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Ibanez TS10 Tube Screamer – Is this iconic overdrive worth the price?
Introduction
When guitarists talk about iconic pedals, there is one pedal they will all mention! The Tube Screamer! Among those, there is one at the top of the list, the Ibanez TS10! Put on a podium and considered the best Tube Screamer around! Played by so many famous players that we all love it, it has become iconic and for that reason, it has a rather high price!
Thanks to Simon from JSA Pedals, who made the LNS Screamer for me (Review Here). He has collected many Tube Screamers and has loaned me this Ibanez TS10 to review.
I have been playing it, trying it out through various rigs and seeing what it sounds like so I can put together my thoughts and review this pedal! Sadly, you can’t buy these brand new anymore, but my main reason for doing this is to find out if they are worth the price!
Ibanez TS10 Tube Screamer
The Ibanez TS10 Tube Screamer was the third proper tube screamer pedal that Ibanez released. It had been changed a lot from the TS9 and TS808 pedals that came before it. It also featured some parts which were prone to breaking. However, even with all of this, it produced a sound that many of our favourite guitarists loved and used; this has led to
The TS10 was released in 1986 and was produced in Japan. It has that classic Tube Screamer shape but was a little different than the pedal before it. However, considering all of this, it is still an Ibanez Tube Screamer and still does that famous and recognisable thing to your tone.
More on the Ibanez TS10 Tube Screamer
As with most Tube Screamers, the Ibanez TS10 only has three controls. So let me go through what they are and what they do.
- Drive: Controls the amount of distortion and saturation in the sound.
- Tone: Shapes the overall tone, allowing you to boost or cut frequencies.
- Level: Adjusts the overall output level.
This pedal doesn’t feature a standard foot switch that you would find on most pedals. As with the two previous versions, it features a plate-like foot switch (very similar to Boss). The first three Tube Screamers all feature different-looking foot switches. The Ibanez TS10 has a sort of “off-centred”, almost flush foot switch.
The guitar has both its input and output jacks on top of the pedal. The Ibanez TS10 runs on your standard 9v power supply, which is also top-mounted for easier mounting to pedalboards.
The Sounds
For the sound samples, I just plugged my guitar directly into the TS10, then plugged it into the front of my Custom Amp. You will hear two sound samples. One with a clean amp and one with a crunch amp. This will show you what you can expect from this pedal when using it in your set-up. All the sound samples are recorded using a real tube amp capture using a Two Note Captor X with Cab Simulation.
For the demo songs, it was pretty much the same as above. Just the Tube Screamer into the front of my amp! I added some delay in the post-production. The reverb is the spring reverb in the amp. Again, all recorded through the Two Note Captor X.
What are my thoughts?
The Design
What do I think of the Ibanez TS10’s looks? Different! Having mostly played modern and remakes of Ibanez which are the “standard” look. This was very strange to play! However, I do like several things, the foot switch being one of them! The second one being the top-mounted jacks! I think this is one of the only Ibanez Tube Screamers that has top-mounted jacks! Makes it so much easier to mount and put on pedalboards! Of course, the colour is as you would expect! Comparing it to my modern Tube Screamer Mini (Review Here), I do feel the colour is slightly lighter/faded! That could be due to the age or the actual colour!
To me, the TS10 looks very “Industrial”. It has a sort of machine look to it. If it wasn’t green, you would think it was some kind of 80’s computer device! Maybe that is the look they were going for. A futuristic kind of thing. It is very interesting, and to be fair, you still don’t see many pedals look like this today.
There have been several reports of the jacks becoming loose in this pedal! I think they used a different kind of input and output jack, which could cause them to come away from the circuit board. This could end up in a decent repair bill.
"But you do have to watch the bottom end and make sure the sound doesn’t get too flabby.
The Sounds
I will admit, I do love this pedal! There is something special about it! It can do two things very well. The first being an overdrive pedal, the second is that Stevie Ray thing where you slam the front end of your amp! For me, I adore how this pedal sounds going into the front of a clean amp! I can see what all the guitar heroes that used this pedal used high-headroom clean amps! Sounds wild!
As an overdrive pedal, the TS10 is obviously mid-heavy! However, throw that into a mix and it all makes sense! It has a lovely thick-sounding overdrive! Putting single coils through this pedal allows you to get a nice thick and weighty overdrive sound. If you swapped to a humbucker, you get a nice sound, but you do have to watch the bottom end and make sure the sound doesn’t get too flabby. This is where the tone pot comes in handy!
More on the Sounds
You have a huge range of sounds on tap, with the amount of volume in the pedal, you will be able to use the Ibanez TS10 Tube Screamer as a fantastic boost pedal with a great mid boost and sculpting EQ. It allows you to take an amp you love the sound of and just give it a bit more and push it a bit further!
Using this, the Ibanez TS10, and your guitar volume, you are able to get a huge array of sounds from your amp. Add in a boost pedal in front and you will have almost any gain sound you can need at your fingertips and feet!
The Drawbacks
What don’t I like about this pedal? Well, I think it is obvious! The price! Thanks to the hype and lore around the Ibanez TS10, they have gone up in price massively! You will struggle to find one below £300 now. I know I said it sounds good and has something special to it, but is it that much better than a standard modern Tube Screamer? Plus, if I was going to spend that much money on a Tube Screamer pedal, I would rather grab the JSA LNS Screamer. Which is handmade and UK-built.
I think these pedals are only going to go up in value now! They are getting older and more iconic and thats will drive the price up! There will be a point where the price of one will make you a little bit to scared to play it! Especially if you count for the known issues with the jack sockets failing!
"However, if you are just after a Tube Screamer, then there are loads of other options and pedals out there!"
Final Thoughts
I am not going to tell you how to spend your money. If you are in the market for a Tube Screamer and you are thinking about buying a TS10, I would strongly recommend maybe looking at some other options. Mainly the JHS Bonsai. This has a very good TS10 circuit in it (plus others).
At the end of the day, unless they drop in value, you will be fairly safe putting your money into an Ibanez TS10; you will be able to play it and experience this pedal because it is special! However, if you are just after a Tube Screamer, then there are loads of other options and pedals out there! In fact, I have a review coming up which could be the solution! Plus, you get a whole other pedal as well! More on that soon!
Conclusion
That is my review of the Ibanez TS10 Tube Screamer. I hope you enjoyed it! I love checking out these classic and iconic pedals. I have many more coming in the future! Some proper classic and sought-after pedals are coming to the site. As far as the Ibanez TS10, I love it! I can see why people love them; they do have something special about them!
Do I recommend you buy one for that tube screamer sound? No! You can get most of the way there with any other tube screamer! However, if you want the full experience, then there is nothing else like this!
Is there any pedal that you would like to see on the website, then please let me know! I will try my best to get them and review them! Make sure you head over to the YouTube channel and hit subscribe as well as my Instagram. This is what helps me keep the website going and bring you more reviews and interviews!
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