tubescreamer | Guitar Tone Talk

The Best Tube Screamer Pedals on the Market

Ah, the legendary Tube Screamer, first created by Ibanez was a benchmark pedal that really gave electric guitars great tone. They were designed to push your amp, and as the name suggests, it’ll make your notes scream out. This pedal was a big part of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s tone, which is a big reason why this pedal gained so much popularity. Today, there are many clones on the market, so this article will showcase the best tubescreamers out there.

Ibanez TS808 Vintage Tube Screamer Reissue

Of course the reissue of the famous Ibanez pedal needs to be on this list. But at the end of the day, it is not exactly like the original. That being said, it is still a very good rendition that many are very happy with. If you don’t know where to start, and don’t want to shell out a lot of money on boutique versions of the tube screamer, the Ibanez Reissue is a good middle ground. Ibanez also had a limited hand-wired run which I reckon would be even closer to the original sound. View the Ibanez TS808 on Amazon.

Maxon OD808 Overdrive

Maxon did an excellent job of their rendition of the tube screamer. Some say that Maxon’s is closest to that of the original pedal. At a good price point, and vintage styling, it is a great pick. The Maxon is also true-bypass, which preserves your tone when the pedal is off. View the Maxon OD808 on Amazon.

MJM Phantom Overdrive

Probably the best 808 replica on this list. The Phantom OD sounds very organic and maintain that vintage tone close to the original. MJM Electronics is widely know as a maker of vintage sounding effects, and this pedal is no different. MJM used to have another tube scream style pedal called the Blues Devil, which was great, but it looks to be discontinued.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, if you want to get even closer to the original vintage pedal, Analogman offers a good mod kit that helps achieve this with modern day tube screamers. Definitely worth looking into.

How to Get a Good Blues Tone

This is a Guest Post by Guitarist and Published Author, Brian Reed.

BB King and Eric Clapton Who hasn’t heard Albert, B.B. or Freddie King, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, or Eric Clapton and thought, “Damn, I want my guitar to sound like that.”

There is no blueprint for good blues tone. Since there are so many distinct blues styles, there are likely iconic bluesmen that have used a setup similar to yours. Blues legends have used single coil and humbucker-based guitars, tube and solid-state amps, pedals and just plugging straight into the amp. Here are some rules of thumb that can help you get good tone no matter your setup.

Great blues guitarists know just how to manipulate their guitars to get multiple different evocative tones. They use the pickup selection, tone and volume knobs on their guitar to change tone rather than changing channels on their amp or using a pedal.

If you have a dual humbucker guitar, familiarize yourself with the way the guitar sounds using both the neck and bridge humbuckers. Then, experiment with rolling off the volume and see how it impacts the sound. Some blues players have the volume on their neck pickup rolled back for rhythm and the bridge pickup volume all the way up for solos. Other players may have both volumes on full and use the neck pickup for slower, vocal-sounding solos, then switch to the bridge for more sustained, singing or trebly, biting solos.

For Strat-style guitars, listen with how the tone changes when you move between the five different pickup positions and the ways they can affect the emotional impact of a solo. Most Strat-style guitars don’t have multiple volume knobs to set different pickups at different levels, but you can still manually roll the volume back while playing rhythm and bring the level back for solos.

Dial your amp’s gain or volume so that when your guitar’s volume is set at 10, the amp has a nice singing sustain. Blues doesn’t typically incorporate over the top high gain, but you want a tone that has a nice vocal quality to it and that requires a little overdrive. If you don’t know where to begin, start with all the knobs at 12 o’clock and then you can adjust the gain up from there. Most tube amps sound best when the volume is pushed to create natural overdrive rather than adding distortion.

Pedals aren’t essential for blues but some players will add a touch of amp reverb or tremolo to their signal. However, more dynamic effects like delay, chorus or other modulation effects aren’t necessary.

Some players also use an overdrive or other type of boost pedal to push their solos to another level. There are hundreds of Tube Screamers clones, first popularized by Stevie Ray Vaughan, which can add a throaty, midrange voiced overdrive to your tone. Or, if you have a darker sounding amp, like a Marshall, you might look for a treble booster like the Dallas Rangemaster pedal similar to what Eric Clapton used with his Marshall Bluesbreaker. There are lots of boost pedals on the market that have transparent characteristics, but give a little extra push to the front end of the amp to enhance the sound.

Whatever your setup, it is important to remember that great blues tone is much more about feel and emotion than expensive gear.

How to get Stevie Ray Vaughan Tone

In the electric world of the blues, there has been many guitarists who have set the standard in regards to playing, feeling, and tone. Among these guitarists are BB King, Albert King, Freddie King, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, etc. These guitarists started out quite early, playing a lot of gigs in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. They showed the world how the blues should sound on electric guitar. Pretty much, these guys were untouchable. However, in the 80s’, a man by the name of Stevie Ray Vaughan came on the scene, and blew everyone out of the water with his amazing energy and godly technique. His bluesy style sounded like a mix of Jimi Hendrix and Albert King. And his tone was hot. So hot that it was on fire! Very biting and in your face, SRV’s sound was enough to knock you off your feet! Lets take a look at ways to cop his tone, so us mere mortals can get a taste of the Texas blues.

First off, we’ll talk about SRV’s amps. Its common knowledge that he was a fan of Fender tube amps. He really liked Vibroverbs and Super Reverbs, usually running them in stereo to fatten up his sound. SRV’s clean tone was quite amazing, which is what Fender amps are popular for. Of course he ran his amps cranked in order to get that tube saturation.

Though just having the amp cranked definitely wasn’t enough overdrive for those rippin’ solos. Stevie used an Ibanez TS-808 tubescreamer to get his tone on the edge. In fact, sometimes he even used two of these pedals at once.

When it comes to the guitar, SRV was huge into Stratocasters. His main guitar looked quite beat up/relic’d which added to his look. The pickups in his strats are generally hotter than most other pickups. Using Fender Texas Specials will get you there. If you really want the sound, there is a SRV American Strat on the market, that looks just like his number 1. Also, don’t forget about the strings, as they play a big role in his tone. SRV often used quite heavy strings, 12s or 13s.

Other pedals Stevie would use are a Vox Wah, and a Univibe. For the wah, a Teese Picture Wah will do the job. And for the Univibe, either a Megavibe or Aquavibe will get you to the authentic vibes.

Once you get the rig set up, the last thing to do is analyze his playing, as his pick attack can get an array of different sounds. Check out the songs Texas Flood and Lenny, and take everything in. Those songs will help you get a feel for the tone. Have fun!