has electricuted me though!More gain would be bonus for metal.Helps be get beetteerr tone yes sir! Jimmy Page and les pauls are both seriously overated. oh yeh why are rory stevie and jimi dead?

This is a great pedal. Takes some time to find your sound. Got 4 controls. Drive, Level , Tone and an 4way mode button. wery cool. Evry knob responce nicely, chanes alot when you switch modes. I would like to have mid control, to dial some more mids in.

Well. I'm usin this pedal with my Hiwatt Custom 100 allmost cranked. I read somewhere that this pedal was unusable for Metal, well IMO this pedal is most exelent. You just have to have slighty overdriven amp. I use him with couple of difrend guitars. LP's, Jackson kelly , Kramer, Fender Strat, Washburn MG and G&L tele. The Jackson is my main guitar. I have loaded him with duncan JB in the bridge and '59 in the neck. This gear absolutly sings took some time too find out what combo would sound best.

Never let me down. Giged with it for couple of years, no problem (other than my marshall pedal)

Great pedal. Just have to use it with cranked single channel amp, othewise it sound flat and powerless. If I would lost this pedal, I would probibly buy TS-808, but I'm no so sure. just wish it had middle knob.

Fairly easy to use; it's an OD, so nothing really scientific about setting it up.

I use it with a Fender Vibrolux and either a Strat Plus Ultra, Mid-70's Tele (w/Texas Specials), or an ES-335. I've never used anything other than the standard TS-9 setting live, but have played around with the other three on my own time. Works best with the Strat or Tele - the ES-335 does a pretty good job of overdriving the amp all on its own. My pedal chain is usually: Digitech Compressor-->TS9DX-->Digitech Delay, sometimes preceded by a standard Crybaby or a vol pedal. BTW, don't attempt using the comp and OD together; not that you can't, but the degree of difficulty is such that it's not worth the effort. Bottom line: Gives a nice warm OD - for my styles (Gospel, Blues, C&W, R&B), it's all I really need. I give it a 9; there might be a 10 out there, but I haven't tried one yet, although I understand the Barber Electronics box to be pretty close.

Haven't broken it, although I'm pretty easy on equipment. I don't know of anyone else who's broken one either.

Never dealt with Ibanez.

I play for a church choir, where we cover a lot of diverse territory (hymns, southern and urban gospel, contemporary, etc.), and play blues, c&w, and some r&b on days other than Sunday. I've been playing guitar for about 20 years (with a 14 year gap - which I don't recommend, BTW), and the TS-9DX does a great job of giving the Vibrolux a little more juice at lower volumes, although I'm fairly selective about when the OD is inline (I can't crank the amp much past 5 in church without knocking the front row over, but usually have it much louder elsewhere.). If it were stolen? I'd either buy another one, or maybe the Barber OD, based on what I've heard about it.

pedal is easy to get a great tone. this is a stock unit. bought at pawn shop, therefore no manual was included. EASY to use if..this your kind of sound. i have read that folks cannot get distortion out of this pedal. no shit. this is a warm, crunchy, overdriven machine. if metal dirt is your sound, then this product is not easy to use.

68' deluxe reverb. 64' olympic white stratocaster. i have only been playing for a short time, but feel i have an ear for tone, more than playing ability. this is the sound i was looking for. 6 months ago i bought a danelectro daddy o, and thought it sounded good until. plugged both pedals in and was amazed a the difference. the dx has a thicker sound; my favorite is the + mode. i have heard this is a close ts808 flavor. hot and turbo modes are almost too dirty for me, but, it has a sound for everone, except metalheads.

actually i bought this pedal not working. it appeared to be in brand new condition. got home, opended it up and found 1 broken solder joint. after the repair, has worked perfect. so far so good. makes my daddy o seem like a toy.

n/a

i play blues, rock, jimi ( or at least attempt some mentioned). playing for 5 years. if i lost this, i would replace it with a reissue 808, only if the price was right. this will problably never happen. this is the best ibanez pedal for the value. i love the fact that you can change modes. it is just like 4 for the price of one. have tried sd1, daddy o, digitech bad monkey, ts9, and chose the dx for its versitility. overall great product for my stylee!

Takes a little tweaking to get the sound right but once you get it right it is great!!.

I think the big problem with the negative reviews here is that

a) people expect this to be a Heavy Metal pedal and
b) people use it with an amps clean channel.

When i first bought this and plugged it in I was very dissapointed.
Then I checked the manual, and read, 'use with a gain/overdrive', bang there it was the tone that everbody is talking about.

I think that this pedal is kind of unuasable with a clean amp channel
but just a little gain and the magic is there.

All modes produce great sounds, but you will need to tweak to find the tone you are looking for.

It's a mean green stomping machine...

Good range of tones, but you need to work with it a little. Very rewarding when you get it sorted.

I would give it a 10, but it has more choices to choose from than the regular TS-9. You need to play with them to find your sound. If you are a metal head and think this is going to give you your sound, don't waste your time. Please don't review it and trash it.

I am using a HSS Texas Special Strat with a 70's MXR flanger and a Ernie Ball Volume pedal through a Mesa Boogie Mark II C+ Combo Amp. Bought them new, that should tell you how old I am. I first bought a TS-9 and used it and it sounded good. The Ibanez web page claims that the TS-9 DX has the 808 chip in it. This is the same chip being used in the new reissue TS-808. It is suppose to be a little warmer sound than the chip in the TS-9. With a good tube amp, this thing really adds life to the sound!! The straight TS-9 mode adds very little color to the sound unless you add it yourself with the gain and tone knob on the unit. The other three modes each add more gain and mid to thicken the sound. Similar to the Santana sound.

It is perfect for that extra kick for leads (higher volume and more sustain and grit if you add it). Remember this is not a distortion box!! It pushes your tubes ability to distort. Not for Metal.

Hand wired and built like a tank! The I/O jacks are mounted to the housing not the PC board. The old ones are still around after 25 yrs!

For an extra $10.00 over the standard TS-9 it is a no brainner. It has a better chip, has the TS-9 setting plus three others. I am very happy with it. For clean and leads with gain in them it is a MUST HAVE. It brings out the charcter of your tube amp. NOTE: If you use this through a high gain transistor amp it might help your sound very much in heavy distorted playing. I tried it with a transistor amp and these types of amps just don't have the extra headroom that tubes have.

There is a reason why tube screamers are a ledgend in rock & blues music and the orginals go for $400+ on ebay. There are business made just around mods for tube screamers.

This pedal is easy to get a good sound out of it. It's got four knobs: gain, volume, tone, and a mode switch.

I use a Samick JZ-112 Semi-hollow electric guitar through a Marshall MG100DFX Combo amplifier and occasionally a cheapo squier strat. I occasionally use a BOSS GT-6 and an Electro-harmonix Big Muff Pi. My effects order is Crybaby Wah -> Tube Screamer -> Big Muff Pi -> Marshall MG100 -> BOSS GT-6. My main musical influences include The Smashing Pumpkins, Everclear, Our Lady Peace, and the White Stripes.

I was reading some reviews about some disappointed people looking for a great metal tone. This is not quite the pedal to do that on its own. When I tried it out, I initially thought that it was supposed to have this crazy heavily overdriven sound, but I was wrong. I tried it out before I bought it, but I decided that it had a wonderful crunchy sound that I could use to play lighter rock songs with. With the TS9 setting it offers a lovely overdriven guitar sound and is great with my amp's clean channel but it's nothing that will give Metallica a run for their money. It definately hits the spot with the White Stripes when he's not using his big muff pi.

If you're after a great metal or alternative rock sound, it's great for use as a booster pedal for your overdrive channel. I normally set up my Marshall MG100's overdrive channel with OD1 distortion and the all the knobs at 12 o clock. This gives a great general overdriven sound that's not over the top. Then I setup my TS at the TURBO setting, gain all the way down, volume all the way up, and tone all the way down. When I turn it on, it gives your guitar some sweet sustain and compression and just helps give you a little bit of boost in the gain on your amp. Occasionally it can get a little noisy on higher settings, but then again what doesn't make a little bit of noise at the high settings? Also, the tone knob doesn't add a lot of treble. It pretty much controls the amount of bass that the pedal emits.

This is a great pedal. It doesn't suck tone and the overdriven sound is fantastic. If you need a booster pedal for your current hi-gain setup, this is an awesome pedal to get. If you're after a good pedal to give you some slight overdrive to your clean sound, this will do the trick. It's no wonder why the TS is one of the greatest pedals ever made.

This is a very solid pedal. I would definately gig without a backup.

I've never had to deal with tech support

For my style of playing: White Stripes, Everclear, Our Lady Peace, Smashing Pumpkins, Better than Ezra, Led Zeppelin, and Blues, it's terrific.

I've been playing for about 5 years and this is definately on my top 5 list of pedals. I also own a BOSS GT-6, Big Muff Pi, Crybaby Wah, Snarling Dogs Tweed E. Dog, and an Alesis Compressor.

If it were lost or stolen, I would definately buy another one.

The only thing I don't really like is that the tone doesn't have a lot of range.

When I bought it, I compared it to the original Tube screamer and it sounded pretty much the same. Other Boss overdrive pedals also sounded pretty good, but this one sounded better to me

The pedal is pretty straight forward. The different settings (hot, turbo, etc.) take some fooling around with to understand what they do (which is add more bass and sludge).

I give it a 5, because I know some people want this sound. As for the sound I was expecting (metal) I give it a 1. I read that James Hetfield and Billy Corgan use the tube screamer, and I thought this would help me get that super-overdriven metal distortion. Wrong! As other people have said, this is not a metal pedal. It does provide a warm tone, good for blues and 70's rock. But if you're looking to shred and play metal, skip this one. I'm returning it tomorrow. It also was very noisy, unless I turned the overdrive or level down, which sounds like not having any pedal at all. What I found, was that it adds bass, and makes your guitar sound sludgy and muddy. It was oversaturated. Again, it's because I play with tons of gain. With the gain on my amp turned down to 3 or so, it gave a nice warm, smooth distortion, but you can't play Metallica with that.

Built like a tank.

Great overdrive if your sound requires less gain, and more warmth. Stay away if you play 100% gain, hot-rodded, shredding metal.

Nice and simple!

I have a host of guitars, mostly Strats. I just got the pedal yesterday, so I have only tried it with my '89 Strat with Exotic pickups through my '73 Fender Deluxe Reverb amp. It sounds great! I'll agree with all the other reviews on that fact that it doesn't get extreme in the distortion level, but the tone is all that! I was at first disappointed that I couldn't push it to the max of some distortion pedals, but after 15 minutes of bluesy stuff, I came to appreciate the tone. I'll try it later in combination with other pedals and use it as an occasional boost for lead lines. It has a sweet crunch that seems to respond to playing dynamics. I can see using it all the time to develop a signature sound.

I have another Ibanez pedal that I have had for 25 years and it still works perfectly. I have no reason to doubt the TS9DX's durability.

My musical styles run from bluesy stuff at home and contemporary worship music each Sunday at church. This pedal is perfect for the blues and will serve as a booster when doing power chords and lead lines at church. I have been playing over 30 years. I own a bunch of Strats, Taylor, Hamer, Epi SG, Schecter basses, amps... I would replace it if it disappeared. The tone is the main thing I like about it. You may need a mature, developed ear to appreciate it since it doesn't get nuts with the distortion level. I chose it because of its reputation - I didn't try it before buying it. If I did, I might not have bought it, but I'm glad I did because the tone is killer.

It is very easy to get a good sound out of this pedal. I bought it used, and there was no manual. This unit has not been upgraded.

I use this with a Fender Mexican Fat Strat, into a Boss CS-2, DS-1, Ibanez TS9DX, Boss MT-2 (in front of the amp) and in the effects loop I use (all Boss) PH-2, BF-2, CH-5, and DD-3. It has very minimal hum even when used with other distortion or overdrive effects. It makes my guitar sound fat and bold. It always sounds strong, but does not give you enough gain to play anything heavy, which was expected when I bought it. I use it with a Marshall VS100. I can get the big solo sounds of SRV, or I can play some soul-inflected single-note lines with it. It's also good for blues and some rock stuff with the use of other distortion. I use the regular TS9 mode when I need to add just a bit of grit my guitar. Although, the tone knob doesn't have enough high end.

I would certainly use this without a backup. I have never gigged with Ibanez gear, but I would trust this thing. It seems solid, and it's metal, which makes it seem more worthy of my trust.

Never had to deal with them.

I play many kinds of music, I would say mostly rock. I also play other kinds of stuff, basically anything I like. I have been playing for 6 years, but I have spent a lot of time learning about guitar gear. If it were stolen, I would certainly buy another. It makes my guitar sound so good. I compared this to almost every other overdrive pedal on the market (besides the expensive boutique pedals, which I could not afford) It was the best one I came in contact with. I had a Boss SD-1, and it was all high end, and not natural sounding. I just with the tone control had more of a range. This little box certainly helps me make music, and it's not a pain in the ass to deal with. Email me if you think there are better overdrives out there, or if you have suggestions for my setup.

easy to use. pretty flexible.

strat>Boss TU2 tuner> TS9dx>voodoo labs OD (solo boost)>MXR phase 90> Mesa/Boogie Mark III > Orange 4X12 cab.
This is not a shredder pedal. this pedal will give you rich full sounding tube driven distortion, more flexible than the Ts9 but I don't think it nails the real Tubescreamer sound. I comes damn close though... the higher modes this pedal offers do in fact give it more drive, more sustain and more output. I like it better than the TS9 because I need a little more drive. I think most guitar players think that their favorite players have heavier tone than they actually do, this is a very popular pedal for a reason...It doesn't really color your amp too much, you overdrive your tube amp and it still sounds like your amp, your guitar and your playing. this won't pedal won't cover your mistakes but it will give you killer tone if you are good enough to use it.

built like a tank, never had a problem.
I would and do gig without a back up.

never had to call. this by the way is the only piece of Ibanez gear worth buying...I don't think I'dcall them if anything happened anyway, they put out such shitty guitars I don't think i could stomach talking to them, I would just break out the soldering iron and fix it my self...

I play hard rock and funky chili peppers type stuff.
I use it as my main overdrive cause I'm not a metal head and I like the naked response it gives me...It makes me play clean and use my hand and body to create long lasting notes instead of some high gain sustain'a'riffic pedal. this is a players pedal in my opinion. this pedal is for the dude who has reached the point of wanting to control his tone through his playing not have his pedals predict how his playing will sound. I like this overdrive better than the crunch channel on my Mesa, I think it's just a little less mid range-ish, mesa always has that mid honk you can't get rid of, but i find the combination of the two works... especially with single coils. If it were lost or stolen I would sell another pedal to go and buy this again. if you are looking for a high gain shredder pedal than you should look else where. if your looking for a classic rock/ hard rock/ bluesy / crunchy sounding overdrive this is it. I give it a 9 cause nothing is perfect.

Take a look at previous comments - nothing is changed ;)

I'm using Fender '83 MIJ Telecaster (SD "Distortion" humbucker in the bridge) -> Dynacord REX (old!) 40W tube (EL34) -> Marshall 4x12 1960AV

Effect is good. I've expected a lot more with the price I paid. It is probably the wekaest overdrive I've seen. I mean, there isn't too much drive! I have EHX Big Muff and it has 2 or 3 times more overdrive! TS9DX is only for blues and REALLY SOFT rock or if you just want to push your tube amp - it's perfect! Really high output! (haven't seen one like this!)

And about artists? I heard that almost everyone plays TS9 from SRV to Pearl Jam (the must use something with Ts9 because they sound much distorted). Well it's really, really good but can't be main overdrive/distortion if you want to play harder music. The sound which comes out of this effect is "sweeeeet". Nice, long, bluesy, cranked-tube. With this pedal forget grunge, heavy-metal, punk. This baby won't do this!

It's cute built and will last a very long time. It's just well built. It's heavy.

Never dealt with them.

Well, this is not a good match for my style. I play emo-punk and grungy stuff and some california punk (Weezer, Rentals, Pearl Jam, Offspring, Blink-182, Green Day). It just does not suit any of these styles/bands. It seems to be only created for blues sounds or for pushing tube amp, really. Sound is very very good, but it does not do "these" things for me I wanted. the "hot" switch isn't hot enough even to play Weezer stuff, which is deafinitely no Mesa-like. I rated here 6/10 because it does not fit my style, but man, I don't think that's sh*t, that's why I gave 9/10 for the sound quality. By the way - when you have Twin Reverb ot smth like that, buy this effect and you'll sound similiar to Placebo, I think. Try it before you buy.

Pretty easy. Descriptive labels on nobs are accurate. My pedal was modified by AnalogMan to 808 specs.

'81 fender precision bass -> ts9dx/808mod -> eden wt-500

Not exactly transparent, but less noisy than other pedals I've used. The AnalogMan 808 mod smoothed out the mod,+, and turbo settings which were a little too much to begin with.

Very nice sounding overdrive tones. I've had a hard time finding something like this that works with bass. Fulltone BassDrive and SansAmp Bass Driver were others that I had thought of trying, but the higher pricetags kept me away. Even without the mod, a good sounding bass overdrive that can be found used for around $70-80 pretty regularly.

Looks reliable. Owned a ts-9 reissue a while back and the footswitch ended up braking. Not sure if that's common or not.

Never dealt with them.

I had been contemplating changing amplifiers because my Eden can sound a little too modern; I'm sure there are better suited amps for what I play. However, the ts9dx and the Eden amp are a great match, I run it almost all the time. I would like to try running it through the effects loop to see how that effects the transparency of the effect, but I don't find this unit as noisy as others have noted.

four knobs and a stomp switch, pretty easy

the manufactors description of this pedal is way off. you do not grt more gain in the higher modes. just more bass. this pedal was intended to repl. my 20 yr old boss supr o.d. it has a hard time getting the job done. the only thing this pedal has going for it is all the hype other people give it. ill give it a 6 cuz thats what it deserves. it will push a tube amp into over drive.

its well built, ill give em that.

the thing i dislike about it is all the unusable extra sounds that they charge you extra for

real easy to figure out. Only the ts-9 setting has any use though. maybe the + can have it's moments.

This pedal is noisy. You gotta crank up some didtortion on the amp to get this thing half decent. This pedal, when off, seriously changes your tone - very shrill. This thing is obviously not true bypass. Put it in an effects chain, and you'll want to smash it with a hammer. It takes over everything. I would not call this pedal "transparent".
I'm playing a Jazzmaster and a 335 archtop through a vintage Silvertone tube amp. I have many other pedals, even a Keeley modded ts9, which sounds better but is still loud and also definately not true bypass. I like to play through a zvex FF to a zvex 2in1 to amp and this pedal does not belong in this chain. It could be my amp, or I'm not playing loud enough, but I'm not that impressed with the ts9 and ts9dx. I've tried moving it around in my chain of various pedals and it's pretty much the same. Sounds pretty good with a Keeley Java boost

who knows.

haven't tried.

I think the Keeley modded ts9 is worth owning, but the stock ts9dx is not worth the price and any setting past classic ts9 such as turbo and hot is completely useless.

it is really simple to use. mine is stock. no upgrades. i was thinking about getting it modded because it is a little trebley on the teeth but i want to hear a modded one first since i dont how much it would change the sound.

i use a wolfgang guitar to a dunlop wawa,fuzzface,ts9dx,univibe to a marshall valvestate 30 watt amp. the sound quality is pretty nice but sometimes you have to work it the right way so it isn't so trebly. it sounds way better with a marshall tube amp!!

it sounds great on a clean channel and can get a bluesy lead tone out of it. but when it comes to playing rhythm you usually have to turn the volume down on your guitar or turn the drive down a little so it isnt so dirty. i really like to use it on a distortion channel on a marshall amp. Setting the gain at half to three quarters and the contour all the way up bass at 5 and treble at 4 on a marshall amp with the tubescreamer drive on ten, level on ten and tone at your liking you can get a a nice la saturation sound. nice for artificial harmonics and leads. you get alot of feedback too with the amp on full distortion. it is good feedback though since it really has more sustain.

i like the pedal itself but if i lost it and had to replace it i would probably buy the ts9 not the dx because i personally couldnt fine any use for the added knob. it only really adds a crunch to your lower strings. but spending only ten bucks more for the dx you always have that option later down the road if the comes to use it.

i had it for nearly a year now and havent had any problems with it but i only gigged with it probably 15 times and took care of it. my friend had a ts9dx and he plays a real lot of gigs usually 3 a week and he complained to me that he changed 2 pots in it because they were wearing out and getting scratchy. so for a backup he bought a ts9(not the dx version) and he said by taking the back off he said it looks like the pots are stronger on the ts9 then on the ts9dx. i never had a problem though so ill rate it a ten

i never dealt with ibanez so i cant voice my opinion.

i have been playing 3 years and play hendrix to van halen to stev vai and stevie ray vaughn. and mostly 80's hairband music. i am not bragging but i am really expierenced and can play eruption, for the love of god and many many others note for note. i am only mentioning this so the reader can get an understanding of i know what i am talking about. but always try before you buy. i would buy another one if stolen. like i said before when used on the gain channel of a marshall amp(marshall only because thats all i really heard or played it on)it really adds alot of sustain. i tested it by hitting a note and allowing the note to sustain with out the tubescreamer on and then with it on. i cant remember how many seconds but it really does add sustain to your sound and is great to overdrive an allready driven tube amp.

i really hope this review helped!!

*if anyone reading this has a modded ts9 and would lke to let me know by email what it does to the sound it would be greatly appreciated.

Four knobs, they do what they say. Anyone with fingers can get a good sound out of this, although TS9, +, Hot, and Turbo basically all sound very similar.

My setup is an old Washburn WX-6->Ibanez TS9DX->Dunlop Crybaby->Fender Frontman 25R. Even with the crappy Guitar and Amp (I'm cheap)I can get a sweet sound. When using the neck singlecoil pickup I could get some nice high ends, but the lows were bland. Now, with the TS9DX, I get a great, bluesy bass tones. As everyone else said, this is not a metal distortion box. The only distortion I get is on TS9 mode with the drive past 12 O'clock, and even then it's not much. But all that is fine for my music (Blues).

You could probably run over it with a truck.

Never talked to 'em.

This was exactly what I was looking for, an overdrive box with little distortion to enhance my tone. The only sad thing is that it's worth more than my guitar.

The TS9DX is a straight forward, simple to figure out pedal (especially if you are already familiar with the TS9). The extra mode pot is able to push the drive without changing the character of the sound. The ac is standard to any IBANEZ, BOSS, or other pedals that are 9 volt with pos tip, this is great for anyone using comon power supplies, or daisy chain.

It's basically the TS9 (re-issue) sound with a little more kick. On bass, it'll help to achieve the TS9 sound without sounding weak, as is the case with the TS9. On guitar, the TS9 setting is more noticable, making the higher settings that much hotter. This pedal is all over drive and doesn't get to the stage of "distortion" so it's true to it's purpose.

The construction is good, aside from the controls. The smaller pots are a bit weak. I've already had to replace one. The chasis on the other hand is indestructable, and the stomp switch hasn't been a problem, nor should it with the history of the older SOUND TANK design.

When the pot broke, I had no support from any retailers, so I had to install a standard 500k pot myself.

I've been playing rock for many years, and tried many overdrives. I had a re-issue TS9 befor I recieved the DX. I play bass, but dable a bit in guitar, so I mainly use the DX with my bass rig which includes a hot rodded FENDER P-BASS with a DUNCAN BASSLINES QUARTERPOUND P, a J-BASS with EMGs and a MODULUS through an AMPEG SVT II through an SVT 810E and the plus settings cut through the frequencies better then the standerd TS9. On guitar using a GIBSON LES PAUL STUDIO (stock) the TS9 worked great, and the DX worked that much better. I recomend this pedal highly, even with the pots being the way they are. It has a better overall sound then alot of boutique pedals I've a/b'ed it with costing 2 or 3 times more.

easy...

Good sound quality. I can't expect any better from a pedal.

yes

I think this pedal is a must have. It has the hot position that is really useful, it pushes the amp and makes the tones break just a little to become really really cool. If you want more screaming you can set it to the TS9 orginal position. For blues rock this pedal is a must have. I use to play clean and have this pedal set to the hot position. Then it's better than clean and better than distortion... Go get it...

The turbo is very easy to use .I got mine @ Guitar Center in Knoxville
Tn.Plugged it in an went!!

'87 Am. Strat+ w/EMG PUs '59 Ventage frets, Maple N. I've got Marshall
212 Combo,Fender Power Chorus,Line-6 Flextone II, but have more fun
playing thru a GLX30 Crate in SOLO chan Gain on 5,SHAPE on 9 and LEV
just barely on 1.No noise at all with TS9DX in HOT W/DRIVE,LEV and TONE @ 5 and like them 2 guys say in that Dodge ad SWEEEEET!!

I've read about these pedals for years so I would say they were dependable.I havn't had mine long enough to reply

I've dealt with Guitar Center in the past and they have always been
very good to deal with and consistent.I like consistency!

I play all kinds from Blues to good ole Southern Rock and Roll for over 30 yrs.I have 2 LPCustoms Ebony W/Gold hdwe,an 84 and 96, a '52 reissue Butterscotch Tele,84 Gibson Exployer,a Danelectro ,Martin HD28
Flattop.

u dont need a manual for this one. probably the hardest part is setting the tone and level to get the overdrive sound each string clearly heard.

My setup: epiphone lp standard>dunlop crybaby>digitech rp200/ts9dx>Crate GX65. i was really amazed d first time i heard it. it has a very clean overdrive sound. a little tweaking is all u need to get that sound that ur looking for. its noiseless and u could use it to copy a pretty much any blues/rock song.

i know i can depend on it cuz artists use it (e.g. Kirk Hammett)definitely use it on a a gig. if it breaks, it either age or the users fault

n/a

DEFINITELY A PEDAL TO HAVE. if ur thinking of having it try ebay first.

it's easy to use! just 4 clearly labeled knobs. It tried to sell my children.

The sound is great. I bought it because it made me feel good at guitar center. I feel the extra settings are not really neccisary becuase they're too much bass and not enough gain. It does overcompress though. it's taking some getting used to. Sometimes I like to pee sitting down. Is that gay?

I have to stop inviting the homeless into my house. Last week this dude shat on my bed. Yeah, Ibanez is reliable

Never had to deal with them. Did anyone see star trek last night?

Overall, probabably one of the best overdrives you can buy for that money. If Sandy Duncan came over and busted it, I'd surely get another one. But first I would skin Sandy Duncan from head to toe and make a human jacket from her hide. I'd keep her freakin' glass eye though. That's freaky crap!

Not Hard, four knobs, one LED and crappy tone.

This is where the pedal really sucks ass. I'm running a les paul into reverend hellhound. This gives me the prettiest clean sound I've heard on my budget, but put the TS-9DX in the middle and all tone gone. Mud, Muddy, Muddier. The voicing knobs would be cool if they worked as described. The only setting I could stand to play was the TS-9 setting. And it still sucked out my tone. All the clarity of the sound was lost and turned into sludge. Any other tone setting was utter and complete crap. They took away gain and distortion and added mudd and crap. I can't understand this pedal's use for any style of music.

Seems reliable, traded for Guv' Nor 2, 2 days after I got it

don't know

I've been playing hard rock music for years and all this pedal does is suck all my years of practice out and replace it with the hands of a 4-year old. The 3 is for the TS-9 setting everything else sucks ass and deserves a 0.

The use of the ts9dx is pretty straight foward. What I don't like is that to get any kind of decent sound out of the 'Hot' and 'Turbo' selections requires too much tweaking to the amp and peddle settings, Way too much screwing around in a live setting.

My basic rig is a 91 Les Paul Studio>boss-ds1>ts9dx>small clone>69 twin silverface,The sound quality of the'ts9'and'+'settings are not bad,not great though, certianly not $120 worth,the hot and turbo settings going straight up the dial without adjustent is unusably muddy,the ts9 and + settings aren't very good unless the amp is cranked and at that volume I don't need a tube screamer. The peddle is extremely noisey, lots of background hiss and interference,and thats by itself put it on a chain and forget it. Right now I'm using to boost the ds-1 and thinking of selling it.

It hasn't broke yet and it seems to be pretty rugged

NA

I play a wide variety of music; R&B,classic rock, metal, alternative, been playing since the early seventies, To summerize this peddle: Very expensive stompbox, Requires too much adjustment to amp and box to get a good sound out of Hot and Turbo selections. ts9 and + sound quality is just ok and only at higher volume, peddle is extremely noisy and even noisier in chain.

Getting a good sound out of this pedal is very easy, but only on the TS9 and + modes. I found I had to really crank my amp to get decent tones from the HOT and TURBO modes. Other than that, easy as pie. The manual was kind of worthless (explained which part of the pedal to step on).

I don't use this box in my live setup anymore because I find I can get better tones out of my amplifier, plus the TS9DX muddies up my tone a little bit. I use an American FatStrat Texas Special through a Bud-Wah and then into a Fender-Twin (I don't use a footswitch). It also sounds VERY different through different amplifiers. On my Line 6 Spider, it produced a smooth overdrive with a lot of bottom end, while on my Twin, it cranks out a rich crunch with lots of sparkling highs. I couldn't find much use for the HOT and TURBO modes, they sound flat and hollow to me. However, when used at loud volumes, the HOT and TURBO modes work great for cutting through a thick mix and deliver a tone similar to that of SRV. THIS IS NOT A METAL DISTORTION BOX!

Hasn't broke yet. I would definately gig without a backup. It's built like a tank

I play a very diverse blend of musical styles including bluegrass, psychodelia, jazz, blues, rock, and jam music. If it were lost, I probably wouldn't replace it seeing that I don't use it anymore. I would suggest buying just a standard TS9 if you want that famous tube screamer tone, because I'm not so entusiastic about all 4 channels. I love how it responds to the nuances of my picking technique, and it is very dynamic (you can get clean AND crunch tones depending on how hard you play). I wish it had TON-LOK.

Simple to use and adjust. Typical effects pedal with minimal nonsense.

I use the ts9dx with a Marshall jcm 800 2203(circa 84',with EL34's). The only other effect I use is a Morley bad horsie wah. The tone I'm getting out of this setup is insane. I get the shivers every time I hit a G on the 6th with a gradual bend to full. My amp is set as follows:presence 4,bass 10(11 if possible),mid 6, treble 6, master 3.5 to 4, and pre amp to 10(also 11 if possible). If you are looking for Zakk Wylde tone without the feed back of the Boss SD-1, this is it, period. I use the turbo setting and I have the level around 1/4 and the tone knob all the way on.

I have had this for a few years and never had any trouble yet. I would and do gig without a spare.

Like I said, I have never had a promlem with it.

I play hard/metal type of rock. Thats the great thing about this thing. You can go from hard to gentle without doing anything. Just hit the strings a little lighter. It lets all the dynamics of your playing shine without coloring to much. If this pedal was lost or stolen, I would RUN to the store after I had a good cry! Not only does this thing help me make music, I think it writes some itself. Awesome.

Easy to use, but takes some time to mess with all 4 knobs to get a sound you'll like.

No manual needed.

Now, here's the deal. WHOEVER THINKS this pedal is some "screamin' distortion pedal" is seriously wrong, and it's NOT the pedal for any metalhead searching for that skull crushing distortion.

It IS a distortion pedal, a VERY MILD distortion pedal. Will give you some of the best 70's rock tones ever. If you love bands like Argent, Free, SRV, Santana, Deep Purple....this is THE pedal to get!

Now, I AM a metalhead, a BIG TIME METALHEAD, but I also LOVE to play that awesome 70's rock & blues. And since the day I got the TS9DX, this pedal is being used by me more & more every day. I have finally found a pedal that gives EXACT tones to songs such as "My Woman From Tokyo", "Hold Your Head Up", "Voodoo Child", "Hush", "I Feel Free" (Clapton), or anything by early Santana....etc

This pedal is so warm & when you finally find a pedal as versatile as this, you KEEP IT!

THIS IS NOT A HEAVY METAL DISTORTION PEDAL......PLEASE don't buy it, thinking it's going to give you "Pantera" crunch! IT WILL NOT!

Early Ibanez pedals, built very well! Nice hard springy footswitch, bright on/off lamp, and heavy steel construction.

Never dealt with them

I rate this pedal 100% Couldn't be any better!
Been playing for 20+ years, love everything from blues to metal.
If it were stolen, YES, I'd buy another Turbo tubescreamer right away!
I love this pedal because it's the absolute best pedal if you're a 70's rock nut. It gets damn near any 70's rock band tones, and does it well!

Helps me make music! As a matter of fact, I have seriously stopped playing metal for a while, because since I LOVE 70's hard rock & LOVE this pedal, I can really play all my old favorite songs, and play them correctly, with the proper tone.

I'LL SAY THIS ONE MORE TIME:
THIS IS NOT A HEAVY METAL DISTORTION BOX!!!! PLEASE DO NOT BUY IT, IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A HEAVY METAL DISTORTION!!!

It is SIMPLY an overdrive pedal, with a "tad" bit of distortion. But produces such warm tones. If you have a Strat, and love all the 70's rock, and blues, you need to get this pedal!

Four knobs, if you can't figuer it out, then you best seek another hobby.

Tryed it both on a fender blues junior and a marshall 1960 cab paired with a vs100h marshall head, running off a hot rodded esp with gibson 498's for pickups. The tone is great, loads of gain with a nice crunchy low end. It tends to be VERY bright on my setup so I lower my mids and highs when I'm just messing around, the mid range punch is great for cutting through a noisy drummer though. My only complaint would be that its not true bypass, you get a little faint buzzing, depending on the way its set. Through my fender amp, you couldn't really hear it, but through the marshall it was much more noticable. I was able to cancel most of it out by tweaking it a little, still was frustrating considering my setup was entirely silent before,

It's a brick, solid steel the whole way around. I would definately go giging without backup.

Never had to deal with 'em. Like I said before, its a brick.

I use this one for my blues/jazz stuff, and its great for it. Judging by the reliability of this pedal, I figuer I'll be rich enough to replace it with one of the boutique tube screamers that has true bypass. It worked great as an added gainstage with the amp distortion on my marshall, made the lows much more crunchy and threw in some nice sustain.