Enormous TS9 Collection on ebay

[Heady Jam Fan]

As far as all the mods and other ts9-like options, I gotta say, they are a waste of time (imo).  When you try enough of those vintage ones and hear the mojo that some of them contain, you will understand why there is all the hype behind the original tubescreamers from the early 80's. 

Can you elaborate?  What about Analogman's TV808? Isn't that making it exactly the same as the old 808 with NOS parts even? I don't understand how there could be a discernible difference.

I don't know if he uses NOS parts for the mod, but the mod only involves a few components - the rest of the pedal is still a Reissue. Ibanez build quality alone is not as good nowadays as compared to when the pedals were made by Maxon, which contributes to tone. Also, a lot of people say part of the tone of a vintage pedal is not just the old components but old components that have been used for many many hours.

That is supposedly what you get with the NOS parts. Now of course the OTHER parts, those that are technically the same as the original, won't be "broken in" and that could possibly account for any difference.  After seeing this thread, I tried to find some comparisons on YouTube and all I found were the original 808 vs the Silver vs the Keeley Baked. They sound different,  obviously,  but they're supposed to. And they don't sound TOO different.  If the TV 808 is a total waste of time vs the actual vintage 808 I'd be surprised.  That said, a TV808 is still steep at $245. What does a vintage 808 go for?

Vintage 808's can be about 2x that much, but a vintage TS9 is about the same as a TV808 I guess. I wouldn't be opposed to using a stock RI TS9 or OD9, or a TS10 or OD808. But if I was going to drop cash, I'd go with a vintage TS9.

[Jkendrick]

I just started a thread asking for comparisons on TGP. Obviously,  some prefer the mods. I've gotta guess Trey does; he can certainly afford the real thing.

[Heady Jam Fan]

I just started a thread asking for comparisons on TGP. Obviously,  some prefer the mods. I've gotta guess Trey does; he can certainly afford the real thing.

Trey has a big box of old TS9's. I think an interesting question is whether his modded TS9's are RI's or Vintage? When he started using Silver modded TS9's, the "vintage" ones were only a decade or less old, so its not like he would have been sending extra valuable pedals to get modded. The Silver mod is a great pedal and a lot of people on TGP seem to prefer a little less mids & compression than a stock Ibanez, but people on this site seem to prefer all the mids and compression of a stock rather than a Silver (be it their own tone, or comparing Trey's tone just before and just after switching to Silvers). Both are great pedals and its a matter of opinion - if you buy a used Silver (or stock) you can sell it pretty easily for the same price. For me, the way I think of it: I don't want to pay more (for a Silver mod) to get less (of the attributes - compression and midrange - that make a TS a TS). But I've owned 4 or 5 Silver mod TS9's over the years as well.

[sour d]

AM does not use vintage opamp in his mods.