Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini

The TS mini delivers the classic tube screamer sound, with only a slightly different flavour from his larger brothers. Generally not noticeable, but here and there you feel the sound falls a bit flat in the high mids, especially when stacked with other ODs.

For most use cases however, it's a perfect pedal if you're building a smaller pedalboard, but still want the classic sound of a tube screamer.

Build quality and feel are also absolutely top notch, no issues with any of the knobs.

Only thing to keep in mind is that the smaller 2 knobs are impossible to read and adjust based on their position, so if you're someone that likes to change level and tone settings during a set, consider getting a bigger TS.

So yeah there are differences between the mini and the TS808....can I blind test A/B and be able to tell which is which? No....can you? Probably not. TS Mini sounds stellar! Especially as many players' must-have OD having such a small footprint means you can easily fit it on any board no problem.

Build quality is phenomenal, thing is built like a brick. Everything feels top notch. The bottom is quite finnicky when it comes to sticking velcro. The WORST thing about this pedal is that the Tone and Volume knob are built in a way where you can't possibly ever see where the notch on the knobs. This makes fine tuning a pain in the bottom-end, especially for those who are particularly specific about their knobs (no pun intended).

I mean....talk about value for money....

I use it mainly for a mildly overdriven clean/on-edge/bluesy tone. It does that very nicely, and has pleasing harmonics & touch sensitivity.

I also use it to add more gain, tightness and a mid-range, "vowel-like" character to my high gain rhythm tone. It does that well too, which is why that's a classic use of it. That works well stacking into another pedal or running into the front end of an amp.

I had to have one, and I like that it mimics the 808 design in micro. It's an aesthetically pleasing and sturdy, weighty little box.

My only complaint is that you can barely see where the smaller tone and volume knobs are pointing, especially from any distance or with the led on. Some little white strips there would help with visibility. Take a leaf out of the Nobels Odr-Mini book, they have off-white/glow-in-the-dark ones.