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View Full Version : Next weeks buy: BBE green screamer. Free review by ME!



LagrangeCalvert
June 17th, 2007, 12:26 AM
I can give a review with no clips right now- as its not on my person- and I would rate it better than the TS808 and TS9/10.....

It was smoother, more touch sensitive and had a more dynamic gain staging/potting. The high end wasn't as tinny and thin and the low end was drawn up into a better tight response than any of the seasick steavie ray stompers. I played it on a Peavey Delta Blues 1x15 at the local Sam Ash here in cincinnati. This tube terror also is my gigging amp (though I use two 8" Celestion Super 8's along with the stock 15" blue marvel in my setup) and possibly my favorite non PTP handwired econo tweed machine. This amp if your unfamiliar with it has the same insides as the Classic Thirty...just a tremolo along with the reverb and instead of a verb defeat...you can cut the surf with the pedal. So here's the showdown. I spent time with each pedal (about 30 minutes)....enough time for a sitdown meal at Perkins but without the MUDBUTT of eating the food. I also brought my own axe...a super chop shop special strat modded by the one and only me. You have all heard great reviews about the TS808 and I have to say the same...its a great pedal but its a tad overpriced. Since everyone these days wants that classic tube screamer tone their HOT HOT HOT. The TS9 sounded a little more "unnatural" if you catch my drift. The gain was not as fluid as the TS808 or the BBE...it was characteristic of a pedal with more gain or - I don't know, there wasn't the same sparkle. I guess that COULD justify the bump in price to the original PCB. I digress. They also had a Turbo tube screamer...and that pedal in the words of bush "shocked and awed" me more than any of the others. Not for the vintage sound, but for the OD/Dist. you could get out of it. I would recommend this pedal for hard rock...and almost metal band sounds like Nickleback and the other radio friendly bands....what I call "scrap metal".

So my bottom line is this. The BBE is missing one thing....seasick green paint and an Ibanez logo. Its probably one of the better "tube screamers" out there....and for the money it cant be beat.:DR

Iago
June 17th, 2007, 10:41 AM
sounds interesting.. actually i saw a sample on youtube, and I liked it quite a lot. They go for 99$ dont they?

duhvoodooman
June 17th, 2007, 11:20 AM
Yep, $99. I've read good things about the BBE pedals in general. There are certainly better choices around in OD pedals than dropping $170 on a TS-808 reissue! Why I can think of a couple just off the top of my head.... ;) :D