Old 90s Ibanez tonelok pedals!!

[old metal dude]

Ok so I've been playing guitar "officially since 1989", probably a year or two earlier but that's just getting technical..... I love pedals, and I always have but these things have just popped onto my radar! I have 2 right now that I got on Reverb but these things are so cool! I can't believe I haven't heard about them until recently and I'm looking forward to collecting more of them!

 

[Jakedog]

They sounded fantastic for the most part. The switches tended to crap out a lot, and at the time they were popular, nobody was fixing pedals. They were so cheap it wasn’t worth the labor cost.

The one I loved was the delay/echo. It sounded just amazing on the Echo setting. Warm like analog, but without the crappy sounding degradation and falling apart repeats typical of analog delays. I really liked that pedal. But after two units with switch failures in close succession I went back to the DD3.

They were very popular in this neck of the woods, though. Great sounds and very affordable.

 

[gitold]

JHS did a bit about them so before it was over I bought these 3 cheap off reverb. They are great sounding pedals but as Jakedog says the switches are a bit flimsy. The 7th Heaven is a great fuzz!

 

[JesterR]

Line was introduced in 1999, so yeah, technically 90s

 

[Lies&Distortion]

Line was introduced in 1999, so yeah, technically 90s

Yeah, I was expecting the rounded black plastic case models. Or are those from the 80's? Lost track

 

[SixStringSlinger]

I've heard good thing about that delay, and I'm sure the fuzz is at least a good bit of fun, so that's a win.

I love my LF7 Lo-Fi one. I want to say I got it for ~$60 used from Guitar Center nearly 10 years ago. I recently looked them up on Reverb (partly out of curiosity, partly looking into a backup) and they've been listing (and selling!) for some pretty ridiculous prices.

I haven't had any issues with the switch, but I keep the pedal on my board on a loop switcher, so the pedal's switch doesn't get used much.

I also have the chorus/flanger one (CF7?) that I got as a throw-in on a trade. That one had an issue with the switch, but some contact cleaner brought it back to working right 90% of the time. I'm not really interested in it for guitar, but I'd like to try the flanger (and the ring mod-like "Whack'd" mode) on my drum machines.

 

[BurtGummer]

Yeah, I was expecting the rounded black plastic case models. Or are those from the 80's? Lost track

I think you're thinking of the Soundtank series (example)? IIRC, they ran for most of the 90s as a predecessor to the Tonelok stuff.

I'd probably throw a couple bucks at having a couple Tonelok pedals just for nostalgia's sake.

 

[Mouth]

I wonder if the switch problem is the same as the soundtank models, which is actually a capacitor problem. Easy fix if it is.

 

[ERik77]

I used to have the LF7, I really liked it. Trying to remember what I was thinking when I sold it.

 

[Lies&Distortion]

I think you're thinking of the Soundtank series (example)? IIRC, they ran for most of the 90s as a predecessor to the Tonelok stuff.

I'd probably throw a couple bucks at having a couple Tonelok pedals just for nostalgia's sake.

yep

 

[Grandy]

The Tone-Loks are my favorite pedal series. I have three DE7s, two CF7s, twoPM7s, AW7 and LF7. Some have had the switch fixed. I used to have FZ7 and TS7. I think DE7, CF7 and PM7 are special. If the DE7 was reissued for a reasonable price, I wouldn't hesitate grabbing one. The combination of tone and delay time is still unbeatable. If you like to play with self-oscillation, it sounds better than many analog delays. The CF7 is really versatile. It can do the standard stuff and more. It has a separate knob for delay time, which many other ones don't. The PM7 is unlike anything I've ever tried, with subtle phasing and square wave pulses etc.

 

[Si G X]

Line was introduced in 1999, so yeah, technically 90s

Yeah those were really popular around 2005-2008, especially the delay.

The limited coloured ones were cool, the green tube screamer and the pink delay. I bought the pink delay for £40 used back then.

 

[JesterR]

Yeah those were really popular around 2005-2008, especially the delay.

The limited coloured ones were cool, the green tube screamer and the pink delay. I bought the pink delay for £40 used back then.

Yeah because DE-7 was the really best of this line. I am also had one, it was wonderful!

 

[GuitarsBuicks]

Ok so I've been playing guitar "officially since 1989", probably a year or two earlier but that's just getting technical..... I love pedals, and I always have but these things have just popped onto my radar! I have 2 right now that I got on Reverb but these things are so cool! I can't believe I haven't heard about them until recently and I'm looking forward to collecting more of them!

I was lucky enough to find the TS-7 Tone-Lok used at my local guitar center. It’s actually the only thing I have ever bought from them. What a dynamite pedal! I’m not usually a fan of the actual Ibanez stuff, but they did some thing special to that pedal. The hot switch is pretty sweet to if you literally want to turn things up to eleven.

 

[old metal dude]

Yeah, I was expecting the rounded black plastic case models. Or are those from the 80's? Lost track

Oh I remember the Sound Tank ones.... I'm not interested those lol... I'm going to put an offer in on the ones *gitold* said he has because those look like good ones!!

 

[wildschwein]

Oh I remember the Sound Tank ones.... I'm not interested those lol... I'm going to put an offer in on the ones *gitold* said he has because those look like good ones!!

Some of those are quite coveted now:

Ibanez Soundtank EM5 Echomachine Delay | Reverb Australia

As part of the Soundtank Series of pedals, the Ibanez EM5 Echomachine aimed to replicate tape delay sounds.Years of Production: 1996 - 1998

reverb.com

 

[NWinther]

Ibanez (111)

mirosol.kapsi.fi

The old Master series(L)....also had some pretty good units.
I am still looking for the delay with modulation that they made...
Had the other from the Master series..loved it...foolishly sold it in my youth....

Sold it for a DD-5 because it had tap-tempo
Was an almost instant regret.

 

[Chiogtr4x]

I bought a few used, curious to try.
But after a short while, I sold one ( for $15) and threw the other one out.
One had a squirrely switch, the Fuzz... the other was a Phase Shifter that just did not sound like a Phase Shifter

They just had no advantage over pedals I already owned.
- too big ( larger than Boss, which is the largest pedal size I go)
- too ugly, IMO
So, they just never made it to gigs

-

 

[SbS]

Got a Soundtank TS5 and ToneLok TS7 in the closet. Yeah, footswitches are a bit unpredictable nowadays.. but otherwise they're fine.

Prefer ToneLok though, its' got the 'hot' mode and everything.

 

[GuitarsBuicks]

I bought a few used, curious to try.
But after a short while, I sold one ( for $15) and threw the other one out.
One had a squirrely switch, the Fuzz... the other was a Phase Shifter that just did not sound like a Phase Shifter

They just had no advantage over pedals I already owned.
- too big ( larger than Boss, which is the largest pedal size I go)
- too ugly, IMO
So, they just never made it to gigs

-

One of the things I have noticed is that Ibanez phase shifters are not analog. Any phaser that is not completely analog doesn’t sound much like a phaser. I honestly like the Phase90 and 95 more than anything I have tried from Ibanez for that specific tonal niche.