DIY Fever

TS 808

Tubescreamer is probably one of the most built pedals in the DIY community. I got idea to build this pedal after disappointment with Marshall Jackhammer JH-1 distortion pedal which turned out to be a disappointment in my Squier Strat guitar . After hearing many good stuff about this pedal I just had to try it. PCB layout came from TonePad and parts are mostly ordered from Small Bear.

I also made few small modifications to original TS-808 design: instead of tantal 0.22uF capacitors I used Panasonic film caps and instead of 51pF cap I used 47pF Silver Mica. Besides that I also added few mods by Robert Keeley – change 0.047uF cap to 0.1uF cap for more bass, change 4.7K resistor to 2.2K and 51K resistor with 20K for more gain range. Resistors used are metal film 1% tolerance 1/4w and 1/2w, whichever were available and IC is JRC4558.

Pictorial

Click on a photo to see more details

Update: Although it wasn’t noisey I wanted to try to shield everything inside the box, so I changed all pot leads and input/output leads with shielded cable to further reduce noise. It wasn’t easy because shielded wire is much thicker than regular, but at the end everything turned out fine. I hope this is the last time I’m messing around with this project

Update (after 2 years): it was indeed the last time to mess with the pedal. It was sold after the original post and I still haven’t got all the money for it.

Useful links

Tonepad.com project page
Torchy’s stripboard layout
GeneralGuitarGadgets.com project page
ScreamerLab, great TS build with many switchable mods
Harmony Central Vintage TS808 reviews
Harmony Central TS808 Reissue reviews
Harmony Central TS808 with Keeley plus mod reviews
Harmony Central TS808 Reissue with Keeley mods reviews