Ibanez CM-5 Classic Metal

This pedal is on par with most distortion pedals. Level, tone, and distortion. 9 volt jack for adapter, battery compartment that's simple to access.

I used this pedal for bass, and my guitarist used it for guitar, and it worked real well for both. The Ibanez Soundtanks of this guild included 4 distortion pedals total and they seemed like 4 levels of distortion. The Classic Metal was the 2nd heaviest. The sound was comprable to the Boss DS 1 distortion. All in a all a good solid state distortion, but no overall variance in the sound, but this is comon for any company that makes several different distortions. It's over all sound quality was great for a pedal in this porice range.

The pedal had a plastic casing, footswitch, and jacks, so it was no major surprise when the footswitch died 3 years after buying it. All the 5 series Soundtanks seemed to have the same problem, but they were cheap. This was very disapointing seeing as the previous pedals were built like tanks. Now adays, I stay away from any Ibanez pedal that doesn't incorporate the word "Reissue" into the title.

This pedal worked OK in my early metal days, but was replaced long ago. I've been playing for 15 years and owned many distortions since. I wasn't really heartbroken when it finally died. All in all it sounds great, but for serious use, you may want to look elsewhere.

The pedal is pretty simple to use.You have 3 control knobs 1.level 2tone 3distortion.I didnt get a manuel for it because i bought it used on ebay.It doesnt eat 9volt batteries as bad as other pedals and it also runs on a 9volt adapter.

I play Metallica ,Pantera mostley stuff like that.The pedal sounds good with my playing style.The only thing i dont like about the sound is it produces a little bit of a fuzz sound on the distortion.You have very good control of the bass or (lows) with the tone knob.The more you turn the tone the more bass you produce.It also puts out a good amount of distortion a lot better than an overdrive pedal.My only negitive on the sound as i said above is the fuzz sound in dist. It doesnt ruin the pedal but i can just tell and for me i dont care for a fuzz distortion.Overall sound quality is good for price range.Much better than a behringer or arion or the other cheaper pedals under boss.You get what you pay for most of the time.

The pedal is made of plastic.Although it's got to be atleast 10 years old now so i would say it's pretty reliable unless you like to kick the crap out of it or take your anger out on it.I would use it on a gig without a backup, as long as i was using a adapter for the power supply.I would never use a pedal at a gig with a battery.

Never contacted support.Actually never contacted support for any pedal i have bought threw the past ten years.My opinion customer support is a waste of time unless they just give new pedals away when you tell them theres a problem (which they dont)

As i stated above i use it for metallica , pantera ,style and it's a good match.I think it's just as good as anything else out there besides boss.I havent heard the boss but i know thats the top of the line in pedals.I have been playing for 11 years and use pedal with my other ibanez super chorus (which i would rate about the same) , a dod 7 band EQ (if you dont have a EQ pedal get one it makes sucha huge differnce).My guitar s are a fender stratocaster with a seymour duncan sh-6 humbucker at bridge ,a jackson dk2 with duncan sh-13 in bridge, a fender champion 110 and a crate full stack.I enjoy using this pedal.Ithink it's a great choice over using your amps built in distortion.If you are interested in this pedal look on ebay thats were i got mine.I payed $30.00 for it with achorus pedal too so i wouldnt pay more than $30.00 for it because you can get it cheaper.There is some people on ebay that i think are handicaped and try to sell the ibanez soundtank pedals for $80.00 and up, just overlook them.

Three control, Level, Tone, Distorsion. Very easy to get a good sound out of it. I like it better than my BOSS DS-2. The bad thing is that it is not that much tweakable, not like a BOSS, at least. even the tone control does not affect the overall sound that much. (Note that the tone control is reversed, so it like more high-end turning counterclockwise, or more low-end turning clockwise.)
What I don't like about it is that the footswitch area is too small, so I often happen to smash the battery compartment, which is situated on top, rather than the swith itself. Also the switch does not engage from time to time, or it engages and then suddenly disengages, so it is a pain in the ass trying to activate or deactivate it while I'm singing, and cannot see the LED.

I can get a nice distortion sound which is very close to the Ash sound. I also find it useful for all kinds of metal and hard rock. This pedal has lot of mids, you know. You can get a nice, rich, fuzzy distortion out of it, with a nice decay. It does cut your high-end somehow, so you don't get feedback even at high gain levels, or by putting your guitar in front your amp. I guess this could be considered a feature. However you won't get many usable harmonics artificial or natural with it.
My setup is as follows: strat -> fuzzzface -> od3 -> DS2 -> jh1 WAH -> "Cm-5" -> DE7 -> Marshall Valvestate 2
this pedal can get noisy on high gain settings, or when used after another distortion pedal, while it is generally silent after an overdrive pedal. however it has lots of gain so you wouldn't want to use another distorsion box with it, in a normal situation.

I wouldn't use it on a gig without the aid of my Boss DS2, since this pedal footswitch is soo bad.
plastic seems reliable enough, though.

never dealt with them

I play mostly, rock and pop. this pedal suits my needs for a good sound.
I've been trying to play guitar for 10 years, now I just strum it and...whatever.
I would buy it again if stolen (although I hadn't actually bought it in the first place)
I love its sound but I hate the sheetty plastic case the footswitch and the knobs often turn by mistake.

this pedal cost me 20 bucks it is a pretty good pedal for being plastic, it was very easy to use and operate i didnt get a manual for it it was just the pedal no box or nothing i bought it used. no clue?

i am only running this pedal to a crate 15 watt amp and the guitar is an epiphone sg, but the two sound really good together it has a nice crunchy rich sound for being such a simple pedal. i can get the sounds of ac/dc the darkness, and a little g and r with it. i was suprised at the great metaly sound it gave off it looked like it would short out and the effects would suck but it is really good and i am glad i got it.

i feel like i could depend on it it has already survived some gigs and its still going strong.

NO the dudes who sold it to me were pretty cool the let me try it out before i decided to buy it, i was sceptical at first because cmon its a 20.00 pedal i was thinking how good could it be, but i was wrong the guys who sold it were really cool and patient.

i like some good rock and i like music that make s you play an air guitar when u hear it i hate punk and stuff like that i like bands like ac/dc (who dosent), Led Zepplin, Aerosmith, bands like that. This pedal has given me the want to learn more complex sounding songs because i think i can do them with it im currently working on eruption....

Very easy to fool with the sounds...only has 3 knobs...only takes soft touch to switch on/off...switching out batteries is a breeze on this booger.

I use a Epi LP Custom Flametop through a 50 watt Marshall combo. To get a great "metal" sound on this pedal, I recommend scooping the mids from your clean channel and leaving the level knob on the pedal at about 2 or 3 and adjust the volume on the amp for preference. It has a nice crispy Pantera/Early Metallica (isn't this a tone everyone would LOVE to have?) palm muting/power chord sound. To me, this pedal is great for it's muting tones, but isn't so great when trying to play a riff of some sort on anything past the E, A, and D strings. It seems as though the booming tone evaporates when you make a major bend. The pedal doesn't buzz much as long as you leave the level down. For the price, (I paid $12 for it), you won't find a better distortion/metal pedal. It's a nice cheapie, but not quite what I'm looking for...

I'm pretty gentle with my gear, so I believe I can depend on it. No heavy stomping or kicking haha. The chassis is sturdy, but the plastic switch pedal makes it appear pretty weak. And yeah, I'd gig without a backup because I could dial in pretty similar tones from my combo alone.

Never dealt with Ibanez...hear they're great though.

I've been playing for about 5 years. I play mainly Metallica/shred music, but I'm into the more melodic songwriting genres as well. I think that I would consider using this pedal to record with, mainly because I can control the volume levels and get a great crunch from it. As for live, I think I'll just stick with my combo and a Tubescreamer. If it were me, for a similiar price on eBay, you can pick up a Zoom 505 (lil black box) pedal. I owned one a while back and regret ever selling it. You can edit patches to throw in your own distortions, effects, etc.

Very easy to set up, sensetive tweeking

Good sound although it can be overpowering through a small amp and will make the sound a bit crackerly

Very reliable bit of equipment. It can withstand a good thrashing, I bought mine second hand and it just keeps on going. I use it on a weekly baces on stage. Only problem is that the power cable keeps falling out when i knock it around to much. Apart from that i would recomend it to anyone.

I play alot of thrash metal, metallica and slayer etc and its brilliant for the job. overall good quality sound if its put through a nice amp. I plug mine into a 300 watt marshall and it sounds exellent. As long as you know how to play it should sound good.

Three well-voiced knobs...just takes subtle tweaks to change a whole lot. No manual.

Rig: Custom Shop Tele (Les Paul style, 2 Duncan humbuckers w/taps) into a mildly modded '89 Dunlop Crybaby, to a TS9, the CM5, DOD Analog Delay, and a USA Small Stone. This goes into a little Watkins (British) amplifier(EL84s, tube rectifier;imagine a cross btwn an AC15 and a Deluxe). This box has a broad range of sounds, but I have set it for a basic harmonically rich distortion tone for leads and crunchy chords. The level is around 2dB above unity with the amp and TS9. It sounds like a creamy fuzz when turned on alone, and with the TS9 and the wah, it is damn unbelievable the range of harmonics I get out of it! It is very controllable, and strangely very quiet (my old one was much noisier). With this pedal, a little goes a long way. It has a TREMENDOUS amount of gain, and the tone-shaping is very variable. Very organic sounding. I read once that this was basically a clone of the Boss OD-1...I never liked that pedal, but I LOVE this one. very warm and round. But I think I just got lucky. If you are looking for a pedal that can do everything, this isn't it. It is very much a distortion pedal, and has its own distinct color, but it is not opaque. You can still sound like you. It is not a clean gain pedal or straight up overdrive; it is basically a cross between a straight square fuzz like a Big Muff and a Marshall-y preamp. I would recommend this to anyone who has a nice, tube (and preferably tube-rectified) amp and wants something to really push over a normal brownish sound. I used to run this through my Silverface Twin, and the frickin earth moved. Even at low levels, the harmonics are so chunky, yet viscous...like the goop that bubbles over in Superman III. It is a very different sound. I only give it a nine because it does attenuate highs...like that snappy bridge tine...somewhat.

Unfortunately, the Soundtank series was changed from metal cases to plastic in the mid 90s. It is tough, but my only real concerns are the input jacks, as they are soldered directly onto the PC board (this is what killed my first one at ten years of age), and the incredibly dinky footswitch. As soon as I have the cash, I want to set up a switching rig as I never change the settings. I have to use it w/o a backup, unfortunately. But like I said, my first one lasted ten years. I hope this one lasts that long!

Ibanez laid off this beast...do I think they would honor a warranty for it? Doubtful.

I play my own brand of pop-folk-rock with a blues bent to it; I love playing guitar and rockin, and I love just strumming too.

I love this pedal. If it were lost, or stolen, I would cry. I spent literally months trying to find a fuzz pedal to compliment my original TS9 and EH-Hot Tubes. I played pedals that cost hundreds of dollars, handmade jobbies, you name it, I played it. But man...this thing has IT. I had one when I was younger, an original metal-cased one (w' a JRC chip). I bought it for $10 from a pal and used it all through high school. It fell apart, unfortunately, which is why I was looking for a new box. I listenbed to some old recordings and realized I needed to get another, so I started looking online and realized it was discontinued...I tried ordering it from various sources on clearance to no avail for months, ebaying it, etc. Finally I got one from a company called SoundExchange2 (http://soundexchange2.com/index.html). They sold me one on clearance at a fair price. It arrived without a box and scratched...I contacted them and asked if this was a demo...they told me it was their last one and the one in the display case, apologized for not putting that on their website, REFUNDED my money, and then told me to keep the pedal as a gift for pointing out the problem! This was totally unprecedented and took me completely aback. I totally recommend this company, as they have the BEST customer service I have EVER dealt with in my life. Nice to have a CM-5 back in my rig. This one is terribly sweet...my old one was great, but this one is brilliant.

I remeber it was pretty simple to use, 3 knobs, nothing much to get confused with

when I got this pedal I was in a hughe research for a good Distortion pedal and I couldn't find anyone that really pleased me til then. I bought it New, and It worked REALLY well with my friend's amp ( Brazilian Amp called "Meteoro" ) until this day I could never match again the extreme heaviness this pedal gave me with this amp plgged altogheter with a Boss Equalizer, BUT it didN't really worked so well in other amps , so I Later decided to sell it. I remeber I liked the Soundtank design a lot, much better that the Boss pedals, but nowadays I ONLY use distortion from my Amplifiers ( absolutely no pedals can beat them : ))

Its good for Runnig Wild or Accept type stuff, as far as I can recall. However, I could never understand why this pedal on;y worked well on my Friend 100 watt combo, but it sounded then heavy and aggressive. I Bought it new in Sept 1996 and sold it in April of 1997
when I bought a Peavey amp and decided that I'd only use amp distortions.I remeber I loved the sopund because it made me recall of a very cheap distortion pedal which was the first dist pedal i had; despite of being very raw and hummish this pedal ( called Chorus Supplier HM ) was the heaviest one I've ever heard til then, and I couldn't get enough aggressivity of any other pedal. the Ibanez one has a sound that slightly reminded this pedal I mentioned on its heaviness and aggressivity, BUT with much more quality of course !!!

three knobs level tone and distortion as simple as they come.

i have a les paul custom and a strat usa delux plus which usually run very quietly but these soundtanks are pretty inconsistant. when i was fourteen my friend and i bought a bunch of soundtanks even some of the same models some were quiet and som hummed like hell. one of the two classicmetals humed pretty bad.
this pedal is not very much more distorted than a boss ds-1 it is a good deal more fuzzy in its tone though which can be cleaned up with a light chorus and noise gate.
but the hairy ness of this pedal is part of its charm.
i don't carry this pedal with me to gigs as it is not really that usefull. it is worth having around the house for when you want a change from your big muff, mesa boogie, budda zenman, or ds-1.

i am not an agressive person and the switching mechanism goes bad on these soundtanks it is stupifying. they are the most unreliable pedals i've ever seen. but you can get them on e-bay for practally nothing like all of the soundtank pedals.

? big corporation

this pedal is worth the 15 bucks you can get one for on the net while it usually sits in a box of effects i never use and the on off mechanism works very sparatically, i do take it out of the box every once in a while. so buy one for the hell of it. who knows it may come in handy

This is a SoundTank, which means it is cheap plastic. That's not an issue, unless you are wearing 13 inch moonboots and dropping on it from the ceiling. due to its three knobs, its really easy to use.

OK folks- I've just spent an hour comparing it to the Boss Metalzone. The Boss is a tiny bit more clear, and much more versatile on tone, but almost too much so. You can get a ton of really sour and ugly tones from the Boss if you don't pay close attention. The Classic Metal, though, is hard to get wrong. Set the tone to 75%, switch to your bridge pickup (hopefully a humbucker if you want a metal sound), and YOU WILL MAKE A MARSHALL CABINET HUM ON THE LOW POWER CHORDS! It has almost more of a true tube tone than the Metalzone, which borders on the Glamrock 80's tone. I actually tweaked the Metalzone to simulate the Classic Metal, and it took some time.
I have compared this pedal with several others, and it blew them away, hands down. Among the losing crowd are the L.A. Metal pedal, and Ibanez' own Cybermetal pedal. It also wiped away the Fabtone, and the Boss OD-2 (or was it OD-3? I sold it). For being another cheap distortion pedal, I was sheerly amazed at its sound. If you end up with one of these, consider yourself lucky.
If you are playing it through an amp with anything less than 12 inch speakers, then don't whine about its sound. A Peavey Audition does not qualify as good tone- tester amp. A Fender Priceton Chorus would be the only 10 inch speaker amp that I would reccomend. I play through a Marshall Halfstack, and this pedal sounds better than the rough distortion of the Marshall.
It had no more noise than the Metalzone- they were equal there. Those of you who complain of the noise must be using single coil pickups in an unshielded guitar (most are- go to www.guitarnuts.com to see how proper shielding is done- most manufacturers don't care, and don't bother).

I can't tell you how many times I've had to replace the 9v connector on Boss pedals, but this Classic Metal pedal has been flawless. Although, I'm aware that not everyone can walk on eggshells, so I will ding it a bit for having a plastic casing. Like anything else, it will last forever if you don't act like a caveman with it!!!!

Never dealth with them.

I've been playing for over 20 years, which means that this review wasn't written by a 1 year beginner that knows 3 punk metal power chords. I do however, insist on getting a good bottom-heavy metal tone from my gear, even if my band seldom uses it. For leads, I like the Billy Gibbons squeals, and also a Hendrix "Red House" Tone for the clean.
Now that I have a Metalzone, I will sell the Classic Metal, for no fault of its own. The Metalzone has about 10% more tonal possibilities, and has about 3% more presence. Yes, the Metalzone wins again, but this time, only by the skin of its paint.

easy as hell

I'm using this with my ibanez rg550, crybaby and my fender amp.
I like the sound of this pedal very much! good for rock AND metal, wich I really like. Never heard something as good as this!

it looks a bit sketchy but i didn't have any problems with it yet.

I like it a lot and i can recommend it to anyone that likes to play rough!

PRETTY DAMN EASY TO CONTROL

RIGHT NOW A LIL CRATE W/ AN ESP LTD H-300 W/ TWO ACTIVE HUMBUCKS AN 81 IN THE BRIDGE AND AN 85 IN THE NECK THE SOUND THAT COMES OUT OF THIS THING CAN HAVE A BIT OF A SLUDGE TO IT, ESPECIALLY SINCE I'VE FOUND THAT CRATE'S CLEAN PRETTY MUCH SUCKS (GOING PEAVEY). I BOUGHT IT (USED) TO TRY TO GET SOMETHING CLOSER TO THE OLD BLACK SABBATH DAYS. I USUALLY DON'T FOLLOW SOMEONE'S SOUND LIKE THAT, BUT IT WAS JUST A TRIAL NOTHING SERIOUS. OVERALL I'D SAY IT HAS A GOOD SOUND, BUT THERE'S NO VARIETY TO GO FORTH AND CREATE YOUR OWN SOUND, MAYBE MIXED IN WITH A BLUES PEDAL YOU MIGHT FIND JUST THAT.

WHEN I BOUGHT IT WAS ALREADY BROKE. YOU HAVE TO FIDDLE WITH THE THING TO GET THE POWER ACCEPTED. SO I CAN'T GIVE AN HONEST OPINION ON DURABILITY, I MEAN THERE IS NO TELLING WHAT THE PREVIOUS OWNER DID TO THIS THING IF ANYTHING SURMOUNTABLE AT ALL.

I DON'T TALK TO IBANEZ, I DON'T LIKE THEIR GUITARS, AND FOR THE MOST PART ANYTHING ELSE THEY PUT OUT SO...

I LIKE BLUES / METAL AND CLASSIC METAL IS WHERE THAT COALITION BEGAN.

very easy to get a metal feedback sound its a little noisy but for the price i got it u cant go wrong

like i said a little noisy but u can tweak it to not make so much noise or feedback u can get a judas priest distortion like the name says classic metal i use it with my fender m80 amp

some people call this the ibanez plastic potatoe bug series i dont know if the guys at ibanez were trippin or what when they came up wit this series they have a neat looking desighn but they should have made them metal instaed of platic nothing will ever beat the 9 series

ibanez customer support does not simply excist they need to do somethin about this

I DONT MEAN TO BE SUCH A HARD ASS ON IBANEZ CUASE I LOVE THIER 9 SERIES PEDALS AND THEIR 7 SERIES IS GOOD ALSO I WOULD BE MORE HAPPIER IF THEY WOULD DO SUMTHIN ABOUT THEIR CUSTOMER SUPPORT I GUESS THEIR IS ONLY MAYBE 2 GOOD PEDALS OUT OF THIS WHOLE SERIES THE ECHO AND THE WAH THE REST WERENT THAT GREAT the powerlead and crunchy rythem were about the best distortion from the potatoe bug series

Really simple. Three knobs, volume, tone, distortion. The tone works backwards which is odd, but it's pretty easy to get a really good sound out of this.

Good distortion sound. This is a perfect rock pedal, it IS noisy when you aren't playing anything, even with the distortion on low and the volume down there's still a lot of buzz. It can be a bit TOO fizzy sometimes, but it's what it's supposed to fo I suppose. I run this after a BOSS CM5, a PRO CO RAT, and before a BOSS AW3 and DD3, and it makes a nice scream and crunchy noise and I really can't grumble that much.

Alot of the other reviews say it's plastic and cheap, but mine's made out of metal. The writing on the plastic sticker is also different to lots of examples I've seen so I'm not sure if mine's an other version. Whatever, it's really reliable, I bought it second hand and it looks and feels solid and the switch has worked everytime.

Second hand ten year old pedal.... customer support? Don't think so.

This does exactly what I bought it to do, if it were stolen I don't think I'd be able to find another one so I'll just have to keep my eye on it. I love how it looks, sounds. I don't like the buzz it makes sometimes and the way that when I step on it it moves away, but that's cause it's got no grip on the bottom. I tried this with a few other distortions and although they had more credibility this one sounded better. This might be a bit too much for some players, as it's heavy, but great for me.

It has 3 knobs, it's not to hard. Al you can really do is change the amount of distortion. All the manual tells u how to do is plug it in.

I use a cheap Samick to a SM7 smash box to a origional crybaby to a Dean Markley amp, and it sounds pretty good. It gives some feedback when it's up loud, but i guess you get that with most pedals. You can get a good late 70's early 80's sound.It's good for Stuff like AC/DC and Guns N Roses, even some black sabbath. Overall, the sound of the distortion is pretty good.

It seems pretty cheap. It's made of plastic. If i hit it to hard, i probably would crush it.I would play a gig without a backup, but i'm mostly a home player.

Never had to deal with ibanez.

I play all knids of music. Everything from CCR to Ozzy Osbourne.It matches most of the styles i play. I have been playing for a year and a half and i have an Ibanez tone lok SM7 smash box. I only had that one for a few days, but i really like it. It suits my style better. If it were stolen, i would probably get something else. I wasn't even playing for a year when i got it, so i didn't know much about getting a pedle.if i had it back, i probably would have gotten something else, but it's pretty good. I wish it had more of a range of sound. Your basically stuck on one tone.

just like with any pedal, you just have to play with it a while to get the sound you want. the knobs don't have silly names, which is good.

i use a tele and a strat which i have modified. the tele is my main guitar. i use it with a boss dd5, dod fx65 chorus and ibanez tubescreamer. i use it to play heavier stuff like hum if you are familiar with that band. its called classic metal, and that is the sound you are going to get out of it. for the emocore/metal stuff i play, its does the job. but you can't beat the sound of a cranked marshall as far as distortion goes. all in all, its very good for a cheap stomp box.

in this category, ibanez soundtank pedals are crap. everyone i know who has owned one has had the same problems: the battery connection gets detached from the wires, and the switch stops working. well, the switch still works on mine, but the battery always comes loose. i use an ac adapter so im ok. not only is the plastic case ugly, but if you drop it the battery cover will break. if i ever have the time i'll make a metal case for it. maybe try to find a better switch.

i play very noisy indie rock, and when i need a heavy distortion, this is a good pedal. you get what you pay for, of course, so if you can afford something better like the metal zone go for that. i'd get another one if i lost it just because its become part of my "sound." i've had mine forever but its just become a permenant member of my effects chain in the past few months.

It's really easy to use, I use it for 2 years now and had never probs with it !! If You cannot use it, one question : You play guitar or what ?

I use it with just all the marshall stuff that there is in the place we play with my group.. at home i turn the master vol. at 10, but don't do this with the big amps, it blasts away !! Master about 9 o'clock, tone about 12 and distortion about 2 ! I play mainly Iron Maiden and use a Fender Stratocaster and Gibson les paul ! On the Fender You can reproduce very nice the solos of Dave Murray with this pedal and the chords and palm muting are nice ! With the gibson it's a too creamy tone, i don't like it too much ! But all in one the sound quality is good ! Sometimes it does feedback, but all pedals do that i guess when turned up too loud !!

Use it also on stage and never had problems with it !! Although it's of plastic it's good quality !! :-)But don't stomp too hard... because it's of plastic i give it an eight !

Never had probs with it and never had to call customer support !!

Overall i give it an eight because with some amps and guitars it's nice and with others not at all !! I like to use it for heavy metal and i'm content about it !!

Very easy to use.

This is not a box you want to stomp on with master volume distortion.
It will get the sound of the 70's/ 80's distortion on a clean amp. On a 5150, with MV distortion, it will sound like crap. On a clean plexi, turn the pedal to ten on all knobs and use the level to get the volume u-want. It will give you the Edward "brown sound".

I have not had a problem with mine. I am a home player so I do not give the road abuse. I have a second Ibanez pedal that acts much the way as some have described in this columb--off and on with a just hit it right kind of activation. I find the plastic exterior to be cheesy.

Never have dealt with Ibanez.

If you like late 70's and early 80's metal--Van Halen, etc. You will like this pedal. It looks cheap but you can get a nice thick distortion without sounding electronic driven. It is great for plugging into a small tube amp and giving you the low volume heavy distortion. It has been the best sounding distortion pedal I have ever purchased.

3 knob so easy you have to be a dumb ass not to be able to use

I have it at the back of my petals right now so my flager and chorus are distorted you get a rage against the machine fell it sounds cool. it not the best but for the 30 bucks its nice I'm going to buy a big muff and hope its better. I use it throgh a custom amp that has a mixer throgh 2 15" speakers and a p.o.s. crate amp for that treble the only problem is that the distortion can be to much the feed back you get is crap nothing but crap besides the feed back it cool

I don't know if I would trust it I haven't giged it yeat but sence its all I have so I would probaly use it.

don't know

its a good pedal for the money if you like a lot of feed back like nirvana this is for you!

easy to use...if you cant use it...umm...dont play guitar? LOL

well, through a solid state, you can get some pretty good distortion...not great, but pretty interesting stuff. i played it through my little, old peavey Audition Chorus, pretty nice, kinda fizzy (weird...youd have to hear it) and my PRS...and through a Crate 2x12 and it wasnt bad..just weird. through my 5150...forget it. you cant get a good sound, to my ears. ive tried, and have owned this pedal for a long time. now, i do use it, but as a gain boost for solos, since i tend to not use a whole lot of distortion for rhythm work (enough to be bassy, distorted, and heavy...but not muddy, kinda Randy Rhoads-ish) and i use the pedal set to full volume, tone all the way down (flat so the tone of my guitar and amp is the same, just more gain) and the distortion all the way down. it just boosts the preamp gain, not good for rhythm chording and stuff, but good for soloing since it pumps up the gain and makes the notes fatter, and doesnt color the tone any...just makes it more distorted :) for a straight distortion pedal...id rate it low...for a gain boost, its good for me...

its reliable except for the footswitch...i bet i could fix it but im lazy. gig with it? yea...i can live without a gain boost if it breaks...and it could be fixed im sure. maybe take it out of hte plastic case and put it in a metal one somehow with a better switch? ill have to try...

never dealt with them...

a bunch of styles...and like i said, i only use it as a gain boost for solos...as a dist box on its own, i wouldnt recommend it, for a gain boost i like it. one trick pony...and i suppose for people looking for a weird distortion for some songs, it could do the trick. its whatever you want :)

Er, if you have at least two arms, you should be OK...

I recently resurrected this pedal. See, it was my first ped and I got bored of the lame sound on my squier strat / rocktek practise amp setup and entered the realms of BOSS Metalzone. I now use custom BC Richs and a Marshall JCM2000 stack and this thing really sounds good through it. I think that although this is a cheaper box, it works very nicely with better rigs, but wusses out on lowly gear. Best thing to do is try it in store with as similar equipment as possible that you will be doing.

I play everything from Dimmu Borgir - Six Feet Under - Sepultura - Black Sabbath. This pedal rips through Sabbath and Sepultura nicely, but due to the amount of lows tends to be inappropriate for more extreme metal. I still use this pedal to get a nice 70s.

The pedal can give a fair bit of feedback when used at high volumes and when there are too many fx in the chain. I use a line selector to activate it, hooked up to the input to my amp. The CM5 complements the marshall nicely and suffices as a nice mellower replacement for the drive channels. I would highly reccommend this to any beginner, but dont expect to become an instant Dino Cazeres

I would NOT depend solely on this pedal. The plastic looks VERY cheap. The actual jacks have come out with my leads before and I have had to perform several simple repairs on it in order to keep it going. My main pedal is my Metal Zone, which I have 2 backups of and I use a whole host of other units. BOSS is the best in terms of reliability, Ibanez doesnt touch it, unfortunately. My metalzone can do everything on stage if I did happen to forget it or it gave up.

I only dealt with UK reps for Ibanez once on my guitar. I wanted to change the pickups and wanted to know what the colours of their 4-conductor pickups meant and they just spouted some arse about me not being allowed to change the electronic configuration of the guitar as I would invalidate my warranty. I MUST (hope?) I was talking to some work-experience dim witted monkey boy!

I have been playing for near on 8 years. My guitars are my pride and joy and I work them like bastards. All my equipment gets a punishing when I use them on stage. I always have to remember not to step too hard on the CM5 for fear of destroying it with on slap of me boot! If it were stolen or lost, I probably would buy another if I found it cheap enough. I dislike the way it gets pissed off when I try and push the gain any way. But, for those who cant read, this says CLASSIC METAL. So, if you buy this expecting to be an instant Max Cavalera, forget it.

It is on its own channel from the line selector. I would like to use my chorus on it, but it really doesnt like any other pedals with it. I cant see why. It just completely screams out like shit. Every rest is a screech. Its not the pickups or the guitar, its the pedal (trust me!) Im not sure if this is present on the whole range, but mine has had so many new parts put into it, Im not suprised it has these quirks. It sounds exactly as it did new, tho.

Check out all the distortion pedals before you buy, ideally on a similar guitar to yours with a similar amp. On my "to try" list, I would have:
CM5, Boss Metalzone, DOD Death Metal, Proco Rat and the Boss Xtortion.

Dont let the salesman just get it to a good sound and say "there y'go" See if you yourself can get some weird and wonderful sounds.

Anyway. Thats it, bye
Dont think you're going to get anything else outta me, cuz you wont get it!!!

BYE!

its a very easy pedal to use. 3 knobs which work together very well to get the sound u want. Very nice setup. No manual but i never needed one and wouldn't of read it anyway

The sound is good if your into the new alternative metal and punk. I dont think its that great for older metal but i dont play that much of it so i dont care. it sounds blubbery if you crank everything up, but overall it has a nice thick clean distortion

Its worked for me fine, and i dont know about everyone else but the switch works for me swell. it doesn't look very reliable cause its made of plastic but its tough enough for a gig. It wouldn't fail, but take a backup for sure, just in case.

none, i wouldnt know

I've been playing for about three years and i play stuff like nirvana, metallica, green day and it sounds pretty rank. i own guyatone and dod pedals and i think the ibanez is more reliable than dod cause the dod switch always goes. Id say its a pertty unique distortion and if your thinking of getting your own sounds mess around with it. Overall id say its a great pedal for its price.

So easy to use! 3 knobs that's all!

I use a Squier Strat through the CM5 then through a Fender Deluxe 85. It's the noisiest thing I've ever heard on ALL settings. Don't buy this pedal unless you want to produce feedback: if so, that's perfect.
The fact is that the song is quite boring when you have only this distorsion pedal. I'm a fan of nirvana and I can't get their sound: too noisy, too dirty! I don't give it a 0 because it's good when you want to have a very dirty sound.

No reliable at all! Hey that's not metal! Don't use it for any gigs! NEVER!!!

Never dealt whith Ibanez.

I've been playing with it for 6 months. Anyway, I'm going to buy anither pedal (like DS1). So I you want dirty sound with heavy feedback, that's for you: but be aware, that's it becomes boring with the time.

Ease of use indeed. While not an extremely intricate product, the Classic Metal Soundtank can put out a lot even with the classic and basic "Tone/Level/Distortion" setup.
I got it used and sans manual, so I can't say much about that...
Ibanez is now phasing out the Soundtanks, as I understand it, so it may be harder to get ahold of one.
If you can find a used one at a good price, it would be a good purchase though.
It does pretty well when used with dual or multiple effects too, but because of simplicity, isn't always capable of capturing "that sound" you might be looking for.

Ah yes, do I love my Soundtank for this, first and foremost.

Soon after purchasing my C.M. Soundtank (in the mid 90's, I'd say), I found my preferred settings, and rarely alter them.
With Dist. at full, tone at about 3/4, and level set to whatever is appropriate, I get a good harsh sound, with a good accent on both high and low registers. I run through a Fender amp, with an Ibanez EX series guitar now, but even using it on other peoples' setups, regardless of varied amplification and guitar style, I find a universal trend towards this sound, requiring only a limited amount of adjustment at times to acheive this crisp, yet fat, flavor.
It can be noisy, lacking a clever "void" feature, like the new Ibanez Smash Box, but it's heavy, pounding distortion after all, and if you properly mute during play, and cut it off afterwards, it's not too much to complain about.
It's also constant and predictable in it's sound, as I alluded to above. It's a solid peice of work.
Whether you're going for Six Feet Under or Smashing Pumpkins, this will get you there, and since I acquired it for around $30/40 or so, it's hard to go wrong.

The Soundtank series has one major flaw, and this certainly does include my Classic Metal...
It doesn't always respond correctly, if you will, to impact.
Sometimes it comes on, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it comes on and then goes off...
There's really a technique to it, but it's still a bit sketchy at times.
It's good about taking abuse though, and I would use it onstage, and it's even good about energy consumption, but you must keep in mind it's moodiness at times.

N/A

When I play heavy, I want fury, and this pedal delivers.

It gives me the texture I need and the thrash I need, without one negating the other.
I don't ever see myself letting go of this product, and it turned me into an Ibanez effects fan ever since I made the purchase.

If you see it, it couldn't hurt to give it a try, esp. if you're still in the market for a distortion pedal, or just looking for a different or better sound.

Three knobs, level, tone and distortion. All three knobs make very distint changes in the sound just like it should. No manual, it was used. Anybody who ever used a stomp box would have no trouble operating this without a manual.

I use this in conjuntion with my SKB-25 peadelboard and all my other pedals. The level control has power to spare, never have to get higher than 9:00 or 10:00 oclock. The tone control has a broad spectrum that goes from hollow scooped out to thick and heavy distortion. The distortion control can go from mild clipping to completly saturated. For a all around distortion pedal this is a good box. Only problem I've encountered with it is the background noise starts to enter the signal when the distortion is cranked passed 12:00 oclockwith with the level about 9:00 to 10:00 oclock. Best overall sound with low noise levels is level-9 to 10 oclock, tone 12 to 2 oclock and distortion 12 to 2 oclock.

Always worked. I wouldn't worry about a backup just jammen with friends or at rehersal. When playing for a scheduled event where you are being paid of even performing free for an audiance, when somethings goes wrong you don't have time to trouble shoot. Things happen. Carry a backup, the show must go on.

Never used them

I play a combination of country/rock/blues Gospel music and as I said before the Classic Metal is a good all around pedal. You can use the same setting for heavy distorted rock and for blues too. All you have to do is back off on the guitar volume and it cleans up to crunch or even more to simi-clean for blues cording. I've spoke in the sound quality section about it creating some noise at certain settings but its not really that noisy when compared to other distortion pedals. In years previous I have been using multi-effects pedals and ended up selling most of my stomp boxes. I still use and prefer multi-effects but got a hankering for the old stomp boxes again. I bought this sound tank at a pawn shop. My current line up of boxes from in to out is Morley Vol/wah/dist, TC Electronics sustainer/EQ, Ibanez Classic Metal, Aron stereo chorus and a Degitech delay. For 30 bucks the Classic Metal is a jam up pedal.

From a player thats been around a fue years, here is my distortion pedal history:

Kingston Fuzz, 1969, $15.00 new
Univox Super Fuzz, 1972, $40.00 new(these are hot now)
Mosrite Fuzz, 1974, borrowed and returened
Elec Har Big Muff,1975, borrowed and returned
Nu-Fuzz, 1976 thru 1979, borrowed and returned
From 1979 thru 1995 used distortion channels of peavy amps
Art ECC, 1995, $280. New
Ibanez Classic Metal, 1997, $30 used
Morley, vol/wah/dist, 1999, $40.00 used
Zoom 707, 1999, Gift was $150.00 new

First of all, id like to say this pedal is too noisy, too feedback, but dont expect too much for this price. It is very easy to use (three-knober: level, tone, distortion) and if your style is 80s metal like Slayer you will be happy with this. Its not versatile, altough its distortion is killer, for lead work (it reminds me a Boss Metal Zone for its low-end) as well for power chords. It comes in a plastic box (i dont like that) and i dont recomend it for gig, just use it at home as a beggining tool, or if you dont have money for a Metal Zone.

As i said before, it is very noisy on all settings. The effect is not weak at all and it really sounds great if you dont listen the feedback. Im using a Peavy Express 112 and it works well cos the amp is some kinda weak, and my guitar is a 1991 japanese fender strat. You can get the sound of slayer, motley crue, even sepultura.

you only can depend on it if you cant afford other heavy metal sounding stomp box. My final evaluation would be a good pedal for its price, only good at home, and NEVER use it for gig.

i dealed for the feedback but then i realised it was normal on this pedal

i play 80s metal. i been playing for 4 years. i would not buy it again, i just keep the money to buy a better one. i dont hate it and i dont love it just i got it. i compared it to other stomp boxes like Boss MT-2 and the difference is the metal construction of the box and the feedback. Oh! and obviously the Ibanez Classic Metal lacks the great equalizer of the Metal Zone.
When i bought it, i choose it because i could not afford any other one.

This is a typical Dirt Box, 3 knobs, dist., level, and tone. It's my cousin's, I just bum it from him to play gigs and stuff, I use it for solos, and nothing else. So it's my "1 trick pony".

I'm using Charvel and Gibson guitars, a fender Twin-Reverb(NOT a reissue).For effects, my geneeral chain goes like this:Axe--> Rockman Wah-->TS-9 Tubescreamer--->CM-5--->Amp. Of course it's noisy, there isn't a dirt-box alive that doesn't make noise, so why is that evena consideration? It's never weak-sounding at all!! It's pretty meaty, actually!!The bass end comes through pretty nicely.One note, though. I only use this on solos and fills,I never leave it on all the time. I just turn the Dirt and Tone knobs all the way up(To accent teh Treble), and put the level about 12 noon, or a little over. When I step on it, BOOM, my sound is loud and proud. It picks up the runs and every nuance to your playing style well!! Harmonics come w/ ease, and even teh 24th fret note is meaty and thick(Note, that could be due to the guitar,a Charvel). W/ a Wah, it sounds like a controlled scream, it's a really cool sound!! For what I use it for, it kicks balls. If I used it al the time, it would drive me nuts. So I give it a 7.

The common complaint among all sound-tank users:The switch. When ever I step on it, I always leave my foot on it for a second, to ensure that teh effeect comes on.
As far as the casing, I dont really care if it's plastic.I've seen so-called"Solid Metal Boxes" get smashed to bits, and seen this one come out alive. Your milage may vary, though,

Never contacted them.

For what I do, it does the job nicely. If I ever get ahead on my "Financial Obligations", I'll probably go pick one up. Until then , I'll be calling my cousin;)
The sound could be annoying if yu used it as your only dirtbox, but I only use it sparingly, so it's cool for me.

This pedal is easy to get nice sounds out of, it usually sounds best with the distortion cranked. The battery compartment is very convenient, on the top, so you can get at it without unscrewing anything, just snap on and off. The "tone" control isn't what you expect, it takes some getting used to. The footswitch feels good under your feet, if only it worked!

I have a Korean strat copy with 3 single coils and a small 15-watt solid-state practice amp with reverb. I tried this pedal out on the clean channel of the amp with a little bit of reverb (2). The pedal is about average for line noise, really not bad. The distortion from this box is really nice and crisp, gets that early Van Halen thing going pretty good, sort of a simulated cranked Marshall stack. Really great sustain from this thing. Don't expect creamy bluesy overdrive or classic-classic (like 60's) sounds out of here. The distortion knob really belongs at the max, but it sounds really great there. Perfect for "Eruption." At lower settings the distortion sounds too fuzzy for the level but it's still usable. The "tone" control is not a normal BOSS-like control, it's just a boost for lows and mids, but it's still quite handy and sounds good at all settings. Overall a very nice sound, full of desirable odd-order harmonics.

This pedal has a really annoying footswitch that doesn't latch properly, so it doesn't always stay on after you pick up your foot to turn it on, and sometimes comes on again after taking off your foot to turn it off. Upon closer inspection, this is a problem with the actual electronic switch thing, which is probably cheap. If I gigged with the pedal I'd figure out how to use some other kind of switch for it, like some kind of bypass setup.

Never dealt with them, probably won't since I got it at a pawn shop.

Really this pedal is a one-trick pony, classic metal, and don't expect to use it for anything else, but that's REALLY not a bad thing. At least it's aptly titled, and for the price I paid or even the new store price, it's a very fine pedal. Plays smoothly, sounds a bit harder than normal distortion pedals and not quite as psycho as pedals with the word "metal" or "kill your mother" in them. Bought this on impulse, and I'm very pleased. This pedal inspired me to go back and learn all that early Van Halen I'd been wanting to play but gave up because it didn't sound right on my overdrive pedal or my fuzz pedal. People will say that it's made of plastic and is therefore crap, all I can say is mine is NOT very new, like it's got its fair share of scratches and wear but it shows no sign of weakening other than that pesky footswitch, so whatever. It works just fine with a wah pedal. I play mostly blues with my other pedals, but when I venture into metal or really hard blues, this pedal will be fun!

3 knobs, 2 jacks, one footswitch -> foolproof. The bit of paper (manual?) has no technical information other than the basic setup description.

I am using the pedal with a 15W transistor practice amp and a strat copy with two EMG-S single coils and one EMG-81 humbucker. The pedal is not noisy, any noise introduced before the pedal will of course be amplified, but with the EMG pickups in my guitar there is no such problem. The sound the pedal produces ranges from crunch to 80's metal. I tried several distortion pedals in the SoundTank line, but this was the only one that gave a pleasant sounding distortion both for rhythm and lead playing. I bought it because - unlike many other pedals - it works with any chord you play, not just power chords. The "level" knob of this pedal will give you nice harmonic feedback if you crank it, but be careful, because the output level can be raised dangerously high, overdriving ANY preamp stage. The "tone" knob will add both treble and lots of bass if turned clockwise. The "distortion" knob is obvious, isn't it? My favourite setting is: Level 9:00 (west) (same volume as pedal off) Tone 3:00 (east) (not too muddy) and Distortion between 10:00 (NW) and 2:00 (NE). Think Black Sabbath. It sounds good in front of my Dunlop Jimi Hendrix wah, and good and very aggressive behind the wah (it croaks like a monster bullfrog).

This is the sad part, the soundtank series of pedals is not very reliable - not because its plastic, but because the footswitch sometimes works once sometimes twice. I would not gig with it simply because of this fact. Also the jacks look a bit weak. But where do you get a robust pedal for the price of a soundtank pedal? nowhere.

I never got into contact with Ibanez and I seriously doubt they would repair or even upgrade any SoundTank product.

I basically wrote this review, because I do not think this pedal deserves the flack it got from the previous reviewer (he gave it a 1 in the sound category etc.). I like the effect very much and won't ever sell or trade it. If it were stolen, i would buy it again, maybe used (most pawnshops will have a few soundtank pedals lying around).

Well, it's pretty easy to use but the three knobs are not really good adjustable!

Real s**t! You cannot hear the sound, really! It sounds terrible, no songs can be played with that distortion... You can hear a slight noise in the background, but when you hear the sound of the SoundTank you'd better listen to the backgroundnoises than the distortion! I have tried to play with it with 4 different amps (Hughes & Kettner Attax40/Marshall JCM-800 2203/Peavy Ultra 120/Laney HC50R) and one sounded uglier than the other...

That thing is built of plastic. Nothing against that, many effectboards are made of plastic, but the cable-connetcions VERY VERY often doesn't work, so if you press the main-button 10 times, it wouldn't work anymore! It definitely WOULD NOT survieve a gig!!

never dealed

I play many styles of music. For example Metallica, Sepultura, Slayer, Raise Hell, Megadeth, Yngwie Malmsteen and many more. So you can see, from NeoClassic to DeathMetal nearly everything, but no song could be played with that shitty SoundTank. Don't buy it, you'll hat it!

Pretty easy to use. This was my first pedal. It must have been pretty easy to use, because I had no clue what I was doing, and I figured it out. I can't remember if I even looked at the manual or not.

It was a really muddy pedal. Wierd tones. Not what I expected from Classic Metal. After I was done with it, I let my bass player use it, and it sounded cooler on the bass than the guitar.

It never broke.

I play rock and roll. Back then I was using a tele and a small crate combo amp. I think it was one of the "GX-" things, but i can't remember.

Basic controls, not much to figure out here. What i really liked was the tone control that controls how much bass gets passed through and mixed in with the output signal.

I figured i should weigh in with a different viewpoint on this pedal. I'm a bass player, and this pedal is absolutely awesome for a chainsaw bass solo sound that doesn't lose the low end. Not good for a more general fuzz sound though, this is strictly an in-your-face solo sound.

I've found the plastic case is as reliable as any metal-cased pedal i've ever seen. Battery life is very good (though if you use NiCads you will need a screwdriver to pop out the battery as NiCads are a mite larger than a normal 9V). My one complaint is that one of the jacks (or maybe it's the battery connection) is intermittent enough that i occasionally have to smack the pedal when it goes silent (even if switched off) to get it going again. But it's still hanging in there after 5 years of steady gigging.

There's not a lot of flexiblity to this pedal, but it really turns heads when i kick it in. I had been trying to get a good bass lead sound from various fancy digital effects boxes without much luck, but the Classic Metal really hits the target. Don't care much for the mechanical layout in that you have to hit the end of the pedal in just the right place to switch it (but very easy to do accidentally).

This pedal is very striaghtforward. 3 knobs and thats it. It can be tough to get a good sound, though, because on the distortion knod, it sounds the same from around the middle to all the way up

I use and Ibanez S470 with a Peavey Bandit 112S. The tone is not very smooth and and is difficult to get a low tone. Although, it does work nice if you like that early Van Halen screaming tone. For that stuff, it gets great artificial harmonics. But, if you are into Satriani, which is what I play a lot of, you can't really get that tone. It is interesting to use it for blues though. Overall, if you like early Van Halen (Van Halen 1) or Metallica(Kill'em All) go ahead and buy it.

I gigged with it and it sounded fine when everything was all loud. Also, the plastic is very strong, but, it is plastic.

nope

One again, I play all sorts of hard rock, metal, and blues. It works for the early metal shred stuff, but not really for anything that has a cool, smooth tone. But, if you want do some kind of shred solo over a blues song, it sounds awsome for some reason. I probably would not buy it again because I am looking towards a Boss DS-2. If I was to get the DS-2, I would certainly keep my CM-5. Then I would get the Satch tone and the early metal tone.

Uh...why don't you step on it

FAT, chuncky, and dripping with harmonics is the only way to describe it.

Yes, I rely on it for about an hour a day and it hasen't gone dead yet. Three years and counting.... It is made of plastic, but not even the battery cover has broke yet. I'm fairly tough on stomp boxes though. So, you never know what tomarow will bring.

At least Ibanez isn't based in Russia (like Sovtek). hehehe

After playing guitar for two months, I took all of my money down and got me an electric setup: Les Paul copy with no name, Washburn 15 watt amp, and a Classic Metal (I only gave $25 for the Classic Metal and it was probably hot). Three years later a have a Fender Telecaster, a Fender Blues Deluxe, and the Classic Metal. I'm a rambunctious colledge kid that must sink all avalible money into guitars and amps and effects, but the Classic Metal is still arround. If it blew up, I might not buy another one, after I got out of the hospital, due to it blowing up. But, I would spend my last $25 to get one if it just went out. Great all around distortion that has a voice all it's own.

This is a Distortion pedal so it is very fool proof. It only has an input and an output, distortion, volume, and tone so it is very easy to use. It is an extremly heavy distortion pedal, probrably the heaviest one yet besides the new Black Noise pedal. It can get a deadly tone even through a little practice amp, it doesn't matter what kind of amp you use with this pedal will still sound excellent.

I use this pedal with a Boss chorus pedal, and an Ibanez RG270 guitar which is an awsome guitar, I used to have a Fender Strat with I really hated I hope everyone in Fender dies. The pedal has a little noise but so does every other distortion pedal. The amp I use is a Crate GX15, and an extremely powerful 120 watt Crate GX120 which also has an extremely heavy distortion itself. I play alot of Metallica and Ozzy so between the amps distortion and the pedals distortion I can get any sound I want. There is only one thing I dislike about the pedal which is that, if you are not palm muting the distortion gets a little to thick a turns into a giant stew and blend of noise.

I can definetaly depend on it, I have dropped it many times and has its share of scuffs. Many people frown at the idea of it being plastic but I prefer the plastic because it is actually stronger than the metal, the plastic is the same plastic that todays military uses to make M-16 and M-60 assualt riffles. I would definetaly take it to a gig, it has a very long battery life and has an AC adapter so you don't have to worry about it dieing on you.

I never had to deal with Ibanez.

I play true heavy metal and not that new death metal crap like Korn and Manson. It is called the Ibanez Classic Metal Distortion pedal so it is perfect for what I play. I have had this pedal for about 2 years and have been playing for about 3 years. I wouldn't buy it again even though I love this pedal only because Ibanez just came out with an even heavier pedal called the Black Noise pedal. The thing I love most about this pedal is probrably its pure shredding tone, its not like an overdrive, and not real bassy, its just all out shredding distortion. I have also used the Ibanez Slam Punk pedal, the Boss Metal Zone pedal and and the DOD Classic Tube pedal and I think they all suck.

EXTREMELY easy to use, three knobs and a switch to step on.

With my Ibanez guitar and Peavey Bandit 112 amp, this thing sounds great. I had owned a DOD Grunge Distortion before, and it sucks. Too fuzzy and distorted. This pedal lets all of your guitar's tone get through, and still give you plenty of distortion. I should point out, though, that I'm not in to playing super heavy music. I prefer a moderate distortion and I stay away from thrashy stuff like Korn or Metallica. If you play metal or anything like that, I would not reccommend this pedal. If you like moderate to light distortion that sounds really great, go for it

Well, this one is a little banged up. The wires that the battery hooks to are frayed, so I have to use an AC apapter. Also, it's made of plastic, so I wouldn't trust it too much

As I said, perfect for my playing style, which is not metal at all. I love the way your guitar's tone and your playing dynamics get through, unlike with many heavier distortions. Overall great pedal, if that one ever falls apart I would seriously consider buying another one, although I would explore other options first.

This is a no brainer, like all Soundtanks. 3 knobs: Distortion, Level and Tone.

This pedal is GREAT, it's easy to use and I love the sound. I gave it a 9 because no pedal has perfect sound quality. Also, This pedal sounds great when used with a Crybaby, my other distortion pedals dont It's also very quiet, I can't tell it's on if I don't play.

I haven't had it very long, but it IS plastic, so I would think twice about smashing it up. And I would NEVER go to a gig without a backup distortion pedal, because it's my most essential effect.

Never dealt with em.

I would buy it again, as a backup when I get money, or if something happens to mine. I heartily recommend this pedal.

typical soundtank- three knobs. no challenge. one thing to remember, though- the tone knob is a low/mid boost, not the usual treble defeat. adds a great low end thump, like a closed back speaker cab.

with single coil or good, bright pickups, this is the best. it can get muddy with some gibson-type pickups. not too noisy, and terrific harmonic feedback if you crank it.

all plastic, but it's good strong stuff. the plastic battery lid is waay too chepa. though. it clips on top by way of three contact clips, of which i still have two.

never had a problem with anything i ever bought from them in 15+ years.

i have a bunch of ibanez pedals- a 70's flanger, a tube screamer (ts5), classic metal, super metal, and a metal charger, and the quality is always very high. except for the soundtanks, they can be a bit pricey, but used, they're always a killer deal. i used my CM5 in tandem with my tubescreamer, and they were perfect together (low gain, high output). a stronger battery cover would be a huge plus, but no problems so far.

It is very east to use mainly because there is only 3 knobs.You can be very creative with this pedal a couple turns of the knob and you got your classic metal or whatever sound!!The name is what the pedal sounds like classic metal example:cheap trick,black sabbath,hendrix,ect..

well,this pedal does shit for me!!! im looking for somthing with a hard thrash metallica sound!!its not to noisy unless you go straight up to the amp.the effect is in the middle not to weak and not to great just plain (which in my book is crap!!)this model is oky if you like the 80's sound like sabbath,and twisted sister...if you combine it with a crybaby it sounds fair not to good though.

its reliable the pedal hasent crapped on me yet.i wouldnt use it for a gig hell no!!!!backstage oky to warn up (yea, for a billy joel concert!!ha)but i must say its reliable.

yea id buy it again hey im a sucker for distorition.i love how the black sabbath feeling comes out!!!i hate how the cheap trick feel comes out!!i chose this one because it was the cheapes distrtion they had.i wish it had more MetallicA TRASH to it!!yea, it helps me make music but im only 14 ive been going for a year and i already can play every metallica song out there and some sabbath songs so it kinda helped me.be a sucker buy it like i did but if you see somthing w/ a trash metallica sound and your a metallica kinda guy/girl buy that!!!

used so no manual...only 3 knobs..level..attack and sustain..so real easy to figure out.

not too noisy...tho has a little bit of hiss...works real good in boosting my distortion sounds and in gettin extra sustain. makes some shitty distortions i have sound at least twice as good.

its made of plastic so i wouldnt go stompin on it...tho i might use it at a gig...until i get enough money to get a boss compressor instead.

will probably buy it again if i can find a used one...quite a good pedal for the price i paid for it used.

This little stomp box is as easy as they come for a great eighties overdrive sound. No manual needed; you just plug in and step on it.

If thick and chunky overdrive is what you want, then this is the pedal for you. It can be very noisy if you truy to use it with a single coil at high volume. I suggest a really loud humbucker like a Screaming Deamon or a PAF pickup for best results. It is classic eighties heavy metal pedal- a must for any fan of the decade.

It has never once failed on me. Although I do suggest using a power supply for it on a gig, a nine volt battery gives it a really thick sound.

Never dealt with 'em

I would never buy it again because I would never have to . It is an awesome, kick ass pedal. It is a great overdrive unit with a really wide high end and a gain from the underworld. VERY RECOMMENDED!!

It has 3 knobs. Any retard could figure it out. The manual basically tells you how to plug it in, in about 40 different languages.

The sound quality is ok. It goes with a very high toned metal sound like its called, classic metal.

It is extremely dependable, so far. I havent had it that long, but it never cuts out on me.

The pedal didnt come with any freakin warrenty.

For the price, I would buy it again. Its cheap and dependable. The only thing wrong with it is that its made out of plastic. But it is very sensitive, so you dont need to stomp it.. a small tap will do the trick.

This pedal is pretty easy to use. Three knobs, level, tone, and distortion. Real easy. The manual that came with it wasn't really very helpful. Just told me how to plug it in.

Well the sound quallity is.. good I guess. It depends on what kind of sound you want. It's fuzzy and get's alot of bass if the tone is turned up. But turning the tone up to high seems to make the lower notes kind of muddy and mushed up. You can turn the distortion down to get a dirty sort of feel to a clean sounding guitar. Oh yeah, and my favorit part of this pedal. Turn your amp volume to a sorta meduim volume, then crank the level to you get ear slitting distortion!!! When I use the pick-up closest to the finger booard I get alot of nice feedback.

STUPID usless buggy web page.. Well the form sheet thing won't let me type in the Sound Quality box any more so I'll continue here. Nice loud distortion. Sounds like the distortion on Nirvana's "Big Long Now". Don't let me fool you, the distortion on that song isn't classic Nirvana.
I think it's plastic. It's black with an orange label. Never brook in my life but I've only had it for a month at the most. For God's sake! Don't go stomping on it as hard as you can or though it into the pavement, just press the foorswitch down ok!!!! The batteries haven't gone dead yet. Disconnect the input line when your not using it. But I don't know if it makes a difference.

It's good!