Ibanez “9″ Series
Somewhere along the line I bought three Ibanez effects pedals for my setup – an AD9 Analog Delay, an FL9 Flanger, and a CS9 Compressor. My choice of Ibanez had more to do with price and what was available in my area than with any sound comparison. As far as I knew a delay was a delay, regardless of brand. As it turns out, the Ibanez 9 series was a great place to start.
Ibanez AD9 Analog Delay
The AD9 is probably the second most popular of the 9 series behind the TS9 Tube Screamer. I tried a Tube Screamer at the time, but it was far too subtle for what I wanted. If I was going to spend my money on an effect I wanted it to do some serious “effecting”, not some subtle wimpy kind of thing. The AD9 had an outstanding warm echo typical of analog delays of the time. It’s controls allowed a delay from nothing up to a little over 300ms as I recall, and the level could be set from none to never ending echo. One of my favorite features was that if you hit a note or chord with a long echo, and then changed the delay time, the pitch changed up or down. You could get some excellent spaceship taking off and landing sounds this way. That’s an effect! Very cool. This is probably the pedal I most regret selling.
Ibanez FL9 Flanger
I got the FL9 because it was wackier and not as subtle as the Ibanez chorus box, but it still could cover a sound fairly close to the chorus. It’s controls also allowed you to get into a totally crazy place with all kinds of strange regeneration sounds happening.
Ibanez CS9 Compressor
I’m not sure what prompted me to get the Compressor. Probably because it was the cheapest of the pedals as I recall. I’m pretty sure that I had no idea what a compressor did, or how to use it. Eventually, I used it as a clean boost. With my Peavey/Univox setup I don’t think the pedal had that much of an affect. Maybe it was just me. I’ve since used compressors that clearly make a difference in the sound, although compressors are generally a subtle type of effect – especially if used properly.