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heads on fire « Great circuit, bad housing. »
Published on 09/09/11 at 16:26This pedal is like most others - it has the standard 1/4" in and out. Controls are volume, tone, and drive. Has a stomp switch for on and off, which feels extremely flimsy. Cheapo plastic housing. I'm marking off for the housing and switch, but I realize in making them out of plastic, Ibanez makes the product more affordable.
UTILIZATION
The TS5 is an extremely simple unit. It is your basic Tube Screamer pedal. It is very easy to use - plug in, step on it, and wail! Not much rocket surgery to be performed here - it is very straightforward. It will provide signal boost, extra sustain, and more gain.
SOUND QUALITY
This sounds great on guitars and bass. My favorite use for this pedal is to experiment with modifications! I "circuitbent" this, and got some out of this world fuzz tones, interesting bit-crushing type gated sounds, and a very vocal tone sweep. So it is fantastic for that.
However, most people will use it as a standard overdrive box, and it's not bad at that - it is warm, round, and lets the notes sing just a bit. It seems like a very small tube amp that's cranked - it has that nice note-bloom quality. It can be a touch muddy, but that's expected at this price, right?
OVERALL OPINION
As a stock box, my opinion is mixed. The sounds are good, but the housing stinks! I'd never want to take this to a gig as-is because I fear that the plastic would shatter from repeated stompings. The pedal has not been made for a while, and I wish Ibanez would reissue it in an upgraded housing.
When modded, the sounds are FANTASTIC, and I just ended up rehousing mine anyways. I'd buy another again for cheap just to mod, but not to keep stock.
UTILIZATION
The TS5 is an extremely simple unit. It is your basic Tube Screamer pedal. It is very easy to use - plug in, step on it, and wail! Not much rocket surgery to be performed here - it is very straightforward. It will provide signal boost, extra sustain, and more gain.
SOUND QUALITY
This sounds great on guitars and bass. My favorite use for this pedal is to experiment with modifications! I "circuitbent" this, and got some out of this world fuzz tones, interesting bit-crushing type gated sounds, and a very vocal tone sweep. So it is fantastic for that.
However, most people will use it as a standard overdrive box, and it's not bad at that - it is warm, round, and lets the notes sing just a bit. It seems like a very small tube amp that's cranked - it has that nice note-bloom quality. It can be a touch muddy, but that's expected at this price, right?
OVERALL OPINION
As a stock box, my opinion is mixed. The sounds are good, but the housing stinks! I'd never want to take this to a gig as-is because I fear that the plastic would shatter from repeated stompings. The pedal has not been made for a while, and I wish Ibanez would reissue it in an upgraded housing.
When modded, the sounds are FANTASTIC, and I just ended up rehousing mine anyways. I'd buy another again for cheap just to mod, but not to keep stock.