EHX East River Drive vs Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer

This video compares the Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer to the electro-harmonix East River Drive. The TS9 is a well known commodity; the East River Drive is a clone of the TS808 circuit designed in conjunction with Analog Mike of Analog Man fame. The East River Drive's 808 style circuit means it has a slightly smoother sound and a little less gain than the TS9. Overall, though, the two pedals sound similar. Both have the JRC chip and come in green. The East River has nice graphics, a nice green led, is true bypass, and is less expensive. Also, my version said "Made in NYC, USA." The Ibanez pedal is made in Japan, has easier access to the battery, and has heftier construction than the East River Drive. The led on the TS9 is not very bright, though.
Demo Code: GEAR 406 • Electro-Harmonix East River Drive vs Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer
This demo was recorded with a Fender MIM Strat (w/ Texas Special pickups, Ernie Ball Classic Rock-n-Roll nickel strings) and a Fender Champ II (Rivera, with Eminence Ragin' Cajun speaker) amp miked with a Sennheiser e906 dynamic microphone. Also note, the Tube Screamer has the JRC 4558D chip.
Ibanez TS9 on amazon (affiliate link): amzn.to/2MZVuST
EHX East River Drive on amazon (affiliate link): amzn.to/2NCvWYK
You may also want to check out my comparison between the Tube Screamer and the Soul Food: • Ibanez TS9 Tube Scream...
For additional reading, here is an interesting article about the history of Tube Screamers with Analog Mike. He mentions the East River Drive too: reverb.com/blo...
****
paypal.me/blue...
buymeacoffee.c...
blueskyguitar.c...
****
Other Gear:
Apple MacBook (affiliate link): amzn.to/3HxxC4X
Apogee Interfaces (affiliate link): amzn.to/3Y3xf7F
Beyerdynamic DT 880 Headphones (affiliate link): amzn.to/3VU2mRt
Fender Strat (affiliate link): amzn.to/3W0YKwW
Polytune Clip (affiliate link): amzn.to/3HpIpOb
****
Please subscribe to all of our KZbin channels:
Subscribe to BlueSkyGuitar 1: www.youtube.co...
Subscribe to the BlueSkyGuitar 2: www.youtube.com...
An organized index of lessons and other material are available at www.blueskyguit...
Please stop on by and visit. :-)

[@theruley]

I have used a ts9 for years. I sold it at one point and moved on to other pedals, eventually wanted a straight up tubescreamer again. I did some research and went with the east river drive because its pretty much just a stock 808 for $60. It does the job of a tubescreamer just as well as an actual tube screamer.

[@guitareMTL]

My wife tells me that they sound exactly the same.

[@BlueSkyGuitar2]

LOL 😂

[@stellarcompanion]

christofyre What?

[@wildfeuer]

she's right!

[@ic3berg339]

Lol shes wrong

[@adambaryliuk3393]

Just means you need both, since there’s no clear winner.

[@coldwar1977]

Really like the city skyline graphics on the ERD

[@BlueSkyGuitar2]

Agreed - it's a nice touch 🌃

[@christofyre]

I wish EHX did a dual pedal with ERD and Flatiron Fuzz in one box.

[@snackspositive]

min tone TS 2:35 ERD 3:04 max tone ERD 3:50 noon tone ERD 4:09 drive 13 ERD 4:27 TS: 5:05 drive 14 ERD 5:29 TS: 5:57

[@jbloggs7227]

Picked up a secondhand ERD for £60, and got myself a vintage BluesBreaker today. Stacked them both with ERD over the BB, and it sounds incredible. However, both pedals are respectable and great-sounding on their own. Have been pleasantly surprised by the ERD.

[@ElBandido_pecas]

east river drive all day every day

[@santos0x]

Yep - I love the ERD, I think it's an overlooked gem. Same with the Soul Food.

[@Cesnakov]

soul food is ehx best sellling product

[@Slears]

no wonder a 100% Centaur clone for "a few" bucks...so the soul food is a no brainer

[@christofyre]

This isn’t really a fair shootout, as the TS9 could never hold a candle to the TS808. The East River Drive should be compared to the 808 it’s based on for a real shootout. It would be interesting to see which pedal wins that...

[@shannonhondo260]

@@christofyre great point

[@PeterTessyman]

Thanks. I was debating a TS9 and the ERD, and I think the ERD being an 808 clone means that it edges it for me. It's also half the price of a TS9 in the UK at the moment, too. Happy days.

[@cupolove1]

great head to head vid! I'm really impressed with the ERD.

[@BlueSkyGuitar2]

Darien Cruz Music Thanks! Yes, it is a great pedal. Great value too.

[@Marzguitarz]

ERD all day long. Smooth high-quality tones

[@MrAMF50]

This can be a clinic on how to do a demo. Thanks!

[@BlueSkyGuitar2]

Many thanks 🙏

[@enielsenvideos]

I think the East River Drive sounds clearer. The Tube Screamer is more compressed. I have the Electro Harmonics Crayon which is also a good Over Drive pedal.

[@BlueSkyGuitar2]

Hello Eric, I think that's a good description of the difference. Haven't tried the Crayon yet, but EHX makes a wide variety of great stuff. Thanks for stopping by!

[@aitken1965]

The Crayon is a great OD pedal. So versatile.

[@phantomtoast5747]

I have the EHX East River Drive. It's fantastic and it only cost me about £50. Love the design on it as well and the battery lasts forever!

[@johnsfixton8857]

+TheGamer361 and true bypass TRUE BYPASS

[@phantomtoast5747]

+John Sfixton I know, it's great! Can it be used on bass though?

[@WizardGambles]

X-Games Tried it once, wasn't very nice

[@cesmcmyth]

how's the footswitch? I got the Crayon, also around 56 quid... footswitch super sucks

[@jonautry]

Ces McMyth Footswitch on my Crayon is also total shit. What’s up with that!? To answer your Q: footswitch on my ERD is just fine. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@BlueSkyGuitar2]

@ Purple Haze - the ERD is an 808 style circuit.

[@alphanumeric1529]

My ERD is the most distorted, high gain ERD I've ever heard. With the Drive knob turned all the way down it is already into breakup, and maxes out into full on distortion.

[@shannonjones3714]

Great job! Thank you! This helped quite a bit!

[@BlueSkyGuitar2]

Very welcome, Shannon! Thanks for stopping by!

[@ElektroHaus]

Digging your demos, thanks for taking the time to share these! I own and love several EHX pedals, but for a TS variant sound, the ibanez wins this shoot out...cheers!

[@BlueSkyGuitar2]

Thanks!

[@christofyre]

If you like the TS9, yes, this wins. If you like the TS808, I’m not sure whether the East River could beat it or not... as he says, the ERD is smoother and lower gain, like the 808...

[@alphanumeric1529]

@@christofyre My ERD is already well broken up at the minimum drive position. I don't know why I got such a distorted ERD? I'd like to use if for light break up into chunkier mid gain, but my ERD starts in chunkier mid gain and goes to total distortion at max. I don't know why!

[@AdrianWhyte]

This is a fantastic video, great work! I reckon as you crank them up they sound pretty similar, I can hear a tad more transparency in the east river at lower drive and volume, where the ts9 has has a little more mid range honk. I've got a ts9 and might just by an east river .. just because!!

[@BlueSkyGuitar2]

Thank you, Adrian. Agreed on your description. On the East River, I say go for it!

[@4142Wilb]

EHX ERD for my ears is amazing. It outshines my former ts9 and mxn od808 whether it’s for cleans or dirty Rock & Metal. Before buying on hype save by buying an EHX ERD. A very versatile pedal...

[@simonpark843]

Excellent comparison.

[@BlueSkyGuitar2]

Much appreciated 🙏

[@rubentavares6724]

I have them both. ERD is a nicely built low cost kind of Tube Screamer. Seriously, if you want a tube screamer, buy a tube screamer.

[@SavitTheGoalie]

I got a Ibanez pro tube screamer and a erd on my pedal broad I use the tube screamer for more aggressive tones and erd for a cleaner solo booster

[@deweypug]

East River is my choice!!

[@larrytaylor935]

So is the ibanez. They both do the job to a overdriven amp

[@SavitTheGoalie]

I got the east river drive and Ibanez tube pro tube screamer and I can’t tell the difference really

[@jacksmith4460]

I have an ERD i love it , prefer it to my ts mini for boosting other drives or amps

[@klonklone7787]

See, this is what I’m buying it to compare to. You still feel this way?

[@jeffmakor7135]

I loved them both. Theres a midrange unique to the Japanese pedal and although theres not much in this, i prefer the colouration it gives to my sound. The EDR impresses me but the soul food is my absolute favourite pedal in recent years. Thanks for the upload.

[@mattgilbert7347]

Yeah, if I wanna cut thru a mix, TS9 is my friend.

[@MrMiguelhtp]

Hi, my names Mike and I've seen several of your demos and I think that they're really helpful and well done, you're doing a really good job, at least in my opinion, but I'd like to ask you a question and would appreciate it if you could clear this up for me...when you do your sound demos do you just use a camera and pick up the sound samples and images from there or do you go through Protools or Cubase or Focusrite or something like that? Thanks a lot and take care, and keep up the good work. Mike.

[@BlueSkyGuitar2]

Mike Swann I'm using an Apogee One into the iPhone camera. Saves time / disk space not recording to protools. I haven't found information on what bitrate/depth the camera records at, and not sure what KZbin compresses to. Thinking generally goes it's good to start with a higher quality file even if it gets compressed. If anyone has any thoughts on the setup or knows about the different camera / KZbin sound quality rates I'd love to hear it. Anyway, I think I have a good / efficient setup on my budget.

[@BlueSkyGuitar2]

Mike Swann Thanks for the kind comments about my demos.

[@MrMiguelhtp]

BlueSkyGuitar 2 Your welcome, yeah well i thought you were using something more sophisticated because the sound quality is really very good. Take care. Mike.

[@BlueSkyGuitar2]

Thanks. Sometimes a simple set-up can get the job done.

[@MrMiguelhtp]

BlueSkyGuitar 2 Hi again it's Mike yeah, I myself have been wondering how much money I'd have to invest in oreder to start doing my own demos, I don't lack the equipment, when it comes to guitars, pedals and amps and even recording software and hardware I have it all, but your simple set up seems to be giving you great results becaus I'm on the receiver end of your demos and I can tell you the quality is so good I thought you were processing everything through your Mac or PC with complex software and it isn't the case. I think I'll just try it out with my camera and mic the amp and see what results I can get. Take care. Mike.

[@betterdays259]

Great Review. Planning to buy the East River, I'm gonna use it for John Mayer/RHCP cover songs and for Gain Boost for covering Djent Song and Clean Boost as well. Would you recommend it?

[@BlueSkyGuitar2]

Thanks! They're both great pedals. East River might double as a boost better than the TS9. Good luck!

[@bruhdamartinasty3636]

The sound is very similar, but look at the more sophisticated switcher on the Ibanez. The only real reason to go with the EHX is that everyone has the Ibanez. And god forbid we get on the bandwagon. :)

[@larrytaylor935]

East river drive is a great pedal.

[@davidbuzzin426]

🇺🇸EHX👍EAST RIVER DRIVE👍

[@johnstitt2615]

David Buzzin it is like a TS with a nicer haircut.

[@fendergibson5222]

Great demo...very informative...thanks!

[@BlueberryStinkFinger62]

East River drive every time!

[@CROSSFIRE_TACTICS_SOFIA]

Great video

[@BlueSkyGuitar2]

Thank you!

[@CROSSFIRE_TACTICS_SOFIA]

This video helped me a lot in my choice of pedal.....Thank you again..

[@trenthogan4212]

ERD by a country mile. Way smoother, high-end overdrive. TS was harsh in comparison

[@christofyre]

TS808 > East River Drive > TS9

[@alxdrksoul]

I got the ERD and saved $50 :)

[@dustyjeans9748]

EAST RIVER!

[@andriibarber]

east river drive cool pedal

[@rorysstuff5129]

Glove vs crayon pleaseeeee

[@MrKarim989]

Glove vs ocd

[@evanwilliams8908]

The tube screamer kills this thing. Its gritty and colorful, sounds like classic rock , the ERD sounds like a weaker more bland version. Sure it's cleaner but it loses everything that made the tube screamer great

[@firewalker6712]

Are you serious? The TS9 sound so boxy and compressed. It just sounds terrible. The EDR is very glassy, smooth, open and transparent sounding.

[@meyersylvain8888]

L east river side s est l une des meilleurs drive . Super pedale

[@BlueSkyGuitar2]

Vraiment, c'est très bon! Merci pour votre visite a la ma channel!