Ibanez Tube Screamer Serial Number
Old ones TS-808 Overdrive Pro: the first Tube Screamer, introduced somewhere around 1979-1980 (I don’t have an exact date here). There were previous Ibanez pedals labeled ”overdrive”, but the TS-808 was the first time we saw this particular circuit.
An Ibanez serial number can tell you two things, year of manufacture and factory [or country] of manufacture. There is no master list to correlate to a model number, these are consecutive serialized numbers only. The Ibanez serial decoder supports 14 factories and 7 serial formats. Enter Serial Number eg. 2.0) The Ibanez serial decoder supports 14.
And it’s also the first one to bear the ”Tube Screamer” name, so that’s where we start. Almost all of the TS-808s used either the JRC4558D or the Texas Instruments RC4558P op-amp.
A few used the JRC1458 instead. The pots are different from the ones in the later pedals (they are the open design, rather than enclosed), but aside from those you could easily turn a (far cheaper) TS-9 into an 808. These pedals are very expensive these days, unless you come across one at a garage sale of course.
But I admit that’s a quite unlikely scenario 🙂 TS-9 Tube Screamer: this one appeared around 1982-83, when Ibanez introduced the ”9” series with a completely redesigned exterior. The main differences from the 808 were a few resistors in the output section (presumably to make the pedal mate better with transistor amps), different pots (design, not value) and op-amp. A small number of TS-9s had the JRC4558D, but most were shipped with either the JRC2043DD or the TA75558P. Original TS-9s are starting to get real expensive as well, but here in Sweden you can still find them at about the same price as a new reissue unit. The pedal in the picture is my own beat-up pedal – originals obvisously have a red LED 🙂 Note: The ”9” series also contained the TS-9s bigger brother: the ST-9 Super Tube Screamer.
Essentially a TS-9 with a pre-distortion mid boost, painted dark metallic green. Not to be confused with the later TS-9DX. The TS-9 circuit was also used in the UE-300 mains-powered floor multi-effects.
I used to own one, and of course I sold it and how I regret it now! I wonder where it is now? Hmm TS-10 Tube Screamer Classic: This one took a while.
The ”Master Series” which replaced the ”9” series in 1985, didn’t actually have a Tube Screamer. They kept the Super Tube Screamer instead (but moved the mid boost’s position to after the distortion stage) and called it ”Super Tube” (STL), The Master Series only lasted until 1986, when it was replaced by the ”Power Series” – which is when the number ”10” started appearing in the model names. The STL hadn’t been a success, so Ibanez brought out the TS-10 Tube Screamer Classic to please the public. The TS-10 can be had for a lot less than a 9, and will sound close enough, if not just as good. They are harder to mod to 808 specs, though, as the TS-10 not only had component value changes (like the ”9”) but also a few components that weren’t there before. The input/output jacks are mounted directly on the pcb, with no support from the box, and many of them eventually fail. The pots are also mounted directly to the pcb, and while they have a little more support from the box than the jacks, they are definitely a potential weak spot. 