« a classic overdrive!  »

The TS-9 has been a staple overdrive pedal for many years. It's been reissued, and modified and reissued, and then copied, and then reinvented etc. It goes on!
The one i'm reviewing is just a standard reissue, not the ts 808 version which, for years has been said to be the better sounding with the original circuit. Though I try not to get mixed up in all of that, it just confuses the hell out of me. The difference is so subtle that you'd have to own both or be a/bing both to notice the difference.

UTILIZATION

Simple and easy to use.

Tone shape the overall sound from 'dark' to 'bright'

Level controls the overall output

Drive controls the overall amount of gain.

This is an overdrive pedal, and can be used in mainly 3 ways.

1. As a clean boost

2. As a bluesy overdrive

3. As a high-gain/metal boost!

SOUND QUALITY

1. As a clean boost:

Decent, though though not transparent in terms of being a clean boost. It adds mids which is subjective to how you have everything else set. It can also add dirt.

2. As a bluesy overdrive:

Great! Listen to some live SRV for the bluesy tones to die for! Mixed in with just the right amount of dirt through a strat or humbucker equipped guitar and a decent tube amp you'll get some great classic blues sounds.

3. As a high gain/metal boost:

Awesome with modern amps! A lot of metal amps today have a naturally scooped sound. Boosting the signal with a TS9 brings back some mids, not too much, but just enough to get a very saturated, yet clear distortion. Of course it adds noise as do all other overdrive pedals used in this type of situation. For years, this has been one of the main ways to go for achieving a great saturated metal tone. I personally prefer it for only modern sounding amps, for vintage amps I prefer the sd-1. The TS and the sd-1 are like polar opposites, so they should be used as so.


OVERALL OPINION

This is a great product that retains its used value as it's one of the most impersonated overdrive pedals out there today.

Known for both blues use and high gain metal, it's quite versatile! Though it is not true bypass. It is still very good at what it does.

Good, sturdy, reliable and consistent tone!