Tube Screamer
Soft clipping and a midrange lift, built to push an amp that is already working.
What the circuit does
A pair of silicon diodes sits inside the feedback loop of an op-amp gain stage, so the signal is rounded off gradually rather than squared. A high-pass filter ahead of that stage keeps bass out of the clipping, and the recovery stage lifts a band in the 700 to 900 Hz region.
What to listen for
The low end staying tight while everything else thickens, and a pronounced middle that pushes a note forward in a mix. With the drive low and the level high it barely distorts on its own: it is making the amp do the work.
Where it goes
The overdrive and distortion slot
After the fuzz and before everything time based. Distorting a signal and then delaying it keeps the repeats clean; delaying a signal and then distorting it drives the repeats and the dry note together into one smear.
Controls
- Drive
- Tone
- Level