is a tube screamer the same as overdrive?

thecory

Is a tube screamer pedal and overdrive the same thing? And when mike does like the end of the immortality solo is that what he uses?

mccreadyisgod

The Ibanez Tubescreamer is indeed an overdrive, with a characteristic mid-frequency boost (which often helps "cut" when playing with a band).

Mike has used various methods of varying his tone and distortion/overdrive, so it's hard to tell what pedal he's using on what song. Also, those things change from tour to tour, as he's changed his pedalboard and so on. It could be switching between two different amps, or could be a pedal (he's also used a modified Boss BD-2 recently), or he could just have his guitar or volume pedal knocked down about 15-20%, then turn up to increase the distortion.

thecory

wow thank you very much

Pappas

im getting my tubescreamer next month, if you want to sound like Mike go the TS-9

apparently they don't give the biggest beefy distortion though? so for the really chunky distorted mike parts he prob used his marshall amp. im pretty sure back in the day he had his 2 amps fender for clean tone marshall for dirty, and he had a volume pan pedal which he used to switch between the 2 so he could run all marshall or all fender, or some of both! he then also had his tubescreamer pedal which he used for his moderate distortion tones, and also had his other pedals like dunlop crybaby wah, dunlop rotovibe (red)

mccreadyisgod

The tubescreamer is generally used to add a bit of drive to a clean amp, or to push an overdriven amp even further, so it depends on the amp you use and the settings of the amp and pedal. For classic Mike tone, it's usually a Marshall amp pushed into overdrive, and the tubescreamer is used to push it for heavier tones or solos. The mid-frequency bump is especially helpful for making solos cut through the mix.

Generally speaking, distortion effects come in three levels: Overdrive, Distortion, and Fuzz. Overdrive is the lightest, Distortion is the middle, and Fuzz is the most. If you want heavier tones, you can pick a more definitive Distortion pedal, or Fuzz for really crazy stuff.

Some popular overdrive pedals: The Ibanez Tubescreamer (original TS-808 or newer TS-9, or any of the modified versions and clones), Boss BD-2, Boss SD-1.
Good examples of a proper Distortion: ProCo Rat, Tech21 SansAmp Classic, Boss DS-1, or MXR Distortion+.
Good examples of fuzz: Electro Harmonix Big Muff, Arbiter Fuzz Face, or most pedals featuring the word, "Metal."

None of the PJ guys regularly uses any fuzz effects (although Mike has fooled around with a Fender Blender octave fuzz). However, both Stone and Mike used tones that would qualify as Distortion back in the early 90's. A lot of those tones, as I've mentioned already, are overdrives or distortion pedals COMBINED with amps that are already distorting. That usually means running your amps really loud, so at more reasonable volumes, the better option is to use a good distortion pedal.

One last thing: the louder the signal going into a distortion/overdrive pedal, the more the signal will distort. So running your guitar into the pedal with the guitar's volume turned down will lighten the distortion. Then you can turn up the guitar's volume to increase distortion. Due to an effect known as "compression," the signal won't get considerably louder, just more thick.

xtremehardy388

Mod them.

I modded my SD1 and got an AMAZING sound. If you want early PJ sounds, get the Marshall Guv'nor reissue.


http://www.erikhansen.net/?page_id=29

There's the link to the mods I did.

ScrapeMySky

Another thing to keep in mind here is, that in my experience an overdrive tends to sound far better combined with a tube amp. That's because it basically "just" boosts the signal, which agrees better with tube amps rather than solid state amps. I guess a general rule would be that, if you have the opportunity, you're always better off trying equipment out before bying. And especially with these kinds of pedals it would be best to do this with your own amp.

xtremehardy388

The tubescreamer does work better with a tube amp, as opposed to a solid state. The Blues Driver and Guv'Nor are great, even without. The Blues Driver is a more versatile pedal, IMO. The BOSS SD1 is a good pedal (stock) for a non-tube amp but sounds a lot better with the mod. For an early TEN sound, the Guv'nor nails it. The Tubesceamer is great for today's live PJ sound. The SD1(stock) sounds like a tube screamer, without a tube amp. With the mod, it gives you a live PJ sound (2000-2003). The Blues Driver is the most versatile because you can get something as small as a slight overdrive, all the way to heavy distortion (think the BOSS DS1).