Do I have an Original 1981 TS9? (Calling all TS9 experts!)

Khoi

Khoi

New member
so I've had this TS9 that I got in a trade, and I was bored (I actually should be studying for a final I have tomorrow!), but I decided to open her up to see what she looked like and to check out the ac adapter jack (it kinda shuts on/off, I need to wiggle it to get it right sometimes).

Well after a little research from Analogman, I noticed that my TS9 was a Black label. Apparently the Black signified an original. Interestingly enough, the serial number is 148758. And according to Analogman, the 1 signifies 1981! The first year of production after the TS808?

Well after a little more research, I found that the chip inside was the JRC 2043DD, but I guess that it's not as sought after as the others.

Anyone care to school me on how much this TS9 is worth?

It's got no battery compartment, but the AC adapter works pretty well, it's just I have to wiggle it a bit to get it working

I have to admit, it does sound REALLY good. Super smooth overdriven tone, very similar to the Fulltone MOSFET I had. I've had another TS9 and played some in stores, and those sounded pretty bad to me.

Pics comin right up!
 
pics, sorry for the size/bluriness, digital cameras don't take very good close up shots


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Can't offer much insight into your TS9 question, just some comments... that's some really old-school circuitboard in there, looks great! I wonder what brand those green resistors are...

anyway, what I came to say was that the much coveted JRC4558 is really not that interesting of a chip... it's cheap, it's found in a ton of other audio equipment (just found 8 of'em in an old stereo equalizer for example). The only thing it's got going for it is that it's famous for some reason. There's tons of other chips out there that sound just as good or better.

Especially since opamps are designed by default to sound as neutral as possible until they clip. And that usually doesn't sound too good... the type of diodes used in tubescreamers has a much bigger impact. For example, the "famous" Landgraff Dynamic Overdrive is a straight-up clone, but has LED's as clipping diodes, which I also prefer to the diodes usually used.

Just throwing that out there.

/rant
 
Hey man, I'm pretty sure that's original. I had an old school 1981 ts-808 and I talked to the guy at analogman ( I'm pretty sure his name is mike) and he helped me clear up some of the dates and stuff. If I remember right I think the capacitors are dated or at leas they were in my ts. I'm sure if you e-mail him and send him some pics he'd be glad to help you out. I think it's mike@analogman.com but you could just double check over at his site. He answered me back pretty fast too, if I remember right it was the same day. Overall seemed like a pretty good guy...
 
What I always thought was so funny about the JRC4558 chip is the home audio guys HATE them, but the guitar crowd loves them. You can find them in all kinds of stereo equipment, and most home audio nuts just toss them. :LOL: :LOL:
 
I could really care less about what chip it is, I'm not that much of a corksniffer, but all I know is that I'm about $200 closer to saving up for my custom G&L Legacy :LOL: :LOL:

to think, I was thinking about selling this for a quick $50 :confused:

This will probably be going on the 'bay soon
 
Find an original JRC4558D chip on ebay and put it in there! For some reason the original tubescreamer seekers seek only these. You will have a hard time selling it with that chip.

eleanor296":3dmmn3nl said:
Can't offer much insight into your TS9 question, just some comments... that's some really old-school circuitboard in there, looks great! I wonder what brand those green resistors are...
Click to expand...

They're coated with some kind of insulating paint. Ibanez still does that but they use a tan color now.
 
eleanor296":1lh5iabd said:
anyway, what I came to say was that the much coveted JRC4558 is really not that interesting of a chip... it's cheap, it's found in a ton of other audio equipment (just found 8 of'em in an old stereo equalizer for example). The only thing it's got going for it is that it's famous for some reason. There's tons of other chips out there that sound just as good or better.

Especially since opamps are designed by default to sound as neutral as possible until they clip. And that usually doesn't sound too good... the type of diodes used in tubescreamers has a much bigger impact. For example, the "famous" Landgraff Dynamic Overdrive is a straight-up clone, but has LED's as clipping diodes, which I also prefer to the diodes usually used.

Just throwing that out there.

/rant
Click to expand...

Those old JRC4558's are special for several reasons. First, they have a pretty slow slew rate so when you drive them hard the distortion is smoother than a modern high slew rate op-amp.

Secondly, at high output currents (i.e. low load impedance like a TS has in the high frequencies) you get nonlinearity around the crossover point (zero volts) since it's a push-pull output stage with a crude forward bias compensation. This gives you "hair" around the note even when playing lightly.

At least that's why my studies of the device have uncovered.

So while they're actually kinda lousy op-amps in a fidelity sense their poor characteristics make them more suitable to distortion circuits like that in the TS. Modern op-amps are too "clean".

CC
 
I far prefer a swap of opamp to the 4558. the opa2134 is the warmest hifi chip in that pedal. 18 volts is far less compressed too if you swap caps.

but my favorite is the tlc2272 at 9, the cmos chip has unreal fidelity/clarity and clips in a very pleasing manner.

I have even gone as far as to use a socket adapter to use two single opamps which allows different character chips for the clipping and tone sections.

diode swaps are cool and allow for ultimate versatility but IMO the stock arrangement is what the ts808 is all about.


different strokes I guess...
 
LordOVchaoS":3mv6h5b4 said:
Find an original JRC4558D chip on ebay and put it in there! For some reason the original tubescreamer seekers seek only these. You will have a hard time selling it with that chip.
Click to expand...


If I have trouble selling mine, I might just do that :LOL: :LOL:
 
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