Ibanez BC5 Bass Chorus Pedal

Easy to use, if yo know how to set a chorus. Three knobs, standard chorus controls

I use this on bass, at the end of a fairly long effect scale (bass=Fender Jazz or G&L L-2500, amp=Ampeg SVT-CL with 8x10 cab). The pedal is not noisier then other chorus pedals... I tried it side by side with a boss bass chorus and the noise level was pretty simular. The sound of the effect is nice ! It doesn't sound sterile like the Boss' current bass chorus. The sound is big and rich, and remains rich at every setting, from slight chorus to saturated chorus sound. The pedals shines when used with a fretless. If I had to compare the sound I get with that pedal with a recording tone, I'd say it's close to the chorused bass tone on Ozzy Osbourne's "Walk on Water" song.

A great alternative to other more popular bass chorus pedals if you can find one.

I bought it used several months ago. It was made in the mid-nineties I think and it's still like new. The plastic cover seems solid, the knobs seem a little fragile but if you're at least a little carefull, that pedal will last forever. Not a Boss, but not a Dalectro mini pedal either...

Never contacted Ibanez...

I bought that pedal while I was actually shopping for a enveloppe filter. I wanted a bass chorus, eventually, but when I saw that pedal and it's price tag, I had to give it a shot. I don't reget it ! I compared it to a Boss Bass Chorus and prefered the Ibanez (which was 100$ less !). The sound seems bolder and less "digital-like" to me. If it was stolen, I'd try to find another one... but it won't happen because the resale value of that pedal is so low, why would anyone bother stealing it ?

If you see one, give it a try... it's a well spent 25$ !

I love the soundtanks- great sound, great price. Didn't ever use the manual, simply not needed. Eassssssssssssssssssssssy.

This bass chorus is miles and miles ahead of the boss bass chorus in sound. This one adds more texture, roundness and smoothness than the boss. The boss pedal looses a lot of bottom and sounds wimpy, like a flanger almost. This is by far the best chorus i've heard, works wonders on guitars too. I use it in my chain, which has 11 pedals in it, and as long as you have a noise gate, you have nothing to worry about.

I don't take any other choruses with me to gigs. I also have a zoom506II in my chain, but only use it for the effects i dont have individual boxes for.

it rocks the jam session yo- boss bass pedals suck balls.

I bought mine used, it was cheaper that way, didn't come with a manual, but it doesn't need one, 3 knobs. D-Time, Width, and Depth.

Awesome sound quality, it keeps the punch of my Randall RB35. Its amazing.

I just bought it, but, hey, metal casing, plastic pedal, i've stepped on it with my boot a couple times. Should hold up.

Don't Need It

This pedal is definatly a good one. Chorus is a good effect for the bass, doesn't take away the backround punch, but it gives it more presence. I use an Ibanez GSR100 (its cheap, and good) a Randall RB35 Combo, and this pedal just works great!

With three controls, Speed/Width/Time, the Soundtank Bass Chorus is fairly easy to use. Be careful if your using a battery, this thing sucks it down quick. Sometimes the pedal sticks and you have to hit it twice to turn it on or off.

I had it set to a nice filling sound for when our guitarist did some soloing, and it makes up real nicely if you using a filling bassline and don't just play key notes. I use this pedal with both of my Ibanez basses (on active elec. one passive) and with my fretless harmony. Instead of running it in line, I found that I can get a less noisy sound by running through the effects loop. My amp is a 200 watt RMS KMD GS200B which has one combo 15 and an external 15. Some great sounds you can get with this would be the cool bass part from Nugent's Stranglehold, or if you crank up the treble on the bass, you can exactly mimic Alice in Chains' Rotten Apple from the Jar of Flies Ep.

Like I said earlier sometimes you have to double click the pedal to get it to work. Also, like I said earlier, it sucks up the battery quickly, get an AC adapter.

Never dealt with the company.

Although I'm in the market for Rack affects, I would buy this product again. When I was in my three piece alternative/classic rock band, I used it in conjuntion with a Korg Volume Pedal, a Boss Heavy Metal, and a Dunlop Crybaby, and I could get sounds that were great. When the guitarist wanted to solo, I could easily fill the sound.

This is a pretty straightforward pedal. There are 3 knobs: rate, depth, and delay time, all of which are self-explainatory. Getting the sound you want only takes a few minutes your time, and is real quick after that. The only thing I'd change would be to add an LED to show the modulation rate. This would make it easier to match to your tempo. The instructions are on one sheet, which is all that's needed.

Overall, the sound is pretty good. It has a rather dry texture, not like the smooth guitar chorus you usually hear. It works great on rapid playing, but sounds thinner and almost out-of-tune if you leave a note sustaining. I mainly use it for solos. It's a relatively quiet unit, although there's audible noise at high volumes, which is greater with longer delays. For those of you who'd like a wacky effect to play around with, just run the battery down. At first, the delay and sweep increase. Eventually, the delays become seconds long, with harsh distortion and huge pitch-shifting. One note: you can't use active circuitry with this pedal. With my passive P-bass fully open, I can make the pedal distort if I play real hard. This means you can't have any type of signal-boosting in front of it.

Iv'e only had this for 3 months, with no problems so far. However, I know someone with an identically-built distortion pedal, and sometimes he has to hit the switch twice for it to engage. I'm hoping this won't happen to mine. Chorus being a relatively minor effect, I wouldn't worry about bringing a backup to a gig.

Not much to say here. I've never had to contact the manufacturer.

I really like this pedal. Its sound quality suits my style, since I'm not one to leave a note ringing for twenty minutes. I do wish the chorus was thicker, though (like the more expensive Boss units Iv'e tried.) Oe nice thing about it is that short delay settings make it sound much like a flanger. The construction is okay, but not exactly a tank. I think it's the best effect for only $60.