Overdrive pedals are a staple of live performance for guitar players, but they can also be beneficial in the studio — a good analogue pedal placed before a modelled amplifier can often sound and, importantly, ‘feel’ better to the player than using modelled pedals. Warm Audio’s latest is the Tube Squealer, and with its name and green case that slopes down slightly at the front, there’s little doubt as to what it’s based on! The thing about Tube Screamers, though, is that they went through several design iterations over the years, and even though they all shared the mid‑focused character of the original TS808 (which dates back to the late 1970s) each version sounded slightly different. The circuit has inspired many other pedal designs too. The Ibanez and Maxon originals most often employed a JRC4558D dual op‑amp and a couple of clipping diodes, augmented by some tone‑shaping and buffering circuitry.
The Tube Squealer has external switches for true or buffered bypass, and for activating a charge pump to bring the internal operating voltage up to 18V for more headroom. For those not using a PSU, there is a battery compartment accessible via a removable plate on the bottom of the pedal (do take care not to lose the two screws!). Where this pedal differs from most Tube Screamer clones is that it can be switched to emulate a TS808, a TS9 or a TS10, which it achieves by reconfiguring its internal circuitry to match the originals. It also has a wet/dry Mix control as well as Drive, Level and Tone controls. Furthermore, it has a two‑position pickup type switch that voices the pedal for use with single‑coil or humbucking pickups.
The three versions of the Tube Screamer were all based around the same circuit topography but with some component changes. The general character of the original’s drive is warm, mid‑heavy and quite compressed‑sounding, and to my ear it has the smoothest sound of the three. Original TS808s are now very collectable and consequently fetch high prices, of course. Come 1982 and the TS9 was launched — I had one back in the day — and this was apparently the model favoured by Stevie Ray Vaughan. It had a slightly less ‘polite’ sound than the TS808, adding just a hint more bite. During the mid‑’80s, the TS10 appeared on the scene, and was famously adopted by John Mayer, which certainly helped push up prices of secondhand models! Its sound was similar to the TS9, but again subtly different.
The pickup type switch adds some top to the humbucker setting, and if you like your overdrive extra bright, you could use this setting with a single‑coil pickup instrument.
Fortunately you don’t need to decide which one is best, because in the Tube Squealer you have the option to switch between all three types, with the added benefit of a Mix control — a simple touch but a welcome one, as it means you can blend in a little of the clean sound to further preserve attack and clarity. The pickup type switch adds some top to the humbucker setting, and if you like your overdrive extra bright, you could use this setting with a single‑coil pickup instrument. To my ear, the sound is close enough to its inspirations that even hardened ‘diode sniffers’ would struggle to find issue with what this little pedal serves up, and it is solidly built too with a cast metal case.
Audio Examples
Clean, TS808, TS10, TS9 chords, and the same again for single lead lines. Tone control set at roughly the 1 o’clock position, and Drive at about 2 o’clock. Recorded using a miked amp. Pickup voicing switch set to single coil, as I was using a Strat.
Information
£139 including VAT.
$149.
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