Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini

Pros
- Sounds unbelievable especially with a Stratocaster!
- Almost half the price of the regular TS9
- ^^ that means you can get two for the price of one
- Small compact size
- Really good build quality and looks great

Cons
- No battery - only a con if you like being able to operate a pedal with a battery.
- The two smaller dials are really hard to see, even in day light. That's the reason I gave 4 stars for handling.
- As pointed out by some friends, usually mini pedals like this are much harder to repair. That was a general statement and not specific to this pedal. Additionally, thomann's extended warranty should give you peace of mind there!

I spent some time wondering should I get the full sized TS9 or will I get the TS Mini? I had read comments online about how there are differences between the sound. I also read comments online that said there's no difference because the TS mini is made up of the same internal components/circuitry.

I decided to go with the mini because I figured whatever marginal difference in sound (if any) between the two, I'm definitely not going to worry about it when I actually have the mini. This turned out to be true. It really is good enough that it doesn't matter.

From the moment I plugged this in with my stratocaster and all dials at 12 o'clock, I couldn't believe my ears. That classic tone I've heard on so many records! It packs a punch and makes your guitar really sing! If I could own only one pedal it would be this one.

The tubescreamer works really well on top of an amp that's already being pushed to the point of overdrive. A really nice setup is to have your amp volume and gain to a point where your guitar is just starting to sound distorted, but if you roll back the volume on your guitar to 8 or 9 you'll get a nice clean tone. This gives you a tonne of variety where you can play some really nice clean stuff, then you can bring the guitar volume to 10 to get some light overdrive. Then you can activate the tubescreamer to get some soaring lead or crunch kind of sounds. Like I said a huge amount of variety all with a small amount of effort.

I bought this OD with the purpose of tightening the bottom end, just to discover that it's a Swiss army knife pedal, delivering from mild to heavy overdriven tones. As you may know the Ibanez TS are well known for their mid frequencies which also help cut in very well in the mix, so if you are looking for a FAT overdrive I advise to look elsewhere.

The only down side for me is that being the purpose of the smaller footprint to save in size, they should have put the 9v input on the side and not on the top, so if you are in need of saving space, please don't forget that, it might make a difference.

For me this is an always ON pedal, being used for both delivering a mild OD on the clean channel, and tightening the bottom end on the lead channel. If that's your purpose, look no further, here's your winner!