Added: 4 years ago
From: blondegraemey
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  • I have the TS-808 1979 narrow (No battery door) Im getting the tank version also for the SRV boost. great viddie....

  • Well, hmm. I don't hear 20X more cost justification there. Maybe a *hint* more clarity on the 808, maybe a *touch* more noise floor on the Soundtank. But 20 times the cost? Nah. Thanks for the demo.

  • Damn pretty close and the both sound great.

  • i'll build one =)

  • I have a TS5 modded with the OG opamp and a beefy output resistor to supposedly get the TS808 tone. Also if you adjust the tension on the sides of the switch the on/off will work much more effectively. It stays on my pedal board and I really dig it..

  • @rudos1 I tightened the screws on my TS5, it works better now. Thank you!

  • Thanks for tuning beforehand! Wish more folks would!

  • fuck me if its not the same!! with drums, bass, etc, you wont notice the difference

  • almost same, but IMHO the black plastic one wins! a little bit of clearer, brighter & smoother.. ciao! :D

  • whats the intro song some1 reply asap lol

  • It's a track by my old band. Check the vid of pics of my collection, whole track plays behind it. G

  • Nice work. TS5 is a fantastic deal if your looking for a tubescreamer. Its a little gritty compared to the 808 with its smoother more harmonically complex tone. It would have been nice if you tried to match tones rather than settings. Match the volume levels and the tone by ear rather than dial position. The extra volume and high end from the TS5 is a little misleading as an untrained ear can easily mistake it for a "better" sound and gives the demo some bias.

  • The ts-808 sounds great , I'm definetly getting it this weekend

  • That 808 is sweet!!!!!! The Ts5 sounds noisy and cheap.

  • wtf?! the ts5 sounded better! lol...hmm... weird

  • I had a Mint Trademark R TS-808 sold it for $900 USD. For the price those Soundtanks go for, what a bargain. It does everything the 808 does only with more presence and definition. Talk about bang for buck , not one to gig with but for home or recording. When you look at the crazy prices for Boutiques , this thing is a No Brainer. Great Demo's as Always !!!

  • Would I be killed if I say I liked the tank better?

  • @mtsn Not from me,'cause I agree...

  • the sountank looks like a ugly bug

  • If I turn away, I can't tell which is which. They both sound the same to me. I have all kinds of Tubescreamer type pedals from the Behringer T0800 and Ibanez TS-7 to the TS-9 and TS-808 reissue. Also I have the Bad Monkey and the Hardwire CM-2. They all get me that Tubescreamer sound I love!!

    BTW I'm a huge fan of your video demos! Keep up the great work!!

  • thats not really a good comparison because you have both pedals in the same signal chain and they are not true bypass so they are coloring each others tone and maybe making them sound more similar than they really are. get what im saying?

  • I have a Soundtank Delay. I love it, but I have the same switching problem. Every time I have to switch it I look at it and think "don't let me down, baby". You never know what's going to happen...

    Nice demo!

  • People get hung up on the op-amp model, the circuit itself is far more important to the sound. If the circuit is virtually identical, then so should the sound be. Changing capacitors from electrolytic to oil-in-paper (for a more vintage sound) or Polyester (cleaner, more modern sound) will have a much more noticeable effect than changing the op-amp for the "vintage" version. If I got a TS-5. I'd be more inclined to put it in a metal case with a proper foot switch than change anything else.

  • TS5 rules! Great Video

  • Hi. Cool vid as usual. Your quality playing makes the cheapy sound good.

    Could you shed some light on your Tele. 3 pickups! What pups they be?

    Cheers. Rock on!!!!!!!!!

  • They are Seymore Duncans. G

  • @blondegraemey

    have you tried Bare Knuckle pickups ?if so what did you think ?

  • the plastic one isn't as good, the 808 has more attack and treble definition

  • @elboloalimenticio

    And you would be able to tell this if you couldn't see what pedal he was using...give me a break.

  • should i get a ts-808 or a pro co rat?

  • Comment removed

  • Somehow the most pleasing sounding overdrive I've owned was the TS-5... I have a Boss SD-1 and Maxon OD9 now, because my TS-5 is broken. Wahhh...

  • great vid. You have serious American Soul in your playing. Mad props to you! I have both TS808 and the TS5. Truth be told, I cant always tell the difference and I never thought about doing a side-by-side comp like this. But, I know the TS808 is what I bring up on stage because it's strong as hell, been submerged in beer soaked floors, dropped and kicked like a stray dog... Both are keepers. Great video (and playing too)

  • Both sound very good. The plastic ones a keeper! Funny, I have a tone lock chorus with the same switch problem.

  • not only do you demo pedals great, but you know what you are talking about, something alot of people lack on youtube.

  • I tried the 808 ,TS-9 and the TS-5 soundtank went home with the TS-5

  • the difference is subtle at most. i have both pedals. i use the soundtank so i don't have to have someone watch the stage lest the 808® gets stolen while i'm off to the bar or the men's room.

  • Tone gurus and audiophiles will always be able to tell a difference. Of course a blind test is the only way to really get an objective judgement on the comparison.

    I actually own a byoc 808 clone and this ts5 soundtank model. In a blind shootout, me and several friends had a hard time consistently picking which was which. The soundtank is made much more cheaply, and while that is reflected in the tone, it's still a decent circuit. It's simply not gig-worthy though, flat out.

  • They sound very similar.

  • Little bit of Stairway to Heaven in that.

  • I way prefer the TS5 i have over the TS9 I used to have

  • 808 sounds more pure, just a better pedal

  • If your worried about reliability than u can always put it in a bypass looper and never have to touch it.. Just sayin.

  • @dbenc yup, or if it was a real giant killer, rehouse it.

  • the TS5 actually could keep up with the 808 by the sound of it... :D

  • what if i buy a TS5 and just mod it to my TS of choice???

    what do you think?

  • Your playing is trance like !

  • Sounds a little brighter on the TS808 - full disclosure - I own one

  • i sold an 808 back iin the mid 80s for about £10 because everyone thought they were rubbish and were totally out of fashion. how things change. now you can buy rack gear from the 80s/90s for peanuts. in a few years THESE will be going for a fortune when the circle turns full circle again.

  • it's funny they say that right now about many of the Boss distortions (unless modded) hehe... wondering if those pedals are going to come back in the distant future....

  • @SunnyCool I know what you mean! But personally I love my DS-1 to death, especially when I line it up with a Tube Screamer just after it using the clean channel on my amp and a lower gain setting with the DS-1, sounds beautiful!

  • yeah that's what I mean, they'll find purpose sometime and people will look back and say, damn those pedals were good and they'll start selling for 500 bucks a pop hehe.

  • NEWCASTLE WEHYYY x

  • to me the soundtank sound a little more dirty.....and so better!!!!

  • wow, they sure sound similar.... I used to have a ts5 back in the 90s and basically gave it away thinking it was junk. Ten years later I am spending several times more for a Ts9 and JRC chip mod kits just to get the same sound.... DOH!

  • I wouldn't go on stage with a sound tank. They're just not made well.

  • I just bought a Keeley modded vintage reissue one of these to run straight into my cooking JMP head. It sounds awesome. But I must admit there is not a lot between these two. The vintage one does sound a little better and obviously built better. But if truth be known, the vintage one will make you play better 'cos of it's mojo. Can't put a price on that !!!!

  • i want a pedal that goes from SRV to pantera, what should i get

  • two pedals

  • Yep, two pedals!

  • ts808 w/ compressor for high gain

  • a life.

  • ur so cool. i ask a simple question and u have to be an asshole, way to go

  • fuck you i ask for advice and i get this asshole

  • your mum

  • schematically theyre exactly the same except for two resistors.

    all tubescreamers (except for the 808 and the TS10) are the exact same circuit!

  • It is so obvious, Ibanez is making a shitload off money while everyone could have bought the cheap version ; change the jack-inputs and the switch and keep the rest of your'e money for a nice fat JMP...

  • I have one concern about your comparison - both peddles are in series with each other. The TS-808 is getting a buffered signal from the TS-5 and the TS-5 signal is buffered by the TS-808 before getting to the amp. A truer example would have been with two A/B switches on either side of both peddles.

  • Stevie Ray Vawn used it just like that, in series!

  • The video is a comparison of the two pedals; says so in the title and description... as for your comment about SRV, wtf are you talking about??? Find a picture of him with 2 Ibanez pedals or better yet, a picture of him using a sound tank.

  • That looks to me like a European TS-808, which is NOT a real TS-808. They were made of left-over parts with a different circuit and sounded completely different.

  • However, it may just be the quality of the video.

  • It's a real vintage one, trust me.

  • Surprisingly, they're alot closer than I would've suspected. However. The video poster isn't playing as dynamically as maybe he should be in many places, not to mention that the audio quality on a youtube video for these purposes is compressed and poor at best. That said, they do seem remarkably similar. If I were just jamming in my basement or with buddies, I'd choose the cheaper one, if I was touring or gigging, the classic, or any of the other dozen versions might be a better choice.

  • I would choose the 808 over the 5 any day, just for the reliability. Plastic case, shitty switch, shitty jacks, prone to failure? NO THANKS!

  • ok what the hell is a tube ive been playing for 3 years now and ive heard no shit about tubes please somone tell me ps how do i check my pedals i need to know becase i think mine is fried its a danelecro distortion pedal

    thanks (:

  • i think the ibanez sounds best

  • their both ibanez???

  • why do they sound pretty much the same to me?

  • Nice shootout!

    I do hear some frequencies from the 808 that were not on the soundtank, but it might be too subtle for live use.

  • Excuse my ignorance but I am crap when it comes to knowing about pedals. I have a Fender Hot Rod deluxe and wondered if this might be suitable for giving me a nice overdriven sound. I play anything from beatles to AC DC to Metallica. Could this pedal give me all those sounds. How would I connect this to my amp, should it go in the effects loop. Also can it wear out the tubes on my amp prematurely? I assume it cooks the tubes to create that overdriven sound, does that cause damage to valves?

  • Just plug one in the front and it will sound just fine! No damage whatsoever to your valves. G

  • Once the band is playing and you are in to the second song the difference won't even be remembered. Not only that you could switch them in the middle of a lead and the audience would not even catch it. Nice demo all the same.

  • 808 sounds more refined.

  • AMP?

  • Err... FENDER TWIN!

  • What a lovely bloke..loadsa arses on u tube but this guy is a good bloke

  • Ha ha! Thanks for that, I always try to appear arseless wherever possible. Cheers! G

  • if you ask me, the music world is all about rippin people off. That's why they charge you fortune for a pedal, when it only took a couple of bucks to manufacture it. Go cheap plastic pedal! lol

  • Holy S. I used to run a TS-5 in front of a JCM 900 MKIII High Gain head cause it had no clean channel, just a boost. I used it to break the amp up and had to roll my volume knob back for cleans. Was a great tone, just the quality control was dodgy. Mine would chirp when I kicked it on and off. I used to make jokes onstage about turning my car alarm on. Used to pick up CB radio transmissions, sumtimes. Wish I still had it, no idea guys were modding these. Wow, that was 15 years ago.

  • I see now why the ts 808 is valued. I'm hearing Jimmy Page off the Presence lp ! Nice review thanks !

  • wow...amazing how little difference there is. Surprised at the combination sound too. another great vid, G thanks

  • TS 808 for sure. its not just the sound, you're paying for. its also the build quality and the fact its vintage, the TS 808 is probably gonna be worth a shit load more than the sound tank in the future.

  • i can definitely hear a difference the 808 has a tighter sound and the notes really sing, the cheaper one is more blended sound and the notes dont ring as brightly

  • wow the ts-808 vintage for sure !!!

  • Absolutely no difference whatsoever. You're imagining it if you think there is.

  • the ts-5 sounds great. the ts-808 hmmm...niót woirth the money

  • i have a 1982 ts-808 and i can assure you its worth every penny i paid. great review by the way mate

  • My TS5 sounds cheap. I have to step on mine like five times to turn it on and off. Totally unusable unless at home or something.

  • You could build a simple loop switcher and switch the TS5 with that. G

  • well the diference is very noticeable, is it worth the extra $150 bucks? well off course its worth it!!! :-) lol

    BUT i´m gonna buy the ts5 since i dont have that money, BUT IF i have it i would buy two 808s

  • the 808 does sound a lot nicer than the TS5, much fuller and richer. Lots of people seem to be sayin they dont really know why the 808 is more expensive but there are quite a few reasons. First the general quality of the 808 is much better and so its gonna last a lot longer. That pedal on the TS5 is awful, its just unreliable especially for gigging and it'll break. Not that good for studio stuff for the same reason, as most peoples first take is their best, you dont want it ruined by bad gear.

  • The soundtank pedals are awesome. They are not built to gig with. They work just fine if you take care of them. Good for home or studio use. You can pick 'em up for $10-$30 on ebay and they sound amazing. I have a brown modded Ts5 and It sounds better than my TS9.

  • lol those soundtank pedals were shit, i had a "SLAM PUNK" one, anarchy symbols and all

  • Nice Video. What amp are you using?

  • HI, It's a Fender Twin Amp.

  • Hey great job with those tubescreamers. Have you ever tred an Ibanez MetalScreamer? People don't consider them as tubescreamers but they are and they sound awesome. You can them on ebay for fairly cheap like the Ts-5. I got a Ts-7, a Ts-5 and the MSL (MetalScreamer) and to my ears the MSL is more transparent because it has more bass respond. The Ts-5 sounds very similar to the Ts-7 but it has less volume. Anyway...

    Pretty good vids there my good man.

  • Great demo!

    I bought my TS-5

    on ebay, too.

    Stu

  • is thata fender 52 tele?

  • It's a early 80's Tokai Tele which has been modified with Duncan pickups, Fender bridge etc.

  • I have a ts808, ts9 and 2 ts5's... they all sound great, biggest difference I hear is between the 2 ts5 pedals I have they are the most different from each other. For instance one of them is much darker and nasal sounding, the other is the nicest of the three models actually.... go figure, but I use all 3 models on my pedal board for different drive levels (saves time stooping down twisting knobs onstage....) great video, they both sound amazing!

  • Thanks for that! I think the 5 is a great pedal for the money. Well worth getting if you want to use a multi-Tubescreamer set up. G

  • The tubescreamer 808 has a bit more body in the sound. It sounds warmer then the other.

  • The TS-808 is the better sounding of the 2 but not 10 times the price better!!!

  • Thanks for posting this! You just saved me a $100 bucks.

  • amazing! i've always tought the ts5 would sound bad just 'cause of the BIG difference in price with the ts808...but now i'm thinking of getting one, since i ain't got the money for a ts808...gonna try it when i can.

    the ts808 seems to have a slightly warmer tone btw

  • not true, buy a Nobels DT-SN for 20 bucks, keep the drive below one, the level in the high numbers, and you have a super cool overdrive, with a perfect noisegate.

  • The TS-5 is exactly the same circuit as the TS-9 and you can do a 808 mod for 10 bucks, in 20 minutes. I did it. Save yourself $250.

    Smoothest overdrive ever w/ JRC4558 and tone pot is more usable after mod.

  • Hey Luc, It is amazing isn't it? the TS5 (or anysoundtank pedal for that matter) is a good sound quality pedal. Yeah, it's plastic, but if you keep it on a pedal board (with velcro like I do) it doesn't get bashed around and potentially damaged. I have seen people break metal casing effects just by stepping on them in an awkward way. The TS5 is a legit tube screamer for sure.

  • This one's easy, the 808 has an obvious warmer tone to it. You know what you can do in these vids, just a suggestion you are probably the best guy out here doing this. You should do "blind fold" test's of the pedals. I bet you'd blow some peope's mind's. I'd do it myself if I had the gear.

  • you are better than the gearwire guy..^^

  • That comment is even more depressing!

  • youre very good man.Good ears.^^

  • wow the 808 has a fuller tone, seriously. anyone think so too?

  • absolutely

  • quite suprising!

    i imagine if you pushed both to the limits and were playing a gig, you'd hear the differences more clearly?

    anyone rate that digitech bad monkey as good as an ibanez tubescreamer?

    a lot of people seem to be onto it but i dunno...

  • what's the difference between a ts9 and a ts808? is it worth the extra money for the 808?

  • Just some minor changes to the circuit. Some small but noticeable changes to the tone. Any Ts9 can be modified to 808 specs if desired. G

  • agreed, I'd like to add that the TS9 is more.....gnarly, with lower mids. For a good example of TS9 versatility listen to Jellyfish, that stuff was mostly a ts9 through a blackface deluxe reverb. :)

  • Great video. I had a DL-5, Soundtank Delay. It sounds great, but it had the same problem you mentioned about the switching.

    But I really like both pedals.

  • i got teh ts5 today and its f**** awsome and i dont have problems turning the efect on and the plastic its god i dont thinck tha this would brake or give any problems during a live

  • I've never had a problem with mine either. TS5's are great, get as many as you can.. haha!

  • i think those three stombox are cool stuff..

    they all have a different kind of sound .. ( dipending what kind of sound do you preffer .. )

    if you preffer with "joe" sound like cryin or love thing, just plug your TS808 to a marshall amp and add some wah pedal ( you could use boss or dunlop pedal (crybaby) or morley, but dunlop is the best one )

    but if u need a ruff dist, or great sustain, alot of noise like kerry king choose the other two ( MXR is a good one ...dime had one of his signature )

  • Great video! I just bought my first Tele as I'm performing in a country band out here in Arizona. I have a twin as well with the tube screamer. Best rig in the world (at least in my world). I also carry a Vox tone lab which houses all my delays etc... I use my Strat and Les Paul for the rock band I perform in. Pretty happy guitar player here!

  • very nice video! they are identical in sound quality!

  • I'd have to say those two pedals sound pretty similar

  • I have to say, as a telecaster sceptic, thats a fucking gorgeous tone; what amp do you use?

  • Hi, I use a Fender Twin Amp set clean. All drive is from the pedals. The Tele in the video is my all-time dessert island guitar. I have loads of guitars and NOTHING on earth beats a simple Telecaster, in my opinion. You should consider trying one, Tele + valve amp = Tone Heaven! Thanks for the positive comment. G

  • Cheers mate!

  • Hey, Frogswallop. Absolutely give Teles a chance. Teles are beautifully balance. They are extremely comfortable and perfect for palm muting...more so than a strat. Find a clear open sounding tele and you'll have it for life.

    But look around. The tele in this demo is absolutely fantastic.

  • Is it possible for you to demo these pedals by themselves, that is, not in a chain? Let's see of there's a difference then. Could be interesting.

  • Very good point. Both have buffered outputs so the second pedal in the chain will be effected by buffer in the first.

  • Well...to be honest it is very difficult to tell the difference. Maybe the 808 is a little more open sounding. Also, to some degree when two drives are chained together, they take on one anothers tonal characteristics. That's why overdrive pedals in these kinds of demos sound quite similar. I find this phenomenon happening myself when I join overdrive pedals in my rig. But they do sound very similar as is.

  • Yes I agree. The whole point of this video is to show how very similar the two sound. As pedal users, its easy for us all to get a bit 'snobby' when it comes to vintage gear. Vintage is nice to own but SOUND is the most important factor.

  • Great video... I am going to get a sound tank based of this video. I can hear the warmth of the ts-808, but the two pedals are so close it is amazing, and hundreds less. I recently purchased a Ibanez EC-20 shark distortion rack unit from the 90's. I got it NIB and it sounds great. It will give any ts-808 a run for its money, and it has two pretty heavy distortions to boot. The only downside... it is all plastic.

  • There's an original TS-808 in the guitar shop near me, a snip at £500... Nice review, I'm looking for a decent overdrive.

  • 500 notes is a bit steep! I would try a reissue.

  • Need some advice- I used to have an original TS-808 that I'd give my left arm to have back. Sold it many years ago. There's a guy that wants to sell me a reissue TS-808. What is your opinion of them? Do they sound the same?

  • Ive never played one but they are identical circuit-wise, same op amps etc. I would asume they sound pretty much the same as the old ones.

  • Much thanks. I'll check this one out then. Appreciate you taking the time.

  • I have the sountank one. I actually like it better than my friends reissue TS-9. I suppose it would be worth it to gut out and house in a stronger chassis...

    My Barber Direct Drive owns them both, though...

  • so you can just drive the ts808 with the cheap one? one ts808 you would use no drive and just adjust the drive on the cheap one? thats what srv did?

  • Keep the drive up on both and when both are switched on it creates one HUGE sounding Tubescreamer with loads of sustain.

  • what kind of amp you using ??

    thank you

  • It's a Fender Twin Amp on this video. Sometimes I use a Vox AC30. Thanks for the comments!

  • i love that sound you have :D

    thanks for the video and great guitar playing :P

    greetz

  • Thanks for this vid man, very interesting!

    cheers

  • I have a TS9 and I want to know, what is the difference between the 808 and the 9?

  • Basically the op-amp chip and some small changes to the circuit. Loads of info on the net about this, have a search about. Cheers.

  • Great Video/audio Comparison. I have both also. My 808 doesn't have the JRC 4558D chip it has the Malaysian 4558P chip, which is much different sounding, less mids, more sweetness and transparency. The Tishiba chip is a copy of the JRC chip, which is why the new soundtank sounds alot like the old 808's with the jrc chip.

  • nice vid man! one question: i'm looking forvard of buying a TS808 reissue can you tell me are they any good or should I just get a vintage one?

  • They have a good reputation. I have never tried one but they are the same basic circuit, op-amps, components etc. A new one should sound like the oldie in this video. Cheers!

  • Great Vid!! I couldn't hear much of a difference between the two, exept the price!! great playing too.

  • Very interesting video! Your playing is really great, and by playing so much different you reveal that they both have their pros and cons...

  • what's the name of that song at the very beginning??? Please ANSWER!!!

  • It's a song called Brilliant by a band called Candleman Summer.