Maxon AD-999

I have to say it's quite simple to use. Only three knobs.
I did spend a little bit of time trying to find a good delay setting for some solos.

My guitar was originally a Fender 2001 year with Pearly Gates pickups in the bridge, but I got then signed limited Eddie Van Halen humbucker installed.
The sound is quite good in that it is very warm and organic. It does add a bit of a volume gain ot boost of you want to call it that. Somtimes it's barely noticeable with distortion at high gain, but it's definitely there. If you turn it off you notice something is missing. I also have a Mallecko 600 bright and caompred to that it's alot less noticeable, since of course the Mallecko600 bright repeats with "brighter" delays.
I play everything from Jimi Hendrix to Eddie Van Halen and just learned how to play Eruption.

Didn't have any problems yet. I've had it for a month or so. Let's wait and see.

Didn't have to deal with them yet.

I give it an overall rating of 9 since nothing is perfect, but anyone looking for very "clean" not too extreme and warm delays, this is the one. Plus you can get some really long delays, which is really cool to have. It has 8 bd chips in it for that. It is pricey but my Mallecko is probably around the same price range. This has the real bd technology.

very easy, after 5 minutes i had the main setting for me.

Spend 333 euros for a guitarplayers toy is a little stupid for a hard working man, but I waste so much money on to much sh** in the 20 years I playin that I know what I realy need and want. And the Ad 999 is the only delay i want ! Does just delay youre sound, no digital modulation crap or 20 different settings. just the oportunity to dail in time, speed and volumen, buts thats it!
I have it in the loop of my Engl amp, Marshall VM or Rivera Combos and its simple and great. If you on the search for pure,warm, beatuifull, vintage tone, thats it. doesnt matter if I plug my Paulas, Strats, Tele or Hollowbody in it...so thats the reason I spend 333 bucks for something that I will play till death !!

I have a Maxon Od9 without any problems...I belive that you can play it in 3008 ! If we still exist, but thats another story .

? I dont speek japanese ;)

Im a pro ! belive it or not !
If guitar playing is a opsession for you, check this out.
If you playing just one time a week, go for a multidigitalfunnykitchentoyrobotercrap from Boss or digitech or ****.

If you know how an analog delay functions you should have no problems working the pedal.

The only thing not obvious is how the two outputs work.
If you plug 'output' only you get the mixed signal, if you plug both you get the effect only and the dry signal splits to the 'dry output'.
If you plug dry only you get a simple throughput and you might as well not have the effect at all. :)

The one bad spot is the led which is really weak to the point that from some angles when it's on I can't tell, and from some angles a reflection in the led makes me think that faint light is shining when it's actually not.

I bought the AD999 because I don't really enjoy most digital gear, but I still wanted long delay times like on the digitals.

When I first got the AD999 I was a bit let down and regretful. I felt the sound was muffled and without clarity.
I must have had my ears dititally polluted because if anyone would ask me for my favorite pedal now, my mind would first be on the AD999.

If you want a delay that will be there and do the job in the background, while not screaming for attention, here it is.
The sound is very subtle and never buries what you play, even when the effect is loud.

I sometimes use it to do the job of a reverb. The subtleness makes it work. Got to love analog.
Perhaps because of the subdued sound this pedal produces the least amount of noise out of all my pedals, I haven't heard any at all.

Bought it used, have had no problems.

I can't think of another pedal that could replace this one.
Possibly that expensive Moog delay, but I doubt it would be quite the same. My TC Nova Delay sure can't.

I love this pedal.

time - volumen - repeat Potis
on / off switch
input / output / dry ??

This is what I understand about a helpfull Effect.

When you need the manual ? You better go fishing !

I like analog gear more than digital, but Im open for new inuvative gear so I have tested the Evendtide Timefactor, TRex replica and the Novadelay, in front of a clean Tube Amp ( dont use distortion ).
I wanted THE best sounding delay, with a warm "groundsound", 3-4 repeats that are "breathing" and not steril, that give my playing just a little more "room" and not overload the signal, with a time around 500-700 m.sec. I can use for Rhythem and Lead lines. So, thats why I choose the Maxon Ad 999. But you can also have funny "Rockabilly" echos and slow and long Pink Floyd space sounds.
I have it now in the Effectloop of my Engl Screamer or Fender Deville Amps to use the Overdrive / distortion channels as well. It is not noizy with my gear.
Guitars : Fender US Strat and deluxe Tele. Gibson stock Paula, Music Man anniversary.
Effects are Maxon ad 999, Roger Mayer Voodoo Blues and a Fulltone Clyde Wah.
2x12 Hughes & Kettner Cabs, one with Greenbacks and one with V30.
I dont know any Artist thats is using it ?
For me its the absolute burner and will be a part of my play forever !

Have it a year now, its always on my Effect Board, I giged with it, have sessions, use it in the studio...This thing never let me down or has any issius. Of course when you transport it in a Bag or its flying around to test the ******* Rock N Roll Factor than its possible that you kill it !
For the first year I have it - a 10.

No need for....

I play Rock, Blues, Jazz, Fusion, some Alternative Heavy stuff, Shrred and play in Professional Cover/Party Bands and do some Studio work to earn money. I start playing around 1990, My first delay was in a Zoom Multieffect processor, the second in the Digitech GNX 3 the 3th. was a Digidelay wich is nice but not 100% professional and Im a professional ! If it gets lost I buy it again for sure, because I love it like it is, beautifull sound, easy to handle, and a robust building quality. Maybe I buy one just as a Backup ?

IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOURE EARS AND SOUL !!!!!!
WORK HARD AND DONT LET THE BUISENESS FUCK YOU !!!

Very easy to figure out.

I have not tried all of the different delays in the market so I can not say this is the best one - but of the 5 different makes I have played in my career this one is the best so far.

No comment - looks like its built well.

No comment - have not had to contact them.

I play original riff based music in a three piece rock group and I bought the delay so I could maintain/add sustain while cutting back tube distortion. I play PRS guitars through two Marshall DSL 100 full stacks. I have been playing for 40 years and I am a tone freak. In my opinion, the Maxon takes nothing away and adds much to improving the sound of my guitar/amp combination. If you want a great sounding delay; I highly recommend you try this product.

This analog delay has only three controls: Delay Time, Repeats and Delay Level. Very easy to get great sounds from this pedal.

This is the best analog delay I've ever used. I used to use various digital delays until I got tired of the sterile sounds they produce. This delay is great beacuse it has 900 ms of delay time. It is warm and fat sounding. If you are looking for spaceship sounds then this is your pedal! I'm running this pedal through either a MusicMan 212 65 or a Mesa Boogie Stiletto Ace. Sounds great!

Maxon makes very roadworthy gear. This pedal looks like a mini pink tank...

This pedal isn't cheap! It is worth every penny though. If it were lost or stolen I would get another in a heartbeat!

Extremely ez to use.

Sounds great. EJ strat into any good tube amp. This pedal and my Keeley FuzzHead are my two favs. I haven't bought any Pete Cornish effects yet...ha.

Had it over a year now...fairly big pedal and appears to be very well made.

Never had to deal with them...don't expect to.

I bought it new....think it was ~$300...can't remember exact amount. I am very happy with it. I've had other nice delays over the years...but this is definitely my fav.

The manual gives great settings suggestions...just start from there and tweak to your liking. Damn, analog delay rocks!

Basic set up is Fender Strat and Heritage H-555 guitars into a Vox AC-30cc head with Avatar 2x12 with G12h30s or Vibroverb clone with 15" Weber Cali speaker. Don't use many effects anymore but am currently running Teese Picture Wah > MJM Foxey Fuzz > Barber Direct Drive > Maxon AD-999 > amp. This will get you easily into anything from Rockabilly (with my Heritage I sound similar to Brian Setzer) to U2-sounding(the AD-999 provides great Edge-like delays) It's true bypass and although I don't think it colors my sound I do notice a rise in volume when I engage the unit. The delays, and this is where some people can't deal with this, are perfectly vintage analog. Meaning they are warmer than the AD-900 which some people perceive to means sounding "duller" or not as "clear". But the fact is, this unit is very vintage sounding and beats the hell out of any digital delay or the AD-900 (which is too much high frequency for my tastes).

I can't inagine anything is going to break with the way I use it. Seems very well built

Never dealt with them, hope I never have to

I play mostly blues in the vein of SRV, Hendrix, etc. and some classic rock. This AD-999 more than covers my needs. I've actually been experimenting into different avenues since I've had it. It's lots of fun to sit down and try new things - experiment! I've been playing for over 30 years, although I only gig maybe 5 times a year anymore. I had the AD-999 before and sold it because of a money crunch. Since then I tried the Digitech delay and the Analogman AR-20 and neither came close to what I consider to be the ultimate delay sound. Now that I have another one, I will be hanging on this no matter what. THIS IS THE REAL DEAL! My only complaint is the price new (over $300). If you can pick one up used, you can save around $100 so look around.

If this is hard you are retarded, give up

This is one of the best analog delays there is. I don't understand people finding such stupid faults in this thing they must not have known what they where getting and should stick to there Digitech and Boss pedals. As for Mr 40 year player below I can get great echo's and great slap back sounds. And your saying the Redux does better? For one thing the redux has two delay signals and is a very unique and different pedal but the ad999 does way better slap back and echoes I think. And those who have a loud click I feel bad for mine is silent all around.

seems solid

I have been using this in a melodic hard rock band and im loving it, it's nothing less and nothing more it does it's job very well. And for the guy who compared the 900 and the 999 side by side I think your ear is a little off

This has the usual time/repeats/level settings - extremely easy to use - able to power it with my pedal power box. Takes up a little more space than some boxes but not bad. Manual not emportant for this kind of box.

My set up is bigsby/tele>>>carl martin limiter>>>>Keeley mod BD2 >>>black cat OD 1 fuzz >>>> delay >>>> tweed bassman.

Not noisy - true bypass - no tone alteration when bypassed. When engaged there is a slight warming of the sound - in a good way.
The AD 999 is identical in sound quality to my 20 year old Ibanez AD99 ( you would expect this - same basic box ) but this goes out to 900 ms. If I want the multiple cascades of repeats ( Hellicaster stuff, U2 boner songs, etc ) these analog delay boxes are outstanding. The deal is there are two other kinds of sounds that these type of boxes can never do ( stay tuned - more on this later ).

I owned this for at least 6 months. Very solid - the switch feels dependable. I think these delay boxes are indestructible - my old ibanez has maybe 1000s of hours on it.

I don't know about this

I am old, have played 40 years, - now in a cover R+B, pop, rockabily situation - all the goofy music people like to dance to. Take my rating with a grain of salt - tele only - no humbucker stuff. Honestly - I have owned at least 15 delay/echo toys - including tape echos and digital stuff. Because of the stuff I play there are two echo sounds I want:

1. the 50s slap back - I want the tone they got from recording inside the water tank in Phoenix - this is what small room reverb is trying to sound like. It is an echo sound - not a delay soound - these delays sort of come close until you hear the real deal. The best box for this is the Redux - so I stick with that one - and you don't need to drag a two ton water can into the bar.

2. the subtle echos - the kind that surround the primary notes without overwhelming. Max time I need for this is about 700ms - more is useless. This is the sound where when you play slow phrases those out of phase echos are there - but when you speed up it does not turn into a cascade. Delay stompboxes can't do this. The Roland space echos where great at this - but I'm not willing to be that busy at a gig. Thje Redux does a great job at this.

The AD999 does hold value well. I sold it for close to my orig cost.