The classic Tube Screamer, in its many early variations, is considered by many guitarists as the top dog in the overdrive department, and that can be evidenced by the numerous attempts to recreate that signature sound by pedal companies across the world. With a surge of pedals focusing on smaller footprints and less pedalboard space, Ibanez decided to follow suit and release the Tube Screamer Mini, a micro version of their overdrive to fit the needs of today’s less-gear-oriented players. While this is a great idea, and sounds pretty rad in the stock version, Todd over at FoxPedal decided he wanted a little bit more out of it, and came up with this fantastic mod to do so.

The controls on the TS Mini are the same as on the classic: Tone, Level and Overdrive. You’ve probably played a Tube Screamer, or watched a friend play one, at some point in your life (and if you haven’t, you should), so you can gauge the basic sound from these three controls fairly easily. What this mod does is take the circuit and match it to vintage TS808 specs, beefing up the overall output and allowing more headroom. FoxPedal changes 2 resistors in the output buffer, as well as updates the clipping diodes, to transform this little green beauty into a super-charged version of one of the most recognized pedals in the world.

I love how something so small can be transformed to put out a sound so big, all the while not taking up much room and getting some really vintage overdrive sounds to come pouring out of your amp. Thanks again to Todd at FoxPedal for performing this mod for me – it’s not officially something they do just yet, but I think they may be leaning that way in the near future, so keep an eye out on their website for more details, and don’t forget to check out their other great original pedals as well.

Submitted by Mike B, Website

Demo Rock pedalboard by West Coast Pedalboard