Ibanez CS-5

Simple 3 knobs, speed, width, and delay time. I think the delay knob was added to fill the 3rd knob spot of the 5 series casing, all previous Ibanez chorus pedals going back to th 808 had only 2 knobs. Simple to use all the same.

I tend to like subtle chorus effects, so this one fairs well. Anything crazier I'd recomend a phaser or flanger. My guitarist has had it for the last 12 years, and it's the only chorus he's ever "owned". Not too sure if it's analog or digital, but I did like it better then my Boss CH-1, that sounded too electronic. Itwasn't quite as warm as the CS-9 reissue or the E-H Small Clone, but the price was right at the time (and 5 series Soundtanks were easy everywhere at the time).

This one is still going, but it is a 5 series, so I wouldn't expect to last through heavy use.

This was one of the better sounding chorus pedals I've worked with, and nowadays, the cost for analog chorus units is quite high. If you can find one for $30, it may be worth the investment. If it dies, it's not too heartbreaking.

This is the chorus effect. Very simple to use, doesn't need any manual. Made in Japan.

A very good sound quality, although it's not that deep as Boss' chorus. It's more subtle and the vibrato effect from that unit sounds very fine to me.

Tested it with Stratocaster (Peavey Predator USA with Fender Texas Custom pickups) and Precision Bass (Yamaha BB VIs). very good for Strat and just perfect for a Precision-like bass guitar.

I'm using it with SansAmp GT2 amp simulator.

I'll give it 8, because it's not the best chorus in the world - but I like it's sound.

It's case has been made of a PLASTIC! it's a very risky thing to jump on it during the gig. you must be carefull, or you can destroy that unit rather easily.

I use it without a backup during the live shows - although I'm VERY carefull about that unit.

Sorry - only 5/10 for that effect's reliability...

never contacted with Ibanez, although I saw their WWW's old version with an advertisement of Soundtanks and... nothing more. no mp3 samples, no on-line manuals, no big photos. a very poor WebSite...

Just a fantastic value for that price. I had the Boss Chorus, Boss Bass Chorus and I still have Boss Flanger (made in Japan, off course).

comparing to them - it's NOT that deep, but I like the subtle character of effects made by Ibanez (for example - Tube Screamer).

If it was stolen/damaged or lost - I would like to buy another one.

Just be carefull about it's plastic case - just a shame on Ibanez about that! I've heard that an early Soundtanks' versions had a metal case.

The thing's got three knobs, SPEED, WIDTH and D-TIME (Delay-Time), so its quite easy to use. But nevertheless, you get a wide range of different sounds from it.

Well, it's not the old CS-9 Stereo Chorus (which is, as I think, the best Chorus ever except for the whole rack stuff), but the sound is really ok. My old Peavey amp had no FX loop so I put it between my Guitar and the Amp (although Flanger, Phaser, Chorus, Tremolo etc. are supposed to sound better when FXlooped) and it sounded good, now I run it the common way through the FX loop of my Marshall and it sounds better. No matter what way you choose, the sound is marvellous anyway.

It's made from plastic, but never broke down (ok, its not supposed to break, dammit, the things called sound-TANK...).

Never dealt with them.

Buying the CS5, you'll get great sound for a few bucks. No matter if you want to improve the sound of your clean channel by turning it up a bit or you play some psychedelic rock by turning it up as far as it gets - that pedal provides pleasure!

As with all Ibanez effects, this pedal is very easy to use. Speed, Depth, and Delay time, controls.

I'm using this with a Ibanez trem, a Boss DF-2, and a DigiDelay. This is quite a versatile chorus, suits lots of types of music. I have it on an gentle, smooth chorus, to smooth out my overdrive.

Seems pretty reliable, built like a tank.

N/A

Suits my rock style nicely. I think there are much better choruses out there, but this is a good budget option

super easy. three knobs, speed, width and delay time

O.K. here is rating number 3. I bought this chorus off ebay on a gamble not knowing if it was a turd or not. by the way, this is the model cs5 super chorus. anyway, it is very quiet and has a high quality chorus effect. very transparent,does not screw up my tone. I bought this as a low buck replacement for my rocktron tsunami chorus which broke. rocktron wanted $100 to repair it. I figured I could do better for less. I was right. this ibanez smokes that over priced piece of shit. I thought the tsunami must be one of the best until I got this puppy for a fraction of the price( $20) anyway, lesson learned.

so far, so good.

I use chorus for clean stuff as well as with distortion. I have been playing for about 25 years so I think I should be a half way decent judge of a simple stomp box. I love the sound of this pedal, it is a very clean and full sounding chorus.better sounding than my rocktron tsunami which was a surprise. sounds as good as my lexicon mpx100. although a little different but, in a good way. it also sounds a little better than my rp2000 chorus. it does not, however have the range of my lexicon or my rp2000. by that I mean you have to turn the rate knob almost all the way down and crank the width and delay knobs all the way up to achieve a strong clear chorus effect it. most effects you have to adjust somewhere in the middle because you can go overboard and ruin the sound with overmodulation or delay. not this pedal. they give you just enough for a strong chorus and that is it.I have another ibanez pedal which has the same problem. good quality sound but, they only provide you with "just enough" effect and you have to crank it all the way up to get it. that is not a problem with me but I thought I should mention that fact. I am only scoring a 7 here because I like more range in my pedals even if I don't use it. the bottom line is you can go ahead and get this pedal. you won't get burned. good quality sound. cheap looking case thou.

3 knobs, very easy

I use this as a basic chorus sound with my EMG fitted Les Paul and my Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Trem-O-Verb. It's great for what I want.

This is why I'm writing this review. It looks really cheap with it's plastic housing. The other night though, I got pretty f'd up and I was really pissed off. I ended up throwing the CS5 off of my fourth floor balcony straight at the sidewalk as hard as I could. The next day I went out to salvage it, and much to my surprise it was intact. I found the battery cover took it upstairs and plugged it in. IT STILL WORKED!

turn knobs; tap button gently. Or, play mad scientist. Adopt your own level of difficulty.

Used appropriately, ie: typical knobturning adjustments, this pedal is versatile: it can go from weird to smooth to sketchy to bizarre. The fun begins when you take the hood off: take it apart, there are two small circuit elements that are adjustible with a small flathead screwdriver. One of these seems superfluous to me, turning it just makes the pedal silent. The other one can be turned (i think 180 degrees) to do some sort of phase switching thing to the chorus. I believe when you do this you reverse some noise cancelling mechanism so the signal gets really noisy-- but only when the pedal is engaged. The noise generated however is not just white static... it is a very erotic blend of high hissing modulation and low rumblings.
In my pursuit of interesting guitar noise mechanisms this makes some cool sounds: try with super saturated gains, octavers, wahs, MXR Bluebox, harmonic sensitive/resonant tunings. Embrace the noise. Other cool thing about this pedal: with a way to vary the voltage sent into the pedal, you can get cool spiraling decay effects. (I do it by just using dying batteries but there is probably a better way: model railroad rail-power source?)

whatever.

see Reliability entry.

I'm sick of being pestered about guitar equipment that can make me and my 'axe' sound like my favorite superstar. Its time the sheep look up. There is music everywhere, just listen. Mod this pedal and listen to the noise for a while. It is a jumping off point because it is so easy to extract a lot of creative freedom.