Rant 1 The cult of the tube screamer

Ibanez TS9

You know, there is nothing special about a pedal just because it is 25 years old. Its not like it was an antique. Most people have all sorts of crap lying around at home which is that old and not worth anything, even though it functions as well as it did the day it was made. A few electronic components in a metal box don't suddenly become magical so why do people spend so much money on old Ibanez TS808 and TS9s? TS-808s can sell easily for $450. It's commonly thought that the secret was in the JRC4558D chip. Analog Mike of analogman  is one of the leading pedal designers, builders and modifiers. As he points out, 'NOS' chips can be bought cheaply as can nearly all of the original components. There are hundreds of TS clones out there. Why not buy a new one like the Maxon OD9? - actually the Maxon is not a clone: after all, Maxon made the Ibanez original tube screamers - you can see their name on the circuit boards. OD9s sound great and if you want you can get them modded to the EXACT same spec as an original TS9 or 808 from the 70s or 80s. Analogman and Keeley and any number of others will do the mods for you at a reasonable price. Then you get the original sounds without the worry of having a rare pedal stolen.
Actually, the merits of many old guitars are doubtful too - they often look cool but prices have become ridiculously over-inflated.  Fenders were relatively simple, production line instruments. There are some dodgy old instruments out there amongst the nice ones. Perhaps sometimes magic happens as the wood dries, the finish cracks and the magnets weaken. It's hard to see why this would improve anything but I do accept that it could happen. However, I have never heard anything particularly different or special from an old pedal. They might crackle more. Some pedals were made with  parts that were substituted in later versions for cheaper or different parts that affect the sound but there are many pedal builders making TS clones with the best NOS parts which are every bit as good as the originals. I would prefer to spend my money for example on a new Maxon pedal which is hand made in Japan rather than take the risk of having an elderly pedal fail on stage.

Maxon OD9

For more info on tube screamers see an excellent article by Stinkfoot
http://stinkfoot.se/archives/713

I have 2 modded Maxon OD9s - One has the so called 'brown sound' mod along with a socket so I can swap chips - whilst this is interesting, the differences in sound between different chips is subtle. The other is an Analogman Silver mod pedal http://www.analogman.com/ts9silv.htm.

I also have a Maxon OD9 pro+ which is a modified and updated OD9 with a boost switch for more gain and the ability to run at 18 volts rather than  9 volts in the original, allowing more dynamic range and headroom along with higher output and less emphasis on the midrange. I like this pedal.