Category Archives: Pedals

GEAR 402 • Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer vs Electro-Harmonix Soul Food

Gear, Pedals, , , ,

In this demo I compare and contrast some of the sounds you can get from two popular overdrive pedals – the Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer and the Electro-Harmonix Soul Food. The Tube Screamer, a mild overdrive with a midrange boost, has been a pedal board staple for years. The Soul Food is a clone (Klone) of the Klon Centaur, a boutique pedal known perhaps above all else for its high price tag. The Soul Food seeks to bring Klon tone to the masses, but rather than trying to figure out how close it sounds to a Klon we can just enjoy it for what it is: a transparent overdrive with lots of clean headroom and an emphasis on the trebles. So this is really not a shootout to determine which one is “better,” since they’re different from each other and both good at what they do.

This demo was recorded with a Fender MIM Strat (w/ Texas Special pickups) and a Fender Champ II (Rivera) amp miked with a Sennheiser e906 dynamic microphone.

Ibanez page for the TS9: http://www.ibanez.co.jp/products/u_effect_page14.php?year=2014&cat_id=6&series_id=153&effect_id=5

EHX page for the Soul Food: http://www.ehx.com/products/soul-food

GEAR 401 • Boss ’59 Fender Bassman Pedal

Gear, Pedals, , , ,

Here is a two part review & demo of a cool little under the radar pedal, the Boss FBM-1 Fender ’59 Bassman. The Boss Fender Bassman pedal has a lot of tone-shaping options; it has presence, mid range, bass, and treble knobs in addition to the gain/level knobs. There is also a regular input and a “bright” input, Fender Bassman style. So, this ends up being a very versatile pedal that does mild grit (tweed style), clean boost, or can just be used as a pedal to fatten up your tone.
I think of this as a milder, mellower Blues Driver pedal – with milder overdrive (but still lots of clean gain) and many more tone shaping options. It pairs well with another overdrive pedal, like a Tubescreamer, in addition to working as a stand-alone unit. I have used this as a pre-amp plugged straight into the mixer and also plugged into a solid state amp, but found that it really shines when used in conjunction with a tube amp.

Part I is an overview of the pedal’s features, my thoughts on the pedal’s unusual cosmetics, and a few thoughts on how you might use it.
Part II is a sound demo with a Fender MIM Strat (w/ Texas Special pickups) and a Fender Champ II (Rivera) amp miked with a Sennheiser e906 dynamic microphone.

The YouTube window below will play both videos as part of a play list.

Boss page for the FBM-1: http://www.bossus.com/gear/productdetails.php?ProductId=854