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Ibanez Tone-Lok CF7 Chorus Flanger
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The Ibanez CF7 Tone-Lok stompbox is highly versatile, capable of producing vintage chorus, flange, and modern modulation guitar effects, everything from shimmering soundscapes to jet plane whooshes. A Krazy switch lets you choose between normal and whack'd modes. -
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On the outside, Tone-Lok effects are equipped with the Ibanez exclusive set and forget Push-Lok rotary pots. Push the knobs down and your tone settings lock securely inside the case'no more lost settings or broken knobs. -
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On the inside, Tone-Lok pedals feature hi-fidelity components carefully tweaked with the constant input from a new generation of Ibanez players. And all this great stuff comes encased in cool looking, road-tough metal boxes at prices the working player can afford.
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Searched Ibanez Tone-Lok CF7 Chorus Flanger in Reviews
A good chorus pedal for the money--plus a bonus flanger! 
| Ease Of Use |
It's a pedal, so there's no "programming" involved--just dial in your settings with the knobs and let 'er rip. There are four knobs: SPEED, DEPTH, DELAY TIME, and REGEN. These knobs, like all of the other Tone Lok series, allow the user to dial in his/her settings and press the knobs down into the body--locking them from getting knocked out of the desired settings. There is a MODE switch that allows the user to select between CHORUS and FLANGER modes. This is one of the nicer features of the pedal, as you basically get two effects for the price of one. There's another switch called KRAZY--this one allows you to select between NORMAL and WACK'D. The pedal activation switch is a typical push flap style. These Tone Lok pedals also have a unique batter access door latch. A simple little push of the latch opens the door, unlike BOSS and many others that require you to fully loosen a thumb wheel screw. This pedal sports an input and 2 outputs.
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| Sound |
I tested this pedal out with the following gear and order: Ibanez RG-570 with Evolutions-->Electric Ear-Candy modified Boss DS-1 Distortion-->Ibanez CF7-->Carvin Legacy head-->Two TubeWorks 2x12 cabinets. When running the CF7 on the clean channel, there's a nice full and fat chorus--it really doubled up the tone. I had the SPEED set at about 8 o'clock position, DEPTH set at 12 o'clock, DELAY TIME at 12 o'clock, and REGEN at 9 o'clock. I especially like the way this sounds on the clean channel with my neck Evolution. Next, I tested it with the same settings through my modified BOSS DS-1 to see how it would fatten up my sound. I was completely amazed! I got a thick and mildy surupy tone that I immediately fell in love with. I like running the distortion first in my chain and into the chorus, and I liked it best with the bridge Evolution. After playing with the CHORUS side of the pedal, i switched over to the FLANGER side. I kept the same dial settings and just went for it. I like the sound I got from the clean channel, and just had to jam Dokken's It's Not Love intro two-string picking with that sweet flange--I was able to nail it! Next, I tried it with the distortion--again, I fell in love with it. It's got that nice jet airplane flange effect. When I set all of the dials at almost the lowest settings, but with the DEPTH at about the 12 o'clock position, I was able to get very close to George Lynch's Under Lock and Key tone. now the feature that baffles me is the KRAZY switch--it just seems to make the tone garbled. I didn't see any real use for it.
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| Reliability |
The case is plastic, but seems sturdy--I wouldn't let an elephant step on it. With proper care, this pedal will last me a long time.
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| Customer Support |
N/A
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| Liked about it |
1. The price--I got a used one for $20.00
2. You get 2 pedals in one--CHORUS and FLANGER
3. The Tone Lok dials are one of the best effects pedal features to come along---ever!
4. Ibanez is MY brand, so I'll always try out their stuff when given the opportunity.
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| Didn't like |
I can do without the KRAZY switch--seems to serve no real purpose other than to just make a complete mess of all the setings you dial in.
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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4.5 |
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Great pedal for budget-conscious players
| Ease Of Use |
This is my first experience with the Ibanez Tone-Lok range and I have to say they are built incredibly well. Nice solid casing, and the battery access is brilliant. Somewhere along the lines of the Boss design, but far easier with a nice little latch to open battery compartment under the switch.
The pedals also run on the standard 9 volt battery or Boss style power supply.
Ibanez offer the usual suspects with the CF7's main control interface. You have speed, depth, delay time and regen. All controls provide ample range to dial in the sounds you are after, no matter how subtle or crazy they may be. It is very easy to dial in any sounds you are after.
The icing on the cake is the Tone-Lok knobs. One of the annoying things when using pedals is that the knobs can quite often be bumped, losing your dialled in settings.
Ibanez have solved this problem with Tone-Lok. dial in the knobs, and then push them down, and they are locked in their dialled in positions, and out of the way. No more bumping the knobs with your feet, or having them bumped when moving them around. I wish all manufacturers could come up with something like this as it is almost what I would consider revolutionary.
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| Sound |
The CF7 offers a number of different base sounds. As the name would suggest it can do chorus and flanger sounds. It also has a "Krazy" switch which gives you "Normal" and "Wack'd" settings. Normal gives you the usual sounds from your chorus and flanger, the Wack'd setting adds another dimension with an almost tremolo type ring modulation effect.
I'm not a big fan of chorus effects, but I have had a little play with it. It offers you all the range you would expect from a standalone chorus pedal. You can keep it nice and subtle, giving your guitar a slightly doubled effect, or go all the way with a crazy shimmering effect.
The flanger is what I was more interested in, and comparing it to the Airplane Flanger, which I had reviewed earlier. Ibanez have managed to make the CF7 quite versatile here too. It is capable of all the flanging type sounds you would want to create, and it does quite a good job of it too. From suble effects, to extreme jet plane wooshing, slow and fast settings, the CF7 definitely has the range to do the whole lot.
It doesn't quite have the range of tones and effects that the Airplane Flanger has, but it is probably more than acceptable for the majority of users.
I didn't find any real use for the "Wack'd" mode, but those after pushing the boundaries of tone and noise may find a great use for it. I guess I'm just not creative enough to make something of the mode.
Now the CF7 sounds like it is a fantastic pedal, being that it is so versatile. There is a catch though. The Tone-Lok series are quite cheap, and being cheap something has to give. The chassis construction is first rate, and any sound you want is very easy to dial in. The issue is that the pedal is quite noisy. To keep costs down Ibanez have obviously used some lower quality electronic components.
So while it's a shame that the pedal is a little noisy, it doesn't really detract from the CF7's appeal. It's a great value pedal for budget-conscious people, and it's also built to last. Many beginners and bedroom players will probably dig the sounds they can make with the CF7, and in conjunction with a noise gate it would probably satisfy live performers too.
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| Reliability |
As mentioned previous, the Tone-Lok pedals are built incredibly well. They are very solid, and the pedal switch seems to be quite reasonable. It should be quite capable of standing up to the rigours of a live show.
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| Customer Support |
I have found the Australian Ibanez distributors to be quite good over the years.
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| Liked about it |
Very versatile pedal capable of a wide range of chorus and flanger tones.
* Construction is nice and solid.
* Tone-Lok knobs are revolutionary!
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| Didn't like |
A bit too noisy when in use.
* Wack'd mode a bit useless for me.
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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3.0 |
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internal use: spec21 spec636
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