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Ibanez CP-9 fell into my lap tonight...


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Ibanez.CP9.jpg

 

Serial # 221151.

 

The guy had no idea what he had. I just asked to borrow it. He told me to take it because he had no idea what the hell it was supposed to do. :facepalm:

 

Ummm... OK. :thu:

 

How rare are these? How can I tell what year it is? Anyone have any experience with one? Tried it for a few minutes. Very transparent, tight sounding, with a bit of bell-like tone. Can't wait to pair it up with some drive. Best place in a chain? Before or after OD?

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Ibanez.CP9.jpg

Serial # 221151.


The guy had no idea what he had. I just asked to borrow it. He told me to take it because he had no idea what the hell it was supposed to do.
:facepalm:

Ummm... OK.
:thu:

How rare are these? How can I tell what year it is? Anyone have any experience with one? Tried it for a few minutes. Very transparent, tight sounding, with a bit of bell-like tone. Can't wait to pair it up with some drive. Best place in a chain? Before or after OD?

 

Before. Drives tend to add compression normally. Nice score though.

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OK, update. Did some homework. This pedal appears to have been built in 1982. I didn't find a serial# website to verify the date, but I found a lot of old ebay posts, music forums posts, etc. and whenever the people listed their serial#, the first digit seemed to coincide with the year. These early 9 series Maxons were only produced between 81-84. Like, some guy would say, "Mine's and '83," and the serial number listed would be 385146 and if it was an '81, the # would be 150384 or something. I could be wrong, but this is the guess I am making. If anyone knows more, please feel free.

 

It's got the Maxon mark on the Circuit Board and on the battery case lid, so it's true vintage. They're going from anywhere between 95$ and 150$, depending on the condition.

 

I saw a lot about Gilmour having this on many of his boards and using it in the studio.

 

Now for the sound, as I only tinkered with it straight to the amp for a few drunken minutes last night just to make sure it worked.

 

Of course today I woke up like a kid on Christmas, knowing there was a new toy to play with. I put it 2nd in my board as it sits at home:

 

Buddy Guy Wah>Ibanez CP9 compressor/limiter>Bad Monkey>Devi Ever Aenima>Small Stone>Guv'nor 2 plus>Behringer EQ>MXR Carbon Copy>amp

 

I have to say...huh.jpg. What a pretty, crisp, full sound. It's completely transparent, with not much "phasey squish" like the MXR--which is nice, but there is a slight tone coloration from the MXR--at least when I played through one. This baby adds no real sound effect at all. It just enhances and beautifies. Very special indeed, and the warm analog punch just sounds...mmm-mmm good. I think it gets my '57's to sound a little more P90-ish. With delay, it's clear as a bell. The "real" sound of the Carbon Copy shines through in defined warmth. Over the phaser it fixed the volume drop, or at least compensated for it, and the sweep sounds much more alive and pronounced. Didn't do much to the Devi Ever (nothing does: untamable beast) except eliminate a small amount of the feedback. It made the Guv'nor pretty ballsy, added a hair more gain. Over the Bad Monkey, it sounded like a vintage Maxon Tube Screamer. Almost identical, actually.

 

Lovely, lovely score. :love::love:

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The first digit in the serial # does not indicate the manufacture year, I'm afraid. And I'm not aware of any sites where you can translate a serial # into a manufacture date (like the one over at Bossarea) - either because Maxon/Ibanez didn't use that type of numbering system, or because nobody has bothered to crack the code. But the 9 series was only sold between mid-to late 1982 and 1985, so that's a rough date at least.

 

The CP-9 is a nice compressor, albeit a bit bright and noisy. It's not a super transparent dynamics processor, but treat it like a cool effect and it will deliver.

 

/Andreas

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Those CP9/CP10/CPL compressors are pretty cool. I like 'em a lot more than the dynacomp/ross. They're fairly similar in design, but the Ibanez uses lower noise components. BYOC has the upgrades as part of their five-knob compressor.

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Cool man, I wonder what else hes got?

 

I picked up an Ibanez UE-305 that supposedly has this comps "guts". Anybody know if this is true? BTW when I was trying the pedal out at the sellers house, he stated he didnt know what a comp was supposed to do. I told him it was a subtle effect.

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The first digit in the serial # does not indicate the manufacture year, I'm afraid. And I'm not aware of any sites where you can translate a serial # into a manufacture date (like the one over at Bossarea) - either because Maxon/Ibanez didn't use that type of numbering system, or because nobody has bothered to crack the code. But the 9 series was only sold between mid-to late 1982 and 1985, so that's a rough date at least.


The CP-9 is a nice compressor, albeit a bit bright and noisy. It's not a super transparent dynamics processor, but treat it like a cool effect and it will deliver.


/Andreas

 

 

Thanks for that. It just seemed that the "code" fit the bill, but I guess coincidences happen. From what I saw, these were dating between '81-'84... but that could be mfr. date, not store release/sell date. Like 2010 cars or something. :shrug:

 

Anyway, yeah, it is a little bright, but that's fine, because that wood they make the Epi LP's out of is as dark as Pluto. I'm using it as some sort of clean boost/mild comp. hybrid, and love it.

 

Haven't used it with my acoustic-elec. yet. I'm thinking it might just add too much midrange snap and obnoxious highs to the active pup/mic system inside. I could be wrong, and I'll be sure to try it.

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