Maxon AD-900 Analog Delay

This pedal is very easy to use. 3 knob setup like other analog delays. It uses a 12 volt adapter which gives it more headroom, but you can still power this baby with Pedal Power 2 if you want. Just use one of the ACA outlets and set it for 12 volts. Then, you need to get a reverse polarity cable from Digital Music Corp. The AD900 is center-tip positive, hence the special cable. Digital Music sent me 2 or 3 for free. So no more bitching on this site about having to use the wallwart...you don't! I power mine this way...no problems!

Sound quality is excellent. I also have an AD80 and I prefer that for shorter delay times because it's easier to fine tune the delay time. the AD900 has more headroom and is probably a bit smoother. Pretty tough to beat this pedal for tone quality.

This thing is well built, but out of production...makes me nervous every time I take it somewhere!

Talked to them once about some clock noise I was getting from the AD80. They pretty much referred me to Analogman whom in turn referred me to Howard Davis in NYC. Once a pedal is out of production it seems like you are SOL. It's almost as if they weren't responsible for the AD80 anymore. So God forbid if my AD900 acts up...

I play all styles and this pedal is really good. It has more headroom than most any other delay that I know of and really outperforms them at stage level volumes. Anything can sound good in your bedroom...it's when you get it on the gig that you find out the truth...the AD900 delivers the goods...highly recommended!

twiddle the knobs until you are pleased with the sound.

I have to chime in on "anonymous's" comments below, he raises some interesting points....I own and use both the AD-9 and the ad-900 in my rig.....i think they are both excellent delay's. I have gone through a multitude of delays over the last few years chasing tones, searching for ease of use and feel I can speak from some experience. I also have been playing for 25+ years and currently play out regulary in a classic rock/GB band. I've used every digital/analog delay out there..recently bought and sold the Ibanez ad9 ( distorted too easily, not sweet sounding ). I've had the Yamaha UD stomp,rack units, the line 6 dl4 you name it...but I always come back to the warmth of analog and the wonderful sound of these two pedals. I tried the ad 999 as well.....but returned it. I just did'nt like it. It just distorts much to easily and had a fuzzy sound and does not have the warmth and clarity of the ad 900 and ad 9. Maybe the newer chips aren't as sweet or something.

In my rig I set the ad 900 for longer delays and the ad9 for shorter slapback sounds. I agree that the volume drop is a non issue on the ad 9..........it's so negligible that it's just not a problem at all in my opinion....i feel that there's more of a volume drop with the line 6 dl4 than with the ad9. If your sitting in your bedroom every night with your ear next to the speaker you may notice it...but trust me it's a non issue, very, very neglibible. Also the shutter effect on the on/off switch on the ad9 is alleviated by just stomping quickly....non issue as well. Where I completely disagree with the review below is relative to the sound quality of the ad 900....If i had to choose just one delay to take to a gig it would be the ad900 not the ad9.....overall it's a better sounding delay.....for one simple reason, the increased headroom provided by the use of 12volts rather than the 9 volts used in the ad 9. It's clearer to my ears,can handle hot pickups and strong distort boxes or loud compressors better, it's warmer and more intangibly musical, and more versitile because of the longer delay times. And the switching is flawless and smooth........now of course there are many varibles...guitar, amp, other pedals, your ears..........belive me I love the ad9, it sounds great for analog delay up to 300ml.....it's warm, clear and articulate for an analog chip..........but the ad 900 is just a bit better in all categories......perhaps the person below got a bum ad 900 or something. And for the record I dont play nor do I want to play any pink floyd tunes.......that's not the sound I'm going for.....

Also for the record I use american deluxe strats with SCN pickups and a gibson johnny a signature hollowbody into a mesa lonestar with other high end "boutique" effects and all George L cables.

Maxon has a great track record ( except perhaps for the one the person bought below ).

No worries

..........you just can't wrong if you looking to bask in the warm glow and haunting, analog ambiance of this brilliant sounding delay......if i could have only one effect on a desert island...this ad 900 would certainley be the one....

Pretty easy to get a decent sound out of it. Annoying to have to plug in a special 12-volt AC adaptor. Very smooth, no volume drops or switching noise.

Used with Gibson Les Paul Standard into high-end Crate tube amp. With other Maxon effects.

Hate to say it, but I have to disagree. I got an AD-900 thinking that it was the be-all-end-all of analog delay. It was too dark for me. Maybe somebody messed with the trim pots; wasn't me. It was very natural, very transparent, and I guess in a sense that was what I disliked about it...it was muddy because I couldn't hear the difference between the original signal and the repeats. Maybe that's what you're after. It was too Pink Floyd sounding for me.

So I got an AD-9 instead. Bingo! Winner. Much brighter, and very easy to distinguish the repeats AS repeats. Therefore, much clearer. The AD-9 has almost a sparkle to it, a 3D-ness and a life that that AD-900 didn't, especially when cranked up to 300ms.

The AD-900 is not bad, but it's missing something. If you want Pink Floyd sounds, get this. If you want something more versatile, get the AD-9. Yes, the AD-900 has twice the delay time, but I think that the tonal palette it has limits the range of songs you can use it on. Maybe that's just me. I was initially scared off of the AD-9 by a review complaining about volume loss and a shutter effect, but those turned out to be non-issues for me.

Got it used, trusted it fine.

Kevin at Godlyke RULES!!!!

He RULES!!!!!

Any questions? He RULES!!!!

Maybe I wasn't clear the first time.

He RULES!!!!

Enh. Too dull sounding for an analog delay. 301-600ms range wasn't even useful to my music (rock and metal.) If you get one, floyd-head, put it in the effects loop. It will sound SO much better. Running it in front of distortion is a mistake. In the end, I didn't keep it. Maybe this is what you're looking for. But sometimes, I think, there's such a thing as "too transparent", where your effects work against you because it's hard to distinguish the processing. They are doing SOMETHING, right? They are EFFECTS, right? In the end, we're only pleasing ourselves...my wife (whom I love dearly) can't tell the difference between a wah and a chorus. I like my effects natural, but to sound like something.

Easy

See Jason on 5/5/04 - I couldn't say it better than that - absolutely amazing warmth and beauty, almost subconscious in it's effect. I tried to replicate it with a deluxe memory man - sounding great - but always sounded like an 'effect' - the ad900 melts into your tone, becoming one with it. it's absolutely beautiful. I've tried a tube maestro echoplex - the best ones - which sound phenomenal also, but the maxon gives is just a different sound. my 4 perfect delays for differnent days - maxon ad900, echoplex, deluxe memory man, a good digital delay for what you can't get with analog!

been working great for awhile on my pedalboard

never had to deal

Magnificent

3 knobs, two hands, whats the deal?

Maxon obviously 'voiced' this pedal for a fat, warm sound. I happend to like that! Very transparent when dialed in correctly, super quiet, flawless! Adds a 'haunting' spacial effect to my Fender's reverb, very cool! Very musical and worth every penny (note: you have to know how to use a delay pedal, though)

Over one year of constant use and no worries...

Don't know....Don't speak Japanese....

I have been playing for over 33 years and have used it all...(echoplexes (solid state and tube), Chandler delays, tons of digital delays, Line 6 delays, MXR analog delay, DOD analog delays etc....for me, this pedal is the best of my experience.

Very easy and simple. It will oscillate if you ask politely but not as easily or fast as my vintage AD-80.

No noise at all, no loss of tone, very very transparent and switching is as smooth as butter. Which makes this unit a dream to use, if only all my pedals were as well engineered as this one.

The sound is very organic, rich and buttery. It is also very clean and unobstrusive(my original AD-80 will distort a bit which brings an interesting vintage vibe.)

It does sound beautiful but is a tad darker than my AD-80 or any other delay I own. This loss of highs is often very nice and cozy but for some application I miss definition wich interfer with my playing. This is what some people call muddiness I guess.

If you play with a warm sounding guitar into a bright sounding amp, this pedal will sound like heaven. If you do the opposite, you might get frustrated with the loss in the high frequencies. Try before you buy unless you know exactly what you are buying.... especially at the price it is today.

Oh..and by the way, this pedal souds TERRIFIC direct into the board.

This will not be my one and only delay. When I need a warm analog and close to tape delay sound, especially going higher than 300ms this is definitely the top of the pile. However when I use lots of repeats or have to get a twangy slapback kind of sound I pick the AD-80 (AD-9 would be fine I guess). For more modern sounds requiring clarity, I will rely on something else.

Classic 3 knob configuration: Delay time, Repeat, Delay level. Obviously a piece of cake to use.

Four original, no longer-in-prodution Panasonic MN3008 bucket brigade chips are the brains of this unit, allowing you to dial in anywhere from 40ms to 600ms of the absolute warmest, smoothest, most creamy and dreamy sounding analog delay that your unbelievably lucky ears will EVER have the ultimate pleasure of hearing. The repeats from this little gem fall from heaven like a warm analog rain that you just want to stay under forever and get drenched in. This is positively without a doubt the delay of the gods.

Built to last. I'm sure that it will be around for someone else to steal after I am dead.

They answered all of my questions. No problems here.

The AD900 totally destroys every other type of delay, be it analog or digital, that I have ever heard in my 20-plus years of playing electric guitar. Nothing else comes close in terms of pure, rich, organic, mind blowing sound. To me it represents the absolute zenith of tone. I bow in reverence to Maxon for creating the only thing I know of in this life that is truly PERFECT. Yes, it seems expensive until you realize that perfection can never be achieved cheaply. Ultimately, price is meaningless. Just pay it and live happily ever after. Nuff said.

Really easy to use and get a great sound. Three knobs: delay, repeats, and level. The manual is pretty good in that it does make some suggestions as to how to dial it in. Really not neccesary, though, because it is a pretty simple pedal. 600ms. delay time, which is really long for an analog pedal. Definitely adds to the AD900's versitility.

As far as analog sound quality goes, this thing is sweet! Nice delays that are warm, organic, and natural sounding. I've never been happy with any delay before, but this one really changed my opinion! I use this pedal at the end of this chain: Various Guitars-> Keeley TS9->Keeley Comp->Mojo Vibe-> AD900-> Various Amps. Sounds great with anything I've paired it up with. Highly recommended!!!

Seems dependable, though you never know. Runs on the 12V adaptor, so I guess if that were ever lost or broken, it could be difficult to find a replacement.

Haven't ever dealt with Godlyke, or the Japanese distributor. I bought this from Larry at Soulcactus Sound in Arizona, and he's always been good to me.

I play music that ranges from the blues to rock, and this pedal is a great compliment for these genres. If this pedal were stolen, I'd be pretty heartbroken, considering their price and their limited availablity. I really like the warm delays this pedal adds to my sound; compared to digital, well, I don't think there is a comparison here. One last thing, these are expensive, but you get what you pay for and your ears will thank you.

Three knobs. A no-brainer

I play an ESP Strat copy, a Fender Rhodes and a violin through this and other quality effects into a Twin or into the house PA. Sounds superbly warm and organic. I guess part of the analog thing is that there is a degree of hiss added to the repeated notes, audible when the level of delay in relation to your signal is very high. I back off the treble and it becomes part of the organic-ness of the sound. Pink Floyd is in there. The Edge is in there. I'm in there.

No trouble at all. Relies on a 12v adapter.

Godlyke Distributing answered my email promptly and courteously. I hope my pedal doesn't break as I understand the Panasonic chips are scarce.

OK- here's the reason I wanted to chime in- Godlyke, Maxon's American distributor asks for $450 for a new AD-900. MusicToyz sells it for $399.95. If you look hard enough on e-bay, someone will eventually offer it for $290, shipped "direct from Japan". That's how I aquired my little darling. It arrived with a Japanese manual and an invoice from Ishibashi Music in Tokyo. I went on their website, ishibashi-music.com just to see how much they are willing to part with it for. ASTOUNDING! 23,040 Yen which translates into $193.88 by today's exchange rate. $214.88 with shipping to the US. Now, there's a lot of hype about the AD-900 and I think it's well deserved. It sounds gorgeous and has the second longest delay time of any analog delay pedal I know of (600ms beaten out by the 800ms of the Moogerfooger MF104). But I think that the mark-up rate is absurd and it's a shame that a few greedy people are putting this pedal beyond the reach of most players. Unlike the Moogerfooger and the Aqua-Puss, the AD-900 is still being produced and can be had for up to half what people are asking for, with just a tiny bit of research on the buyer's part. If you are thinking about getting it, by all means DO! But get it at a fair price and send me the difference.

This pedal is very easy to use. Typical three-knob setup like most other analog delays. Uses a 12v adapter. The manual offers some basic settings but you really don't need it.

The sound quality is superb. The best sounding delay out there right now. I've used it live and in sessions. No noise whatsoever. Maybe the previous reviewer had a lemon or something. I can't see how you couldn't get a great sound out of this unit. The delay is warm and fat. The Dan-Echo is okay but doesn't come close.

I've never had a problem after about 6 months of regular use. It seems very well built.

I've never had to deal with them.

I do agree that this pedal is too expensive. I would recommend the Maxon AD80 or the Dan-Echo if you're on a budget. But if you want a REAL analog pedal this is it. The Dan-Echo is digital with a hi-cut knob that "simulates" an analog sound. Cheaper, yes, but it doesn't sound as good. The Maxon is the real deal, baby. This pedal won a pick award from Guitar Player magazine because of its tone and 600 ms delay time. I think that $200-250 would be a more reasonable price.