TS7 Tubescreamer Review

Often imitated but never duplicated is the popular Ibanez Tubescreamer. This piece isn't just another stompbox, it's an institution. With its classic subtle-but-smooth overdrive, the Tubescreamer expands the expressiveness of your guitar while maintaining its tonal integrity.

Ease of Use:	9
Sound:	9.2
Reliability:	7.8
Impression:	8.3
Overall rating:	8.6
Users rating:	6.9
Comments:	22

overall: 9.3

Featured review by: SatanPriest, on june 24, 2009

Price paid: $ 50

Purchased from: Local Ripoff Music Store

Ease of Use: Very easy to use, 3 knobs (Drive, Tone, Level), 1 Switch (for TS9 and Hot Mode), and a footpedal. A monkey could operate this, if only they could shr3d. Oh yeah, there's input, output, and power supply jacks. If for any reason you can't operate this pedal, get a CAT scan right away. // 10

Sound: I'm using mainly a Fender Jaguar through a PA I have. I have a JCM-900 but its in need of repair, and I just got the TS7 so I never tested them out together. The TS7 provides very good Overdrive, it can match the sound of a TS9 and a TS808 in quality and there's not a huge difference in sound. Actually the chip in the TS7 is very similar to the one in the TS808 and can be modded very easily, although I can't hear a huge difference. Its just a matter of changing the resistor I believe, its easy to find directions of how to do it online. Anyways, Killer sound, there's a Switch for "hot mode" which boosts the Drive up but can be quite noisy (TS9 mode isn't very noisy at all). This pedal is very good for all kinds of rock, blues, and for solos. Its not for metal riffing and such because its Overdrive, if you want heavy go with a DISTORTION pedal, I recommend the Boss MT-2 or the Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde, or classic amp distortion. // 10

Reliability & Durability: It seems very durable, it has metal casing, and its in the Tone-Lok series so all the buttons and be pressed into the pedal. I haven't gigged with it yet nor have I had it long so I 'm not positive how reliable it is but my buddy claims it is, so I'll give it a 7 for now. // 7

Impression: I play mostly alt/experimental rock in vein of Minus the Bear, Muse, Radiohead, Sonic Youth, all that jazz, and I use a shitload of effects, and its perfect for what I need in Overdrive. Its very affordable, about $40 on musiciansfriend.com, I'm not quite sure why its so cheap, maybe because its Machine made, the plain silver metal casing isn't fancy and green with a Vintage footswitch like the TS9 or TS808, or just maybe because its not made with love. If it was lost or stolen I would definitely go out and buy another one, its not like it would break the bank. This isn't for metal riffing or Smashing Pumpkin-esque fuzz, it just does what its supposed to do, its just an Overdrive, albeit a very good one. // 10

overall: 9.3

Reviewed by: Kinslaya, on september 08, 2008

Price paid: € 50

Purchased from: Local Music Store

Ease of Use: There are just 2 things in the box. The pedal and the instructions. The instructions are short, but good. With cool and good sounding examples. Everything that you want to know. On the pedal there are just 3 knobs: drive - tone - level. Explains itself, if you ask me. Very Easy to use. With bit tweaking you get what you want. // 9

Sound: As I started to play guitar it was my 2nd pedal I bought. At that time I was really in this goth/industrial/metal-sound. I thought "S***", not the tone I wanted. But since I was more n more in guitar and discovered that Drive knobs don't have to be set to "10" and a nice warm sounding Solo kicks ass it was an obsession. Played gigs with it. Very smooth, warm sound. Now I use it as a boost for solos. Awesome. Warm, fat, smooth and sustain. The sounds you can get from a Ibanez TS are well known. Warm, nice, singing, fat overdrive. If you search for heavy distortion, close this site, but if you want to play hardrock, punk or bluesrock, it's very cool. There's also something new: The "HOT" switch. If you pull it there is more gain, sustain, tone, volume. Just heavier (But also warm and nice). Sad it's a bit noisy in this setting. But, man, we're playing guitar. // 10

Reliability & Durability: Played Gigs with it, without backup. It's really solid metal. The one Who said it fell out of his hand and now it's broken. Man, why does it fall out of your hand. The only negative: It eats batteries, batteries, batteries. But if you always change batteries before a gig it's no problem. // 9

Impression: I play hardrock, bluesy rock, punk and just everything that has nice guitars. And that now for 2 years. I own several Ibanez pedals and a 30 W amp for practice. In band practice I play direct in the mixer. I love it for it's tone. And I think every guitarplayer should own a TS, just because it's cult. Its an overdrive, not more, not less. If I want to play harder things, I use my other equipment. That was always so and isnt a secret.

Positive:
- Easy to use
- Legendary TS sound
- Warm, fat, awesome sound
- Solid metal
- Great hot-switch
Negative:
- A bit noisy in "HOT"-modi
- Not for metal or other extreme distortions. // 9

overall: 9

Reviewed by: angus69, on april 20, 2006

Price paid: $ 72

Purchased from: guitar center

Ease of Use: Three knobs, one switch. Very basic, simple and straight-forward. If anyone has any trouble trying to get this thing to work or sound right then either the pedal is messed up or the person trying to work the pedal has a serious learning problem. // 9

Sound: I play an Epiphone Les Paul and a Vox 15w amp, I bought this pedal to replace a dying Proco Rat. Similar effect, but less harsh and doesn't 'do' fuzz. On the 'hot' setting, it is a little noisy compared to my old Rat. I didn't think this would provide much overdrive/distortion, but with a compressor behind it, set at only about 12 o'clock on the 'hot' setting, it gives a very satisfying rock distortion. I managed to get the Pearl Jam (both guitarists use TS-9s) and the Tool guitar sound with little tweaking (also very good for AC/DC and punk rock thought). I put a Boss Metal Zone before it in my effects loop and the two sound surprisingly good together, I now use the Metal Zone as a powerful boost for the TS-7, just took a bit of tweaking getting the tone levels about the same. I really like ve the overall sound. // 9

Reliability & Durability: Not had it long. It's made of metal (can't believe anyone would think it's plastic). Design is very similar to Boss pedals, the retractable dials increase durablility, so possibly more reliable than Boss. // 9

Impression: Well, I just wanted to say that this is a very good, classic rock pedal, I've been playng for an year now and I've had a Marshall Guv'noir and it's just a piece of crap in compair with this one, I would probally buy another one if this was stolen. // 9

overall: 8.5

Reviewed by: AngrySamoan, on november 13, 2003

Price paid: $ 50

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Ease of Use: It's really simple to use, just hook a wire in the input and output and you're ready to go. Pretty easy to get good sound out of, and great for overdriving the distortion you already have on a tube amp. I've tried it on both solid state and tube, and it seems all around awesome for both. The knobs are very user friendly. But if you leave it hooked in too long, the batteries will die, and that always sucks. // 8

Sound: My current setup:
Gibson SG Special with Gibson Burstbucker bridge pickup on a Marshall MGDFX100 Watt Amp.

It's not too noisy and doesn't scream to often, but it can rip some real cool heavy metal and punk lines on high volumes. The effects can get real weak if you have a low battery. Sometimes this can screw you at a show. I can get this one to sound alot like some Suicidal Tendencies and with some tweakage you can get a real NOFX/Pennywise effect. It only has one effect, which is distortion, but it's a good little box and well worth the money. // 10

Reliability & Durability: The only downside is the battery. It will screw you. // 6

Impression: I play heavy metal, punk rock, and some cool Bach type stuff. I've been playing for about 4 years now. And if this baby ever got stolen, I'd buy it again in a second. // 10

overall: 8.5

Reviewed by: Onyx, on august 25, 2004

Price paid: $ 81.9

Purchased from: Local music store

Ease of Use: The pedal is pretty straightforward to use. It's like any other pedal. You plug it in and turn the three knobs until you get the sound you want. The manual was only one piece of paper though it contained everything you need to know plus a few settings to start out with. // 10

Sound: It has three knobs; drive, tone and level. In addition to that it alsp has a switch that can add som extra gain. I'm currently using it along with my Ibanez RG270 and a Marshall MG50DFX. This pedal is ok for rhythm playing but is a little weak for soloing. I would say that punk, pop-rock and soft rock is where this baby should be used, perhaps also some CCR-like stuff. // 8

Reliability & Durability: It hasn't let me down yet and I don't think it will either. I think it's quite safe to use this at a gig without a backup. Unless you're using an adaptor it might be a good idea to bring backup batteries though. This thing eats a lot of batteries. "Physically" it's durable enough. // 8

Impression: I've been playing for 4 years now. I play just about anything from 70's disco to hard rock. This pedal can more or less deliver anything in between. I still use my amp distortion for solos though. This is also my first distortion pedal, I've only been using multieffects before. If it were stolen or lost I wouldn't buy another one, I'd go for something else I think. One nice feature is the Tone-Lok that makes sure the settings you don't turn the knobs unintentionally, or that someone else doesn't for that matter. // 8

Reviewed by: unregistered, on june 10, 2005

Ease of Use: // 8

Sound: I was using this on my dad's beatiful Epiphone (not sure of the make, but it's very high-end so you can trust it) and on a 15 watt Fender Trainer amp (didn't sound too good) and on my dad's Peavey Backstage plus. The sound it made was pretty good. A really nice drive at high volume but if your volume sint high enough you can barely distinguish between notes. I got a good AC/DC and Metallica sound out of this pedal but not much other. // 8

Reliability & Durability: // 8

Impression: I usually play classic rock and metal and it suited me pretty well, I found the perfect settings for Master Of Puppets and Back In Black! I have been playing for about a year and a half now and I own a left-handed Fender Strat (piece of crap) and I use my dads beautiful Epiphone (still don't know make). I only bought this pedal because I needed a overdrive/fuzz pedal and this one was cheap. If this were stolen I would phone the guy who took it and thank them and send them a 24 of canadian beer. I wish this pedal had more. No wait any reliability then I might like it but I only have so much space in my heart. // 4

Comments

[angus69]

great pedal

[wingedgopher]

why is this so much cheaper than a regular tubescreamer?

[Deus Ex]

Is the ts7 any good??!! (Compared to the ts9 like!!)

[595Metallica595]

junk petal. i got the digitech metal master it blows this thing away. mine broke. the top broke off when i dropped it out of my hand and it wont go back on. this petal doesnt get any sound want (which was replaced with the metal master, i play heavy metal/speed metal) this petal sucks. get a different one. this is a nu metal garage band petal

[595Metallica595]

btw the people that say this gets the MetalicA sound, they are wrong. this doesnt get a heavy metal sound whatsoever. the palm mutes arnt very good at all and you have to turn the amp volume up a lot to get a sound even close to MetallicA. the notes are twangy and dont sound rich and full

[therealsherwood]

holy crap metallica595, you are an idiot, do you really think that a tube overdrive PEDAL(thats how you spell it) is going to give you a metallica or speed metal sound? if you do then you shouldnt be playing guitar because you know nothing. it is used for classic rock lick ac/dc & SRV.

[iKillYou!]

therealsherwood wrote:

holy crap metallica595, you are an idiot, do you really think that a tube overdrive PEDAL(thats how you spell it) is going to give you a metallica or speed metal sound? if you do then you shouldnt be playing guitar because you know nothing. it is used for classic rock lick ac/dc & SRV.

100% right. this aint no metal pedal! just because it says ibanez on it you assume you can play metallica or whatever with it. go to sleep..

[RJMan]

btw the people that say this gets the MetalicA sound, they are wrong. this doesnt get a heavy metal sound whatsoever. the palm mutes arnt very good at all and you have to turn the amp volume up a lot to get a sound even close to MetallicA. the notes are twangy and dont sound rich and full

Dumbass omg nobody ever said this pedal is for metal and btw some people play music other than metal

[cyclefreak207]

Yeah, seen a Metal Master pedal lately? It says metal master cuz its for metal, not vintage style playing, would you buy a delay to get a compressor??? Damn idiots.

[seanydon]

I think people who are buying this pedal for a rough, hard distortion are seriously looking for the wrong thing. Tubescreamers are famous for thier mild yet warm, smooth overdriven goodness. Think SRV or Santana, not Metallica.

[rednightmare]

I suppose the "screamer" part of the name could be a bit misleading. But, how is this version compared to the TS-9 or 808?

[ogisha007]

People, people, people. the Tubescreamer is a very soft and smooth distortion pedal (hence the name Tube screamer, not Solid state Crusher). If you want to get a usable metal sound with it, use it as a boost in front of a high gain tube amp (on the pedal, set the level to the max, gain very low or to the minimum). That setting adds the "chug" to the distortion, and is good for riffage.
The Tubescreamer by itself, as far as I've heard, it nails a kind of SRV sound.

[InanezGuitars44]

yeah, like ogisha said, this isnt supposed to give you a high gain sound. but if your amp is overdriven then you add the tubescreamer, it can give you high gain. most people just use it to get more gain out of their amp or for a solo boost

[deepestpurple]

Why is this so much cheaper then the TS-9?

[MrChris]

ive got the TS-7 and the MT-2. I like the TS-7 for just a bit of extra drive when i had a really shit amp that you could not use the distortion because it sounded so shit.

This will not substitute a decent amp with proper gain controls. Good for a cheap fix id only give it a 6 or 7

[borehead]

The TS-7 is cheaper because it is mostly put together by machines, and not by humans (or at least that's the way I think it is like). In my opinion, you can barely tell the difference between the pedals. If you are a fastidious player, you'll maybe think it's a difference.

[mysistermeac]

Fucking idiots every one of that say's this pedal cant play metal, I have it and I have been playing for 8 years and every person should know that almost every metal band uses a overdrive pedal, most of them a tubescreamer (not this type though, the TS9). You use it in metal to boost your distortion on the amp. No serious guitar player are using a distortion pedal like ; boss metalcore, boss metalzone or digi metalmaster, it's just for noobs that dont have good amps soo they can combine the distortion on the amp and the overdrive pedal!
Fuck...

[Allen2288]

I like this pedal, but it is always buzzing as if it is having a ground loop problem. Any ideas how to fix this slight buzz?

[fleh]

the first guy dint say but it seems like everyone wrting a review is using a solid state amp and expecting this to be a distortion pedal.
fags

[Rusty_axe]

mysistermeac wrote:

Fucking idiots every one of that say's this pedal cant play metal, I have it and I have been playing for 8 years and every person should know that almost every metal band uses a overdrive pedal, most of them a tubescreamer (not this type though, the TS9). You use it in metal to boost your distortion on the amp. No serious guitar player are using a distortion pedal like ; boss metalcore, boss metalzone or digi metalmaster, it's just for noobs that dont have good amps soo they can combine the distortion on the amp and the overdrive pedal!
Fuck...

100% agree! My friend uses his TS7 to boost his lead tones in our band and its badass, i am so going to buy this becasue it rocks!

[Kinslaya]

I use it after my Ibanez Weeping Demon WahWah and before my Digitech RP 350 Multieffect. Direct into the Mixer. (Amp is simulated in the Multieffects)

Sounds great. It gives me this little bit more "BAMM" for Solos and a little more Gain, but is always warm and gentle.

[thethrupnybits]

i think i might invest in one of these...

i play through a marshall mg100dfx with a morley pwo power wah pedal and a jackson kvx10, but i find i want that little extra oomf when i play solos and heavier riffs. any ideas on other pedals to do this?