Ibanez CD10 Delay Champ

Easy - 3 knobs. Found it in a second hand store yesterday and bought it without even hearing it. Got it home and was very happy. Analog delay is not as tweakable as digital, but sounds nicer in many ways.

Analog circuits produce a slightly warm sound - nice. Quiet box, no hiss.

Well, this unit is 20 - 25 years old, and it still works well, so I'd say it's reliable. Case is nicely cast aluminum.

I wouldn't expect Ibanez to support a product this old.

Great buy if you can find one. Nice with or without other effects. It puts just the right amount of warm delay on an otherwise clean guitar so it doesn't sound sterile.

Damn fun to use; 3 knobs that are straightforward. Mine came with no manual. Tweaking it is very easy and almost any sound is usable.

Actually, this thing is damned quiet, as opposed to some of the other entries. Very unique, rich sound...smooth, allows the true sound of your axe to shine through, and like many of the 10 series Ibanez pedals, has a little warm gain boost from what I assume is a JRC chip (haven't opened it up yet). Warms up any amp...I've so far only used it through two solid-state amps (only got it yesterday) but it does marvelous things. Again, almost any setting is usable..as opposed to a Digital Delay or some of the other bucket-brigade boxes, this is very touch sensitive and not muddy at all...my older delay, a DOD FX90 would hide my tone behind its muddy nature, although I tweaked the trims multiple times..this one, I got no need to do so...just fattenes it up without being obvious. Sounds like a good thick EP-3 Echoplex in the short setting.

I think it'll be about as reliable as all of my other 80's Ibanez pedals, i.e., the switch may get funky. I'm gonna take as good care of it as I can, thouhg (almost brand-new!). Will gig without a backup.

Old pedal. I'd fix it myself or send it to Analogman if there were a problem.

I'm a blues-rock player, Tele through anything type of guy. usually use a small WEM amp or a fifties Silvertone. This is one of the better ADs I've had my hands on. Subtle, but something I could forseaably keep on all the time. Tone enhancing, and musically inspiring...I've been loving the sound of it for slide. If I didn't have it, I would actually search for a similar unit--I like short delays and BBD based ones especially. I also like the fact that this is in such a small package. Wish it, like a lot of small BBDs, had some sort of Sound on Sound feature. My favorite delay of all time is the EP-3 Echoplex...solid state and has sound-on-sound. One of these days I'd like to get my hands on a Tel-Ray.

Delay time, level, than, repeat. Standard delay feature!

Mine sounds a little muddy and distorted for the the delay signal. After switching the JRC4558D chip with a TL072, it sounds solid and fat without any muddiness

The foot switch is really shit as it stop working after few stomp. A bit of contact cleaner may help.

Great sounding delay!

I bought this pedal to replace the AD9 I owned many, many years ago and loved and now can't afford. I got it "as-is" on eBay--the input jack was messed up. (more on this at the end)

It's easy to use. I agree with other reviewers on this.

I'm using a variety of guitars and amps, including EMG-equipped Steinberger and Ernie Ball guitars and a G&L ASAT Z3. My main amp is a Mesa/Boogie Mark I reissue.

The pedal is a little noisy. If 1 is a loud hiss and 10 is dead quiet, I'd give it a 6. Increasing the amount of effect in the mix doesn't seem to increase noise.

The delay sounds are great--comparable to the AD9. Warm slapbacks to psychedelic feedback. For those who have only used digital delays, the sound of this (and most other Analog delays) pedal is more lo-fi, almost like comparing the sound of an old scratchy vinyl record to a CD.

The main reason I got this pedal is for the feedback. When the "repeat" knob is turned all the way up, the pedal goes into a feedback loop after a few seconds. The volume goes WAY up (put a volume pedal after this thing if you're going to do this or you could damage amps and ears), then when you turn the "D-Time" knob up, the pitch of the feedback goes up. Turn it down, the pitch goes down. If you do this a few times, the sound will eventually settle into a subdued throb. At the time this pedal was created, I'm guessing that this feedback option was not considered a feature, but a bug.

As for delay, I much prefer the sound of analog to digital for short delays. Degradation creates contrast between the original sound and the repeated sound; with digital delays, the repeats are too clear and often brittle.

This is not a dependable pedal. I've owned at least five 10 series pedals and have had problems with switches and jacks. If you take apart the pedal and look where the jacks are soldered to the board, you'll notice two pins on each jack that go through the board and are held in place with a glob of solder. Repeatedly plugging cables in and out (i.e. "normal use"), puts strain on the pins and can crack the solder, which is what was wrong with this pedal when I got it. It's very easy to re-solder these contact points--I'm a total novice with a soldering iron and I fixed this myself.

I have never dealt with Ibanez

I play many styles of music. As a delay, this pedal is an excellent match for rock, country, funk, punk, and just about anything that could benefit from a short delay.

I've been playing for over 20 years and have owned well over 200 effects, many guitars and amps. I'm at a point now where I know what sounds I want, and I got this pedal as a budget alternative to the AD9.

If this pedal were stolen or lost, I would search for another analog delay that has the feedback feature.

I love the warm tones. I love the harsh feedback. I do not love the shabby construction of 10 series pedals.

Since the word "analog" is nowhere to be seen on this pedal, many people might assume that it's digital and pay it no notice. If you are looking for a cheap analog delay and come across one of these, don't pay more than $50 unless you like to tinker with electronics. It'd also make a great backup for a more solidly-built model.

Your basic 3-knob analog delay, 330ms max. delay time.
To get a longer delay from bucket-brigade analog chips, you need to reach for an EH Memory Man. Watch the Feedback control- you can send this circuit into infinite cascade (which sounds interesting in theory but can wreak havoc on your speakers).

I've had one of these for about 15 years now, and used it with a variety of Gibsons into Fender, Ampeg and Mesa tube amps. While dry signal fidelity isn't as high as the 18v, 808-series delay (these are admittedly matters of small degrees), this box and the earlier AD-9 both sound great with a fresh battery or line power supply. Higher signal headroom, btw, than either the Boss DM-2 or the MXR Analog Delay I've owned when hit with overdrive/fuzz effects, and works better in the loop of a Mackie mixer, too. Great for slapback, "tile" reverb and short following delay.

The switches on all 3 generations of '80s-era Ibanez pedals are a potential headache, and while I haven't had problems with this piece, other 10-series boxes I've known have had problems.
Battery life is respectable- about 25-30 hours before some signal degradation becomes apparent, another 8-10 hours before it becomes objectionable (depends on battery type).

Ibanez/Hoshino doesn't provide support or replacement parts for its discontinued effects. If you've got one and the switch or light fails, look into having the circuit transplanted into a DIY Hammond pedal housing, and wire it up with a DTDP switch.

This piece is one of the best of its kind- if you're looking for warm slapback and don't want to break the bank, these are a best-buy.
I've used this in a variety of applications- electric and acoustic gigs, demo recording and a bit of proper studio work- and it always produces a pleasing sound. This box and an old Big Muff are the only pedals I still have from my high school days, and I'm in no rush to replace it.

I bought one of these, used, without knowing anything about it, and Ireally loved it. It was my first delay pedal and I suppose I didn't realize how great it was until it died. It is extremely easy to operate.

I used this with a Guild Brian May Signature, and a modified (Bigsby vibrato) Epiphone Les Paul Elite, played through a Laney VC30 combo. It does produce a bit of noise, but since learning that this was indeed an analog delay pedal, I was more than happy to put up with this. The level of the effect would lessen as the battery grew weaker (of course) but I liked to use an AC adapter... It was very easy to get a great rockabilly slap back echo, or spacy psychedelic stuff a la Syd Barrett (especially using a slide)...

It was very reliable until it just stopped working. Not knowing how much abuse it had endured from previous owner(s), and not knowing what went wrong, I can't really say whether it was due to lack of quality/durability...

Never dealt with Ibanez CS.

This pedal was great for my playing style... I draw my sound from everything from "spaghetti western"/Link Wray/Shadows style, 1960's British R&B/beat/psychedelic, 1970's British glam rock; this pedal is perfect for all my needs... I dare you to try finding a more affordable analog delay pedal... This pedal lets you set the feedback level high enough so that it will feedback on itself, enabling you to create bizarre effects by adjusting the delay time knob after the feedback loop is created. Almost no currently-made delay pedal will allow you to do this. Why??? I've mourned the death of my pedal and have finally found another one for sale on eBay (I hope I win the auction)... If I could change one thing about it, it would be to increase the delay time maximum to 2 seconds... I belive the most it will go is to 1 second (?). I wish this pedal (or an identical one) was still being made today. I believe I paid $40 for this pedal, used, when I found it originally. Right now, the auction bid is over $60 for the one I am watching now.... wish me luck...

Fairly basic (as far as delays go). 3 knobs D-Time/Repeat/D-Level. These 10 series pedals were produced in Japan from the mid 80's, til' about 1992. Last of the good Ibanez pedals, before the Soundtank series (what were they thinking?)

I'm using this with a Mesa/Boogie DC-2, along with 2 Gold-top PRS guitars (98' McCarty Soapbar& 93'Custom 22). Not too much noise here, I find it to be as noisy as a Boss DM-2/3. Afterall it is an analog delay. The delay effects are right along the lines of the formentioned Boss pedals.

I find this to be a very reliable unit. I treat all my gear with the utmost respect. The only thing I've noticed about the "10 series" pedals is that; the FET switch may periodicly fail. Most of the time all you need to do is take some compressed air and blow out the switch. If that doesn't work you can take the switch apart (it is tricky, but possible), and clean the metal contacts with some rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab. Both of these procedures I've done in the past. But my rating on reliability is reduced by 1 point, due to the hokey plastic cover.

Never contacted them.

This pedal was produced for a short period of time in the extreme late 80's/early 90's. In essense this is a Boss DM-2 clone. The effects are almost a mirror image of the boss' (It's even dark red). They aren't too easy to come across, but if you find one; I recomend getting it. It beats buying a vintage DM-2 for the rediculous prices they are selling for. For me, I realy don't use analog delays much, but it is a fine unit. All in all it's a great sounding analog delay, and if you treat it with a modest amount of care; it could prove to be a useful tool.