IndyGuitarist TS-9 Mod

Modded or unmodded its still a three knob pedal so the tube screamer will get a nearly perfect score here. Volume appears to be increased, tone seems to be the same harsh noise as when the pedal was stock, drive knob seems to have more distortion on tap then in stock form. One point is taken away because its a pedal with a tone knob rather than a 3-band EQ so there is a small learning curve here

I have two original TS-808 pedals and one Analogman modded T-808 reissue for comparison and well... there realy is no comparison here. This pedal has added bass and distortion, but at the cost of its tone and sweet sound. When A/B testing you certainly notice the extra bass and added distortion, but the clarity is gone. It sounds very flubby and fake to my ears. Its almost like a mix between a fuzz pedal and tube screamer now. HC suggests i tell you my setup now so here goes... I'm using a japanese made Ibanez RG Prestige with DiMarzio PAF Pro and Norton Humbuckers into a Fender 57 Tweed Twin amp. I'll also use a Les Paul with 57 Classics from time to time. I give it a low score because i much prefer even the sound of a stock TS-9 to this.

Its technically still an Ibanez tube screamer and they do have their share of problems such as switches that are prone to failure, and also the pots and jacks must be tight because the pedal chasis is used a ground. If you pedal ever stops working suddenly, make sure the pots and jacks are tight and you can save yourself a nice repair bill. A few points are taken away here because of contruction issues.

can't answer here, did not contact the Indyguitarist.

I've experimented with mods myself so i'm always interested in new things invloving the tube screamer. I was still excited to hear something new and tried to keep an open mind, but this mod was very disappointing from both an audio and technical point of view. A look inside shows that the output resistors are still unchanged. Heck, the stock TA75558P chip is still in there. The only changes were to the distortion limited resistor and a few caps which explains the tone. To be fair, some people may like this, but i'm not one of them.

Very easy to use. . . as is any Tube Screamer. . . just hit the footswitch and shes on.

Now here is where I think personal taste really effects things. A friend of mine got a modded TS-9 by someone in town, and I heard it and loved it. I asked him what kind of mod it was and he said "Indyguitarist." So I decided, instead of ordering one and having the local guy do it, I'd order it straight from indy guitarist. About 2 and half weeks later I recieved the pedal. . . it was not the same mod that my buddy had haha. It was much louder. . . with the level on 12 o clock it added way too much volume. . . I can see where this may come in handy for some, but not I. As for tone quality, It seemed more like a fuzz box than a warm overdrive. It was supposed to add bass response. . . but I couldn't get a good tone out of it for the life of me. Now it could be that I play a Gibson Les Paul Standard out of an Orange AD30. . . and it just doesn't match up well.

Needless to say, I took it to the local guy andd he said he does the analogman mod. . . and I had it remodded to those specs (love it!).

no different than an unmodded ts-9

Brian is an awesome guy. Emails you right back. . . and is always very informative. I am sure that If I wanted to return the pedal he would not have had any problem with it all. In fact his page specifically says something to the effect of "not all pedals will sound good with your gear. . . if you are not pleased, send it back." I just happened to not prefer this mod.

No changes in the physical controls. There is a large Blue LED which replaces the stock LED. Level, Tone, and Drive. Pretty simple to set up.

I probably should give this a ten, but no piece of gear is perfect.

I have an old Ibanez TS-9 Tubescreamer, made in '82 or '83, one of the early green monsters that alot of players rave about and pay big bucks for. The guy I got mine from never heard of Velcro and had drilled two holes in the bottom of the housing to attach the pedal to a pedalboard. Because of this I can't really sell it as a collectible pedal. If I could have, I would have sold it long ago for the $200 or $250 whatever other insane figure these sell for. Personally, I'd never pay that kind of money for any single function pedal, but that's me. Now I'm glad I still have it, however.

With folks like Analogman and Keeley making alot of noise about pedal mods I thought I'd try one for my TS-9. I sent mine to Brian Wampler, of IndyGuitarist. I sent it to him because he has a good reputation, plus a friend recommended him to me; And, he lives only about 80 miles from where I do. I can go knock on his door if I don't get my pedal back, right? Ha!

I got my pedal back in one piece and it now has one of those large blue LED's. Maybe somebody will think it's a Keeley. But it's a "Wampler." (Keeley doesn't have such a good reputation for nothing, I'm sure of that, so that's definitely no dig at him.) I'm not going to go into a rundown of my guitars and amps. Its the same that I used with the pedal before so that's a good reference in itself. I will say that I generally favor Strat type guitars and tube amps. I also have a Parker with full-size humbuckers.

Before the mod this pedal was the "one trick pony" you typically hear about as a description of Tubescreamers. It was definitely very strong in the mids and my particular pedal always seemed to have a bit too much grit in the high end. Some players like that sound, but not me. Now the pedal is much more versatile. It still has solid mids but with added bass to better round-out the tone. The drive is much more adjustable from just barely on to a full-blown overdrive sound. I'm not sure if my memory is correct on this one, but it seems to have more overall gain available to use the pedal to easier overdrive an amp if that's how I want to use it. My guitar's own character does not get lost in a fuzzy wall of sound like it does with some distortion or overdrive pedals. I can cut back the guitar volume and cut-back the overdrive, just like I prefer. So, it is very responsive to the guitar's output and picking dynamics. And the "grit" is gone, and replaced with a smoother top end. This is what I asked Brian to do and this is what he did. You can't ask for more than that. The pedal sounds much more "open" now. That's a word that is used alot to describe good-sounding pedals. I don't know exactly how to describe it, but it's something you recognize when you hear it.

My Parker, with the full-size humbuckers, sounds great with this pedal. Previously I played only single coil type guitars with this Tubescreamer. Not everyone will agree, but I think that stock Tubescreamers are at their best with single coil type guitars since they have that strong mid emphasis. YMMV.

This pedal has been around for 20 plus years with no problems. I don't know why a mod should change the reliability.

This is where IndyGuitarist really shines. Great one-on-one support and Brian will go the distance to please the customer.

Try his web site - www.indyguitarist.com - listen to the clips, and decide for yourself. He does the mods, or you can order mod kits with instructions to do them yourself. I ordered two mod kits for pedals which I intend to do myself. His prices are listed at the site and are reasonable. He offers a large variety of standard mods or will give you another tone mod at your request. You describe what you want, if you know what you want, and I'm pretty sure he can nail it for you.