Ibanez SM-9 Distortion

Five knobs to tweak the damn thing and I'm happy about each one of 'em, gives a great flexibility. Compared to the thirty-six knobs on my MS-20 this one's a breeze, took me less than thirty minutes to figure out what knobs to turn to get the desired sound.

As far as I've read thru the reviews no-one used the pedal for anything else than a guitar, so my use of it is kinda exotic: a Korg MS-20 and vocals are the main input sources for this beast. And it's doing really well; even at high distortion levels it sounds crisp. If you crank the volume and distortions up to the max it'll produce quite a bit of noise when it's not fed with any input; but well, turn the input up a bit and you're set.

I'm usually feeding its output thru an alesis 3630 compressor into my comp; sometimes I've even used it in a feedback routing patch on the MS-20.

Overall I really dig its sound and the variety of sounds it can produce; never had better sounding distortions so far.

I'm using it in a studio setup, so no harsh treatment as it would receive on a gig. From the feel and look of it I'd say it's all fine for a gig, solid casing, the knobs are lowered a bit, so you shouldn't hit 'em when engaging the switch which works just perfectly on my unit.

Since I'm not doing gigs I'm skipping the rating on this one.

Never had to get in touch with them.

I'm doing underground electro for nine years now. My gear consists of the Proteus VX (as soon as possible I'll buy its hardware counterpart, the E-mu Proteus 2000) and a Korg MS-20 along with two Alesis 3630 compressors and an Alesis Quadraverb multieffect. The pedal is mostly used in chain with it.

If someone would steal this baby I would definetely get a "new" one.

If you want a great sounding distortion pedal that gives you a great flexibility this one's worth a look, there are not much like it out there.

5 knobs , but in 2 minutes i got great tones!

holy cow!!!! another insane pedal from the ibanez 9 series!!! early 80s. switch has no probs...

again, switch is good. no probs with pdl.

never had to contact

run out & buy 1!!! you wont be regreting this magic box!! dig the mettalic 70s racecare color on it!

Very easy to use. Set the level a tad louder than the dry signal. Then dial in the drive. Next, dial in the amount of low end punch you want then adjust the amount of edge or tone your going for. Adjust the attack to suit your taste and you are now in sonic mayhem. Like a tube screamer, use your guitars volume control to control the effected sound. Don't rely on the footswitch to control your sound so much.

I ran it alone using a Fender Strat into the SM-9 to a Peavy Reknown and it sounded excellent with some tweaking of the knobs. Very transparent when you switch it on. No noise what so ever. When I ran an SD-9 in front of it, it was singing. But again, your volume control position on the guitar sets the stage as to how over the top you want to be. Back of your guitar volume and find that sweet spot.

Very dependable. Ibanez switches in the 9 series will fail at some point in time. Usually during a gig. If the switch gets flakey during a gig, I just leave it on and roll off my guitar volume and all is clean when clean is called for. If it died I would plug in my Ibanez OD 855 or TS10 or TS9 into the SD-9 and get by. But there would be a loss in the distortion department.

Never dealt with them nor needed to. All repairs are usually handled by effects guru Analog Mike.

I have been playing for 33 years . I play rock, blues and jazz and and any other progressions that are the result of jamming. I think the SM-9 is very musical in the sense that it will take your notes and spank them into sonic mayhem when it interacts with your guitar and amps speakers.

i have this pedal and it has been with me for years i kept in my draw . i used to play with this pedal a while back .and got new stuff like marshall amps and gibson guitars. after reading these reviews on this pedal it's like everyone says it's a killer pedal . so i pulled it out of my draw and hooked it up . and wow what a tone that this thing has and using a marshall jcm 2000 dsl 100 watt half stack . unreal lots of people say wow that pedal is old .and when they hear the diffrence in sound they think twice. so thanx 4 the reviws on this pedal and i have in the chaine .. works excellent..

ok - ibanez demon wah- ibanez ms-9 -ibanez ts7- now going through the loop is arion chorus stero pedal a studio flanger- boss dd3. love it

oh ya' built like a tank' last years and years-- and years-

not sure'' it;s old//

Metal- jazz progrestion- and my own stuff- all i have to say this pedal is a 80's and i have it and i use it and it is in great shape-great sound

not very easy to use, the key word being "very". I couldn't get a cool sound out of it until I just started turning the eq knobs and disregarded the stupid names for them. Trust your ears. I keep the middle one at about 2:00 and the other two are almost maxed. The eq is weird because the lower you turn the knobs, the lower the sound gets.

once I got a good sound, it was great. I have been looking for a pedal that will handle high gain well and this one seems to do it better than all the ones I've tried. I've never tried a tubescreamer, but I'll say that the SM9 will handle a wide range of gain. Not many pedals can do that. I use it mostly with my strat that's been wired into a tele (two pickups) and it really cranks. It's not super super heavy distortion, but if you play the right chords, it gets pretty mean. The amp I'm using is a Hot Rod Deluxe and this thing goes into a dyna comp straight into the clean channel.

overall, this pedal isn't transparent, but the flavor it adds is pretty fantastic.

switch is a little tough to engage, but a previous reviewer below explains how to clean it. Other than that it seems solid. nice, heavy as fuck metal case.

I'm still learning how to get good sounds with this, but I have a feeling I'll keep it.

If you can't figure out how to use an Ibanez Overdrive/Distortion pedal...maybe you should consider playing drums. 5 Knobs, tweak em until you like the noise coming out of your amp! It's easy...I actually cheated a bit as there have been a glut of these beasts going increasingly cheap on eBay lately and I've been copying the settings fromt the photos as well as pulling up the setting that Amir Derak from ORGY has posted on his website...he loves this pedal too!

I've picked up two from eBay at an avg price of $105.00. One begins w/a "41" Serial and has a clear musical tone to it the other w/a "44" and has a bassier fuzz tone to it. These are suppose to have either (because I can't remember at the moment)2 or 4 of the JRC4558D Chips in them which accounts for the quality of the musical tone. Based upon my research, some did, some didn't...I'm guessing that the "44" Pedal w/the CLEAR MUSICAL TONE HAS THE JRC4558Ds and the "41" Pedal has some other chips. I've looked all over the web for info and read everything at ANALOGMAN and KEELEY. Analogman has modded a couple. I'd assume they're from around 1984, part of the famous Ibanez 9 Series Pedals which spawned the LEGENDARY TS9 Tube Screamer. Well...this thing is basically a TS9 WITH BALLS and EQ CONTROL! I call it a "Metal Screamer". It's an overdrive in my opinion, same as a TS9, and I run it either in front of a Tech 21 Sansamp GT2, Boss Metal Zone or a DOD BIG PIG Fat Distortion. I love the tonal variety I can get w/this monster...EVERYTHING FROM A TS9 OVERDRIVE to a 70's METAL TYPE FUZZ EFFECT (kind of like a BIG MUFF PI) depending upon what you're pumping it into.

I LOVE THIS PEDAL...SO MUCH THAT I BOUGHT A SECOND ONE! I also have a Silver Label 80s Ibanez TS9 Tubescreamer, a Boss SD1 Black Label MIJ, a new MXR Wylde Overdrive and a Tech 21 Double Drive that alternate places w/this SM9 when I get bored or feel stagnant. I love to switch up guitars and pedals and seeing what I come up with from the different combinations.

It's got a BUTTLOAD OF BASS to it...also significant treble...bascially presence knobs for bass and treble frequency...controls are sort of like the ones on my Boss MZ2 Metal Zone...although this pedal is "Metal"...it retains the "MUSICAL" TONAL Qualities that made the TS9 so well know and beloved.

Everyone whines about the Pedals On/Off switch. I've never had a misstep w/either when I've engaged. Less beer=more focus...and better aim w/your feets!

Wouldn't even attempt to attempt anything w/them due to the age of this pedal. Hopefully I won't need service. No opinion.

This pedal is an UNDERRATED AND UNDERVALUED GEM! It's phenomenal! BUY ONE...BUY TWO...well...at least buy one. It will not disappoint. It sounds great with other pedals or straight into either the clean or overdriven channel of my 1979 Marshall JMP 2x12 Celestion Greenback equipped combo...and w/any of my Kramers (EE PRO Imperial x 2, Stagemaster Custom, Kramer Baretta Kline Space Graphic), Warmoth Floyd Rose SRV Stratocaster Tribute or BC Rich Gunslinger!

Not very complicated once you figure out the dials.

UPDATE:
Of all the distortion boxes(under $100),this thing is the most flexible!The SM-9 is good for Punk-Rock,Super 80's or Classic 60's-70's rock.It can even nail that "Satisfaction" tone without a Wah pedal! That "WET" rock rythym sound that it can produce is my favorite aspect of the SM-9.

Here's the tricky part.SM-9's can get a little buzzy,which is part of it's nature.But when I don't want that,I'll turn down the treble(Edge)or use another pedal.There's enough bass to make your eyes water and enough bite to sand-paper your butt! Add to that it's versitility and you have,in my opinion,one of the most unique distortions ever.
GRIMEY!!

The switch can be little moody.Sometimes I have to hit it twice to engage it.
I don't take it out much,it's a specialized pedal for me.

Ibanez should've made the Tone-Lok series like these "9" pedals.Much better housing.
I was gonna get a mod to cut some high end.F*CK DAT!! I don't wanna take away it's character!

No matter how much mixing I do,I can only create 50% of these tones!!
The Rampage(mean),ShredMaster and Johnson E.Q. dist. can't hang with the SM-9 in the tweaking dept.However,when playing big chords (5-6 notes)there is some intermodulation.Some of the notes can get washed out...but that's why I have the Smash-box.It ain't perfect,but nothing is.
SM-9's have so much gain and tone that you'll just INTIMIDATE muthaf*ckaz with it...dripping with harmonics!! And if it gets too loud,just scoop out the mids.
You can guess by now that I really like this box,huh? It helps me get DOWN and DIRTY!!

You gotta tweak a little, since there are 5 knobs. Also the range of the knobs isn't exactly lineair. Most of the boosting happens after the 3 'o clock position, instead of the 12 'o clock hi noon.

Also, the controls are a bit interactive; instead of boosting treble (Attack), you could cut a little bass (Punch) and mid (Edge).

VERRRRY GOOD! I have a Hughes & Kettner Tubefactor (pretty much THE best overdrive distortion in the world- and believe me- I've tried A LOT ) and for certain things the SM9 smokes the TF!
For a metal-pedal, it has a rather smooth/creamy sound (ofcourse with the mid above 4), and will only sound thin if you totally cut the bass.

My only quibbles are that the Attack could use a bit more bite in the max setting, and that the Punch should be tuned a bit lower. Now you get a bit of "wwwooommmphhh" if you put it on 10.
Still, seeing that it's 1/4th of the price of the Tubefactor, I say a Straight A+!

With a Strat it sounds a bit more brittle, but people that buy a pedal with the word "Metal" on it shouldn't be playing Strats in the first place! :-p With the gain on 3/4 it sounds awesome for older Priest stuff and will even do a convincing Gary Moore-tone. Dime the Drive and you'll get more towards Pantera/Metallica/Anthrax.

The casing and its innards are all very sturdy. The only weaker part of the 9 series is the switch. Sometimes you need to step more than 1 time on it to activate the pedal. Mine still works fine, but I have a '82 FL-9 Flanger that sometimes has hick-ups.

E-mailed them once about a manual, never got a reply.
Also their spare parts are expensive! I paid like ?15 for a tremolo arm. They do make good stuff though.

I play in a heavy/speed/thrash band and also in a funk/soul/disco-coverband. I have a lot of good (vintage) pedals and a couple of different guitars (Ibanez S540FM TTS, Fender '68 RI Strat w/US Texas Specials, GrassRoots Horizon with SD'59ers).
I've been playing for almost 11 years now.

If it were stolen, I'd find the person who stole it and take it back and position a DOD Trash Master in their rectal opening! That'll teach 'em! ;-)

I love the smooth tone. It's almost the opposite of a Boss Metalzone. It's like a bluesy rock version of a metalpedal, while still having more than enough gain to cop a decent Pantera-tone.

It's far better than a vintage MXR Distortion + (too thin sounding) and a Boss MT-2 (one-trick pony).

I wish it had more treble-range and a lower-tuned bass-knob. Also a bit more max level wouldn't hurt either.
It sure helps me make music; like a previous reviewer said "makes you play Motley Crue's "Live Wire" ;-)

It rocks! \m/ ROCK! \m/

If you can find one for less than $75 in great shape, buy it directly! I've seen at least 3 go on Ebay for $130-150!

Very simple. 5 knobs which give it a great feel and sound . Great.

I use a Fender Highway 1 Strat with a DOD 440 Envelope Filter, a 4800 customized Small Stone Phaser, and an Ibanez DL10 Delay. The pedal is not very noisy and it works great with other pedals. It is a very heavy, deep ditortion and works great with my Peavey 40 watt Envoy 112.

Totally reliable. The thing is a tank and is totally durable.

Never needed customer support. Bought this pedal off Ebay .

I have been playing rock for 5 years and this is a fantastic distortion pedal. I was also considering the Marshall Shredmaster, but settled for the SM-9. It is a great pedal and an awesome pickup for just straight rock. Awesome pedal. Definitley pick up one if you can get one.

The SM-9 is a superb pedal that trumps most others I have played. It is very easy to use and allows for freedom to find your personal sound with its copious setting controls.

I play my SM-9 through a fender tele and gibson les paul using a music man RP 112 (what a great amp)!. The pedal is not noisy and really crunchs nicely around 3 O'Clock position.

A friend gave my pedal to me some 10 years ago although the pedal is from the 80's. I am not sure if the switches are inherently bad or if they regress with age, but my switch is unreliable, so a quick stomp on the pedal at a pivotal point in your rock star career could leave you high and dry. But over all it is built like a tank and is a quality asset to any set-up.

Too outdated to have any support...however it has made it this far.

This is a great pedal. Everyone that has heard the SM-9 always comments on the sound being a unique balance between spacey blues tones to absoulute metal terror. I like it!!