Tube Screamer Mods 101

matta

Hi Guys,

I thought I'd share some pics of how I spent a day last week, I'll call it 'The Tale of Two Tube Screamers' as I had 2 different TS9's come in for mods.

As some may know the 'classic' Tube Screamer is the TS808, later Ibanez bought out the cheaper TS9, R1,000 cheaper today... but the kicker is that only 3 parts differentiate these 2 models and both use the same circuit board... the joys of mass production.

These include the circuits opamp (although a few years ago they went back to the 'classic' 4558 chips as shown in the newer unmodded unit) and 2, yes, 2 resistors (costing a whopping 11 cents). The first port of call was to convert the TS9 to TS808 specs, I also socketed the opamp so the clients can experiment with other opamps is they so wish.

Another miscoming/shortfall of the TS range is that they suck the low end out of your tone, to alleviate this problem I increased the size of poly cap at the clipping amp stage to allow more low end to pass through, I also upgraded the cheap 1uF lytic bypass caps to high quality German made WIMA's to smooth out the tone. Lastly I replaced the Tantalum tone cap with a better quality PolyFilm, again softening the tone to a more tube like quality.

While the mods sound great the TS is a bit of a Tonesucker so both clients opted for the 'true-bypass' which meant including a 3PDT switch. As you can see there isn't much wiggle room in the enclosure so a steady hand is needed... I then had to remove the old FET switching circuit as you can see in the top right of the PCB. Now the pedal passes the input to output in bypass mode, no more tone suck...

Lastly I swapped out the Red LED's for a cool Blue, just a nice finishing touch... both clients are really happy and one shared that folks can't believe his tone... 1 point me, 0 stock pedal...

Cheers

Matt

nick

matta wrote: Another miscoming/shortfall of the TS range is that they suck the low end out of your tone, to alleviate this problem I increased the size of poly cap at the clipping amp stage to allow more low end to pass through, I also upgraded the cheap 1uF lytic bypass caps to high quality German made WIMA's to smooth out the tone. Lastly I replaced the Tantalum tone cap with a better quality PolyFilm, again softening the tone to a more tube like quality.

Nice 8) With regard the low end tone suck, Ive noticed this on my TS10, is it possibe to increase the poly cap at the clipping stage on the TS10? just to get it a bit more bassy. I run it with the tone all the way over.

matta

nick wrote:Nice 8) With regard the low end tone suck, Ive noticed this on my TS10, is it possibe to increase the poly cap at the clipping stage on the TS10? just to get it a bit more bassy. I run it with the tone all the way over.

Hi Nick,

Yes it is, the TS10 is not much different, at least in the parts that count from a TS9/TS808, you can do the same thing to a TS10. Just locate the IC/Opamp that is used in the clipping stage and trace out the - input, which is Pin 2 of the opamp. The 0.047uF which forms part of the RC Network is replaced by 0.1uF cap, this will increase your low end, technically it doesn't INCREASE it, it just allows more bass to pass through the filter network, which audibly has the same results.

Cheers

Matt

Tauriq

Matta,

Seeing as you have my Metal Muff in workshop/store/wherever it is you do your thing ?

Is there any modifications that can be done to it? Google doesn't seem to be showing anything from what I can see at the moment but your the local expert.

matta

Tauriq wrote: Matta,

Seeing as you have my Metal Muff in workshop/store/wherever it is you do your thing ?

Is there any modifications that can be done to it? Google doesn't seem to be showing anything from what I can see at the moment but your the local expert.

Sadly not, your Metal Muff is all SMD (surface mount devices), there is little you can do there, to be honest when boards like that have problems it is often cheaper to replace the whole board than fix/mod, they are not built like they used to be.

Cheers

Matt

nick

matta wrote:
nick wrote:Nice 8) With regard the low end tone suck, Ive noticed this on my TS10, is it possibe to increase the poly cap at the clipping stage on the TS10? just to get it a bit more bassy. I run it with the tone all the way over.
Hi Nick,

Yes it is, the TS10 is not much different, at least in the parts that count from a TS9/TS808, you can do the same thing to a TS10. Just locate the IC/Opamp that is used in the clipping stage and trace out the - input, which is Pin 2 of the opamp. The 0.047uF which forms part of the RC Network is replaced by 0.1uF cap, this will increase your low end, technically it doesn't INCREASE it, it just allows more bass to pass through the filter network, which audibly has the same results.

Cheers

Matt

And if I drop it off in your faithful hands, roughly what would it cost? ?

matta

nick wrote:And if I drop it off in your faithful hands, roughly what would it cost? ?

Hey Nick,

In keeping with the Forum rules I'd rather not say in public, I've dropped you a PM with the details of the mods and costs.

The TS10 can be converted to a TS808, a little more work, but easily done ?

Cheers

Matt

nick

matta wrote:
nick wrote:And if I drop it off in your faithful hands, roughly what would it cost? ?
Hey Nick,

In keeping with the Forum rules I'd rather not say in public, I've dropped you a PM with the details of the mods and costs.

The TS10 can be converted to a TS808, a little more work, but easily done ?

Cheers

Matt

Thanks, will let you know 8)

JK

anyone in JHB able to do these mods? Not planning on visiting CT for while!

shadow1

hmmmm very interesting ? my maxon od808 is a great pedal but yes my low end gets abit knocked by it. MAtta your a genius! think when my cash is on the rise i want to bring my pedal board to you, to do some tuning/true bypassing etc ? get her PIMPED ?

matta

JK wrote: anyone in JHB able to do these mods? Not planning on visiting CT for while!

Hey JK,

I can recommend a few good techs in JHB, but to be honest due to the cost of living difference between CPT and JHB they charge almost twice what I charge and may not have the parts handy (mine are imported from the USA) so in the long run it would be cheaper to ship the pedal return to me here in CPT.

I'll PM you details.

Cheers

Matt

matta

shadow1 wrote: hmmmm very interesting ? my maxon od808 is a great pedal but yes my low end gets abit knocked by it. MAtta your a genius! think when my cash is on the rise i want to bring my pedal board to you, to do some tuning/true bypassing etc ? get her PIMPED ?

Hey Don,

Yes the Maxon and Ibanez pedals follow the same circuit/design, so is also highly modifiable.

RE pedal boards and true-bypassing, it makes sense if it is just a single pedal, but if you have more then it makes sense to actually build a standalone TB Looper/Routing system.

I'm in negotiations with a Canadian company about importing some VERY slick enclosures and offer a 5 channel TB system, user configurable, so you might only want 3 loops and swap out the 2 of them for a Tuner Mute and a Master Bypass, need 10 loops? just daisy chain 2 of them together, I can also build a buffer into them if you have a lot of pedals/long cable runs... more on this in time.

Cheers

Matt

singemonkey

I got the impression that some prefer the TS9 tone to the TS808. What's up with that? The feeling I got from my reading is that the 808's a little darker maybe?

shadow1

matta wrote:
shadow1 wrote: hmmmm very interesting ? my maxon od808 is a great pedal but yes my low end gets abit knocked by it. MAtta your a genius! think when my cash is on the rise i want to bring my pedal board to you, to do some tuning/true bypassing etc ? get her PIMPED ?
Hey Don,

Yes the Maxon and Ibanez pedals follow the same circuit/design, so is also highly modifiable.

RE pedal boards and true-bypassing, it makes sense if it is just a single pedal, but if you have more then it makes sense to actually build a standalone TB Looper/Routing system.

I'm in negotiations with a Canadian company about importing some VERY slick enclosures and offer a 5 channel TB system, user configurable, so you might only want 3 loops and swap out the 2 of them for a Tuner Mute and a Master Bypass, need 10 loops? just daisy chain 2 of them together, I can also build a buffer into them if you have a lot of pedals/long cable runs... more on this in time.

Cheers

Matt

YES MATT! now you talking my language ? cause this tap dancing is a mission! LOL keeps making me move towards wanting a multifx, altho i am sure i wont be happy with the multi fx tones and at the end of it i will go back to the stomps again. keep me posted on this system... My board should be almost complete by December ?

thanks for all the help

Manfred-Klose

or maby a all-in-one: ?

http://www.beavisaudio.com/projects/ScreamerLab/

but its a tricky project and will require lots of patience and time.

guidothepimmp

hey matta,

I have the TS808 reissue which i quite like, do you think that modding it would make much of a difference to my tone? I keep reading about how close these are meant to be to the older ones??

opinions?

matta

The circuit will be 'technically' correct, but you can still benefit from the cap upgrades... the stock caps they use cost 5c's, the german made WIMA film caps for example cost 10 times that, not a big deal when you are modding it yourself, but a big problem for Ibanez as it would send production costs through the roof.

The caps tend to just 'smooth' out the tone, the best description I can give it is makes the pedal feel part of the amp, stock it sounds like it is ontop of the amp...

Cheers

Matt

guidothepimmp wrote: hey matta,

I have the TS808 reissue which i quite like, do you think that modding it would make much of a difference to my tone? I keep reading about how close these are meant to be to the older ones??

opinions?

guidothepimmp

Thanks Matt,

Definitely something i'll consider.. where would you say the best place to get cap's would be? I usually use an electronics store thats quite nearby but I couldn't tell whether theyre good quality or not :-[, also do you know what the parts no's would be? ?

oh and sorry about the offtopic, my laney tends to hum quite a lot on the gain channel (its all tube), but even small volumes like the gain on 4 and the volume on 2 its already quite buzzy... is there something i could have a tech do to it to quieten it down a bit or are tube amps generally like that?

Thanks for your help

matta

I use WIMA's where possible, the agents in SA are Avnett Koop. I like to use the MKS2 range, RE the values and number, you are going to need to do this to taste... I can tell you I replace the 1uF lytics with WIMA's, the Tants with their equivalent values in film and I tweak/play with the input buffer cap to lower the bass.

RE the Laney, there are bunch of reasons, check the Amp thread, I've responded there.

Cheers

Matt

guidothepimmp wrote: Thanks Matt,

Definitely something i'll consider.. where would you say the best place to get cap's would be? I usually use an electronics store thats quite nearby but I couldn't tell whether theyre good quality or not :-[, also do you know what the parts no's would be? ?

oh and sorry about the offtopic, my laney tends to hum quite a lot on the gain channel (its all tube), but even small volumes like the gain on 4 and the volume on 2 its already quite buzzy... is there something i could have a tech do to it to quieten it down a bit or are tube amps generally like that?

Thanks for your help

guidothepimmp

Thanks Matt :goodtimes: