Tube Screamer Land (Page 1 of 2)

Fulltone Fulldrive II.  You will never look back and you will say for the rest of your life holy crap where have you been all these years.

Stop delaying, its the best sounding tubescreamer based pedal on the market for any guitar amp combination.

Second to that is the Ocean EFX Texas Deuce.  Another really good tubescreamer like pedal.

Lots of tubescreamers, white coily cable, no snakeskin cowboy boots (!)......here's GEARMANNDUDE.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCqIopC4 … re=channel

Gearmandude's Luther Drive.  Have one, love it!

I've been thru them all... Fulldrive, Klon, Zen, KOT, 808, Timmy, etc...

I still have the Fulldrive. Altho IMHO, the new mosfet Fulldrives are brighter than the older pre-mosfet ones, and I recommend the pre-mosfet ones, they are warmer/fatter.

For creamy, the 808 is also hard to beat. Get yourself a Bad Monkey... it's an 808 with 2 tones controls instead of one. Very easy to get thick creamy tones out of it.

I also tried the Pork Loin (twice), the one Joe has been using lately. Not bad at all, very Fulldrive-like, but I prefer the Fulldrive.

Something to keep in mind: they way Joe (and me, for that matter), uses these drives, is to goose an already-overdriving amp, which is MUCH DIFFERENT than using them "as a dirty channel" into a clean or clean-ish amp. When Joe steps on a drive, he's not going from clean to dirty, he's going from dirty to more dirty, compressed, creamy. When used this way, alot of individual characteristics of the different overdrives isn't being used... the drive controls are on the low side... and therefore, alot of ODs will do the same job. For example, using them this way, I was able to get virtually identical tones out of:

FD2
Keeley SD-1
Timmy
Bad Monkey (808 circuit)
Pork Loin

...so close you'd only be able to tell the difference in a studio or a bedroom. THAT close.

I can highly recommend the FD2 above the others simply because is has more tonal options at the flick of a switch:
Vintage mode = standard TS tones (actually, Boss SD-1 is what the circuit is, it's not a TS)
FM mode = less mid-humped version of Vintage mode, for thicker-sounding amps or for more clarity
Comp Cut mode = neck pup heaven. Adds no compression, very little drive, but alot of presence & clarity.

i've been stepping on a TS9 reissue again recently. after selling my original, i've missed the way it helped notes leap out in the mix better. so i repurchased a reissue quite cheaply (£35). i tend to set it in a slightly boosted mode, (drive at 1 o clock, volume about noon and tone at noon) so i can use it as a standalone drive sound with a bit of punch or stack it with my drive channel or another drive pedal for heaver tones and lead work.

Another Dual Switch TS Type is the Pedalwork Texas Two Step. I should've mentioned that one earlier.

    However, the M.I. Audio Blues Pro is what I use more than a TS Type. It has a little more Gain, and is great sounding at all settings. As a Lower Gained Boost, or as a Cranked Setting.
    Less of a Mid-Hump, but it still really cuts through a Mix.
    It can go from the Smoother, Creamier Tones to what I think of as a "Tweed-ZZ Top-In-A-Box" Tone.

    I use the BP running into a Timmy a LOT. And they sound great with every Amp and Guitar combination I have. Very versatile set up with the 2 ODs.

1. Amp
2. Timmy>Amp
3. BP>Amp
4. BP>Timmy>Amp

    4 Switchable Tones, on the fly, and they cost less than $250.00 for both!

I've been through a ton of Overdrives over the years and always gone back to a re-issue TS9. I have had the Keely modded ones and the difference is very small IMO.
The other one I liked was the Barber LTD. Very, very nice. like a Tubescreamer but with more grain to the tone.

Ulitmatley the best way to use a TS is into an already breaking up amp. People stick TS808's into clean Fender amps at vol set to one and expect to sound like Stevie. They don't work like that...

Handy thread...helped me a lot.

Many thanks.