do you use the original chips? What's the deal with the ones you make? What are cases like? I am interested, but also I found a deal on the original 808 chips so maybe I should pick one up if you are to make me a pedal?

Josh, my roomate is considering modding his Tubescreamer, I'll send him your way if he does.

the_taste_of_cigarettes said:


by chips do you mean the jrc4558d? Thats just the op amp. I also have modded op amps too that are a little more high fi. If you mean the actual board, I solder on every single last capacitor and resistor by hand. I have paid a lot of attention to the circuit and have come up with some of my own mods, and I know all the popular mods too, so I can really shape the tone of these things. I can make them sound like boss sd1's, ts9's, original 808's, botique 808's, what ever you want.






I probably won't sell you a bare color one like that unles you really want it. I'll paint em and throw on decals.

brian_dc said:

awesome, just let me know when. Is it a ts808, or a ts9?

I think it's a TS9. He never came home today, but I'll let you know once he decides what to do with it.

i think you should make nicks hotter than your average tubescreamer, he needs more crunch than a normal 808 would have.

Josh - yeah, in that socket where it says "Amp", I guess there is a chip that goes there and they have varied in production style over time. Supposedly (this is just from reading up on the 808 since you introduced it to me in that Metalfest thread) the older chips are far better than the newer ones (I got no clue). I do know that many of the "reissues" of pedals I have heard in recent years do sound poor when compared to their elders. Should I buy an original chip, then, and we can put it in there? Also can you make the knobs less like MXR knobs and maybe we can pick out a slimmer style for them? Can you email me prices for you to make the pedal?

the_taste_of_cigarettes said:


The op amps do not play the most major role in the sound. Cool thing is you can change op amps nice and easy. Some prefer the opriginal op amps that came with the original ts808's, and some prefer the hi fi texas instruments versions that came out at a later date. Both were used in production in the pedals over the years. 60% of people will not hear too much of a difference in the op amp. Most of the major role in the sound is done in the gain and clipping stages. Thats where you can get technical and make the thing mid crazy, smooth, more gain etc etc. The knobs are pretty much default and easy/cheap for me to get. The poles on the pots are standard size, so you can use most amp and guitar nobs on them if you decide you want something different. I am sure for a few bucks more (literally just the cost of new knobs) I can throw on something different. I generally price match the ibanez ts808. Normally they go for 159 + shipping, but I'll pay the shipping. So for the price of a regular ts808 you get a hand wired ts808 built to your specs. I also warranty all my work too so thats not a worry. 1 year against manufacturer defects. If you break the thing or fry it with the wrong power supply or something, I'll also fix it dirt cheap since you did the favor of buying it from me.