Ibanez Pedals Review

Ibanez licensed Maxon to build the Tube Screamer!

In the 70s a man named Nisshin Onpa designed guitar pedals that were to become household names among guitar players.

TS808 (Tube Screamer), TS9 (more gain but still a tube screamer), FL-9 (Flanger), CS-9 (Chorus), and AD-9 (Analog Delay).

Nisshin Onpa had his own company (Maxon) but allowed Ibanez to sell the models under the name of Ibanez, a relationship which lasted until 2002.

Today these pedals are made by both Ibanez and Maxon as “reissue models”.

Should you want an original TS808 rather than a new model, expect to pay around $500 for one in good condition.

Ibanez Tube Screamer

Ibanez released the first Ibanez Tube Screamer, the TS-808 in the late 1970s.

The TS808 is considered the most desirable overdrive pedal available and players like SRV made it hugely famous in the 80s by pairing it with a Stratocaster and a Vibroverb amp.

The TS9 is similar to the 808 but has more gain and these days there is even a hand wired version of the 808 named TS808HW.

The Tube Screamer has been copied by other pedal brands like no other pedal. Boutique brands like Fulltone and Keeley offer their version of the Tube Screamer with great results.

Analogman, a pedal mod specialist has even written a whole book on the pedal after making modifications to thousands of Tube Screamers over the years.

Ibanez CS9

The CS9 is a classic chorus pedal with one input and two outputs for stereo use.

Most players however use the pedal in mono, which defeats the purpose slightly but in a way creates another sound, so chances are that the records you’ve heard it on, it’s not actually in its intended stereo form.

The controls are simple with only Speed and Width controls so it’s very easy to dial in the type of chorus you want.

There are many chorus pedals out there but the CS9 does have something special about it so do check it out when you go shopping for your chorus. After all, it was designed by the same guy who made the Tube Screamer.

Ibanez FL9

The flanger effect is closely related to the chorus and the phenomenon phasing, a problem that occurs when using two microphones on the same source, but at different distance.

On a flanger pedal you can see a control named delay time, this controls the amount of time between your original signal and the “overdubbed” signal, which is simply fed through the pedal and delayed before it syncs up with the signal again, causing the “flanger” effect.

Famous tracks using flanger are: Why Can’t This Be Love by Van Halen, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds by The Beatles and Electric Ladyland by Jimi Hendrix.

The main feature of the flanger sound is to take the signal, split it, hold on to it for between 1 to 10ms and then add it with the original signal.

For a chorus effect it’s a similar way, but the delay time is much longer, between 20 and 30ms.

Both the chorus and the flanger would fall under the category of modulation effects.