Following in the steps of our Muffuletta (released 2015), the Bonsai utilizes a simple rotary knob to switch through nine classic, vintage, rare, or hard to find variations of the Screamer. Creating the Bonsai became an archeological dig of sorts that sent us deep into the history of this circuit by examining dozens of versions, variations and replications. At the end of it all, Josh chose nine of his personal and favorite units and we painstakingly replicated every nuance and aspect of each pedal. One of the most challenging parts of this project was accounting for component drift as many of these pedals were decades old and the internal components had strayed from their original values. Each pedal was individually replicated using our Audio Precision analyzer and various other methods that allowed us to perfectly replicate every aspect of the sound and feel of the unit. It's important to know that the Bonsai is not a "box of mods," it is exact replications of these nine units all housed in one box! The Bonsai is exact replication, not emulation. When you choose a mode on the Bonsai rotary, you are actually activating components specific to each mode and playing the unit that Josh chose along with all the quirks, drift, vintage mojo, and individuality that a vintage pedal has. The hot mode on this version gives you the highest gain sound in the Bonsai. More low end and dirt fill out the tone to have you shredding away. Keeley Mod Plus - 2002 Mayer has gone through an abundance of guitar amps in his time. He has played a number of Fender amplifiers. There have been Vibroverbs, Vibro-King Customs, Band-Masters, Super Reverbs and more. The Dumble Steel String Singer has been a favorite of his but you’d sooner find a tin of tartan paint down Home Depot than one of those. Robert Keeley’s classic mod tightens up the tone on the original giving you smoother mid range and high frequencies, and increased bass response.

USED products: 4% of the current new selling price to increase the warranty from 3 months to 1 year. 4% for each additional year. Though metal is in the name, this sound doesn’t quite inspire the modern metal djent we think of. Still it has a higher gain sound with a more low end and an overall more gooey feel. In the mid ’70s, Japanese guitar manufacturer Ibanez and its parent company Hoshino added effects pedals to their product line, and the Nisshin Onpa company was tapped to manufacture them. Simultaneously, Nisshin’s agreement with Ibanez allowed Nisshin to sell these same pedals under their own Maxon name. By 1979, the line included the Maxon OD808, which was internally identical to the Ibanez TS-808 Tube Screamer. As the story goes, Hoshino was better capable of international distribution, so the Ibanez brand was sold in America.

Sweeping through the TS modes, each offers subtle changes in gain and frequency emphasis. MSL gives a throatier low-mid bark while TS10 lowers the gain and applies a more extreme low-end roll off that takes a bigger bite out of the low mids.

The Bonsai is completed with JHS’s own mod, this is perhaps the loudest and most open-sounding of the 9 modes. It has a balance of creaminess on single notes, with a clean boost, mild overdrive and better clarity, and also lets you dial up to an aggressive, vibrant overdrive. Overview by JHS This is a rare Polish-made pedal that has a slightly more saturated tone and a little more gain than a Tube Screamer, opening up the midrange for a more transparent feel. With that in mind we’ve got to play the percentages and see which would give us the most archetypical Mayer tone. As the top of the piece we mentioned creamy blues and candied funk, but let’s at to that elasticity. There’s a sense of breathless excitement and wonder surrounding a confirmed sighting of John Mayer’s pedalboard that’s akin to waking up one morning and opening your bedroom curtains to find the yeti doing burpees on your lawn. Again, it is his tone, beauty of it, the mystery - it’s like the Mona Lisa’s smile rendered in sound. This sounds very similar to the TS-808 but has a slightly more pushed low-mid range, but with a brighter, SRV-style sound

Tube Screamer Shootout Videos

Made famous by John Mayer, this model is a slight upgrade from the TS9 for the late '80s. Bluesy, crisp, more low end roll off and low gain. Exar OD-1 1989 In the late 1970’s the overdrive pedal was arguably perfected when Japanese engineers designed the sound that we now know as the heart and soul of so many of our favorite artists, recordings and sounds. Players ranging from The Edge, Trey Anastasio, Buddy Guy, Kirk Hammett, John Mayer, SRV, Carlos Santana and thousands more from every possible genre have utilized and depended on this classic iconic green box. If a single effect pedal was chosen to board a Voyager 3 mission and be solely responsible for showing the universe the sound of overdrive, it would undoubtably be Tube Screamer. It is probably the most produced and sold pedal in the history of guitar pedals! The Bonsai is our tribute to one of the greatest pedals ever created. Delivers a smooth, tight tone with less noise, an increased bass response, increased clarity, and more percussive qualities. The EXAR is a Polish made TS-style pedal that has a slightly different drive character with a little more gain than the classic screamers as well as a slightly more transparent feel.

Our own mod we’ve been doing since 2008 is much cleaner and overall more powerful. The mode has more pronounced higher and low end drop offs.Our own mod we've been doing since 2008 is much cleaner and overall more powerful. The mode has more pronounced higher nd low end drop offs. A few years ago we tried to figure out which were the best-selling overdrive pedals on the market by looking at several online music stores’ listings organized by “most popular.” The answer we got from the data was unequivocal: the Ibanez Tube Screamer TS9 and its mini sibling won first and second place. In all likelihood, those two pedals are still topping that list to date, and it’s very likely that the Tube Screamer also tops the list of the best-selling pedals of all time. Let’s be clear from the outset – the Bonsai isn’t nine distinct overdrives in a single box. It’s more like three overdrives plus six variations on a theme. The OD-1 is a rough diamond and we compare it to a DIY build OD-1 with an added tone control. Despite the authentic absence of a tone control on the Bonsai version, it’s unmistakably the same circuit with symmetrical clipping diodes and a rougher but clearer sound than a regular Tube Screamer. Myriad options are most commonly associated with modelling technology, but the Bonsai is all-analogue. With all the extra circuitry, which JHS spent three years developing, there’s no room for a battery compartment or the input and output buffers of the originals. This is a true bypass pedal, complete with the slight popping sound that accompanies switch-on.