One worthy of the Ibanez overdrive lineage

If Ibanez excelled in overdrive with the tube screamer, they have perfected it with the Jet Driver. I am hard-pressed to find anything the tube screamer has on this orange descendant. It isn't even an over statement that given the high quality of this pedal, I suspect that the tube screamer would pass as an "affordable version" of this pedal. It's THAT good.

Perhaps the most immediate difference between this pedal and its classic green uncle would be the extra "mid" knob. Tube screamers are notorious (not necessarily a bad thing) for their characteristic mids that give the tone a little more beef. The JD-9, while being capable of that, allows both mid scoop AND mid boost (depends on where you consider the middle ground is, really), so mids are optional on this drive. With a little experiment, the jet driver could sound like a tube screamer.

The Jet Driver has noticeably more gain than a tube screamer (which never had been a keen competitor in the first place) but not so much that would classify it as a distortion. On lower gain settings, notes remain clear and well-defined while the higher gain produces a fat round tone with a lot of sustain, typical high gain tone. On high gain, the pedal is a bit too muffed for my tastes. Chords sound too full and fat, which could be, to some degree, remedied with a scoop in the mid knob.

This pedal, in terms of volume, is VERY loud, sometimes unnecessarily. That isn't a problem, though. More volume = more boost.

The pedal serves effectively as a boost as it allows a lot of low through. The transparency is also notably better than the Tube screamer, which always adds the notorious "Mid-hump" to the guitar's signal.

The construction of this pedal is sturdy and hefty. It carries a lot of weight and is encased in a very tough box (the same box encasing the TS9). My only complain would be the switch - besides not having a very definite "click" (which I do not really have a problem with), the pedal seems to be hard to turn on. The switch has to be depressed to the max in order for the pedal to be switched on/off. The struggle is real.

Stands on its own...

The JD-9, IMHO, isn't a Tubescreamer's hairier cousin-you can get TS-like tones out of it, you can use it to push a tube amp's high gain channel, but it also carries some amp-like distortion within itself. The independent mid control helps you to further shape your tone. I bought mine used (it's a Chinese made, non-Maxon version) and I don't imagine I will ever part with it.

I think its a Drive

I use this as my Overdrive. I leave it on always,since it gives a good sound when used alone as a Drive.