Ibanez Review: TS9 Tube Screamer

History:

Purchase: I purchased the TS9 Tube Screamer at Midwest Drum and Percussion in Wichita, KS. I shelled out $99 US dollar for the TS9, the best deal I've seen at any store. Most of the time the TS9 is being sold for around $150. You can get it on the net for $99 but this was the first time I'd seen it in a store so cheap. The fact that an issue of Musicians Friend.com was sitting on the counter probably influenced the pricing. I wanted to play one to see what all the fuss was about before I bought it. (I was intending to order it online; until they were able to match the online price) So,I plugged it into a Fender Amp to give it a 'test drive.'

What I Like About This Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer: I love to play old rock and blues guitar, so I instantly fell in love with the pedal. It drives the amp really nicely, but doesn't distort it too much. I have other overdrive pedals (I'd been trying to resist the TS9 since lots of people rave about it; I guess I always have to be different) but the other overdrives I own tend to be more distortion than overdrive. SRV was supposedly really into the TS, and I can see why. The tone comes through really nicely. I play a US strat (white blonde) through a Tube 30 (cheap amp that is an excellent buy) and the TS9 sounds great through it. The pedal is really simple to use. It consists of 3 knobs: Overdrive, Tone, and Level. The overdrive adjust the amount of distortion, the tone knob adds the amount of desired bite, and the level knob controls the level of the distorted sound. All in all it's a great little pedal. I admit it, I'm a Stevie Ray Vaughabe, so the tone is great for me. It has that nice "Texas Flood" sound.

What I Do NOT Like About The Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer: As far as dislikes go, I really can't think of any. I love the pedal and now my wife is upset with me because I have several pedals, but really only use the TS9. I guess I should have purchased the Tube Sreamer first.

Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer Quality Rating: The pedal is built to last. It's made of Zinc die cast construction, which means it's built like a brick $%@#house. It's green, which I'm not sure is good or bad, but the construction of the pedal is good quality.

Review Summary: The pedal is very nice. It's not quite the same sound as the old TS808, but it's really close. You can always modify it, or have it modified to 808 specs if you desire. For $99 dollars it's a great deal. If you like SRV and Clapton style of music, you really can't be without one of these pedals.

Rating of this Ibanez product: 5

This Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer Guitar Effects Review Submitted By: Jason

Review Date: 2001-07-06