Ibanez

This article is about the guitar manufacturer. For a list of people named Ibáñez see Ibáñez (disambiguation)

Effect Pedals

In the 1970's, the Maxon company developed and began selling a series of effect pedals in Japan. Ibanez licensed these for sale under their name outside of Japan. The two companies eventually began doing less and less business together until Maxon ceased manufacting the TS-9 reissue for Ibanez in 2002.

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Tube Screamers - Based on the earlier Overdrive I and II pedals, Ibanez began releasing the first Tube Screamer, the TS-808 in the late 1970's. These contained the famed JRC4558D IC. Many players consider this one of the best solid state pedals to emulate the sound produced by overdriven vacuum tubes. Over the years, Ibanez released many different kinds of pedals bearing the Tube Screamer name. The first was the TS-9 Tube Screamer, which included only a few component changes, and different IC's. Then in 1986, the Power Series was introduced, which included the TS-10. Like many of the Power Series pedals, there were not many differences in the circuitry between these and their 9-series counterparts. To make production cheaper, these pedals used cheaper switches and circuit board-mounted pots and jacks. In 1992, Ibanez began re-issuing the TS-9. Then in 1996, Ibanez added a "CE" to the back of the pedal, which is required for it to be sold in Europe. In the late 90's, Ibanez released the Soundtank series, which had cheap plastic enclosures and like the Power Series before it, used less expensive parts. Shortly after came the Tone Lok series, and the TS-7, which included a switch for added gain. In 1998, the new TS-9DX was introduced, which included a 4-way switch for capacitor changes and changes in the clipping section. Then in 2002, Maxon stopped production of the TS-9 for Ibanez. Post-2002 circuit boards say Ibanez instead of Maxon. Due to popular demand, Ibanez reissued the TS-808 in 2004, complete with the JRC4558D chip. Original TS-808's, and to a lesser extent, TS-9s, have become highly collectible. Many overdrive pedals in production, especially those by "boutique" manufacturers, are a modified version of the Tube Screamer circuit.

Related Topics:
IC - Solid state - Vacuum tube - Pots

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