So. The whole Bad Monkey thing lately. This post is not about that. It's about Tube Screamers in general. Sort of.

The first drive-ish pedal I ever bought was a DS-1. I bought waaaaay back when. I had just bought my first electric after playing only acoustic for 15 years or so. Figured I needed a pedal to go with it. Ebay was all the rage and the newest way to get cool stuff cheap, so I hit Ebay and found the cheapest drive pedal I could find. Kept it for a long time. Not really sure what happened to it. I don't remember selling it or trading it off or anything, but I have not idea when or where I got rid of it, and it's not in any of my stuff anymore.

6 or 8 years later, I bought my first OD pedal that I figured I would use. It was a Visual Sound Route 66. The one with the compressor on one side and the drive on the other. I bought it because there was a guitar player I liked that swore by that compressor (the single pedal), so I figured it would have to be good if it had a drive attached. So I bought it.

Always liked the drive side. At the time, I didn't know that it had been modeled after the TS808. It was the only drive pedal I had for several years. Then, one year when we were on vacation, I happened into a music store and spent waaaaay too much time talking to the staff and playing with stuff in their shop. It was a mom and pop in nowheresville, so I felt like I owed it to them to buy something before I left. So I paid too much for a TS9. It had a little bit different character than the Route 66, but it did the same thing. It quickly became my favorite.

Sitting in the quiet of my little music room, I think I can hear the difference in a TS9 and a TS808, but, truthfully, they do the same thing, and I'm not sure I could hear the difference in a crowded room. So, at some point, I started into one of those collect-them-all phases.

At some point, in addition to the actual green Ibanez Tube Screamers, I have picked up (in no particular order):

• Digitech Bad Monkey
• Danelectro Texas Pride
• EHX East River
• Visual Sound Route 808
• Behringer TO800
• A couple of Green Rhino copies (which I hear is actually a TS-type pedal)
• Several cheap pedals on Amazon (whose names and brands I've forgotten) that were advertised as being TS-type pedals.

After trying all those different TS-type pedals, I still believe that I like the sound of the TS9 better than the TS808. I'm not sure exactly what I'm hearing that makes me think that, but I do. All of the TS-type pedals made by everyone else are modeled off the TS808. I've, also, never tried a TS10 to see how it compares.

Here's how I would rank them at the moment from my favorite to least favorite. Also, the ones that I own are prefaced with an "o-" and the ones I no longer have are prefaced with a "g-". The ones actually on my current boards also have a "b" added to the preface.

1. o-Ibanez TS9
2. ob-Visual Sound Route 808/Route66 OD/compressor (I have both of these. The R808 is the one on my current board.)
3. o-ElectroHarmonix East River Drive
4. ob-Tone City Durple (I've been told this is one of the Green Rhino copies.)
5. o-Love Pedal Kalamazoo (A pedal I've been told was based on a TS but I don't really know for sure.)
6. o-Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini
7. g-Digitech Bad Monkey
8. o-Danelectro Texas Pride (I honestly haven't played with this one enough to have a good opinion on it.)
9. g-Behringer TO800 (surprisingly nice sounding pedal for its price point.)
10. g-The cheap ones off Amazon. Otherwise I would remember the names and brands, but don't really care enough to look them up at the moment.

I've only ever come across a couple of players that use OD pedals that don't like TS or have never used them. I think they're a pretty universal pedal that we have all used at some point. If not an actual Tube Screamer, we've all used a pedal based on them. 

So what's your favorite TS-type pedal?

My pedal board.  Honestly, I have a love/hate relationship with it.  I said earlier today to some online friends that I prefer to go straight to the amp.  I do.  Sort of.  I usually play at the casa, and to get that nice driven amp sound, I've got to make the neighbors mad.  Or use an OD pedal of some sort.  I, also, really like the sound of a univibe.  I've leaned towards that sound ever since I figured out what it was.  So, at the casa where I usually play, I guess I actually like a couple of pedals in front of the amp.

But that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy picking up pedals and playing with them.  It does mean, however, that I have a whole lot of pedals in the closet that I played with a couple of days and then toss them on the shelf knowing that they're there if I ever decide to use them.

Anyways, I had put a a real board together a couple of weeks ago, and yesterday was looking down at it yesterday and realized that, I have a heck of a lot of pedals in the closet that I either never got dialed in real well or that I found a single sound that I liked and never played with beyond that.  So I decided to do something.  I pulled that board apart, put all those same ol' same ol' pedals back in the closet, and pull out some of the ones that I hardly use and see if I could come to like them better.  So here's the chain in order.  We'll see how long it stays out like this.

Boss Tuner:  It's the tuner I always use, and I only have 1 tuner, so it's on whatever board I'm using.

Fulltone Dejavibe:  Did I mention that I like univibes?  I bought this one back in the spring, and it has been out ever since.  It may've been the only pedal on the the floor, but I haven't put it up since I bought it.  At the moment, it's my favorite univibe.

Amazon Basics Compressor:  Bought this one a year ago.  Used it for a few minutes and put it in the closet.  I've never been a huge compression user, but have figured out that there seem to be 2 types of compressors.  I'm not sure how to describe either sound, but I know them when I hear them.  One I really like.  One I really don't.  This is the second type.  I pulled it out just to try to see if I could find a sound I like in it.  If I can't, it's probably going to go to my Reverb shop.

Boss Blues Driver:  Not really going to say anything about this pedal.  I know I like it.  It's got some great sounds in it.  I just don't use it that often because I have other OD pedals that I like better.  I put this one on mostly because I hardly use it.  But I know it's got some nice tones in it, so at least I'll have a pedal on the board that I know I like if I get frustrated with the others.

Boss DynaDrive:  I bought this one a good while back because it seemed to be the pedal du jour for the youtube channels and everyone was talking about how good it was.  So I was curious enough to pick one up.  I was very underwhelmed!  To my ear, it was just kind of an average OD.  Nothing stood out about it.  By my own admission, I really didn't give this one a fair shake.  I only played around with it for maybe an afternoon; it was that underwhelming.  When I did my big gear purge last fall, I'm not really sure why I kept it, but I did.  It's just sat in the closet since then.  If I can't find some nice tones in it this time around, it's another that will probably end up on my Reverb.

EHX Hot Wax.  This one I liked when I got it.  After I got it a few months ago, I dialed in a sound that I liked on both sides, but tossed it into the closet after about a week.  Wasn't because it was a bad pedal.  It was more just because it wasn't one of my usual pedals.  It has some nice sounds in it, just not the ones I would typically use.

EHX B9 Organ:  This is another one that I know I like.  I just don't pull it out often because it is a very niche pedal.  I think it's a LOT of fun though.

Boss Tremolo:  I picked this one up a week ago.  This one is out, not because I never use it, but more because I want to get it dialed in.  Behind a univibe sound, a tremolo is probably my fave no OD pedal.  If my amp had a tremolo, I'd probably have it on all the time.

Danelectro reverb:  I bought this one several years ago.  It has an actual spring in it (that's why it's so big).  It's a one trick pony, spring reverb.  It's fun to play around with, but not a reverb I would really use on the regular or if I was playing out.  It even has that kick pad on it so you can kick it and make the internal spring rattle.  This one does ok, but it's another that I don't think I ever really got dialed in, and, because it only has one sound in it, I've never really looked at it as a really useful pedal.  Seriously, one sound.  You know how even an OD pedal has different levels of gain that make it sound different depending on how it's set?  This one is the exact same sound just in varying volume levels.

Boss looper:  This one is always on the floor too.  I don't count it because all it does is repeat what I put into it.  It doesn't really change the tone at all.  It's a great practice tool as well as one that that's just a lot of fun to riff into and then play over.

I'm guessing this iteration doesn't last more than a couple of weeks.  If for no other reason, I've been on a Rat kick lately, and been buying those type pedals when I see them for a good price.  I didn't put one on this board because I know I like that sound, I just need to dial those pedals in.  

So the other day I decided to pull out my Klon-type pedals, do some side by side comparisons, and see if my thoughts on them had changed at all.  I figured this would be a good time to do this because I just got the NuX Horseman that I had ordered back in April, and was playing with it to see how I liked it.  So, here they are in my order of preference.

Before I go into the pedals, I should also mention that I always use the Klones in the same way.  With the amp just at the edge of breaking up, I'll have the gain on the pedal set minimally, the treble set in the middle, and the volume set a couple of clicks above unity so that it's pushing the amp a bit.  So it's more like a clean boost I guess.  This is where I believe these pedals really shine.

1. Klon KTR - I paid $300 for it new back in like 2015.  It's the botttom left, red pedal.  I was actually surprised that this one made the #1 spot.  In the past, I always said that it wasn't as good as the some of the copies.  According to Bill Finnegan, this one is supposed to sound just like the Centaurs.  I've never had a Centaur to demo, but when I pulled this one out of the closet the other day, it sounded good.  Really good.  Good enough, in fact, that I think I finally understand the mythos surrounding the original Klons and why so many have sought to create Klones.  I, also, think this may've been the first time I've played the pedal that I didn't go into it with some sort of preconceived bias against it since it's the one that "set the standard" and I could add up the cost of the 4 lesser priced Klones I have and still not have cover the cost of this one. 
   This is a very smooth sounding OD.  It retains the warmth of the amp without really coloring the tone.  This really is what the Klones should aspire to be.
2. Tone Bakery Creme Brulee - I paid $100 for this one a year or so ago.  It's the pale, not really white or yellow pedal in the bottom right.  As far as copies go, this one pretty much nailed it.  It became my go-to klone as soon as I bought it back in 2018.  One of a very small handful of pedals that I've bought, plugged in at the house, and was pretty much taken back by the tones I immediately heard in it.  To my ear, this one will come closer to the KTR sound than any of the others.
3. EHX Soul Food - I paid $60 for this one the day that I saw they were available.  It's the top left pedal that's kind of pale yellow inside the silver pedal-case border.  I had heard rumor maybe 6 years ago that EHX was going to start making a klone and selling it for less than $100.  I didn't pre-order this pedal, but I did order it the day that I looked at the Sweetwater website and saw that it said In Stock.  Until I got the Creme Brulee, it was my go-to klone.  It sounds really good.  I'm not sure that I can put my finger on what the Tone Bakery and Klon pedals have that the EHX is missing, but, played back to back, it's like it has the sound without the sparkle or something.  Still a great sounding pedal, and, if I played out a bunch, this might be the one I used just because you can get it cheaply at any Guitar Center in the country.  The KTR and Creme Brulee aren't as easy to come by.
4. Wampler Tumnus - I pre-ordered this one direct from Wampler for $220 I think.  It's the gold color mini-pedal in the middle on the bottom.  This one hurts me to be listed at the #4 spot for a couple of reasons.  First, I'm a HUGE Narnia fan, so the fact that it's called the Tumnus makes me want to default it to the #1 spot.  Second, I've had the pleasure of exchanging emails with Brian about some things on like 4 different occasions (not trying to name drop here - by my own admission, I don't know the guy and he'd be like "snarf who?" if you mentioned my name to him), and he seems like a stand-up, genuinely nice guy.  I like a LOT of what he does within the pedal community, and am a big fan of him, his company, and the pedals that he makes.  I think his take on the Klon is very similar to the Soul Food.  Only with a touch less sparkle.  Maybe I just got a Monday morning  example of the Tumnus and all the others are outstanding, I don't know.   I really want this one to be so much better than it is.
   I feel like I should quantify the sparkle comment I've made real quick since I've now used it about 2 of the 4 pedals.  Several years ago I would eat at Popeye's fried chicken place up the street from my office about once a week.  I like their spicy chicken strips.  One day I got back to the office, and noticed they had dropped a little packet of something simply called "Sparkle" into my bag.  being curious, I opened it up, saw that it was spices of some sort, and sprinkled it on my chicken.  It was A.Ma.Zing.  I still have no idea what was in that packet, but every time I went through that drive thru from then on, I made sure to request a packet of Sparkle.  All the way up until the day that the lady apologized and told me they no longer carried it.  I still don't know what it was (and changed jobs so haven't been back to Popeyes in years), I just know that it made a pretty good fast food meal transform into something that made me want to lick the inside of the box good.
5. NuX Horseman - I pre-ordered this one and paid $65 for it.  It's the gold colored mini-pedal in the middle on the top.  It's ok.  Notice I didn't say it was good.  I heard about this back the first of this year, and it caught my eye that it has the 2 different Klone-modes to it...gold and silver versions.  So I had to get one and try it out.  Next to the other pedals, it pales pretty quickly.  It's not super smooth, but it's also not really harsh.  At least the gold-mode isn't really harsh.  To my ear, the silver-mode starts to get into that territory.  I don't know that I'll ever use it in silver-mode because of that.  I also got this one because I had been seeing a LOT of NuX stuff on the market lately, and I was really curious about it.  I figured that, since this would be a pedal I'd be interested in, I'd grab it, and use it kind of as my gauge for the rest of the brand.  If this one is any indication, I won't be getting much from them.  It's an overdrive.  In a crowded room where half the folks are drunk and the other half wish they were, it probably sounds as good as the others.  In an environment where you can use a bit of a discerning ear, it's an extremely average pedal.
6. Caline Pegasus - I paid $30 for this one about 6 months ago.  Top right pedal that's brown.  I will occasionally buy the cheap, Chinese pedal copies because sometimes they will surprise you and be a really good sounding pedal.  Sometimes.  This was not one of those times.  To my ear, this one is just a harsh sounding overdrive.  It's a klone that doesn't do the klone thing particularly well.  Truth is, it's harsh enough that, when compared to any of the top 3 pedals in this list, I'm not sure how they manage to call it a klone.  I haven't been able to find those smooth, sweet, transparent tones in it.  Can't say a lot good about the sound of this pedal, but the graphic on the front of a winged centaur (not a pegasus as named, but rather half-centaur, half-pegasus...a pegataur or centasus maybe?) was worth the price of admission.

What are your thoughts?  Tried any good Klon-type pedals that just really stood out to you?  I've heard really good things about the J Rockett Archer, but haven't gotten my hands on one of those yet.  I've also heard there are some really good ones from back before the recent onslaught...the Aluminum Falcon, the JHS copy that they no longer make, the MXR Sugar Drive (although I think this one may be one of the recent ones), and others.  Some day I'll have to make it a point to pick some of these up and give them a shot as well.