AD-80 Analog Delay

I use my two in the studio as my analog delay sends. i do dance music and film music. It's got noise and distortion but it's kinda hard to explain how welcome it is... don't allow yourself to veto this until you hear one, then you'll understand the top rating it receives from every owner. It's exactly like having a top shelf valve amp. Distorts and noisy just right. The repeats are the closest I've ever heard to tape echo. I use it side-by-side with the Boss RE-20. It's all a dance and dub maker's dream. I used to use a Roland RE201 but we all got sick of the maintenance. (That's why there's so many vintage Space Echos for sale, they're good but no one my age wants to spend time with the thing on the blocks every few months.) It gets a 10/10 because it sounds exactly like what you hear on records. Go figure.

Never broken down. It's Maxon disguised as Ibanez. They never break. You should see the prices the beaters get on ebay! They do not break. Incredible. Someone else here said his dad's was broken and his friend fixed it, without a manual I'll bet. 1st time I heard of one breaking was on this forum. Built like a brick ****house. It's been out gigging with me but now they're too small and too valuable. One fat coat pocket from a passing stranger...

Easy to get an incredible sound out of this. Hands on organic. I never had the manual since I bought it 20yrs ago. Easy I tell you, easy. There is no upgrade path for this, but just be gentle tweaking the trim pots for longer delay, very gentle, and it will pay you back in cups overflowing with sweet fat repeats. I have both the Maxon and Ibanez versions... What versions? They're exactly the same! I had no trouble buying an 18v supply in the 80's. I don't know what all these other guys on this forum are on about. If you want lesser quality sound, get a 9v delay unit. If you want to use it a lot (and you will) buy an 18v power supply. Batteries last for 2 gigs and make no sense.

I have never called Ibanez for anything. The Japanese are proud and they are true craftsmen. (How can you upgrade a Rolex?) The company is helpful in that they make gear that doesn't break. Now that's what I call Customer Service!

I play and record and release dance, dub, latin, production & film music. I've been playing for over 20 years. I have just bought a backup unit from a seller in Japan and it makes my analog delay sends a stereo heaven. This is the only delay you should own, get as many as you can afford (this is not b/s). It feels just right, my ears like it, my clients love it. My Colombian dub artist client thinks it sounds beyond belief, he tweaks and tweaks and makes long songs out of 4 bar phrases. I bought the first one in the 80's for $300 and the 2nd one on ebay last week for $269. Both 2nd hand. Australia is expensive. But so is cheap equipment, if you know what I mean. My local 2nd hand music shop sells them starting at AUD$350. that's $340 US at today's rate. I have 2 other Ibanez delays, the AD-9 and AD99, plus the usual Alesis and tc electronic NR-1. Except for the tc, they're all a bit less musical than this one. I take them to gigs now because they'll never be as valuable. They're good, no doubt, but not like this one. This one stays home. (The tc is in another class...) It helps me make music. Oh, It helps me make music. Yes, it helps me make music. Don't be afraid to tweak the trim pots. Be careful opening and closing the unit, don't force the screws, no need to. Make sure the Philips head fits without slipping, buy a new screwdriver if it's not grabbing properly. Don't kid yourself. Use a small screwdriver and massage the trim pots, never over turn them, they have gentle souls these little pots. These things are small, well-made, expensive and worth the extra care. You'll need good tools for other projects later. I wish two of the trim pots were on the outside. Maybe a mod...? Nah, too valuable. One day you'll thank me.

here's where it gets really nice. you can get those 'empty room' sounds, over an slapback echo to a nice soundcarpet. and those freaky alien sounds, I just love 'em!! I use a gibson nighthawk tru boss OS-2, a wah-wah and digitech chorus to a H&K metroverb. you notice how the 18 volts affects your sound, it coulors your sound as you turn your effect on. It inspired me to make a lot of new sounds and even songs, just based on something that came out of this little, pink pedal.

well, it's really old, I got it from my father and when he gave it to me, this pedal was dead. So I went to a friend who does electronics and asked if he could fix it. Few months later he brought me a fine working, nice sounding analog delay. And how thankful I was!! but just a few weeks ago the adapter input died, so now I have to use batteries.

Just having three knobs, it's not quit hard to get a decent tone. The time knob is a bit short, I mean that there's a lot of difference with just a little tweak, but at 5 o' clock it's still a quit short delay. And if you want a relativaly quite delay, you'll have to tweak the level button almost at his lowest. overall it's a simple pedal, but one complaint: it needs 18 volts and it's really hard to find an 18 volt adapter, so OR you'll keep buying batteries OR you'll have to search a bit longer for a 18 volts adapter.

It's such a wonderful effect, befor this delay I just kind of ignored delay, I thought it was unuseful, or only for solo's, but now I use it in al types of song. It's really warm and coulorful and inspiring. And the alien stuff is really cool. only matter that bores me is that once in a while when I step on the pedal it doesn't work exactly as it should, so I have to step real carefull, but that's no big deal, not for this pedal