Who wants chips?

[Ice_T's_Bobblehat]

I recently managed to acquire a used Robert Keeley modded TS808 very very cheap and funnily enough didn't quite like the sound compared to my other TS's which have the the so-called crappy chip (the TA75558p) Anyway, I asked Keeley to send me 1 of them to give it a whirl (which they kindly did), I'm not in anyway complaining but I had to laugh when I opened the package which landed on my doormat today...

That is the actual packaging (a massive padded envelope and sheet of bubblewrap) and that black dot is it's entire contents.

Better safe than sorry I guess. However, 10/10 for customer service to the good people at Keeley Electronics - very helpful and friendly.

They had actually already sent me about 10 before Christmas, so if anyone should anyone require a TA75558P for whatever reason I can fix you up.

 

[Wolfeman]

Reminds me of the time I bought a gift card online for a family member, and it came in a huge square box with a tone of bubble wrap. A bit over kill for a credit card sized peice of plastic.

 

[Gnash]

I'll take one! Is it the Keely chip or the crappy chip? I'm sorry, I didn't quite understand which chip you have ten of. I think I already have the crappy chip.

 

[Ice_T's_Bobblehat]

Reminds me of the time I bought a gift card online for a family member, and it came in a huge square box with a tone of bubble wrap. A bit over kill for a credit card sized peice of plastic.

Oh yeah, I've had that too! Mobile phone company sent a plastic credit card with just the customer services number in a massive box that wouldn't fit in the letterbox. I had to get up at AAARRRGGHH o'clock in the morning to fetch this mystery parcel. Opened it, saw what it was, rang the number on it and went nuts. Got £10 out of it though. Bonus.

Gnash - the surplus chips I have are the allegedly "crappy" one: the TA75558P that's stock in the reissue TS9's.
The difference between all the pedals really is negligible but I slightly favour my reissue TS9 and DX over the tricked out back to original spec 808 Keeley one
I've not swapped out the 808 chip yet, but to be honest seeing as though the TS7 has the worshiped JRC4558D chip in and sounds identical to the TS9 I am prepared to eat an item of clothing if there's a difference. I figured I'd might as well experiment for nothing just incase thetone that will unlock the secrets of the universe is just a chip chnge away.

 

[elmuchoescadawg]

I can remember buying an update for logic earlier in the year. The Cd came in a paper envelope which was in a padded envelope which was in a cardboard box. Think it would have been easier to just download it!!

 

[Ice_T's_Bobblehat]

Well, to kind of take the topic off the crazy packing and onto it's tiny contents....I realise it kind of covers a boring subject discussed to death in the past but, slightly intriguing results from my experimentations.. Been noodling for an hour or so with the following gear....

1. Stock 2002 Ibanez TS9 TA75558P chip
2. Stock 2000 Ibanez TS9DX TA75558P chip
3. 2006 Ibanez TS808 with Robert Keeley Mod+ mods JRC4558P chip

Pedals tested using 2 Channel Dual Rec. into stock Marshall 1960A cab, ESP M-II with EMG 81's and Ibanez Jem with Dimarzio Evolutions.

Side by side all 3 pedals with the same settings to my ears sound near as damn it exactly the same to me, with only the TS808 sounding ever so slightly duller than the other 2 - Now for the science bit....

Swap the chip in the fancy TS808 for the "lesser" TA75558P one found in the stock pedals, and the pedal just sounds what I can only describe as a bit clearer than the others - like, if you've ever heard a regular run of the mill CD player side by side against the sort of separates magazines like What!? HiFi!! cream themselves over- just a bit more zing.

So, as far as I can tell, the good chip undid the little bit of work the other mods had done?!. AND...

If I put the 2 unmodded pedals in my pedal MIDI loop switcher thingamabob with a buffering circuit - they brighten up too and sound near the same as the TS808 with the crap chip!.

I cannot stress enough how minimal the differences are, and in summary TS mods are a big fat waste of time and money and similar "improvements" can occur if you improve the quality of the signal going into the pedal.

I know it's been said before, but just thought I'd give a big +1 to others like Mr Murphy et al that have said the same before.