Ibanez

This is most likely to be THE most common pedal to be forgotten when listing the various models of tubescreamers made over the years. While a pedal like the Super Tube STL will be listed among these that pedal has a lot more differences than the Metal Screamer. Taking a look at the circuit design shows that the low end frequency response is slightly boosted. Furthermore when the circuit is in bypass the signal going to the overdrive stage will be muted. Looking at the PCB design of my Tube Screamer Classic TS10 the layout has some minor changes compared to the Metal Screamer MSL while the same drill pattern is used for the computer automated drill process of the holes on the PCB. The only difference between a Tube Screamer Classic TS-10 are therefore that the frequency respose is back to the Tube Screamer TS-9, TS-808 design and the muting circuit is gone.
Ofcourse, apart from that the casing is so much different in design as well as control names the fact that this is a tubescreamer is easily overlooked. Reason? Most likely marketing considerations to step into the mid eighties metal mania.

The Super Metal is the successor of the SM-9. As I do not have an SM-9 (yet) I have not verified this in full details but if any, these will be small. The followup of the Super Metal SML is the Metal Charger MS-10 in the 10-series which has exactly the same PCB. Most likely marketing was an issue (again) for this change.Another pedal which shares this design is the Distortion PDS-1 distortion from the DCP series. The difference here is that the rotary controls are replaced here by a chip which contains these (analog !!) controls but gives the advantage of programmability.

The Supertube STL, a spinoff from the (rare) Super Tube Screamer ST-9 is based in the design of the tubescreamer with a changed tone control circuit. The result is a slightly more coarse sound. This pedal is by far one of my favourites ever.

A compressor limiter. Later the pedal was re-released as the CP-10 compressor in the 10-series. Circuitwise the CPL and therefore the CP10 are similar to the CP-9 except for the VCA used. In the CP-9 half of a LM13600 OTA was used. In the CPL this OTA was replaced by a BA6110 SIL chip.

An analog delay based on an MN3205 BBD. This pedal followed the AD-9. Therefore it;s interesting to check ho much they resemble.... and that differs. I've seen 2 versions of the AD-9 which do differ in some components among which the filtering. In the end I drew up the AD-9 schematic largely by tracing along the schematic of a CD10 delay champ.

Huh??

Yep that's correct. The ADL and the CD10 share the same Printed Circuit Board. Therefore for reference the CD10/ADL schematic:
Ibanez CD10 Delay Champ Schematic

and the AD-9:
Ibanez AD-9 Analog Delay Schematic
As said, I've seen 2 versions of the AD-9 of which the later is identical to the CD10 form a filtering-component perspective. The differing components have the "other" value mentioned in the schematic.

An analog flanger based on an MN3207 BBD. I suspect this pedal to be a close to exact copy of the FL-9 from the 9-series.

Graphic Equalizer. I suspect this pedal was re-released as the GE-10 Equalizer in the 10-series.

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Anyone more to add than that Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine) (used to) own(s) one??

It's ocassionally stated only a few hundred would have been made and that this thing is extremely rare. The fact that I've seen tens of auctions for this pedal might suggest that the numbers made aren't that low.

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Dual rate and depth control on this Chorus. This pedal was re-released as the Twin-Cam Chorus in the 10-series.

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Another reincarnation of all those tubescramers. This one is slightly different from the Metalscreamer in PCB layout but the same drill pattern was used. This resulted in some empty holes in the PCB. Amazingly the TS10 finally starts to develop some vintage value as the prices seem to increase last year. Soundwise it's just another tubescreamer. Don't believe all those stories about these tonal differences with other TS-es. If there are slight differences this is more due to component tolerances than anything else. If you can hear em congrats. I seriously doubt if you still can when you're onstage and your drummer is using his cymbals...

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One of the most creative designs from the Maxon Guys. Started off as the SM-9, later as the SML Super Metal and eventually in this design. Too bad that when Ibanez changed over to the 5-series Soundtanks they were bound by the 3 knob constraints. I guess that even in a Soundtank case this would be an incredibly popular pedal. The metal charger, as well as it's predesessors, have one problem. The distorted sound doesn't come above unity gain making it easily drowning in the rest of the mix. Modification for this is easy and recommended. Instant Metal in a pedal.

Nice idea that didn't work out that well. The DSC is quite a clean chorus and the warmth control doesn't make it any better. Get a DCL instead. Clean chorus without the hassle.

An oddity it it's type number as it's part of the 10 series and is numbered with a 7. I still have no clue what this thing has to do with LA, let alone with metal. Bad sounding crap. However I still do like the cosmetics as this one is suddenly housed in a solid steel case instead of the common aluminum.

There's claims that this pedal had to be the Ibanez answer to the always and ever popular ProCo Rat. Looking at the schematic suggests the same as they are indeed very similar. I had to have it for looks and name alone already. Don't know if I'll ever be using it live. Fat Cat and subtle don't go together. And by the way, I've seen these advertised multiple times as a tubescreamer on steroids. Nothing is further from the truth. The only thing these two have in common is that they're both pedals and have 3 knobs.

Someone once called this thing the best Tubescreamer ever. Personally I have to disagree since it doesn't have anything in common with a TS.... other than that it DOES sound very Tubescreamerish. The Mostortion should definitely get more recognition as it is an amazingly great pedal and very versatile.

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No description needed. A classic. Don't believe the stories about that TS808 conversion and the soundwise miracles that will happen. However, if yours happens to have that Toshiba TA75558 chip get it out and get the 4558 back in. That does make a difference. Bear in mind that anything over 50 cents paid for the chip is overpaid. They're still in production and NOS is pure mojo. If you want a real improvement get it modded to one of the more gain like mods like Keeley's. There's several to be found on the web as well. Tubescreamers are really cool when they're on steroids.

Jawn Jawn. Just get one and never get rid of it again. Highly lovingable chorus. Nice detail is the wet chorus signal is gated and will be muted if signal is absent at the input.

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One of my prides since this unit is so extremely hard to find. While seeing one go on Ebay for some 220 Euro's I picked this fella up as a bargain at a local music store.The basic design is in fact a tubescreamer with an added "bite" control and a changed cutoff frequency for the "tone" as found on the normal TS. "The bite" gives a fixed 8dB gain in the mid frequencies and can be adjusted for a center frequency ranging from 200 Hertz to 2 Khz. In its mid position the boost is at 300 Hz. So far I haven' found any circuit differences with is's sucessor, the Super Tube STL. Mine came with two TA75558 Toshiba Dual-OpAmps. When changing these to JRC4558D's this type was already stated on the PCB silk screen. Most likely production ran out on 4558's and (temporarily) changed to the 7555's. As stated multiple times already online, forget about that TS-808. This is the pedal to have. Otherwise, get a (far cheaper) Super Tube STL.

Some quick tech data: Ibanez AD-9 Analog Delay Schematic
I've seen 2 versions of the AD-9 of which the later is identical to the CD10 form a filtering-component perspective. The differing components have the "other" value mentioned in the schematic.

Ibanez AD-9 Analog Delay Schematic

The CP-9 is identical to the CPL and the CP-10 from later series. Except that where these succesors use a SIL OTA as VCA this one still works with half a LM13600 as VCA. Of the other half of the OTA only the darlington transistor section is used as a buffer for the bypass signal.

The only thing that exceeds a CS-9. The CS-9 with dual LFO making it even more lushy. Please bear in mind, there's rumours that the BC-9 would be more or less 2 individual chorusses in one package. This is not the case. It has two LFO's (Low Frequency Oscillator) of which the signals are mixed and then used to drive the single BBD delay line.

By far the holiest grail among the 9 series. This is the one not to fuss about when it's not in mint condition. These are so rare that any that comes by is special already. This one is followed by the story that it was only sold for a short period in France. Since most of the notifications I've seen about their existence I tend to believe that till proven different. By the way, this one comes from France too.

As can be seen from the photo this one is not in mint condition (and I couldn't care less). This however reveals a new theory. Under the scratches another colour of lighter non metallic green paint can be seen that has an incredible resemblance with a far more known colour of green. Tubescreamer Green to be exact. Therefore I suspect (but again, until proven otherwise) that the OD-9's were a batch of repainted Tubescreamers with a different label and different electronics. (No, I haven't bought a fake OD-9. Everything else is original and correct). Considering the limited amount of OD-9's sold this theory seems quite sensible to me. Produce a small batch and see how they sell.

Another thing that amazes me is that this pedal is never mentioned in "The Analog Man's Guide to Vintage Effects" Book. Why is this? Is is because they don't know the pedal?. Wrong. Mike says very clearly "I want one" on his page. Might it be because as soon as it's in the book prices start to go up and this pedal, apparently not in his collection yet, will become even more unaffordable?
Who Knows?

As for the tech details. The OD-9 is electronically a full twin of the orange OD-850 Overdrive. They share the exact same board. Add that to the "green colour" theory and one can wonder if this was a way to lose a relatively small batch of leftover OD-850 boards. Don't set up a production line but change a small number of TS-9's to OD-9's till the last boards are finished. That would also make sense for the only imported in France thing. The number of OD-9's made before the boards were gone was so limited that it was exported as one batch and the first available harbour was France.

Last great fun is that the design of the OD9 seems to have found it's way into the SF5/FZ5 (see the section on that one) Soundtank fuzzes other than for a few minor changes. This makes me wondering if it isn't time to get an FZ7 fuzz and start investigating.

OD-850 Schematic:
OD850 Schematic

OD-850 Service Manual:
OD850 Service Manual

As said often this is the Metal Pedal that later became the Super Metal SML and Metal Charger MS10. One of the reasons for owning an SM-9 is its looks alone. Other than that, the SM's with their 3 distortion stages have something in common with a Boss Metal zone. They're one trick pony's capable of one thing. Ultra-gain-ultra-distortion-bedroom metal. Take one on stage and learn withing a few minutes that you'll drown in the mix. Less gain won't work als it will also give you less level which is something the Super Metal's don't have too much in reserve. If you want to get the max out of your supermetal get it modded (or do it yourself). It will give you a little less maximum gain but a much wider gain range as well as a lot more output level.

Some do like the SD-9. I don't. It's just too dirty for me. What I never have understood is how people occasionally refer to the SD-9 as the "dirty brother" of a TS. The SD-9 is much more related to an MXR dist+ in it's way of clipping, resulting in a much less compressed sound which is one of the characteristics of a TS.

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Blacklabel in an amazingly mint condition. I really had to search for traces that indicated this EQ was even used. It suggests it has never seen a stage before and in more aquainted with bedrooms...

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Let's try to get rid of the old misconception that these are (all) digital pedals. In the case of the delay's this is true. In other cases, like for instance the PDS-1 distortion, this is definitely not the case! It's an analog pedal in which the controls are replaced by chip based potentiometers. This means that the wiper position of the chip potentiometer can be controlled by a microprocessor and just as well settings can be saved!

More facts:
The DCP's case contains 2 printed circuit boards. One contains the effects electronics while the other contains the control electronics. I suspect the controlboard is the same in all the different effects (except for another display) is the same. Changing this board for another type is done by changing a three bit code which is soldered on the back if the PCB:

DCP Series Control board type selection

Don't jump in the conclusion that by changing this code a delay becomes a distortion. That's not the case. The code only selects which program the controller will start to execute which should be the program that applies to the effects electronics on the other board.

Another interesting fact. The PDD Delay can most likely be built into the PDM modulation Delay. They share the same board but a part of the components required for the PDM is not mounted in the PDD.

MIDI Interface DMI4

The example of a rather hard to find item. Therefore my BIN finger was pretty fast when I saw this one listed on the Italian Ebay at 20 euro's! Even greater was my surprise that this seller had 60 (!!) of em for sale as well as some 30 PPE1 parametric Eq's! nevertheless, I bought only one and wasn't too surprised that all this merchandise was gone within a day. It seems to me that these have been somewhere stashed away in an Italian warehouse and had been forgotten about till they were all bought by the seller, an Italian surplus equipment dealer. All stuff was completely new in box with all labels manuals and cables complete.

Parametric Equalizer PPE1

Came from the same seller who sold the DMI4 above. Completely new in box, never used. Even the label wrapped around the pedal is still there.

Delay PDD1

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Modulation Delay PDM1

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Distortion PDS1

So, it's not a digital pedal? Then what is it? With the PDS1 we're looking at yet another reincarnation of the SM-9 Super Metal so for just the same the SML Super Metal or the MS-10 Metal Charger. Only this time the controls aren't rotary but pushbuttons. Considering the massive soundscape a super Metal has to offer the ability to be able to save settings isn't too bad.

The Soundtank metal case serie.

So, what's more?
Well eeh, how about number 2?
2) Still depending on photo quality but at least possible to recognize in normal outfit. On the top of the pedal, above the knobs, there's the In, Out and DC lettering. Next to these there's little arrows. In a metal case case the arrow for the input jack is inward and the arrow for the output jack outward. In a plastic case case they're both outward. Simple as that.

Metal Case: Arrows in/down and out/up

Plastic Case: Outward arrows

Usually the opinion on Soundtanks is not too positive. Compared to their predecessors this is understandable due to their crappy case and looks, The battery door which wants to go missing etc. etc. Now, while not looking at this pedal but while playing and listening one must make one conclusion. It's a very good pedal! Electronically it is in the field of an DOD250 or a distortion+ (which makes the name well chosen) but with an additional active tone control. So, don't discard the CM-5 too easy because of it's looks. It is a good pedal and they still come awfully cheap!

Schematic:
CM-5 Classic Metal Schematic

Well now, here's an interesting one. A namechange for the same pedal in the same serie. The early sixties fuzz is called SF-5. The later version (with it's own font) is called the FZ-5

Want more?
The FZ5/SF5 is electronically really close to a OD850/OD-9. The distorting stages are exactly the same (and have a very distinct resemblance to a EH- Big muff) while the tone control and In/Out stages are different only in the smaller details. Basically what we have here is a poor man's OD850/OD9. As a matter of fact, the SF5 can be changed into a full OD850/OD9 by changing some components only and making a few minor alterations to the PCB.

Furthermore the SF5, just as the OD9 and the OD850 are all clearly based on the EH triangle Big Muff.

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This one surprised me. So far, other than for the tubescreamer, I had never seen Maxon desigs leverage into the Soundtanks (which are of non-Maxon design). In this case, for the drive stage there's an awful resemblance to the DS-10 Distortion charger. Both seem to utilize some kind of discrete opamp as drive stage. Ofcourse after this the DS-10 has a different tonecontrol.

Schematic:
CR-5 CruchyRhythm Schematic
DS-10 Distortion Charger Schematic

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Schematic:
Thrashmetal schematic

What's more to say about a Tubescreamer that hasn't been said all over this page already. It's a Poor man's TS9 having the sound but not the looks. This doesn't mean that there's no potential in this one. All modifications that can be done on the various versions of the tubescreamer can be applied to the TS-5 as well, making it a cheap startoff to experiment with pedal midifications.

Heavily misunderstood pedal. One of the best quotes I saw to illustrate this was in a Harmony Central review of this pedal is the "I cannot get a bluesy tone" remark..... Now, think about it would you expect a bluesy tone from a pedal called "Cyberdrive"??? Come On! Get Real!

Having said that, it seems the designers targetted towards the often used "wah in fixed position" lead tone often heard by players like Satrani or Schenker. Jacques calls it "Money for Nothing" in a box referring to the Dire Straits song. Same trick, wah in fixed position. The pedal consists of 2 parts. The first is exactly the same ciruit as in an Ibanez WH-10 wah, of which the wah control is now the Tone control. The output of that wah circuit is fed into a distortion circuit which has striking resemblance to a ProCo Rat, if it weren't that the clipping diodes are in the feedbackloop instead of connected to ground.

The Cyberdrive is good fun to play around with as long as you understand that it's a pedal with a certain character and not an allrounder.

Schematic:
Cyberdrive schematic

Now, here's an interesting one.
While not extremely looking for Soundtanks I was more or less lookin on a low profile for a DL-5 Delay. I was pointed out to a (verified) DIY tweak that doubled the delaytime of a DL-5 by adding another DRAM memory chip. Instead of returning the output of the DL-5's DRAM chip back to the Delay processor chip ot is sent to a 2nd, added, DRAM chip and the output of that chip goes back to the delay processor. More or less that means that the DRAM's are being used as shift register and quite similar to a BBD Bucked Brigade Device chip. Beauty in it's simplicity!

Hey.... I thought this was about the EM-5??

Uuuh. Yeah... sorry
OK, here's the story. I got myself, eventually, a DL-5. Opened it up but couldn't find the DRAM chip. Other than that the delay controller had the wrong type number. That made me suspect that I was dealing with the wrong PCB in my DL-5 pedal. Further investigation showed that I was indeed dealing with a EM-5 board but with alterations. The EM-5 has clipping in the delay feedback line to suggest a low-fi tape echo. In this case this clipping is left out and the filtering done on the feedback signal is also less strong. Pretty important is that there's no suggestion that ever alterations were made to the board that suggested the board came from an EM-5 originally. One explanation might be that the Hoshino production line ran out of boards for the DL-5 and cured the problem this way. Another, more likely suggestion was that they ran out of delay processor chips of the right type since Mitsubishi stopped making them and changed over to a different type, already used in the EM-5, that was still available.

To make a long story short, forget about that tweak with the DRAM's for now. Furthermore I happened to be in the posession of a EM-5 case left over from a recase job, enabling me to make my DL-5 into the more desired (and more fun to play around with!) EM-s5.

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The BN5 seems to be a variation on the Powerlead as they share the same board layout and component numbering. However, in the case of the BN, some stages are left out of the circuit.

Schematic:
Ibanez Black Noise schematic

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Tech details: CA3080 based comp. I have to investigate hew much it resembles to a MXR Dynacomp.

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Posted on the Ibanez Collectors world a while ago (by me)

What I'm going to write below partially hypothetically. Please shoot or add to the my suspicions. A few days ago I bought an UE400 off eBay. When heating it up and stepping onto the distortion my first conclusion was that either me or the rest of the world is deaf. The sound of the distortion did not have any resemblance with a tubescreamer and sounded muck mure fuzzy. Opening up the box and doing some quick analysis showed a basically different circuit than is found in a tubescreamer. Today I did some browsing which showed that Maxon has made the UE400 as well as the UE 401. From two photo's with the unit opened up I had to conclude that the Ibanez UE400 I have is actually the design of a Maxon UE401. What I cannot tell (since I don't have one) is if the Maxon UE400 also appeared as an Ibanez UE400...
welcome everyone who might solve this mystery. A few quality photo's or PCB numbers most likely will do the trick.
What's more then? Well, take this post as a warning that buying a UE400 doesn't nesessarily mean you just bought a Tubescreamer!
How could one have a more certain check? My UE400 is all original and never tweaked. It has only one output jack whereas the later have 2 so the stereo chorus can be used in stereo. Mine can't, although the chorus has a "pull for stereo" push pull pot....

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Another one of those rarities. I have seen this one, marketed under another brand, on Ebay once and it went for far less money than the Ibanez brands. I should've bought it. I found this one on a local auction page, reported broken, for some 45 Euro's with the specific request not to bid, be the hiighest bidder, and then start bargaining. One of the previous owners switched polarity on his power supply and destoyed all (3) OpAmps. Therefore the thing was fixed in a few minutes. However the lever of the side switch is broken off and I'm still trying to get a new one. Furthermore someone has drilled a hole in the front (partiallyy through the label, for (I guess) the addition of an adapter socket.

This phasetone doesn't, circuitwise, compare to other TS-808 era Phasetone's. While those phasetones use FET transistors as variable resistors in the phasing circuit this one uses VTC type optocouplers.

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Taking that starved plate design a step further. Although the tube amplifier stage is still connected as amplifier it isn't really doing amplification. The input signal is gained to extremes and then fed through the tubestage. This makes the tube act more like some kind of filter with tube characteristics then as amplifier. Effective tone control following the distortion stages. This is the European version with a built in (but never used) noise reduction.This specific TK is heavily modified making the sound a lot tighter, lower on noise and more immune to power supply noises.

And some more about the Tubeking. Regardless of what's said there are two versions of the TK999. Bottom line, end of story. The one very common in Europe is the Japanese version. The one common in the US is the US made one. The 2 can be easily told apart. First of al the Japan version has silver knobs where the US one has black knobs. If that's too hard to find out check for a noise reduction switch in the pedal's casing between the jacks. If it's there it's the Japanese. Or else? The US version states the BK Butler 5022305 patent number on it's case. Since there has been quite some drama over the BK Butler patent I have always understood that the Japanese TK999's were for the world and manufacturered by Maxon and the US TK's were manufactured under the TubeWorks flag.

I never really thought about it further till I was very recently contacted by someone in posession of the schematic of the US version. Studying and comparing the 2 shows the 2 TK999 versions are completely different! Also, it seems the US version seems to stay a lot closer to the BK Butler patent. After this discovery I's say there shouldn't be any discussion about which one sounds the best as they're completely different pedals!

Schematic of the Japanese TK:
TK-999 Schematic

OK. You to add some kind of extra In or Out..... What's a more logic location to drill a hole than in the middle of the front panel? Unbelievable....

The successor off the GE-100. With the "new" Ibanez logo. I was amazed how little info there is on the net for this model. No Harmony Central review (and for the GE-100 there's only one). Compared to the GE-100 there's absolutely no difference at all. They're identical form an electronics perspective. Still a bummer ther the bypass switch isn't a footswitch. These EQ-s are pretty effective but not so easy to use on a pedal board.