Ibanez SM-9 Distortion

It's got 5 knobs, and the three EQ knobs take some time to get used to. It's not any obnoxious amount of time, but definitely more than your usual level/tone/distortion type setup that you see on a lot of pedals. On the bright side, there are nearly infinite possibilities when it comes to tone shaping.

Oh my God, this pedal is without a doubt the best distortion pedal I've owned (And I've owned many). Sounds really solid in my pedalboard (Crybaby->Dynacomp->SM9->DOD FX50B->Boss CH-1->Boss DD-3)
sounds good with both my solid state and tube amps. the tone I get when i use both the SM-9 and The FX-50B (an underrated pedal by the way) is absolutely astounding, great high gain madness.

Ibanez 9 series pedals have a rep for lousy footswitches. No major problems yet though. Just stomp with a little force and you're all good

It's a Vintage pedal.... yeah right

I tend to buy lots of distortions/overdrives, and keep the ones I like (usually I keep 3-5) while selling the rest. This pedal is one of my keepers for sure. It has a nice character and strong tone. I've lacked a good high gain distortion for a long time, and i think that I've finally found the one I'm going with. If it was stolen, I'd have to try to pick up another one.

Otherwise known as the "Super Metal" from the Ibanez "9" series. A pretty simple pedal even though it has five knobs. It's very similar in theory to my Boss MT-2 Metal Zone.

The sound is good. It sounds like a hot-rodded Marshall JCM-800 amp; think AC/DC, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden. Not as fuzzy as many distortions so it is easier to get the clarity to hear all of the notes. It pretty much stays within this realm of sound. I think my MT-2 Metal Zone has more "personalities" and varieties of sound, but I like what this pedal does.

The Ibanez "9" series is built fairly well. Sometimes the swtiches go, and this is missing the battery door as many seem to.

It's vintage man, no support here.

Ya can't go wrong with any of the old Ibanez pedals. Distortion/overdrive pedals are very abundant and each has it's own personality, so TRY BEFORE YOU BUY. I like to have a few different distortion pedals because of this fact.

Level and drive (gain) are easy to manipulate. Haven't figured out exactly how the attack, punch, and the other EQ knob work. Basically leaving them at noon and cutting my mids on the amp's EQ until I can take some time and sit down and really tweak the thing.

I am using this into a 1970s Bassman silverface 50w head into a Marshall 4x12 with 25w reissue greenbacks. Great sound....1970s-1980s hard rock at higher (i.e. 3 o'clock) gain settings, more like a TS-9 at lower gain settings. Much better sounding than a BOSS DS-1, perhaps the most popular pedal with similar amount and quality of gain. The DS-1 has a very transistory quality to it (the Metal Zone even more so)....imagine that kind of DS-1 gain with a TubeScreamer TS-9's circuitry...glassy and transparent. It really lets the quality of your guitar, pickups, and amp shine through. I am using this with Hamers (set neck mahogany, Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck and '59) and a pedal board with Ibanez Loop Selector, BOSS EQ, BOSS Acoustic Simulator, BOSS CE-2 chorus, BOSS BF-2 Flanger, BOSS TR-2 tremolo, BOSS DD-3 digital delay, MXR Phase 90, Univibe, DanEco Echopedal for reverb, and Dunlop Wah. I use a BOSS SD-1 in front of the SM-9 for a slight gain and slight solo boost. This rig allows me to cop any 1970s/1980s hard rock tone, specifically anything Alex Liefson did from 1974-1981. Most accurate description of its distortion at higher settings quality is "You Got Another Thing Coming" by Priest or early RATT stuff. These Ibanez 9 series pedals are great.

Just got it appears solid.

I would give it a 10 but trying to figure out the EQ knobs (which are active) leads me to give it a 9. Previously the best distortion pedal I had found was the Marshall shredmaster....I like this better. A little more organic. The Shredmaster and other pedals with mid-scoop function are cool I think by using simpler distortion pedals and dealing with the EQ at the amp (specifcally, a good old single channel, clean tube amp with passive EQ circuitry) is the way to go. Think about that set-up, as well as old analog (tape) recording technology. How many classic albums were recorded direct with Dual Rectifiers/Rocktron/JCM 900s, ADAT or digital stuff????

It has 5 knobs, so it can be a bit scary at 1st, but it's still easy to find a good tone somehow:) I myself like 5 knobs...I'm by no means a "Tweak-Freak", but I do like having mroe options to find a bitchin tone, which this one delivers very well!
I got this used, so it didn't have a manual. The switch sometimes develops an attitude, but all of em do. 9 b/c it takes a few stomps to get it on/off.

Guitars: Charvel, Gibson
Amps: Fender Silverface Twin-Reverb
FX: Chain goes like this: Rockman Wah, TS-9, CS-9, SM-9.
It's a nice dirt box!! Especially when I got the Ts-9 pre-driving it. I turnt he TS-9 all the way up, adn put hte SM-9's gain at about 2'oclock. This delivers a nice tone!!!! The effect is nice!
One gripe I have about it is that all the tone controls are "Active", meaning if you turn them down, it lowers the overall volume of the unit. So you have to leave them all at about 1/2way or more, b/c it'll take your volume if you don't. But I leave em all about 1 or 2o'clock, so it's all good:)
It's definitey a good all-around dirtbox, it can get some good useable tones...I can nail the "Talk Dirty To Me" tone(Poison) w/ the Charvel's humbucker and this little guy. I can get a good Ozzy tone too.With this and the CS-9, *BOOM*, there's Zak Wylde (No more tears) tone!!!! Nice! The overall tone is kinda "Churny", so to speak. A nice thing about it is that it lets the guitar and amp tone go through, not a pedal tone. Another nice touch by Ibanez:)You could probably coax some Tubescreamer tones outta this, but I haven't tried yet. I already have one, so oh well.:)
Overall, like the name implies, it get's a good "Super Metal" tone, whatever your idea of "Super Metal" may be. Of course, it works good for glam rock, 80's metal,and also any 90's metal. Also does a nice job getting a Led Zep tone at a little lower gain setting.
The 3 tone controls are kinda confusing sometimes....some say that they're pre-treble, post treble, and midrange boost or something? I can't realy tell, but I like to tweak them just to see what happens. I really like the flexibility you can get w/ it.
Since it's not some $4500 botique pedal(Why people pay so much for them is beyond me), I can't give it a "10".. but for the price, it's value is incredible!!!!!!

LOL, a little iron tank!!!
The only gripe I have is the frickin switch. I read that Analog Man does replacemnt swritches, but I dont really feel like sending it away:)
7 for the switch.

Ibanez would give me the finger if I needed info ont this. But, it's like a 15 year old pedal, so I guess I can't really bitch. They habven't pissed me off yet, so...

This pedal is great, and the tone is great for the $$$ you actaully pay!!! Beats a Boss right outta the water!!!!!!!!! Get one if you can find it. Also, the cool sparkly blue paint job is cool looking:)

Some are afraid of a pedal with five knobs -- to me, it allows me to find My tone in a pedal if is there at all. This pedal is as capable of sounding bad as it is good, if you set the knobs just wrong!

I had a Boss Metal Zone (MT-2). I've recently ridded myself of it because it doesn't sing. The Ibanez SM-9 sings like a canary, and unlike the MT-2, it lets the guitar's and amp's sound come through instead of burying it behind a honky-midrange wall of distortion.

I have owned other Ibanez 9 series pedals and have never had a problem. Plus, whoever previously owned my SM-9 must have stored it neatly packed for many years only to pull it out once in a while and polish it with a diaper -- perfect condition. Since nothing is infalable...

If you find one of these, buy it! It seems that you can acquire them relatively cheap (as little as $10???).

It's got five knobs (level, drive, edge, attack, punch) that really put out a variety of sounds. Some of the other reviews have said that edge and attack are pre and post treble(?). I think that edge is actually a midrange control.(Imagine that) I give it an 8 because the range of sounds is rather broad and you can tweak it a lot. I got mine used so...no manual.

I'm using this with a Tele, a Strat and my trusty 4x10 Deville. It really packs a wallop compared to the TS-9 Tubescreamer. The sounds are great because it's like a HOT TS-9. It has the glassy tube-like feel of TS-9's tone, but with more flexibility and much more gain. You can even roll off your guitar's volume to get that TS-9 sound. It's not noisy, even with single coils. I put it in line with my DOD Digital Delay, Boss Hi-Band Flanger and an Ibanez CS-9 Chorus and it works great. I'll update this review when I put my preamp back in my Tele.

I've heard stories about the '9' series from Ibanez having bad footswitches and dying on people all of the time. My CS-9 Chorus will have intermittent problems turning on when I step on it every now and then, but hey, it's almost twenty years old. I've also got a pair of vintage SD-9 Sonic Distortions that haven't had any problems yet. Plus, they are made out of chunks of metal not plastic. I WISH THEY WOULD REISSUE THESE INSTEAD OF THE TS-9!! (I'm giving it a 9 because "I've heard things.")

I've e-mailed Ibanez a few times and to check on new gear coming out and they've always been very prompt in returning my messages and answering questions.

I play rock, metal, alternative, blues, jazz, etc. This pedal really works for me. Like I said, it covers a lot of bases. I'm trying to get another one because they don't make these anymore. I've been playing for eight and a half years now and am down to three distortion pedals (an SD-9 Sonic Distortion, the Super Metal and a Jekyll & Hyde Ultimate Overdrive). But even only having it for a day, it's quickly becoming my favorite. I've had a Danelectro Fabtone and a Boss Metal Zone and this is far more 'musical'.(?) I'm not going to say it 'kicks ass' like all of the other reviews because it's an inanimate object. (Don't count my review of the Fabtone because I got rid of it several months ago.) I'm giving this and my Jekyll&Hyde 10's because they are fabulous pedals and I listened to them for quite a while before buying. If you're lucky enough to happen upon a used SM-9, give it a listen.

5 knobs on a fuzztone? why not? the only problem will be remembering which tone knob's which (attack is pre-distortion treble, punch is post-distorion bass, edge is post-distortion treble. i think.), but it's hard not to dial up a great tone. This pedal's EQ is the same as the more recent metal screamer (MS10). A bit complicated for a beginner, perhaps, but easier to get a good sound than from, say, a Boss Metal Zone.

this box isn't a super gain pedal, so noise isn't bad. the super metal is quite glassy. its op-amp is the same as the 1st generation ts9 tubescreamer, and i can hear the resemblence. more useful highs than a metal charger or even my butler realtube. the bass boost is amazing and can make an open back cabinet sound closed, with more focused lows and highs. also, it helps if you remember that the "metal" sound in question is more of a 70's rock sound, like page, blackmore or rick nielsen. crank the attck and level while reducing gain and you get a slightly hotter tube screamer sound. VERY nice.

it's in a boss-sized cast steel box. the battery door is chepa hinged plastic, but it's 14 years old and still good.

never had to call them for service in the 15+ years since i bought my 1st ibanez product.

i lost this pedal the day after i bought it 3 1/2 months ago. i just found it last week, and it was more than worth the wait. incredible and incredibly cheap. put it in line just before a tube screamer (even the cheap ts5) with low gain and high tone and you get amazing 2 stage tubelike power.

This thing is very easy, with five different knobs to choose from (level, drive, edge, attack, and punch). Any idiot can figure out how to create a cool distortion tone from it.

The sound quality of the Ibanez Super Metal pedal is superb. The distortion tone is completely awesome, like that of the Boss HM-2.

The SM-9 is a gargantuan hunk of die cast metal like its cousin the TS-9. Both are hard as hell to mess up! Utterly indestructable!

Never had to use!

This is the best deal I've ever found on a heavy metal pedal that sounds endlessly cool. And it's from the Ibanez 9 series, so it automatically rules! I would definately buy it again!