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

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