I still own one in my homestudio's setup! Main setup for recording: Fender Telecaster Deluxe -> Ibanez TS5 Soundtank -> Marshall JCM 900 SLX -> Torpedo Captor -> UA Apollo Twin. Sounds great!
I have this, the Ts5, had it for 25 years or so. The housing seems like garbage like you said but lo it is still not broken or cracked. Some plastics are strong. It works great with my brown-face Fender Bandmaster which has zero gain control. It plays velvety clean on it's own. Tubescreamer drives the tubes like turning up the gain but it also can add some other dimension. Spray some tuner cleaner in the on/off switch to clear it up if needed.
Still have one of those around here somewhere that I bought when they first came out. Great sound, garbage construction. Switched to the TS9 and never looked back.
Haha, I had the "thrash metal" pedal from the same Ibanez series. I wonder if that's still floating around somewhere 🤔You got some really killer tones out of that thing, I don't remember mine sounding good at all LOL
I bought one of these in the early 90’s in the hope of boosting to get a much louder lead tone. I was kind of disappointed when I kicked it in and it didn’t seem to do much. My older and wiser self now knows that my sound was already sooo distorted that it would have just been adding to an already overly gainy and compressed tone .
I ve got one since at least 15 years, they re not garbage at all unless you deliberately try to crack it you won't break it. The most delicate part could be the switch under the the footprint, but they fail in a lot of pedals of higher quality too. p.s. I love your channel, great job
I bought a pedal very similar to this 20 years ago.. it’s the only OD pedal (out of about 50 that I’ve owned) that I’ve held onto. Mine is a yellow, flying saucer looking pedal made by Lazer. It is called a Super Overdrive, and has an identical “Soundtank” sticker on the battery cover, as well as the exact same dimpled plastic on/off foot switch! Everyone who sees it asks about it because it looks so weird but sounds so great 😎
Bought one used in the 90’s for about $15 in box with manual. Been using it off and on since. Speaking of off and on, the switches are prone to failure. That’s the main weak link. Replaced it with new switch recently for less than a $5 part, now good as ever. The housing looks goofy but is sturdy enough, you’d have to really abuse it to break it.
I have one of these, bought it new for $35 and they're as high as $95 now on Reverb. I like it but can get very close to the same tones with my Zendrive. Every so often I think of selling the TS5 but it doesn't cost me anything more than a small amount of drawer space, so it's still here.
I picked one up today for £25 and i am over the moon with it! It sounds more aggressive to me than the usual tube screamers which works well for me and it just sounds great
I was in the market for the TS9 or TS808 4yrs ago and stumbled across this bad boy, which I never knew existed. Though aesthetically lacking, it sounds like it’s supposed to 👌
Man!! Back in 94, I was all about the soundtank line!! I'd sculped a sound out of the power lead as a main, with this tube screamer sweetening bit up, into a no name clean head... Was saving up for the compressor, but never got it... Finally made it to a Poe dunk basement studio to record my band's first record when.... My power lead gave up the ghost!!! Studio had nothing to help, so I had only this ts cranked for my distortion!! 🤬🤬🤬 I loved that pedal, and have been thinking bout buying it again cause it's still the cheapest ts on the market (cause it's all plastic), but alone it ruined my my first album!! Lol not it's fault... I'd rather have the one after soundtank tho, cause you can lock the controls! Great vid, keep it up!!
Used mine from -96 when i bought it, till -18 when i bought a maxon od808. Still works, you have to stomp it afewe times for it to react sometimes. I like it, my first overdrive soo....
Sounds good man. You know how to deal with tube amps. Looks like the tone in your hands😀 When I first met with tube screamer I was using a Mesa Triple Rectifier I don’t know how did I achieve that but it didn't work at all🤣
No way! I have four of these! They are exactly the way you said - The outside is crap but the inside sounds good. I have never used them the way you did with your strat, which sounded really good to my ears! I have always used them like you have by tightening up the heavy sounds. Great demo bro!
I remember a mate of mine had one of these in the '90s and it was my first experience of the tubescreamer after hearing the name. My reaction was "is that it?" - i'd mistakenly expected it to be some high-gain monster, based on the badass name. But to my older and wiser ears, your demo sounded great!
Trick question. The circuit IDENTICAL to the ts808. Just in a cheaper enclosure. Thr bigger question is.. is the HUGE jump in price from the ts5 to the 808 justified for a metal enclosure,
Wow... That's not half bad actually! The Soundtank series got a bad reputation back in the day (due to their plastic construction mostly), but this one sounds pretty much spot on. Pretty cheap too - just spotted one in good nick for 40 Euros. Excellent demo by the way!! That's a wicked sounding Strat... 👍
Lol. I still have one I bought back in the mid 90s to boost my first half stack. A Marshall 3203 head and Peavey 4x12. I loved it back then, but the switch started giving out after the first year. I did plug it in a few months ago and managed to get it to work, but something must be broken or loose inside. It sounded terrible. Lol. Great video brotha!
I had the Thrashmetal from this line of pedals in the early 90's. First pedal I ever bought. Unfortunately I've never had the problem where when you pay hard earned money for something it makes it sound better to you. Was awful. 😆
I'm thinking of getting one at a local flea market for $40 but I had to check out some UA-cam videos to get an idea what to expect and so far it sounds very hot despite the outside package.
My first pedal board had the ts5 and a fz5. They were a good set of pedals after changing the button. Sadly that pedal board was stollen along with my loved telecaster
EDIT: I actually do still have it. I think I had taken it apart to do some mods. I was about to get a TS mini to try it with my amp but will just put the TS5 back together.
I saw this pedal at one of the pawn shops close to my apartment! I can't remember the price but it wasn't expensive. I ended up buying the NUX Amp Simulator for 30 bucks. I still can't figure out what kind of pedal it is. It's definitely more of an overdrive but it seems like it can do high gain or more of a clean boost so I have no idea lol...great pedal for the price though.
I had one of these in the 90's. I hated it. Why? Well, when you run it through a cheap 10 watt amp, even the best pedal is gonna sound like ass. Mine never sounded this good.
yeah Ive got one, I bought it in the late 90¨s . And yeah sounds like a TS. True the button is a bit shabby but for playing at home it does the job. And now its vintage hahaha so i guess its cool to have one.On another note I think these days pedals are so much more of a gimmick. Half of these pedals cost more than an amp??? Im a bit classic most of mine are Boss and I don't have a thousand of them. But they stand the test of time. Ive got an old Limiter from the 80´s that still works like a champ.
I think it was designed to sound like the early ts808. Perhaps the best sounding TS ever, "sweet and hollow"...30 bucks ... but for gig I use a TS9 although ahahah more solid !
Acquired one of these years ago somehow. I don’t see the point of getting another type TS. It’s just another flavor. The button is a bit how’s it goin but it’s always on in a loop pedal chain in the front end.
Leon, it should sound good. Basically its a copy of a TS9 except a different op amp, couple of components around the biasing supply and using a plastic shell and shitty cheap pots to keep the price down. Other than that, not much in it except the price points. And the fact they look butt ugly ;) Reminds me a bit of the Behringer pedals - circuits are good, plastic cases suck. But they all have their place. If you want to try a pedal and don't want to shell out the $180 for a "good" pedal, then I buy a Behringer to try it.
Been using mine playing live since I bought it in 93. Great bass pedal. Never had to repair it, and smashed and stomped it for over 25 years. Plastic! Who cares..... I've replaced my Line 6, 3 times. It's over drive sounds suck compared to this little gem. Quiet and cheap, not like more expensive pedals that hum worse that the constant ringing in my ears from ripping and shredding live, and shitty sound men that can't find that feed back frequency and punish everyone half the night before you mix it yourself.... Sorry, GREAT PEDAL!!!!!!!
I bought one of these as a kid and remember being so pissed that it didn’t scream lolz it wasn’t very metal then the piece of shit broke because it’s ....... a piece is shit . Also before the hate comments it never left my bedroom and the guy from the Sunday’s tech begged him to throw away his sound tanks as they always failed live . Plastic and 25 bucks . I threw it in the trash . Total piece of shit
Old piece of shit Sound Tanks (that’s what they were called)... its good, but as a beginner plugged into a shitty Crate amp, it sounded like total ass...
Great blues phrasing in the first section, my man!
Thanks man!
Came here for the pedal, stayed for that jam on the strat! Such beautiful playing man. Cheers!
Bottom Line: If it sounds good, it is good.
Ooh fah... I remember when the entire Soundtank line was new. Man, I feel old... 🤣
Nicholas Totoro that series came out just as I started playing guitar. Man I feel old now too
Nicholas Totoro U can add my name to the feeling old list.Had the power lead and the thrash metal pedals when I was 14
TS-5 is a great pedal, although it doesn't get enough reputation because of its cheesy appearance.
I love it, in fact I have 3 of TS-5!
I still own one in my homestudio's setup! Main setup for recording: Fender Telecaster Deluxe -> Ibanez TS5 Soundtank -> Marshall JCM 900 SLX -> Torpedo Captor -> UA Apollo Twin. Sounds great!
I still have mine from 90’s... and still use it bro, it’s good!
I had one of those back in the 90s.
Any fond memories or nah?
Leon Todd yeah it worked really well. Had it in front of a Sovtek 100 head and an old Ampeg cabinet. Played a lot shows back in the day with that rig.
i dragged mine out today. sounds pretty good, 30 years later.
Great little pedal, loved the soundtanks...Still have the flanger
Got one in, I think it was 1995 for my birthday. Still have it. I had a super chorus soundtank as well but got rid of it.
I had one, it was my only od pedal. it was great, it pushed a gain channel quiet well
That was first pedal ever! Got it for my 14th birthday
Your playing is incredibly soulful
I’ve said it before ...I’ll say it again 😏 dude, you can’t make anything sound bad
My teacher used to had one. May not be good for touring but really good pedal.
Then again so many pedal boards feature idi-loop switchers, it may just work!
I have this, the Ts5, had it for 25 years or so. The housing seems like garbage like you said but lo it is still not broken or cracked. Some plastics are strong. It works great with my brown-face Fender Bandmaster which has zero gain control. It plays velvety clean on it's own. Tubescreamer drives the tubes like turning up the gain but it also can add some other dimension. Spray some tuner cleaner in the on/off switch to clear it up if needed.
i have 5 tubescreamers and the TS5 is excellent one and not fragile if you don't shot on it ! a good clean once a year and this for ever !
Yep, still have one!
I have one of those.
Coming up on 30 years , I guess. Lol
Definitely a favorite and it's still working.
Still have one of those around here somewhere that I bought when they first came out. Great sound, garbage construction. Switched to the TS9 and never looked back.
Rehouse it and you've got a great backup!
Haha, I had the "thrash metal" pedal from the same Ibanez series. I wonder if that's still floating around somewhere 🤔You got some really killer tones out of that thing, I don't remember mine sounding good at all LOL
Same here! They were god awful pedals! I have a TS-5 and it's ace. I use it to boost the crunch channel on my amp and love it.
I bought one of these in the early 90’s in the hope of boosting to get a much louder lead tone. I was kind of disappointed when I kicked it in and it didn’t seem to do much.
My older and wiser self now knows that my sound was already sooo distorted that it would have just been adding to an already overly gainy and compressed tone .
Haha yep I have this one. Sounds pretty much the same as the 808. Wouldn't have known that. Thanks Leon for all you do for us equipment junkies!
I use this pedal as a gain booster for a synthesizer and to add a little warmy fuzzy feels. And the look of it fits right in with retro synth gear 🙂
I ve got one since at least 15 years, they re not garbage at all unless you deliberately try to crack it you won't break it. The most delicate part could be the switch under the the footprint, but they fail in a lot of pedals of higher quality too.
p.s. I love your channel, great job
I bought a pedal very similar to this 20 years ago.. it’s the only OD pedal (out of about 50 that I’ve owned) that I’ve held onto. Mine is a yellow, flying saucer looking pedal made by Lazer. It is called a Super Overdrive, and has an identical “Soundtank” sticker on the battery cover, as well as the exact same dimpled plastic on/off foot switch!
Everyone who sees it asks about it because it looks so weird but sounds so great 😎
Bought one used in the 90’s for about $15 in box with manual. Been using it off and on since. Speaking of off and on, the switches are prone to failure. That’s the main weak link. Replaced it with new switch recently for less than a $5 part, now good as ever. The housing looks goofy but is sturdy enough, you’d have to really abuse it to break it.
Tonally/EQ-wise they sound really similar. The TS5 does seem slightly hotter to my ear!
Well done and thanks for sharing brother! Be Well Leon and All!
I have one of these, bought it new for $35 and they're as high as $95 now on Reverb. I like it but can get very close to the same tones with my Zendrive. Every so often I think of selling the TS5 but it doesn't cost me anything more than a small amount of drawer space, so it's still here.
A tubescreamer is a tubescreamer and you make sound like it should. I’d just rehouse the thing if I had one
I picked one up today for £25 and i am over the moon with it! It sounds more aggressive to me than the usual tube screamers which works well for me and it just sounds great
It's a no brainer at that price
I was in the market for the TS9 or TS808 4yrs ago and stumbled across this bad boy, which I never knew existed.
Though aesthetically lacking, it sounds like it’s supposed to 👌
Does what it says on the package!
Man!! Back in 94, I was all about the soundtank line!! I'd sculped a sound out of the power lead as a main, with this tube screamer sweetening bit up, into a no name clean head... Was saving up for the compressor, but never got it... Finally made it to a Poe dunk basement studio to record my band's first record when.... My power lead gave up the ghost!!! Studio had nothing to help, so I had only this ts cranked for my distortion!! 🤬🤬🤬 I loved that pedal, and have been thinking bout buying it again cause it's still the cheapest ts on the market (cause it's all plastic), but alone it ruined my my first album!! Lol not it's fault... I'd rather have the one after soundtank tho, cause you can lock the controls! Great vid, keep it up!!
Do it and then re-record some of the tunes!
Slay J. I had the power lead and the thrash metal pedal in the mid 90’s
Used mine from -96 when i bought it, till -18 when i bought a maxon od808.
Still works, you have to stomp it afewe times for it to react sometimes.
I like it, my first overdrive soo....
Still have one that I bought new in the early nineties.
Sounds good man. You know how to deal with tube amps. Looks like the tone in your hands😀
When I first met with tube screamer I was using a Mesa Triple Rectifier I don’t know how did I achieve that but it didn't work at all🤣
No way! I have four of these! They are exactly the way you said - The outside is crap but the inside sounds good. I have never used them the way you did with your strat, which sounded really good to my ears! I have always used them like you have by tightening up the heavy sounds. Great demo bro!
Ever connected them all at once?
Leon Todd no I haven’t. I will at some point and I will let you know what the result is!
I remember a mate of mine had one of these in the '90s and it was my first experience of the tubescreamer after hearing the name. My reaction was "is that it?" - i'd mistakenly expected it to be some high-gain monster, based on the badass name.
But to my older and wiser ears, your demo sounded great!
I lol'd at the Duplo quip
Sounds good Leon. Gives it that little bite you need. Great video. Cheers! Stay healthy!!!!
That is great I am going to buy one thanks for your information very useful.
Man this sound is absolute quality. I always assumed it was a cheap, bargain pedal like the old Rocktek pedals but I was very wrong.
Trick question. The circuit IDENTICAL to the ts808. Just in a cheaper enclosure. Thr bigger question is.. is the HUGE jump in price from the ts5 to the 808 justified for a metal enclosure,
Would make a great rehouse project!
I don’t know. But I’ve got one in the mail.
Sounded better than the 808 on this review by Leon. And sick playing btw Leon. Thanks for the review.
Wow... That's not half bad actually!
The Soundtank series got a bad reputation back in the day (due to their plastic construction mostly), but this one sounds pretty much spot on.
Pretty cheap too - just spotted one in good nick for 40 Euros.
Excellent demo by the way!!
That's a wicked sounding Strat... 👍
Good little candidate for a rehouse project!
The originals had metal housings.
Ah yes.... The great granddaddy to the Behringer T0800 Vintage Tube Overdrive.
Awesome playing and great video as always man.
sounded great to me. Everything you play sounds great!
Lol. I still have one I bought back in the mid 90s to boost my first half stack. A Marshall 3203 head and Peavey 4x12. I loved it back then, but the switch started giving out after the first year. I did plug it in a few months ago and managed to get it to work, but something must be broken or loose inside. It sounded terrible. Lol. Great video brotha!
I had the Thrashmetal from this line of pedals in the early 90's. First pedal I ever bought. Unfortunately I've never had the problem where when you pay hard earned money for something it makes it sound better to you. Was awful. 😆
I'm thinking of getting one at a local flea market for $40 but I had to check out some UA-cam videos to get an idea what to expect and so far it sounds very hot despite the outside package.
40 bucks well spent, it rips!
My first pedal board had the ts5 and a fz5. They were a good set of pedals after changing the button. Sadly that pedal board was stollen along with my loved telecaster
Great blues faces.
I own four of them. 1 is made in Japan and is housed in a real metal box. Looks exactly the same as the plastic box.
Wow forgot about having one of these. Not even sure if I still have i or not. Think I planned to rehouse it and do the usual mods.
EDIT: I actually do still have it. I think I had taken it apart to do some mods. I was about to get a TS mini to try it with my amp but will just put the TS5 back together.
Enjoyable SRV jam!
Thanks man! Always nice to kick back with the Strat
I don´t mind the sound, I just enjoyed your playing man!!!
I saw this pedal at one of the pawn shops close to my apartment! I can't remember the price but it wasn't expensive. I ended up buying the NUX Amp Simulator for 30 bucks. I still can't figure out what kind of pedal it is. It's definitely more of an overdrive but it seems like it can do high gain or more of a clean boost so I have no idea lol...great pedal for the price though.
Awesome stuff as always Leon! What camera do you use for your videos? Looking to ramp up my production over here~!
Canon EOS M50 with the 15-45mm kit lens. I use a pair of soft boxes for lighting. Really easy to set up.
I had one of these in the 90's. I hated it. Why? Well, when you run it through a cheap 10 watt amp, even the best pedal is gonna sound like ass. Mine never sounded this good.
yeah Ive got one, I bought it in the late 90¨s . And yeah sounds like a TS. True the button is a bit shabby but for playing at home it does the job. And now its vintage hahaha so i guess its cool to have one.On another note I think these days pedals are so much more of a gimmick. Half of these pedals cost more than an amp??? Im a bit classic most of mine are Boss and I don't have a thousand of them. But they stand the test of time. Ive got an old Limiter from the 80´s that still works like a champ.
The original Behringer ;-)
I think it was designed to sound like the early ts808. Perhaps the best sounding TS ever, "sweet and hollow"...30 bucks ... but for gig I use a TS9 although ahahah more solid !
Yeah or buy one and rehouse it for a few extra bucks
Great playing
Acquired one of these years ago somehow. I don’t see the point of getting another type TS. It’s just another flavor. The button is a bit how’s it goin but it’s always on in a loop pedal chain in the front end.
Leon, it should sound good. Basically its a copy of a TS9 except a different op amp, couple of components around the biasing supply and using a plastic shell and shitty cheap pots to keep the price down. Other than that, not much in it except the price points. And the fact they look butt ugly ;) Reminds me a bit of the Behringer pedals - circuits are good, plastic cases suck. But they all have their place. If you want to try a pedal and don't want to shell out the $180 for a "good" pedal, then I buy a Behringer to try it.
Good for use like a booster only
Forgot to concentrate on the tones - was too busy enjoying your blues!
Man, you should more often play Strat :) keep Rocking mate 🤘
I own a ts5 for about 28 years
Thumbs up for the duplo lego enclosure :D
Great blues BB King ish. Tube Screamer.... ehh. Don't love it, don't loathe it, didn't notice it, don't need it.
Do you prefer the ts9 or 808 and why?
Been using mine playing live since I bought it in 93. Great bass pedal. Never had to repair it, and smashed and stomped it for over 25 years. Plastic! Who cares..... I've replaced my Line 6, 3 times. It's over drive sounds suck compared to this little gem. Quiet and cheap, not like more expensive pedals that hum worse that the constant ringing in my ears from ripping and shredding live, and shitty sound men that can't find that feed back frequency and punish everyone half the night before you mix it yourself.... Sorry, GREAT PEDAL!!!!!!!
Screaming for a modded housing and switch ...
I bought one of these as a kid and remember being so pissed that it didn’t scream lolz it wasn’t very metal then the piece of shit broke because it’s ....... a piece is shit . Also before the hate comments it never left my bedroom and the guy from the Sunday’s tech begged him to throw away his sound tanks as they always failed live . Plastic and 25 bucks . I threw it in the trash . Total piece of shit
Compare it with a ts10 next
808/5/7/9/10 comp would be fun
over-procesed audio on this clip
Great pedal!! Cheap, Ugly and only as good as the player who plugs into it!!!!
Did they release the TS-5 after the TS-9? What the hell? I'm rather sure this one has been Made in China.
A lot of Japanese companies had their stuff made in Taiwan in the 90's so I'm guessing it's from there rather than the mainland.
@@LeonTodd Taiwan, confirmed
Old piece of shit Sound Tanks (that’s what they were called)... its good, but as a beginner plugged into a shitty Crate amp, it sounded like total ass...