Tube Screamer FAQ Version 1
- Thread starter JBroll
- Start date
Dropped a bollock today when I started the 808 mod on my ts9. 
I was following the instructions of the mod and it says to take out the screw holding the circuit board and gently pull it down. The circuit board wouldnt budge at all! No matter how I tried the board just wouldnt move. Its stuck from underneath somehow. Anyway, Ive very slightly cracked the edge of the board which has resulted in the pedal now being fucked! I must have broken the trace on the edge I reckon!
Thing is I reckon the board will completley snap if I try any harder to pull it down and there's definatley something holding it underneath at the top edge!
As its fucked already maybe I should just try and yank the fucker out??? Nothing to lose I guess!
Any ideas as to why the board is stuck like this
www.ascapestudios.com
I was following the instructions of the mod and it says to take out the screw holding the circuit board and gently pull it down. The circuit board wouldnt budge at all! No matter how I tried the board just wouldnt move. Its stuck from underneath somehow. Anyway, Ive very slightly cracked the edge of the board which has resulted in the pedal now being fucked! I must have broken the trace on the edge I reckon!
Thing is I reckon the board will completley snap if I try any harder to pull it down and there's definatley something holding it underneath at the top edge!
As its fucked already maybe I should just try and yank the fucker out??? Nothing to lose I guess!
Any ideas as to why the board is stuck like this
www.ascapestudios.com
Pinebox
Deal With It.
Thank you for this thread, it was very informative. I think I will pick up a DIY kit and build one for the hell of it. Any suggestions for where to get one? This is what I dug up, and what I will probably go with:
http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=82&Itemid=26
But I am open to recommendations if anyone else has built one.
http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=82&Itemid=26
But I am open to recommendations if anyone else has built one.
MarkG
Member
Read the thread, but didn't see a lot on the Bad Monkey OD. I already have it (was a gift), and I don't know how this one differs from all the others. Would there be a significant difference between this and say the TS-7? For our high gain purposes anyway.
Thanks! This is an amazing thread by the way
Thanks! This is an amazing thread by the way
AudioGeekZine
arsehole know-it-all
Anyone want to come on the Home Recording Show as a guest host and attempt to explain this Tube Screamer for metal thing in your own words?
PM me if you do.
At the risk of sounding like a complete dick, fluent English only please.
PM me if you do.
At the risk of sounding like a complete dick, fluent English only please.
I'm not at all happy to be posting much in this thread - especially since bazillions of people must have subscribed to this thread long ago and subsequently found themselves distracted by much more interestingly shiny things - but I have to get something out.
As is no secret, I've lately been all but unable to say anything interesting about the technology behind noisy bits. This is largely due to my enrollment in advanced studies not at all related to audio work, and also partially due to being heavily medicated at times and having to pull myself out of the loop for sanity's sake.
I have, in the four-plus years since this thread was started, been getting a number of very helpful and lovely suggestions and offers - and it is absolutely shameful that I can do so little about them. This weekend one finally broke the camel's back - a free pedal, solely for tinkering's sake, to help this once-tiny seed of nonsense invade even more territory. As much as I would love to do anything whatsoever to play with more shiny things, I just reached the end of my rope a long time ago. It is clear that someone - literally anybody but me with some technical abilities and time to tinker - could do a better job with further investigations into the territory I once dared to start charting, and for this reason I hope that somebody - anybody - can take it upon themselves to say anything new at all, especially in light of the fact that I keep getting offers to try to describe another fun toy built in the same general mindset as our lovely Tube Screamers.
Between the thesis I'm supposed to write (Ha!), the jobs that I'm supposed to properly finish (Ha-Ha!), and the coursework that I'm supposed to master (Ha- ... -ha!) I know that there are several people who have posted in this thread alone - and dozens who have regularly posted on this forum - who could contribute a lot if they had gotten the perks and free things that have lately been offered to me. I would even be happy to put some money of my own into saying more about the ever-increasing list of options in the lovely land of TS-type pedal variants. It would be stupid for me to not advertise this offer for almost-free things - at only the small cost of writing up objective reports on how they differ - to the far more competent people who I should have commissioned to finish the mess I started, so...
... if you, or anyone you know, is interested in tidying this mess up, trying some new things, and being as awesome as I wish I could have been when I was 19 and short of things (and brunettes) to do, I will give you things. Other people will, too. Free things. For you. Do it. You can be cool like your favoritest people ever. Please. Yes. You. Now. AAAAA. My dreams are dying, and I must live vicariously through you... also, free things for you. Right. Someone far less useless needs to take advantage of the things that I've been offered and unable to try, so keep the spirit of the forum alive and play with some fun shiny things.
Have fun.
Jef
As is no secret, I've lately been all but unable to say anything interesting about the technology behind noisy bits. This is largely due to my enrollment in advanced studies not at all related to audio work, and also partially due to being heavily medicated at times and having to pull myself out of the loop for sanity's sake.
I have, in the four-plus years since this thread was started, been getting a number of very helpful and lovely suggestions and offers - and it is absolutely shameful that I can do so little about them. This weekend one finally broke the camel's back - a free pedal, solely for tinkering's sake, to help this once-tiny seed of nonsense invade even more territory. As much as I would love to do anything whatsoever to play with more shiny things, I just reached the end of my rope a long time ago. It is clear that someone - literally anybody but me with some technical abilities and time to tinker - could do a better job with further investigations into the territory I once dared to start charting, and for this reason I hope that somebody - anybody - can take it upon themselves to say anything new at all, especially in light of the fact that I keep getting offers to try to describe another fun toy built in the same general mindset as our lovely Tube Screamers.
Between the thesis I'm supposed to write (Ha!), the jobs that I'm supposed to properly finish (Ha-Ha!), and the coursework that I'm supposed to master (Ha- ... -ha!) I know that there are several people who have posted in this thread alone - and dozens who have regularly posted on this forum - who could contribute a lot if they had gotten the perks and free things that have lately been offered to me. I would even be happy to put some money of my own into saying more about the ever-increasing list of options in the lovely land of TS-type pedal variants. It would be stupid for me to not advertise this offer for almost-free things - at only the small cost of writing up objective reports on how they differ - to the far more competent people who I should have commissioned to finish the mess I started, so...
... if you, or anyone you know, is interested in tidying this mess up, trying some new things, and being as awesome as I wish I could have been when I was 19 and short of things (and brunettes) to do, I will give you things. Other people will, too. Free things. For you. Do it. You can be cool like your favoritest people ever. Please. Yes. You. Now. AAAAA. My dreams are dying, and I must live vicariously through you... also, free things for you. Right. Someone far less useless needs to take advantage of the things that I've been offered and unable to try, so keep the spirit of the forum alive and play with some fun shiny things.
Have fun.
Jef
hsnyder
Harris Snyder
Hm. Well then, consider this an open invitation - anybody who would be willing to update this thread with details about the digitech bad monkey - I offer one to you for the cost of shipping. It could be someone who wants to take the circuit apart, schem it out, and analyze it from an engineering perspective, or even someone who owns 3 tubescreamers and is interested in doing extensive comparisons with the bad monkey. Basically what I'm looking for is I want this thread to describe in excruciating detail, the differences between the bad monkey and tubescreamers in general. The question of which way to go (TS or BM) comes up a lot, and this thread would benefit from analysis IMO.
I have no time to do this, even though I do know a thing or two about EE. So whoever wants it, its yours.
I have no time to do this, even though I do know a thing or two about EE. So whoever wants it, its yours.
JakeAC5253
Frozen Sun Audio
- Nov 19, 2010
- 936
- 1
- 18
Did anyone jump on this yet? I am a lover of the TS breed as well as overdrives in general, and have been curious of the BM for a while, having never played one. I could do professional reamping mixtests through the BM and a few other overdrives at my disposal, clip demos of my work in my sig. I could also try to analyze the circuit as well. I understand that the new models are SMD based, which would make it a bit more difficult, but should be doable. Do you want the BM returned to you? And with no mods?
hsnyder
Harris Snyder
Rex Rocker
Call me Hugo!
Figured I'd post this here:
I just got one of those MXR Classic Overdrive pedals that's basically a ZW-OD/GT-OD in a cheaper box.
I have a few questions about it, tho, that maybe you guys can help me answer.
It's a pretty well-known fact that these have a little switch on the inside that turns it into either ZW-OD or GT-OD. I'm guessing it has to do with enabling asymmetrical (the ZW is basically a modded DS-1) or symmetrical clipping. I'm curious as to which side is which, tho.
One side (right) is louder than the other as far as output goes. The gain is less compressed-feeling, meaning I feel there's a bit less "overdrive" on tap. There's a characteristic TS-type of bass cut, but this setting cuts less bass than the other.
The other side's (left) overdrive is more compressed-sounding. There seems to be a little more "drive" on tap on this side. The overall output is also less. This side also cuts more bass than the other.
So which side do you think is doing what?
Also... So far, I've ran it most of the time on the side that cuts the most bass. However, I feel reaching unity gain's kinda difficult here, since it's quieter than the other. I'm using EMG's (81TW/60), which are loud pickups, yeah, but I have to have the output cranked in the pedal (drive set to 8:00-8:30-ish, tone 12:00-ish), and I still feel I could use just a tiny tiny bit more kick out of it... is this normal?
Thanks.
I just got one of those MXR Classic Overdrive pedals that's basically a ZW-OD/GT-OD in a cheaper box.
I have a few questions about it, tho, that maybe you guys can help me answer.
It's a pretty well-known fact that these have a little switch on the inside that turns it into either ZW-OD or GT-OD. I'm guessing it has to do with enabling asymmetrical (the ZW is basically a modded DS-1) or symmetrical clipping. I'm curious as to which side is which, tho.
One side (right) is louder than the other as far as output goes. The gain is less compressed-feeling, meaning I feel there's a bit less "overdrive" on tap. There's a characteristic TS-type of bass cut, but this setting cuts less bass than the other.
The other side's (left) overdrive is more compressed-sounding. There seems to be a little more "drive" on tap on this side. The overall output is also less. This side also cuts more bass than the other.
So which side do you think is doing what?
Also... So far, I've ran it most of the time on the side that cuts the most bass. However, I feel reaching unity gain's kinda difficult here, since it's quieter than the other. I'm using EMG's (81TW/60), which are loud pickups, yeah, but I have to have the output cranked in the pedal (drive set to 8:00-8:30-ish, tone 12:00-ish), and I still feel I could use just a tiny tiny bit more kick out of it... is this normal?
Thanks.
JakeAC5253
Frozen Sun Audio
- Nov 19, 2010
- 936
- 1
- 18
Judging by a thread on FSB, the switch adds one component to the clean amp stage of the design. This component is an AC shunt for out of phase signal which would otherwise cancel with the output of that stage. Less out of phase signal mixed with the same amount of in phase signal at the output means more signal moving to the output. I have yet to see a verified/manufacturer schematic or try it for myself though.
Rex Rocker
Call me Hugo!
JakeAC5253
Frozen Sun Audio
- Nov 19, 2010
- 936
- 1
- 18
Here somebody claims that the Classic OD circuit is the same as the GT-OD circuit with a switch to make it the ZW OD circuit:
http://freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?p=180780#p180780
the MXR GT-OD is really the Classic Overdrive in a different box and much cheaper. I think GC is selling them for $33 AND it has the secret switch inside. If you open the case there's a mini slider switch. From my research if I remember correctly, they use this switch and add a few extra components to make that box into a Zak Wylde box.
-
So buy the Classic Overdrive and save yourself some bucks. Or go for the Classic Distortion and there are a few mods to get rid of the nasal mids.
Here somebody claims that the switch which changes it to the ZW circuit just adds the 10k resistor at the negative input of the second opamp stage:
http://freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?p=149314#p149314
the only difference between the Zakk OD and GT-OD is the 10k resistor between C7 and R5/C4/neg input of 2nd OPAmp. I tried it and it makes the sound more bass/mid and gain/volume.
http://freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?p=180780#p180780
the MXR GT-OD is really the Classic Overdrive in a different box and much cheaper. I think GC is selling them for $33 AND it has the secret switch inside. If you open the case there's a mini slider switch. From my research if I remember correctly, they use this switch and add a few extra components to make that box into a Zak Wylde box.
-
So buy the Classic Overdrive and save yourself some bucks. Or go for the Classic Distortion and there are a few mods to get rid of the nasal mids.
Here somebody claims that the switch which changes it to the ZW circuit just adds the 10k resistor at the negative input of the second opamp stage:
http://freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?p=149314#p149314
the only difference between the Zakk OD and GT-OD is the 10k resistor between C7 and R5/C4/neg input of 2nd OPAmp. I tried it and it makes the sound more bass/mid and gain/volume.
Rex Rocker
Call me Hugo!
Yeah, so I read as well. Thank you.
I e-mailed Dunlop to see which mode is which, but I have been reading online that with the switch flipped to the right (the fatter mode), it's the GT-OD. Most people seem to agree on that.
I kinda dig that setting right now, TBH. It still has that characteristic TS bass cut, but it's not too pronounced as to thin out the signal too much like the other mode does. The voicing is overall more open and less compressed too, IMO.
However, the real thing that's making me prefer that mode is that the other one is waaaaay too quiet when it comes to output, IMO.
I e-mailed Dunlop to see which mode is which, but I have been reading online that with the switch flipped to the right (the fatter mode), it's the GT-OD. Most people seem to agree on that.
I kinda dig that setting right now, TBH. It still has that characteristic TS bass cut, but it's not too pronounced as to thin out the signal too much like the other mode does. The voicing is overall more open and less compressed too, IMO.
However, the real thing that's making me prefer that mode is that the other one is waaaaay too quiet when it comes to output, IMO.
JakeAC5253
Frozen Sun Audio
- Nov 19, 2010
- 936
- 1
- 18
Rex Rocker
Call me Hugo!
AudioGeekZine
arsehole know-it-all
Today in a local shop I saw the 30th Anniversary Tube Screamer (TS930TH)
shiny, green case, transparent green knobs, and a green LED light
about $140 CDN
I just came across this short article with some TS history which lead me to the TSA15H, a 15W Tube head with tube screamer built-in.
There are a few others in the TSA series.
http://www.ibanez.com/Electronics/Series-TSA
shiny, green case, transparent green knobs, and a green LED light
about $140 CDN
I just came across this short article with some TS history which lead me to the TSA15H, a 15W Tube head with tube screamer built-in.
There are a few others in the TSA series.
http://www.ibanez.com/Electronics/Series-TSA
digiadaamore
New Metal Member
Hey guys. Has anyone tried out the gfs greenie classic or biyang od-10(there the same) they are ts-808 specs jrc4558 chips and all. They also have mode switching between 808 and bright and warm modes. Im planning on getting an sd-1 but these caught my eye. Are they well made, do they have the ts-808 tone?
