TS, Which One to Choose? - 9 and 808

The fiscal year is finally coming to an end. On a personal note, I moved in February. With a fresh start and a renewed mindset, I hope to continue to write about various guitar topics as usual. I hope everyone will continue to stay with me.

Sorry to be abrupt, but please take a look at this gem.

Here is the Ibanez TS-808 45th Anniversary Limited Edition! The blue lamé looks so cool, doesn’t? I bought it as a housewarming gift (?) to cheer myself up. I had no connection with the TS-808 since I gave it away a long time ago. I had to buy it when this bright blue one was released just as I was about to buy TS-808.
Then I looked up and saw...

Here it is. Along with the TS-808, the TS9 is one of the two most popular models of the many tube screamers, and this one is what I keep in my work space. Then it occurred to me. I thought to myself, “Well, I’ve played each of them individually, but I’ve never owned them at the same time and compared them.”
So, the introduction has been long, but in this article, I will do a quick comparison of the Ibanez tube screamers, the TS9 and TS-808! This is not a detailed comparison of the same settings, but a comprehensive comparison of the different settings. *This is a personal opinion, so there are many parts that depend on the person. Thank you for your understanding.

TS-808

The moment I turned it on, I heard a reassuring sound. This is it, folks. It is a sound so familiar that there probably isn’t anyone who doesn’t like it.

When used by itself, it doesn’t significantly boost the mids, but rather slightly increases the midrange while cleaning up the frequencies in gaps, giving the impression that the mids, high-mids, and sometimes even the highs stand out, depending on the tone placement. I can understand why it would sound better when played through a tube amp. The position of the gain knob where distortion starts is relatively early, at 9 to 10 o’clock in my setting, but the range from there to the max is not so wide. The core part remains until the end, so even if you play a chord and it’s quite heavily distorted, it remains quite clean when you play a single note. The effect must have been greatly enhanced in the overtone part. The sustain is also very light. However, thanks to the underlying comp feeling, I feel that I can play it very comfortably. It was like a tube screamer with a sense of transparency.

TS9

The moment I turned it on, I heard a reassuring sound. This is it, folks. It is a sound so familiar that there probably isn’t anyone who doesn’t like it (I said this for the second time).
No, the TS9 was different from the TS-808. But let me tell you first: They are both tube screamer sounds. I felt it strongly.

Here are the features of TS9. First of all, the gain is clearly higher, and it’s not just my imagination. The distortion starts before 9 o’clock, and at the max level, the distortion is so strong that the core of the sound seems to be slightly crushed. I also feel that the midrange feel, or rather the assertiveness, has become stronger. While I had the impression that the well-organized frequency range in gaps remains, I felt that it is more suited for harder music. I also felt that this pedal is more like a comp feeling when distorted than when played clean, and it is pleasant to play even though it is crudely distorted. It was like a tube screamer as an overdrive pedal.

By the way...

The units I played for comparison this time are still available in the market, although the TS-808 as well as the TS9 are a bit older. The op-amps are unglazed JRC4558 on both. Furthermore, the PCBs are almost the same. I hope you could tell from the comparison that there are quite a few differences... It is surprising how much difference just a few resistors with different values can make. I am getting obsessed with all these small differences, and that’s the best comparison result I got this time.

Be careful not to buy too much equipment!!!!

P.S.
I just bought a wah pedal from Vox, a Vintage Real McCoy. Okay folks, I’ll repeat this again; Don’t buy too much equipment!