Ibanez TS808 (unmodded) on bass

jcburn · #1 05-17-2011, 09:54 PM

What is the opinions on this pedal? I'm not looking for a high gain OD, but want something a little more than just warm fuzz. Just dont want to lose a ton of low end. Would be "always on".
The only reason I ask is Billy Gould's sound on The Real Thing was in some way attributed to his Ts808 from memory and solid state Peavey amps. Just not quite sure what else he had going on for his basic sound (I can here chorus on some songs and not others).

Mark Olson · #2 05-17-2011, 10:02 PM

Well you're going to lose a lot of low end with an unmodded TS808. That's just the nature of the beast. But there are of course plenty of boutique Tubescreamers, or even the Ibanez Bass Tubescreamer now, that will give you the Tubescreamer sound with more low end.

Also a lot of those old Peavey solid state amps could distort in a nice way. Most modern solid state gear doesn't do that at all. At any rate it's highly likely that the Tubescreamer was used to push the amps further, not as a standalone by itself solution.

jcburn · #3 05-17-2011, 10:03 PM

Cool answer - thankyou.

Laurent · #4 05-18-2011, 01:00 PM

I agree with Mark Olson lots of low end loss on this one.

Some Tubescreamers are bass friendly that being said. I can recommend three and recommend to stay way from one.

The one I do not care for is the new Ibanez Bass Tubescreamer; there's been several postings on this and it's lackluster according to my ears.

The pedals I like the best for best in that family are (in order of preference):
- Way Huge Green Rhino
- Xotic Effect BB (the guitar version, the orange one - not the bass one)
- Badder Monkey