Ibanez Tone-Lok pedals?

Hey everyone,

Just wondering if the Ibanez Tone-Lok line of pedals offers the DIYer good pedals for modding/building clones in, or otherwise just gutting to use the box, pots, AC input, etc? Any thoughts or opinions?
FWIW, I'm coming across these more and more at rip off prices here in local pawnshops. I already bought a few delays... very nice for close to 1/10th the cost of the increasingly popular Carbon Copy!:grin:

Jason G

Just about anything that doesn't have surface mount components is easily modded.

Hey everyone,

Just wondering if the Ibanez Tone-Lok line of pedals offers the DIYer good pedals for modding/building clones in, or otherwise just gutting to use the box, pots, AC input, etc? Any thoughts or opinions?

The Tone Loks are kind of a mixed bag for modding, IMO.

The pluses:

- Some (maybe all?) of the pcb's are multipurpose, for the sake of building pedals like the Distortion and TS with the same board. That's a tweaker's paradise.
- Fairly easily disassembled, so that you can get at the innards and do your frankensteining.
- Most of the hardware is fair to above average, making them a bit of a bargain, and the metal enclosure isn't bad.

The minuses:

- The stomp switch is prone to failure. Just stock up on replacements.
- The board components are tiny - you have to replace with very small stuff, typically.
- Traces are a little on the fragile side, and lead free solder is used. It just requires a lighter touch to remove stock parts with success.
- There is no wiring (for the most part) - it's all done with typically 3 separate boards. If you want to get creative with the circuit path mods, you're probably going to have to cut traces and run jumpers.
- Pots are plastic thingies attached to board. Fair quality, but not a modder's preference, IMO.

So not too bad, overall. Definitely second place to the Boss stuff, IMO. At least as far as mods are concerned. But if you can get them for next to nothing, it will be a fun endeavor at the very least. I did just the same thing with the Soundtanks back in the 90's, when they were being blown out for $15-20 a piece. I really liked the fuzz (a Big Muff clone).

Well thanks y'all!:grin:

So I won't go overboard grabbing these up... not just yet. I do think I'll nab every DE7-Delay/Echo that falls into a "steal it" price range. Nice sounding pedal but no tap tempo which I've come to love. SO.....

Just curious, how difficult would it be to add a tap-tempo 1/4" out to this circuit? >OR<

How 'bout an FX loop to add an effect to just the delayed repeats... like a phaser, modulation, filter, etc? Done with a single TRS send/return jack???

There seems to be a perfect spot for one of the above mods directly beside the 1/4" "IN" on the right side of the pedal... in the spot you'd expect to see the 2nd of a pair of stereo INs if the box had them.

Any thoughts? Is there a problem with one of the above mods?

Thanks and take care,

Jason G in Amarillo, TX

The old Ibby's were prone to broken stomp switches, but the new versions are supposedly not having that problem. I have a newer DE7 and TS7 Tone Lok and they are both solidly made and so far have held up well after months of stomping at church weekly and funk band rehearsals and gigs. My only issue with the TS7--at least mine--is that the "on" light is not bright enough. I've seen people mod that to a brighter LED. I have been very happy with my Tone Loks. You can do some crazy stuff with the DE7 in echo mode. Very interesting pedal.

Hey Jeff_K,

I can't tell older from newer pedals... is there a simple giveaway as to an "improved" later model?

Yes, the DE7 is cool! Especially if you can pick one up for $15-$25!:grin: I'm still holdin' out for someone with a bit more know-how to "bite" concerning my questions above regarding the Delay mods!

FWIW, I think I might go ahead and grab a pair of Tone-Loks available locally: a TS7 Tube Screamer and an SM7 Smashbox: hard and heavy Mesa Recto sounding box... both minty w/ boxes, manuals, power supplies, AND boxes/papers for the power supplies. Very cool!:cool:

I think you're right about the dim "power on" LEDs. I'll see if I can get in there and swap those out, maybe use green or blue ones. That would be a nice project for my son and me to do! And as LEDs go, I'd like to swap out the existing one on the Delay with one that would visually flash the current "time" setting on the box. Anybody care to give me a hint on where to start with the flashing time LED?

Anyone on the above mods to the DE7 Delay/Echo?

Cheers, Jason G