IBANEZ TUBE SCREAMER TS9

RRP: $199

Type: Overdrive

Bypass: Buffered PROS

• Classic sounds

• EQ profile

CONS

• Not true bypass

• Overdrive isn’t to everyone’s taste

The original overdrive pedal, the Tube Screamer and its descendants still represent a significant percentage of the worldwide pedal market just on their own.

There’s a reason for this, of course – not just that it’s a versatile drive with a wide range of operation that allows it to be used for everything from blues to metal. Its other strength is its EQ profile, which emphasises the guitar’s midrange around one kilohertz, meaning it suddenly ‘pops’ in a band mix, either live or in the studio.

Moreover, if you turn the drive control down and the level up, it functions as a boost, and it’s for

this function that many guitarists acquire one. If you’re lucky enough to have a decent tube amp, or access to one, boosting a tube amp with a Tube Screamer is likely to be better than almost any overdrive pedal on the market.

There’s a difference between this, the TS9, and the original TS808, but for all the essays that have been written on the subject they’re similar enough that a recommendation for one can be a recommendation for the other, nine times out of ten. If you’re looking to save some cash, the Ibanez TS Mini Tube Screamer is worth looking at too.