Tube Screamer vs OCD
These do opposite jobs. One is a tool for shaping what an amp clips; the other is a source of clipping in its own right.
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We have not played this gear. Every pick below is chosen from published manufacturer specifications and the arithmetic set out in how we research, which you can re-run yourself.
A Tube Screamer shapes what your amp clips: it cuts bass, boosts mids and compresses, which tightens an amp that is already breaking up. An OCD supplies the distortion itself, with a full-range voice of its own. If your amp is already dirty, buy the TS. If your amp stays clean and you need the pedal to be the sound, buy the OCD.
These are shortlisted against each other constantly and they are not competing for the same job. Getting that right eliminates most of the disappointment either can cause.
Which one your amp needs
| # | Product | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | No photo Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer Cuts bass, boosts mids and compresses — it shapes what the amp clips rather than clipping much itself. | An amp that is already distorting | |
| 02 | No photo Fulltone OCD Obsessive Compulsive Drive Supplies its own distortion, with two voicings selected by the HP/LP switch. | An amp that stays clean |
Rows link to the full write-up further down this page. Prices come from the live price layer only — where there is no live figure the button reads “Check price” rather than showing a remembered number.
02The structural difference
The Tube Screamer clips symmetrically inside the op-amp's feedback loop. Because that loop's gain is frequency-dependent by design, the same circuit that clips also shapes — bass reduced going in, mids ahead coming out. It is a narrow, compressed signal by construction.
The OCD does not narrow the signal in the same way. It keeps far more low end and produces considerably more gain, which is why it works into a clean amp where a TS sounds thin. The HP/LP switch is a change to the circuit's gain structure rather than an EQ applied at the output.
| Ibanez TS9 | Fulltone OCD | |
|---|---|---|
| Low end | Cut, substantially and by design | Largely intact |
| Mids | Pronounced hump | Broadly flat, shifted by the HP/LP switch |
| Maximum gain | Moderate | High — distortion territory past halfway |
| Into a clean amp | Thin and mid-forward | Full-range and usable as the only dirt |
| Into a driven amp | Tightens and focuses it | Adds gain on gain; can get woolly |
| Voicings | One | Two, via the HP/LP switch |
| Published draw | 8 mA at 9 V | Not published by Fulltone |
Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer
An amp that is already distorting
The number8 mA at 9 V. Ibanez publishes no impedance figures.
With the Drive low and the Level high, a Tube Screamer is functioning as an EQ and a compressor in front of an amp that is doing the distorting. Less bass into the preamp means a tighter result; more mids means more of the range a power section responds to.
That is the configuration this pedal is genuinely good at, and it is why it has outlived thousands of competitors.
It is a poor choice as the sole source of distortion into a clean amp. The bass cut and mid hump are all you hear, and they were never meant to be the whole sound.
| Controls | Drive, Tone, Level |
|---|---|
| Current draw | 8 mA at 9 V |
| Power | One 9 V battery (006P) or a 9 V DC center-negative adapter |
| Jack layout | Input on the right side, output on the left |
| Impedance | Not published by Ibanez |
| What it does not do | No power supply in the box, no true bypass (the TS9 is buffered), and no bass control — the tone stack is a single treble-tilt knob over a fixed mid hump. |
Specs from Ibanez TS9 product page. We have not used this unit.
Fulltone OCD Obsessive Compulsive Drive
An amp that stays clean
The OCD produces a full-range distorted tone on its own rather than relying on the amp to do it. Into a clean platform that is exactly what you want, and it is the opposite of what a Tube Screamer offers.
The HP/LP switch changes gain and low-mid emphasis together — LP for a bright amp, HP for a darker one. Most owners pick one and never touch it again, which effectively makes it a choice at purchase.
Past about two o'clock on the Drive it is a distortion by any useful definition. If you were expecting a subtle push, the top half of that knob is not it.
| Controls | Volume, Drive, Tone, HP/LP toggle |
|---|---|
| HP/LP switch | Two voicings: LP with less low-mid emphasis, HP with more gain and upper-mid push |
| Power | 9 V DC center-negative; Fulltone documents internal operation at a higher rail |
| Electrical data | No current-draw or impedance figure is published for this pedal, so none is stated here. |
| What it does not do | No power supply included. It is not a subtle pedal at high Drive — past about two o'clock it behaves more like a distortion than an overdrive, and it will not clean up the way a Tube Screamer does. |
Specs from Fulltone OCD product page. We have not used this unit.
03Running both
Tube Screamer into OCD works, in that order, with the TS at low Drive and high Level: you are tightening the signal before the OCD's higher-gain stage clips it. The reverse gives the TS an already-distorted, already-compressed signal to narrow, which mostly just adds level and honk.
The wider version of this question — whether the gain should come from a pedal or from the amp at all — is worked through in pedal gain vs amp gain.
04Who each is wrong for
- The TS9 is wrong if you have a clean solid-state amp and wanted the pedal to supply the distortion.
- The TS9 is wrong on a down-tuned guitar, where the bass cut removes the register you were playing in.
- The OCD is wrong if you wanted a subtle low-gain push. Even in LP mode it has more character than that.
- The OCD is wrong in front of an already-high-gain amp channel, where it compounds rather than tightens.
Frequently asked questions
+ Is the OCD an overdrive or a distortion?
+ Which is better into a clean amp?
+ What does the OCD's HP/LP switch do?
+ Can I use them together?
Sources
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