Ibanez AD-9 Analog Delay

not much to it. 3 knobs.

nice warm analog delay. I agree with most people on the pedal. It sounds great but could use more delay time. Only goes to 330ms. But don't let that dissuade you from buying. you just have to buy a digital delay as well.

no problems so far.

n/a

Great little pedal.

Pretty easy to use with its 3 knobs. Has limited functionality: nowhere near the features on the newer Boss DD series.

Warm, lush, analog-like sound. I am using this with a Stat and LP into a Bassman head. I have not tried the stereo outputs (separate dry and delyed) so can't comment on the stereo capability. As others here have noted, reverb and slapback effect are easy to achieve and sound great. This does not seem to suck tone.

This is a new, reissue model from Japan...seems well made but too soon to tell.

Used primarily for slapback and reverb sound, playing the blues: great match for the blues, even though it is pink. I definitely would replace it if stolen: this and my Boss TR-2 tremelo and are the best effects I've bought.

Among the easiest delay pedals to use today. No real manual to speak of, the control labeling provides more than enough information.

This is a very different animal from digital delay. The repeats atre warmer and fuzzier, rather than the sort of higher definition sound digital provides. For slapback sounds this thing rules....very natural and tube-y sounding. It warmed up my Telecaster nicely without killing the twang.

Longer delays are a mixed bag. Since it maxes out at 300ms, there's not a whole lot to work with. It has a very Pink Floyd, tape-like feel to it, and it can actually be adjusted in such a way that longer lines and phrases echo nicely, but strumming or note-heavy excursions don't get all bogged down in a whole bunch of echoes. This is by far my favorite use for it.

For applications that require greater fidelity or delay times, this is not going to fit the bill, but while a digital delay can do a lot of what the AD9 does, the AD9 has a really nice sweetness and musical quality to it while digital delays can run a little bit cold.

The Ibanez 9 series is pretty solid over all, though there switches can be kooky at times. No problems so far though.

not applicable

I play rock of all types. I've been playing for almost 20 years now. I'm mostly a Fender guy, have oodles of pedals and other stuff and Vox and Fender amps.

This was my first analog delay of any time, and I've used digital ones (Digitech and Boss) for a long time so I had a pretty good baseline to compare it to. I really like the Ibanez. It doesn't do everything I want in a delay, but it's also very much plug and play and doesn't get in the way of making music at all. If you're looking for slapback and don't need a whole lot of available delay time to do what you're doing, this is a great choice. If fidelity and flexibility are important, the AD9 may not exactly be what you're looking for, but since a Boss DD-3 is actually cheaper than an AD9 it's probably not a big deal for most to own both.

three knobs: delay time, delay length, and delay level...not much to it

(playing through an elk custom 30 and echo cab w/ rocktron austin gold, boss sd1, and dunlop jimmy wah)

THE GOOD:
the super warm tone that comes from this thing still makes me smile.
the sound is crisp and clean and did i mention it sound AMAZING!

THE BAD:
the 300ms maximum delay is a major let down. i opened up the back of the pedal and boosted the delay time pot and was able to achieve somewhere around 500ms delay, but with major distortion issues. also, not being able to control the delay time with an expression pedal gets really old when playing live.

END RESULT:
i'm going back to boss.

but i havn't given up, when i find myself with some extra money i'll send my ad9 into robert keeley and see if he can't do something for me.

this thing is a tank

i've never had to deal with them :)

overall, if ibanez made the delay time atleast 700 ms and made it so i could use an expression to control the delay time i would spend more money on it than any other delay pedal on the market.

IBANEZ...if you read these things...do so and you'll make BILLIONS!!!

Delay is very simple to use. 3 knobs for delay, repeat, and level. There are internal trimpots also, but only adjust these if your delay has a significant amount of noise

I love this delay pedal! I originally thought it could not sound better until I adjusted the two internal trim pots. I have a vintage ad-9 from the 80s. When I adjusted the pots I now have the most beautiful delay imaginable. I used to have a lot of hiss at the end of each delay, but not anymore. This unit is perfect! My setup is: 2002 Gibson Les Paul 60's reissue ---pedalboard---- Emery Sound Superbaby setup with EL34-12ax7-5y3 combination. The pedalboard consists of an Analogman King of Tone, then Ibanez Delay, then Boss TU2 Tuner. I love this delay. I can get anything from a slight echo to crazy spaceship sounds. This is great!

So far no problems and its from the 80s. 20 years of reliability so far! A+

This is by far the best analog delay for the money! Get one now before they are all gone

This is a drop dead easy pedal to use... as it should be.
three knobs: delay time, # of repeats, and level of repeats.

I find the sound quality in mono is very good. In stereo it totally rolls off all the high end of your signal. The concept of taking a dry signal only on one channel and a delay (only) in another is not new and you should experiment with this. It is a very striking treatment to a normally overused and common effect. I would have loved to take atvantage of this feature, and you could in theory still use it if you don't mind all the high end cut-off.
I run a stereo setup with a Twin and a higher gain switchable tube amp in my rig. I also have an ab/y box to split the signal and a pedal board with vaious effects and an FX loop on the board to switch a rack mount unit in and out of the chain. For those of you out there pondering digital vs analog... forget the mental theories and just go with what each one does best. My digital unit does a great job of the longer stronger delays and it's programmable. This unit is a different breed and adds another color. It's older (bucket brigade) design makes it perfect for those country / rockabilly slapbacks ... or on the longer settings a more 70's rock...echo sound. The rolloff is still quite strong and that gives the pedal the characteristic of not overtaking the sound or the mix... you could leave it on for a lot or sounds and not really notice it... on the other hand, because it is subtle, if you want a strong delay you'll have to crank it a bit. It's a musical effect and adds a nice touch. I use it for delays that I don't want the digital overpowering sound on, for its more natural organic sound and that type of thing.I compared this to an old Boss Analog delay I had years ago, and the roll-off on this unit really is more substantial... very similar sound just more high-end roll-off.

It's built very well and is heavy.

NA

I play a lot of different styles from hard rock, classic rock, country, rockabilly, blues, gospel and worship music, praise and choruses and acoustic steel string. I have been playing for over 20 yrs mostly in a church worship setting but also in other rock bands and such. This pedal is a good match, can do the subtle delays well and is a musical effect. You won't get a lot of variance out of the controls really, basically a short delay and a medium delay (100-300 ms) You can tweak it I heard but I haven't tried that.
I got it to compensate for the digital delay that I use.
Using the sterile sounds on the digital sometimes just doesn't work as many have noted already. It's a good mix, its' a small cheap addition and it's versatile for basically any style where a small sutle delay can be used. It has found a permanent place on my pedal board and I use it quite a bit. You wont go wrong with this unit.

Easy easy easy - three knobs, super intuitive!

I'm loving the warm tones coming out of this little pink box.
After buying it, I read that the delay time can become 500ms by tweaking one of the component inside... so i did that - very easy to do, and the effect still works and now gives me a slightly longer delay.
I can get a great reverb from this ad9... i'm loving it!

Its new now, but it seems built to last

Never dealth with them!

Overall, a great analog delay for 120EUR... i guess elsewhere it's less expensive but here in ireland thats the price...

This pedal is easy as Lady Marmelade, or orange marmelade at that (Ok pink). There are many subtle things you will figure out over time using it though. This one I have, I bought back in 1985 for around $90 and it was made in Japan (322065). I don't have the box or manual anymore.

This pedal I regarded as mediocre until around 1995 when I noticed that everyone was using these dry un=real digital delays.I was all about digital back then too. I can't really nail down an artist who this pedal sounds like but it does have a vintage sound..as in warm, a bit muddy and kinda subdued for a delay. Ibanez pedals from this era are like that, real similar to the late 1960's pedals I believe. If you want grand canyon echos, this pedal is not for you. This one is good for that trippy background stuff that will creep up behind your soloing or picking and make your hair stand up. It has a great slap back for a good blues sound too- imagine B.B. King sittin on a potty in a large ceramic tiled bathroom wailing on Lucile ( the guitar Lucile). Play some floyd-esque stuff and (if you're not drunk or too ston-ed) you can manipulate the delay time knob with your left foot at get that whooshy, I'm drunk falling down, here comes the spaceship ...Bass-WHUMP.....WHUP....chipmunkchipmunkchipmunk...sound. Understand you have to spend 20 years with this pedal to understand how it affects your MIND. Now, there are a couple of things to know. Play it from your guitar to the amp and you have more delay time and that little scream thing when you bend notes ( Think Prince) going on. If you run an effects loop, you will have a cleaner sound with less delay time.

I have severly abused this pedal since 1985, chastized it for being pink, ( it still is pretty) molested it with scotch tape for the battery compartment ( spiled some scotch on it too )and let it roll and tumble un- supervised in a bag with other effects ( some of which are Boss). It's still here and sound great. The switch is a little cranky but if the battery is fresh, it acts livelier.

Ah dunt no

I play anything from progressive to metal to hard 1970's & 80's to southern rock and blues. I have irritated folks since 1979 with my guitars. RIG= Strat HWY1 & Phoenix Electra +(others) > Ibanez FL9>Ibanez AD9>Ibanez Tube Screamer Turbo>Boss Noise Suppressor>Dunlop Crybaby>Boss Tuner>Randall RG 100SC212/212 cab. I also have a 1985 Boss HM-2 and a 1996 Zoom 1010. This delay is great for cool background delay, slap back reverb, signal manipulation for a trippy-ness factor and just a good source for a vintage sound. This pedal is subtle like I stated before so it's not for everyone. I heard there are trim pots inside where one could incease time but I don't know. That's the only thing I would wish was different was a little more delay time but the warmth of this pedal adds sooo much to you sound that it makes up for it. The older I get the more I have started to use it. ( the question at the bottom about 10+5 I wanted to answer "Argentina" but I thought they would make me say " egg mcmuffin.and I couldn't have that>admin.. )

Like someone else here said, if you can't operate this then, well...

Currently using a Fender Tele/Strat hybrid through two homemade custom tube amps and a Celestion loaded cab. The AD9 feeds a matching Ibanez compressor and an old 70's MXR flanger. For a pedal it's very quiet. Like a few other posters here however, I must note that it's mostly useless as a stereo delay. The dry signal looses most of it's gain and high end. Also, it doesn't provide long delay times. That said it provides a really nice slapback sound which to me sounds somewhat close to an echoplex but in a much smaller and reliable package. It also provides a nice warm sounding reverb or larger venue sound.

I bought my AD9 sometime between 80-82, not quite sure. Things were a bit blurry back then. Anyway, here's the same little pedal today and it looks and works mostly the same and boy has it been used! I had no idea when I bought it that I'd still be using it for this many years later, yikes. Yes, it's reliable.

Never needed to.

I play many styles, (mostly rock), and the little AD9 can be used on 99.99% of it. The only thing I can't pull off with it are those ultra long delays. I'm nit picking. If it were lost or stolen I would be sad as it's been part of my sound for nearly 25 years. I guess I'd replace it with the same. Hopefully they sound the same and are of same build quality. If they are then most guitarists should probably have one of these.

Very easy to use, you don't have to be of high intellect to work this and get a good sound. Manual is not much, but then, you really don't need one for this pedal.

I use a '98 Lone Star Strat, or my trust old '76 Tele through a Re-issue Fender Twin. I get a slight noise, but I got that before I got the pedal. I've ordered a Voo Doo Lab Power Pedal in hopes of cutting the slight hiss. I've used a Boss DD-5 for years and also have a Boss ME-50, which I love, but the AD-9 just gives me that extra option for certain sounds on certain songs I was looking for. I have in in my chain of effects as follows: 1. Original Cry Baby, 2. Boss Harmonist, 3. Boss Compressor, 4. Boss DD-5, 5. Ibanez AD-9, 6. Boss Turbo Dist, 7. Boss Tremblo, 8. Boss Flanger, & 9. Boss CE-20 Chorus

Rerading all the user reviews, I would say it is a dependable product. Just got it today, and have a gig tomorrow night. Plan to put it to use 1st thing.

Haven't dealt with them

I'm an old dude, 62 years old. Been playing and writing original material since I was 14. So, I've played older R & R, 60's Surf like the Ventures, traditional country, newer country, R & B, Gospel, & Folk. If lost or stolen, I would buy another just from the way it sounded as soon as I hooked it up this evening. I love the darker sounds & colored slap-back you can get from it. I will keep my DD-5, but my arsenal is now complete. The only 2 things that bug me about it are: 1) Ibanez could have at least labeled the input and outputs, and 2) I wish the activation switch was as large as my boss pedals. The Ibanez is well built, and heavy as a brick, but the activation switch has to be hit just right with the tip of your toe. But for these two items, it would get a 10, but because of that I'll go with an 8.