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ejendres « Great Tube Screamer »
Published on 10/08/11 at 22:36The TS7 is a really cheap version of the Tubescreamer. It has the added feature of a 'hot' switch. The hot switch takes your normal Tubescreamer sound and adds a bunch more gain.
A cool feature of this Tubescreamer is the knobs push into the pedal case. You can pop them out, set them how you want them, and then push them back in. This makes it impossible to accidentally tweak your setting while gigging.
As far as I understand it this pedal is just a few component values off from the original TS808 circuit. Having owned both this pedal and a TS808 clone at the same time I can safely say there is little to no difference when the hot switch is disengaged.
This pedal is built like a tank, you'd have to try to break it.
UTILIZATION
Its setup like your classic tube screamer with an extra switch. It has tone, level, and gain. Its pretty much as simple as it gets.
SOUND QUALITY
I've only ever used this with guitar.
With the hot switch disengaged it works just like a tubescreamer should. Mild OD, great for slamming the front end of a barely broken up tube amp. Sounds gorgeous.
I believe it has a buffered bypass, but its still a very transparent pedal. When bypassed it doesn't color your tone.
The hot switch brings something new to the table. When its engaged this pedal has tons of gain. In my opinion more then you'll ever need with this type of pedal. The Tubescreamer circuit really shines when its boosting a tube amp, by itself its nothing special. The hot switch takes that nothing special tone and just gives it way more gain. The worst part is that is also jacks up the noise floor to the point that its essentially unusable due to noise.
OVERALL OPINION
The think I like least is the hot switch. Its a completely useless and unnecessary feature in my opinion.
That said, with the hot switch disengaged this pedal is pretty much a TS808. Which is a thing of beauty.
You can find these things used for less than thirty dollars. At that price there is no reason not to buy one. I sold mine because I built an exact clone of a TS808, and honestly I would have been just as happy if I had just stuck with the TS7.
A cool feature of this Tubescreamer is the knobs push into the pedal case. You can pop them out, set them how you want them, and then push them back in. This makes it impossible to accidentally tweak your setting while gigging.
As far as I understand it this pedal is just a few component values off from the original TS808 circuit. Having owned both this pedal and a TS808 clone at the same time I can safely say there is little to no difference when the hot switch is disengaged.
This pedal is built like a tank, you'd have to try to break it.
UTILIZATION
Its setup like your classic tube screamer with an extra switch. It has tone, level, and gain. Its pretty much as simple as it gets.
SOUND QUALITY
I've only ever used this with guitar.
With the hot switch disengaged it works just like a tubescreamer should. Mild OD, great for slamming the front end of a barely broken up tube amp. Sounds gorgeous.
I believe it has a buffered bypass, but its still a very transparent pedal. When bypassed it doesn't color your tone.
The hot switch brings something new to the table. When its engaged this pedal has tons of gain. In my opinion more then you'll ever need with this type of pedal. The Tubescreamer circuit really shines when its boosting a tube amp, by itself its nothing special. The hot switch takes that nothing special tone and just gives it way more gain. The worst part is that is also jacks up the noise floor to the point that its essentially unusable due to noise.
OVERALL OPINION
The think I like least is the hot switch. Its a completely useless and unnecessary feature in my opinion.
That said, with the hot switch disengaged this pedal is pretty much a TS808. Which is a thing of beauty.
You can find these things used for less than thirty dollars. At that price there is no reason not to buy one. I sold mine because I built an exact clone of a TS808, and honestly I would have been just as happy if I had just stuck with the TS7.