Ibanez BN5 Black Noise Industrial Distortion

It's just like any other gain unit: level, tone, gain. The only things hard about it is exploiting it to its best potential (as it reacts very strongly to what else is in your rig, the levels being ran into it, etc) and knowing how to EQ it.

I use a Squier strat w/ 500k tone pots (thus making up for the mediocre PUs) and 12s. It is ran into an ibanez SP-5, CM-5, into a CGB-95, into the BN-5, the CD-5, a DOD FX-90, a PDS 1002, a Microverb III and then ran direct. Other things occasionally get thrown in, but that is the base of the tone. I predominately play ambient guitar soundscapes with my rig.

It is great for what I need: It has a stupid amount of gain, reacts well to other effects, can get a varying amount of tones, and creates a beautiful sheen when paired with multiple delays and 100% wet reverb. It creates a great wall of sound.

It's sturdy plastic. The switch isn't great, but it works.

Never dealt with them

It does everything I need, so I give it a 9.

3 knobs and a switch - you're retarded if you can't figure it out.

I tried my 79 Les Paul, 90 SG, 58 reissue Flying V, BC Rich Beast, 3 Mockingbirds and 2 Explorers with this one and the variety of sounds ranged from killer to a bit puzzling, but mostly raging.

Nice, very dirty, almost sandpaper distortion, which is the change I was looking for from my other distortion pedals (Zoom Tri-Metal, Bozz MT-2, Ibanez Smash Box, Digitech Metal Master). I'm sure it'll fit in nicely with at least one of my songs.

It's quite bass heavy and I had to tweak it quite a bit to find a decent sound.

Plastic. Gotta be a bit careful I guess. But hasn't crapped out on me yet.

Can't complain much as I paid only $15 for it. It's earned a place in my pedaboard but it's mostly a one-trick pony. Good trick though.

Very easy to use, the manual wasn't much help, but that's ok.

I run it through a Roland KC-500 keyboard amp. It is noisy, but in a good way. This is mostly for industrial music I would say. There's lots of power here to bust out. I can get a Kindey Thieves sound out of it sort of. I think the distortion is quite good, not for all tastes, but just enough bass and twang.

It is made out of plastic, so I won't be stomping on it....Careful, it's a cool pedal, but looks like ti might break if jumped on. A backup wouldn't be a back idea if you do crazy on your pedals.

Never had to deal with them, but I've heard they're pretty good

I play industrial music and I mix this with a Boss MT-2 and an inexpensive Korg overdirve pedal to quiet it during lyrics and then bust out. I've been playing guitar for 10 years and I play a Parker Fly Deluxe. I'd definitely want to replace this since it's a great pedal for the style that I play. If you're not into bass heavy distortion, but not too much bass, well this might not be for you. It brings a huge wall of distortion to my music and I love it. I wish it had some more knobs to be able to fine tweak the sound a little more, but it's fine just how it is too. Go get one

easy to figure out. strum and turn one knob at a time to figure out what each one does.

I use an Epiphone Les Paul, Jr. into a Ross Fame series amp. The BN 5 really seems to work with the P90 pick up. The disortion is great. Trouble is, the pedal seems bass heavy, so you have to really spend time experimenting with the tone controls on the pedal, amp and guitar to balance it out.
For those over thirty: don't be scared off by references to Static X and System of a Down. I got some really good Neil Young "Live Rust" sounds out of it.
I'm concerned about the plastic. I'm not a small guy and I am sure that if I really leaned on it that I could crack it.

It seems dependable. I really wonder about the plastic case. I am using it now without back up.

I got this pedal cheap and it fits in perfectly with my pawn shop bargain guitar and my garage sale amp.
This fits in with my rock/grunge sound perfectly.
I would look for another if this one went missing. From my experience, this pedal should only be bought second hand and you get what you pay for. If you want better, you'll probably pay more.

this pedal is simple to use, just 3 knobs

I have a fender deluxe 90 amp. Originally, I bought this pedal to make up for the bad distortion on the amp. oops. I used it first with an ephiphone g310 (sg rip off, 1998 i believe) and it sounded like practically nothing was going on. there was some static and such in the highs, but "low end" was nonexistent. i now have an esp ltd f200 (which is a great guitar) and it sounds slightly better, but it is still crappy beyond belief.

i'd depend on it, if i wanted to get my ass kicked by the rest of the band, haha. seriously tho, i used it for awhile and never had any problems. i guess you could complain about it being plastic, but you just have to be somewhat careful.

never dealt with 'em.

I play mostly death metal and black metal, but i like a sound with some good crunch, low end is essential of course. the pedal sounded fine in the store, but it was because the guy who helped me demo it had it hooked up to some insane peavey amp, but i was new to the world of guitars at the time so i thought it was just the pedal. i figured it was just me using wrong settings at home, but after a couple weeks i realized the pedal was shitty. i got a zoom 505II eventually, and it kicked some ass, and finally i got a metal zone, which is probly the last tone-box i'll need (wish my amp could handle the low end). i wish this pedal had some redeeming value.

Really easy to use and to get a good sound out of it. Got it used so no manual, but don't miss it.

First thing I found out when plugging and tweaking this one is that it's bass heavy... you gotta have the tone set to max not to lose highs... but once that's figured out you have a nice meaty chunk in the low end that's really nice, you just fine tune how much of it you want in. This pedal as an overal sound to itself, if you like chunky distorted bottom end that's a pedal you'll like.

Named black noise as an industrial type of distortion, but there's much more to it, I'd describe it more as a grind/grunge machine. You can get a variety of sound... this is not an overdrive... more of a fuzz meets distortion... heavy metal/grunge for sure.

Only think bad about the soundtank is the cheap switch, which is easy and cheap to replace... if it dies. Use with care and it will last forever.

They now got back to taking emails... so better than it was... but overall great, you shouldn't really need them with this tho...

I got this because of the low price, and wasn't expecting anything fancy or great really, I was in for a surprise! Great pedal for heavy low end... could get noisy if you use it on a distorted amp but that's not how I'd use it anyway. If you want a starting point with this pedal...[in clock hours] Level=10, Tone=5:30, Dist.=1:30 that's my starting point with it... just need to be fine tuned for the situation at hand. A fine pedal for heavy distortion.

This pedal is simple. Three knobs, no tough deal there.

If you are looking for a classic rock sound, I laugh at you. This thing isn't the way to go. But I suprised by the people who say this is an industrial - only pedal. I got an early Nirvana (Bleach era), Black Metal, Hardcore Punk, and Industrial sound out of it. To avoid getting the glassy sound (I LOVE the glassy sound, by the way), turn the tone up about half, and the distortion no higher than half, preferably about a quater.

The plastic is TOUGH, and I don't see how you can break it unless you slam it down (not good for any pedal) and weigh about 400 lbs (also not good for any pedal). The knobs seem a little flimsy, though.

Nope. I use all Ibanez equipment (Except for my amp) and I never have problems.

This is a great pedal. I've played many, and if you know what you are doing you can get a lot of different sounds out of it.

well that is an easy pedal to use

great sound, not too harsh if u don't turn tone and dist up too high, good dirty distortion

great deal I bought in on offer and I wont't regret it all that soon!

This seems odd for a stompbox (3 knobs and a switch), but with this unit it is true. Without the right tweaking, all you get is noise.

I use this on a bass, and it sounds incredible. However, it is not for the faint of heart. With the dist. knob all the way off it still growls like a madman. I turn almost all my treble off to avoid a glassy noise. The way to maintain a decipherable tone with this, I have found, is to turn the volume on the guitar off all the way, turn the box level up as far as it goes, and slowly turn the guitar knob back to desired volume. The sound out of this is really very different than most bands. The only one I can think of with something similar is Tool. More traditional rock would most likely never use this, but for industrial type it is amazing.

Seems good. I have no problems with the plastic case: it seems very solid.

Bought used, no contact

I love this pedal, but I really like to work with effects. For someone who just wants to stomp and launch, it is probably not that good. Range of use might be limited, depending on style.

Very easy to use. Only 3 knobs. Any bastard could use it

I use a Les paul copy and i ran this pedal through brents fender amp.
This pedal has absolutly no noise or feedback even at really high volumes. Awesome for palm muting. I use the level at 12:00 and the tone and distortion all the way up. This pedal is heavy as hell at low tunings but is poor at picking up high tones and soloing. This pedal sounds a lot like static-x and system of a down. If you add more treble you can get a good fear factory sound. The distortion is very industrial sounding and you can clearly hear the notes you are playing unlike the MT-2 or DOD pedals where you gets lots of feedback and noise.

I do not like the plastic casing because it looks like it could break easily. I would use it at a gig only for new metal and industrial music.

never dealt with them

I play lots of styles like fear factory, system of a down, static-x, NIN, Godflesh, Pollution, Pitchshifter etc. I can get a good sound to most of these bands. I've been playing for around 5 years. I use to own a fender strat but the piece of crap broke so i decided to buy a les paul copy which sounds a lot better. Be sure to use this pedal with humbuckers. I would buy it again if it was stolen, and then i would chop off the stealers head with a axe. I love the fact that it is very quiet and has absolutly no feedback, it has a great industrial sound to it and it stands out when you play at high volumes. The thing I hate about this pedal is the plastic casing. My favorite feature is the way the distortion stands out from most of the other pedals like DOD and Boss. I sometimes wish it had more treble but i can fix it with my EQ. The pedal really helps me play my own heavy riffs espesially for industrial types of songs. My advice to people who buy this pedal need to know that this only sounds really good at low tunings and high volume. If you play this at low volumes you will not get the full potential of this pedal. Great for gigs and live stuff as well as recording.