Finally the missing link to my setup. I’d had been using the metalzone pedal on my 12w orange crush amp and when I decided to upgrade to a fender champion II 100 the metalzone just sounded like garbage. The amp has built in settings and I’m using the modern metal voice. Problem is for the style I like(more dimebag like tone) the amp is very bass driven. So after reading about the tube screamer and being torn between the 808, 909 and mini I finally decided on the mini and I’m am extremely happy with the decision. It really cut the bass and made the amp sound a lot brighter. The pinch harmonics really come through also. Still some more fine tuning but if you are on the fence the $70 is worth it.
J
Jonathan Misse
★★★★★
De Mini no tiene nada
Pequeño pero poderoso! Hace que tu amplificador de transistores suene con un cuerpo y crunch cremosos, es un overdrive que impulsa tu sonido sin sacrificar fidelidad y claridad en notas.
A
Alienjanitor
★★★★★
yeah, get it....you wont regret it
took a bit of tweeking, now i cant put my guitar down 😎
R
Ryan Shelton
★★★★★
A Bad A$$ Pedal!
Compact little BA OD pedal! 🤘🏻😎
JAVIER CASTILLO JR
★★★★★
Highly recommended this pedal
It add a nice boost to the distortion, great for metal players.
The mini tube screamer setting
Tone 1 o clock
Level turn all the way up
Overdrive turn all the way down
Armando Bravo
★★★★★
Great addition
Got this as a Christmas present and it’s amazing! So much you can get out of this little pedal! Built tough. The box had a good weight to it and definitely feels like it can take a good stomping. Instantly made its way onto my pedalboard. Fits easily with its mini size.
S
Samuel M.
★★★★★
Tube screamer
It works great and does bring the screaming sound up a few decibels. Looks good on the board.
Hurst House Studio
★★★★★
Its a green Tube Screamer
Do all the tube screamers sound the same model to model? No. Do they all do the same thing? Yes. Think of the Tube Screamer as a clean boost and EQ with a little hair on the back end. Want to tighten up some flub on the low end? Tube Screamer. Want to boost the midrange? Tube Screamer. Want to drive the frontend of the preamp more while killing some the harsh frequencies? Tube Screamer.
This little guy can do all them things. Does it sound like the 808 or TS-9 or like the 300 others? No, its not intended to cause they all have their own flavor, but it will do the Tube Screamer thing if that's what you are after. This guy will not turn your Fender Blues Jr. into a JCM800, but what it will do is round out the midrange by slightly boosting some frequencies while adding just a little zing. Turn the amp up and get a little more zing. Got a 5150? Buy a Tube Screamer turn the drive to 0 level to 4 o'clock and the tone to noon30, the flubby monster the 5150 is has now been transformed and made tight.
Big little green or yellow old or new they all will do the Tube Screamer magic.
Now about this pedal. There is no battery box so you will need to run a power supply of some sorts. This pedal is small so if you have a packed board its perfect (like the picture above). It does sound different then the 808 and slightly more like the TS-9 to my ears but that's me and I am not you so there is that. The led light is very dim and on a bright stage or outside its hard to see if its on. The gain knob is rather large and can be controlled with your foot. There is no buffer in this pedal.
All in all this Tube Screamer does its thing like it should and why its getting 5 stars.
R
Raffy
★★★★★
Bought Used-Good Condition but pedal is not working at all.
I bought a used-good condition from seller
“Good Buy Products”
The cosmetics are good no major scratches. BUT the unit I got is NOT WORKiNG at all!
The packaging is bad and just placed in bubble wraps with no box, see photos.
J
J. Turner
★★★★★
not durable. Sounds great, while it lasts.
Things I like: Small size, classic tones, affordable, same ugly green color as the original.
what I don't like: cheap parts -- it uses a PCB-mounted potentiometer for the gain control.
Last night I plugged it up, and turned the gain knob to find it was acting like an on/off switch - full gain to completely clean with nothing in between. I pulled the pedal apart and put my Fluke meter on it to find the potentiometer had failed and contact cleaner didn't help. It's a mini PCB mount component. A plastic housing clipped together with tension pins. I've included photos of the delicate part under magnification. That's a 6mm shaft. It's approximately the size of a pencil eraser.
I ended up clipping the leads off the pot and cramming a 100k mini-size potentiometer wrapped in heatshrink in there just to get it back up and running. This one will go in the trash bin eventually.
It's a real shame. The originals are still out there after 30 years of use rattling around in gym bags or the trunks of cars, with paint chipped, dents in the chassis, knobs broken off, etc. but still working great. This one has lived a sheltered life, spending only a few hours of use on a carpeted floor.... and it fails.
K
Kenneth B.
★★★★★
Great tube screamer tone at reasonable price and size
I have mine wedged in between my original TS9 from the 1990s and my compression sustainer. The mini sounds more like an 808 than it does a TS9 so, I have it set at slightly lower gain than my TS9 and use it for mild over drive. I use the TS9 for heavier riffs and light lead work. I use them in unison to get that creamy, almost Trey Anastasio kind of lead tone (without much more processing of the tone). This little box mimics the 808 close enough, that to my ears, I can't tell more of a difference than I can from pedals batched at different production times. I use a powered pedal board so the lack of a battery compartment is a non issue to me. The price was right, AND I can fit it in with room to get my foot to it on my board. If you are looking for a Tube Screamer, and can only afford something that won't break the bank, this may be the one for you. I prefer the TS9 for higher gain as it feel a little rounder to me. But that is just personal taste. I know of many who prefer the sound of the TS808 circuit. And running it back to back with another overdrive pedal will give you that milky, creamy, silky overdrive lead tone that I personally think is the coup de grâce of tone (but that is just me).
David Wiese
★★★★★
TS808 Goodness, Less Real Estate
I've been collecting Tube Screamersn and Tube Screamer clones over the past few years. The Mini has a sound that's in the wheelhouse of the TS808. It's that transparent overdrive boost/crunch you'd expect from the 808 type pedals, and less muddy than a TS9.
I did a shootout with the Mini, my EHX East River, and a Joyo Vintage Drive (a clone of the Maxon OD808, or Ibanez TS808). I have other Tube Screamers, but didn't want to pull them off of my boards. The Mini and the Joyo were exceptionally close in sound, and the East River was a lttle less harsh and a touch warmer, but all 3 sounded like an 808.
People have said on the interwebs there's a noticeable difference between the Mini and the TS808, but to my ears the difference is about the same as what you'd get from two TS808's, as they all have the tiniest of variable differences. Also, the difference is only really noticed when playing them next to each other. I started with the Mini for the comparison and my initial thought was "Wow. Sounds like my modded TS9 (modded to TS808 spec)."
I'm quite happy with the drive I get with this, and if one were to need to free up some space on a pedalboard and need a Tube Screamer I'd highly recommend this one. Also, unlike the TS808 and TS9, this is true bypass. Like all mini pedals, it doesn't take batteries, but chances are if you're looking at mini pedals you're trying to save room on a pedalboard and are probably running a power source anyway. The casing is quite durable, but the tiny knobs seem less durable, this goes with any mini pedal though. I'd also recommend this as a way to save sime money if you want a TS808 sound for half the price.
My current favorite Tube Screamer type pedal is the East River, but this would be a close second.
