Ibanez · AD9 · c.1982–1985

Ibanez AD9 Analog Delay

The AD9 is the analog delay from Ibanez's 9 series, the same lineup as the TS9. Like the Tube Screamers, it was built in Japan by Nisshin Onpa, whose Maxon brand sold the same designs at home. Maxon engineer Susumu Tamura says he worked on most of the company's pedals through about 1985, analog delays included, and Maxon claims the first compact analog delay among its firsts. The AD9's predecessor was the AD-80 from the 8 series. Maxon later wrote that its own AD80 and AD-9 are very similar circuits built around a single Panasonic MN3205 bucket-brigade chip, and its write-ups describe that kind of delay as warm, with the highs rolled off. The 9 series only ran from around 1982 to 1985, so any original is about 40 years old. Panasonic's old delay chips are long out of production, which makes a dead one a real headache. Buy a clean original if you want the vintage box. If you want the sound with true bypass, look at Maxon's later versions.