Stratus Overdrive

Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer

Overview
The Stratus Overdrive project is a clone of the Ibanez
TS-9 Tube Screamer, which needs no introduction. If
you’ve ever wanted to mod the living daylights out of a
Tubescreamer, I believe mine is by far the most versatile
board you can use—I tried to incorporate all of the best
modifications as options. Further along in this document
you’ll find component values and notes for a few of the
more popular variants.

There are two switches available: one for clipping diodes

(with enough pads available for any diode combination
you can dream of, as well as “comp cut” or diode lift in the
middle), and a second one that can be used for any of
three other mods using jumper wires. More details on this
below.

Controls & Usage

The Tube Screamer has the same control layout as most overdrive or distortion effects:

• Tone controls the treble response of the effect.

• Drive controls the amount of gain in the op amp feedback diode clipping stage.
• Volume controls the overall output.

Modifications & Experimentation

The Clipping switch mod allows you to set up a second set of diodes to toggle back and forth from stock.
Extra pads have been provided so you can stack two diodes in a row if desired. (The middle two pads are
connected in each diode.) If you use a SPDT center-off switch, the middle position becomes a diode lift mode
(called “comp cut” on the Fulldrive), but you can also use a regular SPDT if you don’t care about this. See
further down for detailed diagrams on a few different diode configurations.

The second switch is a peculiarity. I couldn’t pick just one mod, so I made it one-size-fits-all. By running jumper
wires from different places on the board to the pads by the switch, you can “assign” a mod to it.

• The most popular mod is the Bright switch, allowing you to change the response of the tone stack.
• The Fat control from AMZ controls the bass corner frequency.
• The last one is the Flat Mids switch from the Fulldrive 2, which is just what it sounds like.

TS-9 TUBE SCREAMER / STRATUS OVERDRIVE 1

Parts (Stock Circuit)
Resistors Capacitors Semiconductors
R1 1k C1 22n Q1 - Q2 2N5088
R2 510k C2 1uF film IC1 JRC4558D
R3 10k C3 51pF 2 D1 1N4002
R4 10k C4 47n D2, 4, 6, 8 1N914 4
R5 4k7 C5 220n 3 D3, 5, 7, 9 jumper 4
R6 51k C6 220n LED 5MM
R7 1k C7 1uF film
R8 10k C8 100n Potentiometers
R9 220R C9 1uF film
Tone 20kW
R10 1k C10 47uF 25v
Drive 500kB
R11 1k C11 10uF 25v
Volume 100kA
R12 510k CX1 20pF 1
R13 10k CX2 22n 1
R14 100R CX3 68n 1 Other
R15 10k CX4 100n 1 SW1 - SW2 SPDT center off
R16 47R CX5 10n 1
R17 10k CX6 100n 1
R18 10k
RX1 47k 1
RPD 1M to 2M2
LEDR 4k7

1
Part of a mod. All the parts with an “X” in the number (e.g. CX4) are modifications. See next page.
2
Can be film, ceramic, silver mica or polystyrene. I included space for the huge Xicon polystyrene caps,
which I like a lot, but the pads in the middle have been provided for other caps with 5mm lead spacing.
3
Important: If you’re not using the Bright mod, you need to jumper B1 to GND in order for the tone capacitor
to be properly connected.
4
Your choice. The stock TS circuit is shown here, but the clipping section is extremely flexible. See the page
further down for a variety of ideas. I recommend using sockets so you can experiment.

Additional Part Notes

• Capacitors are shown in nanofarads (n or nF) where appropriate. 1000n = 1uF. Many online suppliers do
not use nanofarads, so you’ll often have to look for 0.047uF instead of 47n, 0.0056uF instead of 5n6, etc.
• The PCB layout assumes the use of film capacitors with 5mm lead spacing for all values 1nF through
470nF. I prefer EPCOS box film or Panasonic ECQ-B/V-series.
• Potentiometers are Alpha 16mm right-angle PCB mount.
• Switches are Taiway (Small Bear) or Mountain Switch (Mouser) brand with solder lugs. I prefer the short-
toggle variety, but that’s just a matter of aesthetics.
• I recommend using these dust covers / insulators from Small Bear to insulate the back of the pots from
the board and prevent shorts. If you don’t use these, use some electrical tape or cardboard to act as
insulation. The right-angle pots will make direct contact with the solder pads otherwise.

TS-9 TUBE SCREAMER / STRATUS OVERDRIVE 2

Modifications & Experimentation

Fat Mod
Allows you to switch a capacitor value to change the bass corner frequency. Include CX2 and CX3 and
connect F1 to S1, F2 to S2 and F3 to S3. The values given for CX2 and CX3 are arbitrary and can be
customized to taste. They are switched in parallel with C4, so the total capacitance will be the sum of C4 and
the CX capacitor being switched (e.g. 69n for CX2 + C4 and 115n for CX3 + C4).

Bright Mod
Allows you to switch a capacitor value to change the response of the tone stack. Include CX4 and connect B1
to S1, GND to S2 and B3 to S3. The value given for CX4 is arbitrary, but the idea is that at half of the stock
capacitor’s value (220n), it will give you a little more brightness, while the center (off) position will give you
even more. The other side of the switch is the stock circuit.

Note that if you are not using the Bright mod, you need to jumper B1 to GND in order for the tone capacitor to
be properly connected.

Flat Mids Mod

Taken from the Fulldrive 2, this removes the “mid hump” that the Tube Screamer is known for. Include RX1 and
CX5 and connect M1 to S1 and M2 to S2. Note that if you use a center-off switch here, you will have two “off”
positions and one “on”.

Other Mods
CX1 is only found in the Fulldrive. It looks to be a very slight treble bleed at the input before anything happens
to the signal, probably related to RF interference I don’t know that it has much value unless you’re building a
straight Fulldrive clone.

CX6 is for power stability / noise reduction. I label it a mod because some TS variants include it and others
don’t, but it won’t affect the sound at all and you might as well include it on any variant.

Drive control range increase: This is another very common TS mod. By reducing the value of R5, you’ll have
more gain at maximum and less gain at minimum. However, you’ll also want to increase C4 proportionally as
well, otherwise you’ll change the bass response of the circuit. Since R5 and C4 form a simple R-C filter, you
can use the R-C filter calculator at AMZ to tweak the values.

For instance, the stock TS-9 circuit has a corner frequency of 720 Hz with R5 at 4.7k and C4 at 47n (0.047uF).
If you wanted to drop the 4.7k resistor to, say, 3.3k, you’d enter 3300 in the Resistor field and enter 720 in the
Corner Frequency field, and hit Calculate to find the new value of C4 (in this case, 0.067uF). Since capacitors
come in standard values, you’ll have to settle for the nearest available value, which is 68n.

If you want to change the gain range of any variants described below, start with their listed values for R5 and
C4 in order to preserve their corner frequency.

Bypassing the buffers: A couple of TS variants such as the Lovepedal Eternity and Fulltone RTO use the
core Tube Screamer circuit without one or both of the buffers.

To bypass the input buffer, omit R2, R3, Q1 and C2. Jumper the pads marked “BUF BYP” inside C2.

To bypass the output buffer, omit R11-15, Q2, C8 and C9. Jumper R11 and connect pin 1 of the Volume
pot to the pad just above the normal pad (this is ground instead of VR). You’ll have to bend the leg back and
upward a little bit, but it will fit without any trouble. Next, you’ll want to connect pin 2 of the Volume pot directly
to OUT by jumpering the pads marked “BUF BYP” inside C8.

TS-9 TUBE SCREAMER / STRATUS OVERDRIVE 3

Diode Clipping Options

Lovepedal Eternity,
Marshall Bluesbreaker
Close-up of silkscreen.
(Square pad pairs are
always connected.)

Zendrive

LED clipping

Landgraff Dynamic
Overdrive (asym-
metrical silicon on
top, LED on bottom)
MOSFET clipping

JFET clipping

Fulldrive 2
(Silicon top,
MOSFET bottom)

Stock TS-9
(symmetrical clipping)

Boss SD-1
(asymmetrical clipping)

TS-9 TUBE SCREAMER / STRATUS OVERDRIVE 4

 +9V VR

+9V
R16 R17

8
47R 10k
CX6 C10 C11

LEDR
4k7
R18
10k
100n 47uF 10uF

4
3 S2 SW2 can be used for a number of different mods.
2 Run wires from different pads to here.

LED
LED5MM
S3 1
GND VR VR
SW2
S1
VR

SW
+9V

TS-9 TUBE SCREAMER / STRATUS OVERDRIVE

Schematic (Stock Circuit Values)

R2
470k
R4
10k
VR
JRC4558D

C1
47n
R1
Q1 JRC4558D

R8
10k
2N5088 3 IC1A
IN 1k R7 IC1B +9V
CX1 1 5 C7
1u

R3 2 7
R11
1k
20p C2 1u 6

RPD
2M2
10k 1k
3

C3
100p
R12
470k

C8
100n

GND
TONE Q2
2

GND
VOL
100kA

20kW R10 2N5088

OUT
C9
1u

R14
GND 1 3 1k
CX4 C5 2 100R
VR

1 100n 220n C6
SW1 2
R13
10k
R15
10k

3 220n
CX3 CX2 C4

B3
B1
GND GND

B2
68n 22n 47n
R9
220R

F3 F1 F2 GND GND

R5
4k7
47k 3 1

R6

VR
500kB
DRIVE

M1 M2
10n 47k
CX5 RX1

5
Variations
Fulldrive 2 MOSFET, single-channel version
Resistors Capacitors Semiconductors
R1 1k C1 22n Q1 - Q2 2N5088
R2 510k C2 1uF film IC1 JRC4558D
R3 10k C3 51pF D1 1N4002
R4 10k C4 120n 2 D2 1N914
R5 2k7 2 C5 220n D4 1N4005
R6 19k6 (or 20k) 2 C6 220n D6 1N34A
R7 1k C7 1uF film D7, D8 2N7000
R8 10k C8 100n D3, D5, D9 jumper
R9 220R C9 10uF
R10 1k C10 100uF 25v Potentiometers
R11 1k C11 100uF 25v
Tone 25kB
R12 510k CX1 10pF
Drive 1MB
R13 10k CX5 10n 1
Volume 100kA
R14 100R
R15 82k
R16 jumper Other
R17 10k SW1 SPDT center off
R18 10k SW2 SPDT
RX1 47k 1

Build Notes
1
To be exactly like the original, you’ll want to use the switch for the Flat Mids mod: include RX1 & CX5 and
connect M1 to S1 and M2 to S2.
2
Since this is the single-channel version, I’ve tweaked these values so it’ll have the same minimum and
maximum gain of both channels of the original unit. This is just a simple R-C filter, so these new values won’t
change the tone at all. The original values are R5 = 3k3, R6 = 22k and C4 = 100n.

TS-9 TUBE SCREAMER / STRATUS OVERDRIVE 6

Landgraff Dynamic Overdrive / Clay Jones Overdrive (same circuit)
Resistors Capacitors Semiconductors
R1 1k C1 20n (22n is OK) Q1 - Q2 2SC1815 1
R2 510k C2 1uF film IC1 JRC4558D
R3 10k C3 51pF D1 1N4002
R4 10k C4 220n D2 1N914
R5 1k C5 220n D4 1N914
R6 10k C6 220n D6 LED
R7 1k C7 1uF film D8 LED
R8 10k C8 100n D3, 5, 7, 9 jumper
R9 220R C9 10uF
R10 1k C10 100uF 25v Potentiometers
R11 1k C11 47uF 25v
Tone 25kB
R12 510k
Drive 1MB
R13 10k 1
If using a 2SC1815 (E-C-B), you
will need to twist the C and B legs Volume 100kA
R14 100R
around to fit the E-B-C pads. But a
R15 10k
2N5088 would also work fine here.
R16 jumper Other
R17 10k SW1 SPDT center off
R18 10k

Boss SD-1 (true bypass)

Resistors Capacitors Semiconductors
R1 10k C1 47n Q1 - Q2 2N5088
R2 470k C2 18n IC1 RC4558P
R3 10k C3 (omit) D1 1N4002
R4 100k C4 47n D2, D3, D4 1N914
R5 4k7 C5 (omit) D5 jumper
R6 33k C6 27n
R7 10k C7 1uF film Potentiometers
R8 18n capacitor 1 C8 47n
Tone 20kW
R9 470R C9 1uF film
Drive 1MB
R10 10k + 10n 2 C10 100uF 25v
Volume 10kB
R11 4k7 C11 47uF 25v
R12 1M
R13 10k 1
Yep, a capacitor.
R14 1k
R15 100k
2
There’s not enough space on the board for both of these. I recommend
soldering the 10n capacitor in the resistor’s place and then soldering the
R16 jumper
resistor across the lugs on the bottom of the board. However, you can
R17 33k also just solder the capacitor across the top of the resistor.
R18 33k

TS-9 TUBE SCREAMER / STRATUS OVERDRIVE 7

Lovepedal Eternity (Original)
Resistors Capacitors Semiconductors
R1 (jumper) C1 56n Q1 - Q2 (omit) 1
R2 (omit) 1 C2 (omit) 1 IC1 LM1458 2
R3 (omit) 1 C3 (omit) 1 D1 1N4002
R4 1M C4 220n D2, D3, D4 1N914
R5 1k C5 150n D5 (jumper)
R6 10k C6 150n
R7 1k C7 22uF 25v Potentiometers
R8 (omit) 1 C8 (omit) 1
Tone 5kB
R9 470R C9 (omit) 1
Drive 100kA
R10 1k C10 47uF 25v
Volume 100kA 1
R11 (jumper) 1 C11 47uF 25v
R12 (omit) 1
R13 (omit) 1 1
See “Bypassing the buffers” above in the Mod section and follow the
R14 (omit) 1 instructions to bypass both of the buffers. Lug 1 of the pot must be bent
R15 (omit) 1 and connected to the upper pad (ground instead of Vref).
R16 390R 2
The exact type of IC is unknown, though the general consensus is that
R17 10k it’s probably an LM1458. Many others have been tried and the OPA2604
R18 10k or NE5532 have both been reported to sound great in this circuit as well.

Lovepedal Eternity (“Burst” Edition)

Resistors Capacitors Semiconductors
R1 (jumper) C1 47n Q1 - Q2 (omit) 1
R2 (omit) 1 C2 (omit) 1 IC1 LM1458 2
R3 (omit) 1 C3 (omit) 1 D1 1N4002
R4 1M C4 100n D2-D5 1N914
R5 3k3 C5 220n
R6 20k C6 150n Potentiometers
R7 1k C7 10uF 16v
Tone 5kB
R8 (omit) 1 C8 (omit) 1
Drive 500kA
R9 330R C9 (omit) 1
Volume 500kA 1
R10 1k C10 47uF 25v
R11 (jumper) 1 C11 47uF 25v
R12 (omit) 1
R13 (omit) 1 1
See “Bypassing the buffers” above in the Mod section and follow the
R14 (omit) 1 instructions to bypass both of the buffers. Lug 1 of the pot must be bent
R15 (omit) 1 and connected to the upper pad (ground instead of Vref).
R16 330R 2
The exact type of IC is unknown, though the general consensus is that
R17 10k it’s probably an LM1458. Many others have been tried and the OPA2604
R18 10k or NE5532 have both been reported to sound great in this circuit as well.

TS-9 TUBE SCREAMER / STRATUS OVERDRIVE 8

Fulltone RTO (Robin Trower Overdrive)
Resistors Capacitors Semiconductors
R1 1k C1 22n Q1 (omit) 1
R2 (omit) 1 C2 (omit) 1 Q2 2SC1815 2
R3 (omit) 1 C3 51pF IC1 LF353
R4 1M C4 100n D1 1N4002
R5 4k7 C5 220n D2 jumper
R6 18k C6 150n D3, D5 2N7000
R7 1k C7 1uF film D4 BAT41
R8 10k C8 100n
R9 220R C9 10uF Potentiometers
R10 1k C10 47uF 25v
Tone 25kB
R11 1k C11 10uF 25v
Drive 1MB
R12 510k
Volume 100kB
R13 10k
R14 100R
R15 100k 1
Input buffer is bypassed. See “Bypassing the buffers” above in the Mod
R16 (jumper) section and follow the instructions to bypass the input buffer only.
R17 10k 2
If using a 2SC1815 (E-C-B), you will need to twist the C and B legs
R18 10k around to fit the E-B-C pads. But a 2N5088 would also work fine here.

Mad Professor / BJFE Little Green Wonder (with different tone section)
Resistors Capacitors Semiconductors
R1 5k6 C1 47n Q1 2SK170 3
R2 1M C2 1uF & 5k6 1 Q2 (omit) 2
R3 10k C3 100pF IC1 TLC272CP
R4 27k C4 220n D1 1N4002
R5 2k C5 100n D2, D4 Green LED
R6 5k6 C6 47n D3, D5 jumper
R7 2k C7 1uF film
R8 10k C8 100n Potentiometers
R9 470R C9 10uF
Tone 20kW
R10 2k C10 100uF 25v
Drive 500kB
R11 5k6 C11 100uF 25v
Volume 50kB
R12 (omit) 2
R13 (omit) 2 1
You’ll need to cram a 1uF cap and a 5k6 resistor in series in this single spot. It might be
easier to do this from the bottom of the board so you have more space.
R14 (omit) 2
R15 (omit) 2 2
See “Bypassing the buffers” above in the Mod section and follow the instructions to
bypass the output buffer. Lug 1 of the pot must be bent and connected to the upper pad.
R16 47R
R17 27k 3
If using a 2SK170, reverse the orientation from the PCB silkscreen.
R18 27k 4
The LGW uses a dual-pot tone control to control the bass as well as the treble. This
version does NOT have that. I recommend using the Fat Mod to help compensate, but
you might also need to tweak some values in the tone section (C5, C6 and R9).

TS-9 TUBE SCREAMER / STRATUS OVERDRIVE 9

General Build Instructions
These are general guidelines and explanations for all Aion Electronics DIY projects, so be aware that not
everything described below may apply to this particular project.

Build Order
When putting together the PCB, it’s recommended that you do not yet solder any of the enclosure-mounted
control components (pots and switches) to the board. Instead, follow this build order:

1. Attach the audio jacks, DC jack and footswitch to the enclosure.

2. Firmly attach the pots and switches to the enclosure, taking care that they are aligned and straight.
3. Push the LED1 into the hole in the enclosure with the leads sticking straight up, ensuring that the flat side
is oriented according to the silkscreen on the PCB.
4. Fit the PCB onto all the control components, including the leads of the LED. If it doesn’t fit, or if you need
to bend things more than you think you should, double-check the alignment of the pots and switches.
5. Once you feel good about everything, solder them from the top2 as the last step before wiring. This way
there is no stress on the solder joints from slight misalignments that do not fit the drilled holes. You can
still take it out easily if the build needs to be debugged, but now the PCB is “custom-fit” to that particular
enclosure.
6. Wire everything according to the wiring diagram on the last page.
1
For the LED: You can use a bezel if you’d like, but generally it’s easier just to drill the proper size of hole
and push the LED through so it fits snugly. If you solder it directly to the PCB, it’ll stay put even if the hole is
slightly too big. Make absolutely sure the LED is oriented correctly (the flat side matches the silk screen) before
soldering, as it’ll be a pain to fix later! After it’s soldered, clip off the excess length of the leads.
2
Note on soldering the toggle switch(es): It will require a good amount of solder to fill the pads. Try to be as
quick as possible to avoid melting the lugs, and be prepared to feed a lot of solder as soon as the solder starts
to melt. I recommend waiting 20-30 seconds between soldering each lug to give it time to cool down.

“RPD” and “LEDR” resistors

The resistors marked “RPD” and “LEDR” are generally not original to the circuit and can be adjusted to
preference. “RPD” is the pulldown resistor to help tame true-bypass popping, while “LEDR” controls the
brightness of the LED. I generally use 2.2M for the pulldown resistor and 4.7k for the LED resistor.

Sockets
Since double-sided boards can be very frustrating to desolder, especially components with more than 2 leads,
it is recommended to use sockets for all transistors and ICs. It may save you a lot of headaches later on.

TS-9 TUBE SCREAMER / STRATUS OVERDRIVE 10

Drilling & Placement
Print this page and have an adult cut out the drilling template below for you. Tape it to the enclosure to secure
it while drilling. Note that the holes are shown slightly smaller than they need to be, so drill out the holes as
shown and then step up until they are the correct size for the components.

Hammond 1590B
(bottom/inside view)

Parts Used
• Switchcraft #111A enclosed jacks
• Kobiconn-style DC jack with internal nut

TS-9 TUBE SCREAMER / STRATUS OVERDRIVE 11

Standard Wiring Diagram
This diagram shows standard true-bypass wiring
with a 3PDT switch. When the switch is off, the
input of the circuit is grounded and the input jack
is connected directly to the output jack.

The SW pad is the cathode connection for the

LED. This will connect to ground to turn it on
when the switch is on. Usage of the on-board +9V
LED connection is not required if you have
specific placement needs for your enclosure,
but’s incredibly convenient.

The wiring diagram also makes use of star

grounding principles where all of the grounds
connect to a single ground point (in this case the
sleeve of the input jack). This is best practice
to avoid added noise caused by improper
grounding. The sleeve of the output jack is IN GND OUT SW
unconnected.

If using a painted or powdercoated enclosure,

make sure both jacks have solid contact with SLEEVE
bare aluminum for grounding purposes. You may
need to sand off some of the paint or powdercoat TIP
on the inside in order to make this happen.
TIP
Make sure to double-check the markings of the
pads on the PCB for your particular project – they
are not always in the order shown here!

License / Usage
No direct support is offered for these PCBs beyond the provided documentation. It is assumed that you
have at least some experience building pedals before starting one of these. Replacements and refunds will not
be offered unless it can be shown that the circuit or documentation are in error. I have in good faith tested all of
these circuits. However, I have not necessarily tested every listed modification or variation. These are offered
only as suggestions based on the experience and opinions of others.

Projects may be used for commercial endeavors in any quantity unless specifically noted. No bulk
pricing or discounting is offered. No attribution is necessary, though a link back is always greatly appreciated.
The only usage restrictions are that (1) you cannot resell the PCB as part of a kit, and (2) you cannot
“goop” the circuit, scratch off the screenprint, or otherwise obfuscate the circuit to disguise its source.
(In other words: you don’t have to go out of your way to advertise the fact that you use these PCBs, but please
don’t go out of your way to hide it. The guitar effects pedal industry needs more transparency, not less!)

TS-9 TUBE SCREAMER / STRATUS OVERDRIVE 12