TS808 Mod TB

My Kit is as follows: American standard strat with a few choice mods including callaham hardware including trem block, graphtech ferraglide saddles (I can't recommend these enough) and texas special p/ups. --> Into Keeley bypass looper housing any non-true bypass effects --> Into Fulltone Fat-boost --> Into Keeley TS808 --> Into 2nd Keeley TS808 (!! - Yes I quite like them!) --> Into a soon to be replaced Fender Blues Deluxe. All Zaolla patch cables and guitar leads. First thing's first, I think tube screamers are very much a matter of taste, I just happen to love them. However I would say that the mod does make the tone far more pleasant to even Tube Screamer sceptics as the overtly apparent mid range 'hump' in the tone of a non-modded TS is reduced. All that's left is a wonderfully smooth mid-boost which fattens up the texas specials on my strat just perfectly. I would say that there are better overdrives for humbuckered guitars, not that the Keeley TS sounds bad with my Les Paul, it's just I think there are better combos (e.g Fulltone OCD). I think TS's are tailor-made for single coils. With varying combos of my pedals I feel i can cover most classic rock, blues, soul and R+B tones you could care to mention. I don't really go for copying an artist's tone exactly as there are more factors affecting their tone than merely their gear. So why bother trying to be so exact? Suffice to say with one TS on I can get a pretty good, if more middley SRV type tone. With both TS's on the extra mid range lends the sound nearer to Clapton's Strat tones, without the sometimes artificial sound of his active mid boost. Even a bit of Rory Gallagher is possible with the bridge p/up. Anyway, that's just what I use them for, they are an extremely versatile o/d, much more so now they are modded. In short: Just a great classic overdrive tone, and with the right guitar and amp turned up, it can be quite stunning.

Totally reliable, very sturdy case as with all TS's. The only cause for slight concern is that the knobs don't feel quite as up to accidental kicking as my Fulltone does. Absolutely would gig without back up.

It's a regular tube screamer to operate, so as easy as can be. N.B. My Keeley TS808 is the top of the range True bypass version with a 1982 NOS JRC chip. I have no experience of the mod without the chip (which is also available) or true bypass.

This is where the rating for this section should go from 1 - 47!! I live in England, and deal with them via email and post. And yet they were easier to deal with than the majority of guitar shops in this country!!! I had a problem with my power supply a few months ago, causing a surge through my pedals. Now it could have been all in my head (just cos I heard the banging sound through the amp!!) but they didn't seem to sound as good as before, certainly more compressed. Anyway I emailed Keeley with my problem and they gave me an R.A number and said they would check them out for me... So I posted them out to the U.S and a week later they returned via express mail with the power caps changed... FREE of charge... I don't think it gets much better than that.

For my style Keeley TS808s are perfect and I would wholeheartedly recommend these to anyone. I may only be 19 years old, but I've been playing for nigh on 10 years, and due to my music style I'm a little more picky with my tone than average at my age. And I have made a few expensive mistakes with pedals in searching for the tone I want! Put it this way: If you own a humbuckered guitar and like the tube screamer tone, then consider it, but compare with others to see which you prefer. But if you have a strat (or any single coil guitar I imagine, I'm sure a tele or even a P-90 Les Paul would sound great with it), and quite like a Tube screamer's tone, then you should minimise this browser you're reading this report in, and go to the Keeley site and order one.