Ibanez TS808 Vintage Tube Screamer Reissue 

Comments about Ibanez TS808 Vintage Tube Screamer Reissue:

This is a wonderful overdrive pedal to go with a tube amp that is already breaking up. I use this with a Marshall class 5 tube amp and I love it. I have owned this pedal for more than a year. I have not had any problems with it. I would describe this pedal as warm. This is an overdrive pedal. It is not a distortion pedal. I would not recommend this pedal for a solid state amp.

Comments about Ibanez TS808 Vintage Tube Screamer Reissue:

If you can handle this pedal with oven mitts and padded shoes for your entire life, be my guest. All I can tell you is that from just regular use it broke down on me and it needed to be replaced after a year.

What I'd recommend doing is what I did after my TS808 broke down, and get a Keeley TS9. It was the same price as the Ibanez TS808 for me, it has a greater range of overdrive, no midrange hump, the same chip as the TS808, a nifty blue LED on the front, true bypass switching, a higher quality switch and knobs, and it has yet to fail me in three years. Do yourself a favor and get the Keeley! You won't be disappointed in that pedal.
Everything you need and it's easy to figure out, and it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a bad tone out of this pedal. I do wish it came with true bypass switching, but that's not a big deal with this pedal as it doesn't color your tone a lot when it's turned off.
Horrible build quality. This pedal started breaking down on me after about six months, and had to be replaced within a year. The knobs started falling off as they are made of very thin, cheap plastic, the switch started sticking, and the input and outputs started fussing. If I didn't have my guitar cables plugged in just so, there wouldn't be any sound or it would crackle a lot. The switch in particular was annoying; imagine having to stab at the numbers on your cell phone just to get them to work, and you'll know what this pedal was like trying to turn it on and off. It was really only used for bedroom jamming and the occasional gig, so it wasn't handled poorly, just regular use. Also, I don't stomp on my pedals, I tap. I'm not stupid enough to treat a pedal this expensive like a toy.
Sound is exceptional, build quality is horrible, so that evens out to a five for me. Unacceptable for a pedal that costs this much.

Comments about Ibanez TS808 Vintage Tube Screamer Reissue:

Sound quality is great, build quality is terrible, so that evens out to a five for me. I wouldn't highly recommend this pedal because of the build quality.

I would recommend doing what I did after my TS808 broke--I bought myself a Keeley TS9 for around same price as my old TS808. I have not had a single problem with my Keeley TS9 in the three years I've owned it. The Keeley's got the same uber-chip in it as this TS808, it's true bypass so your tone always comes through in full and isn't effected when you turn the pedal off, the switch is nice and responsive still after three years, it's got a nifty bright blue LED on the face now, it has a greater range of overdrive, it doesn't have the midrange hump that's associated with the standard TS808 and TS9 (which is something I didn't realize I hated until I played the Keeley), and I haven't had a single problem with the input or output.
Three knobs, simple layout, easy to use, and provides a great boost for my solos or some warm overdrive on the clean channel of my Budda. For those of you who maybe haven't used a Tube Screamer before, this is NOT a distortion pedal and shouldn't be treated as such. I have nothing bad to say about the sound of this pedal, as it is almost impossible to dial in a bad tone.
Build quality is terrible, the worst I've seen on a pedal this price. I do not gig very regularly, so I mostly used this pedal for bedroom jamming and occasionally to go jam with some buddies. I am very careful with all of my gear, as most of it is honestly quite a bit more expensive than I can afford so I sure's heck am not going to buy it twice by being wreckless. Having said that, after about 6 months of normal use the input on mine needed to be repaired or replaced because if I didn't have my cord sitting at just the right angle going into the input, I wouldn't get any sound or it would crackle nonstop. It wasn't the cord or anything else, either. I used different cords, changed the order of my pedals, etc, and isolated the problem to the Tube Screamer. I would literally have to prop up the cord with something to make sure it was at an angle going into the pedal so it would work.

The switch stopped working on me about a year into owning this pedal. I don't stomp on my pedals, I tap them, and I sure's heck don't stomp on a pedal that costs this much. The switch started sticking down, and it was almost impossible to turn on or off. It would maybe take five taps to get the thing to finally turn on or off, and sometimes it would randomly turn itself on or off. Very inconvenient. Imagine having to stab at the power button on your cellphone to get it to turn on, and you'll know the feeling.

The knobs are cheap plastic. They started breaking and popping off around the same time the switch started going out.

After about 18 months of owning this pedal I threw it out, it wasn't worth the trouble to keep it no matter how good it sounded.

These are all issues that are completely unacceptable for a pedal that costs this much. Oddly enough, the TS9's build quality is better than this thing. The switch is much better and the knobs aren't this cheap.
If you want to live with that and handle this pedal with oven mitts and padded shoes for the rest of your life, be my guest. In my opinion this is not worth the money no matter how good it sounds.

Comments about Ibanez TS808 Vintage Tube Screamer Reissue:

I can't complain at all. This is the best distortion for a Marshall amp made. Works with my Mesa too.
What can I say? I've kept this pedal longer than any pedal and its still on my pedal board. It delivers that cut through lead like no other.
Hasn't failed me in 5 yrs. of gigs.
A little over priced.

Comments about Ibanez TS808 Vintage Tube Screamer Reissue:

AMAZING!!! If your looking for one GET THIS ONE!!! wont be dissapointed
The Tube Screamer is AMAZING! It gives you a nice crunch sound instead of in, my opinon, a not nice distortion (not a big fan i like OD). And yes there is a difference. The gain nob goes from just tad crunch to a SICK ZZ TOP sound! The volume nob goes from quiet to "I HATE my neighbors" LOL
The Tone gives you muddy or crisp treble.
ONLY ONLY ONLY thing i didnt like was the switch. You have to hit it straight or it wont engage. BUILT FORD TOUGH or RUNS DEEP LIKE CHEVY which ever you preffer, it could go through WW3 and still run for President!
I put a 10 cause after i bought it i didnt realize the value of it, I was sketched out just a tad because i had never herd of tube screamers. I know I know how do you not hear about tube screamers but after doing some research and playing one in the store LEGIT!

Comments about Ibanez TS808 Vintage Tube Screamer Reissue:

I wanted that classic 80's tone so I decided to contact musicians friend costumer service and they directed me to this pedal, and I couldn't be happier with what came out of this thing. It has a perfect 80's rock tone and it's great for strumming. It'll go anywhere from virtually clean to mild distortion, perfect for playing 80's. This is a classic overdrive with amazing sound, it's WELL worth the price. If your looking for a good strumming and/or nice 80's drive, THIS is your pedal!

Comments about Ibanez TS808 Vintage Tube Screamer Reissue:

This pedal is the best sounding pedal I have ever used. I use it as a volume/gain boost for solos, and the warm distortion and sustain it adds helps me rip a great sounding blues-rock solo using my Fender Highway One Strat with GFS 1959 Professional Series pickups and Fender Blues Junior amp. The only reason I am giving it a 4.5 for features is because not having true bypass circuitry at this price is a bit of a let-down. However, this doesn't change the tone too much. If you play blues or classic rock and love natural warm overdrive, get this pedal.

Comments about Ibanez TS808 Vintage Tube Screamer Reissue:

Decent pedal over all is the best way to sum it up. IMO its way overpriced and you can get something a lot better for the same price. Tubescreamers were great and were used by many great guitarists, but they just arent made the same anymore. Ibanez knows how many artists endorse the name Ibanez Tube Screamer and they know that people are going to buy them. Therefor they aren't really inclined to make a quality product like say a new company would. These pedals are mass made. Im sure the actual cost of these things is around 1/10 of the actual price, probably less. I have a 1982 TS-9 and while I know its not the same product, after A/B the two beside each other I know that these pedals aren't worth the buck (or the 180 bucks) anymore. Beside the original 80's pedal it sounds like a tin box... Really. This is with a USA Fender Strat through a Marshall Super Lead 100 watt. I mean, its not bad, and if I didn't have the original to compare it to... I might not have noticed it's inferiority. But truly, I didn't have to take more than 5 seconds to know... It was just that obvious. Nonetheless people are going to buy these because they are going to google Stevie Ray Vaughan or some other artist or simply just from hearsay due to the legacy that Tube Screamer has made for themselves. I dont claim to have a perfect ear, and I know everyone has different tastes, but this pedal isn't worth it... Apart from the sound, take a look on the inside at the circuit board, or the whole pedal for that matter, and think about how much this pedal really costed to build... If I were to stress any point in the review is this ... "TIN BOX". Pretty decent overdrive, but it doesn't sound "real".

Comments about Ibanez TS808 Vintage Tube Screamer Reissue:

This model has the notorious on/off switch that will need to be replaced after about 1 year of pro use -- it is a bad design. The pedal itself sounds great, really about as good as the earlier ones. My issue with this is they are charging $79 more than the other Screamer models because of the op amp used in this one, which is a 50-cent part, my friends. At that price, they could have at least included true bypass in the unit and improved the switch. Be aware that this DOES NOT sound like the TS9 Screamer. This is not the model SRV used. I tend to like the sound of the 808 a little more than the TS9, but your tastes may be different. I don't play live with my latest 808, because I don't want to stomp it hard and have to replace another switch. It is what it is.

Comments about Ibanez TS808 Vintage Tube Screamer Reissue:

This is the tone I've been after for years! If you want a classic blues tone (e.g., SRV, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Albert King) this pedal is for you. I use mine through a Fender tube amp, which is a must. This pedal will not work well unless you plug it into a good tube amplifier. Also, the pedal is meant to give you "clean gain." In other words, you can get classic sounds out of it, not heavy distortion. If you're style is hard rock or metal, this pedal isn't for you. It's designed for blues and classic rock players.