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16K views 73 replies 44 participants last post by  MERCYFULFATE 
#1 ·
A regular visitor of the forum is now involved with the electronics R&D division of Hoshino USA. They have put out an open call to the Forum looking for ideas for their expanding amp and effect line.

The focus and feedback is welcome regarding expanding these products:
  • smaller (25-50 watt) combo amps: straight forward combo amp at a good price. (ie. not expensive modeling, but maybe a DSP chip for tonal quality).
  • stomp boxes - looking for realistic suggestions that would appeal to a wide audience of guitarists.
All feedback, comments & suggestions welcome. Thanks... glen
 
#52 ·
Ibanez Effects & Amps

Amps,
Well I'm a big fan of Mesa's studio 22. That's pretty loud and Laneys VC30 aint excactly quite either so something 15 watt

What I would like from someone is a Cabinet that has 2 or three units of rack space. So you can build your own combo.

If Ibanez then produce a series of rack Power and Preamps
1st preamp very basic two channel, possibly solid state eg marshall 9000 series
2nd Preamp, Tube with reverb.

Same with power amps you could have a few at different wattage solid ot tube etc
this way the customer can order a cabinet a power amp and a preamp bolt it all together and bingo a cool combo that's upgradeable

Failing that a small tube amp two channel with spring reverb.

Pedals
What interest me are weird pedals. The Electro harmonix stuff (Dave I shoulda bought that treble booster when I was at the fest)

Most distortion pedals are terrible very few are good and only when plugged into a big amp. Eg ts9 boss DS-1 and everybody makes them

Simple rugged pedals stand the test of time. Eg MXR

Boutique pedals are too expensive for whet you get. I've built a few dist pedals and they cost roughly £15 but for this simple fuzz you'll pay 80-140 quid. If it's cheap enough people might buy them for the shell alone.

I'm starting to lose the point.
Basically Ibanez need to produce something as good as Laneys LC15
Pedal wise more interesting durable pedals. There was a post about a sitar effect pedal things like that that arn't the norm.

Everyone has distortion and overdrive chorus and delay pedals, be different but in a musical way.
 
#53 ·
Ibanez Effects & Amps

I just thought of another idea.

What about a combo amp which contain 2 different amp circuits? One for Magnetic pickups to produce the standard electric tone, and another for the piezo pickups to produce the Acoustic tone.

I'd hate to have to lug around 2 different amps each gig...
 
#54 ·
Ibanez Effects & Amps

I think Ibanez should stay away from making amps. I don't know why, I just don't see Ibanez making preamps, power amps, and 4X12 cabs. Their little toneblasters are fine and dandy. but I think it would be odd for them to start making 100 watt heads. Who knows, maybe they'd be 10X heavier then a Mesa Triple Rec...Since Ibanez is so in the metal scene these days. Would go great with a "Rock Guitar" eh?
 
#55 ·
Ibanez Effects & Amps

Again… I think people want 3 basic things. Tone, gain and versatility. Those three things are hard do well together. Most amps shine at one or two of them, but few do all real well. I think if Ibanez wants to make big waves with an amp they must spend considerable research and development time and money… come up with something revolutionary.

On the other hand, if they can make something that is "sufficient" AND affordable, based on the technology they already use… Then simply a healthy advertising budget will do. There are a lot of newcomers looking for affordable quality. There are many seasoned vets that would be a hard and expensive sell for Ibanez.

All I can say is, I'm glad it's not my job to make that decision. :)
 
#56 ·
Ibanez Effects & Amps

OK I REALLY like the artist pedal idea. I don't care how much you would sell those for, but there are soooo many people that would kill to get a cool pedal that's the brainchild of their favorite artist. Like me. That might be interesting, have a line of differently decorated pedals, like put the KoRn font on the Korn one, computer looking font on the Orgy one, etc. IBANEZ ARE YOU LISTENING!!! :cool:
 
#57 ·
Ibanez Effects & Amps

yeah, i think we're going a little too far with the idea of a "bedroom tube amp." Remember, it's supposed to be cheap?

So, here's a more reasonable suggestion... IMO, anyway. Two channels, one clean, one lead. (you'llprobably have to call it something else, so the nu-metallers will buy them). Gain and level on both. Clean channel gets a little bit of crunch going as it goes up, nothing big. Lead has stupifying amounts of saturation- remember, to the majority of the public, ibanez=metal. footswitchable, footswitch included.

Independant EQ for each would be great, but that'd probably add to the cost. So, go with a single three band EQ setup. prescense would be nice, too.

Reverb, and if possible an effects loop. DSP on a tube amp? *shudder* i hate to say it, but it'd probably sell.

20 watts through a 1x12. maybe 10, but not much less. extension cab output, as well. Headphone jack.

Maybe i'm being optimistic, but i'd say you could probably get that to list for just under $500. maybe $400 street. would it sell?

HELL YEAH. :)

All these other ideas have been cool, and they're products i'd love to see introduced at some point. However, pre- and post- eq, as much as i'd love to see it, would definately up the cost and complexity considerably. metal players generally need to be able to jump between clean and distorted sounds, and msot of them need to do it too fast to fake it with a volume knob adjustment, so two channels are a necessity at this level. Three would be overkill in a 20 watt bedroom sized combo (remember, it needs to be small to fit this niche). 50 milliwatts? it'd rock for recording, but i'd be shocked if it could put out enough power to jam along with a drummer, for instance, and at this level, you need soemthing that you can play with other musicians with if you crank it. trust me on this, this was me four years back. I'd never buy anythign that wasn't loud enough to at least be heard in the same room as a drummer. (a drummer playing moderately soft, anyway). Likewise, to a hard rock guitarist, amp wattage is kind of like the old "phallus" debate- "mine is bigger than yours is." WE all know how much a small tiny amp would rock. most poeple don't.

So, there's my vote, and my reasons. Eventually, i'd love to see this basic amplifier supplimented with a 50-watt head version (three channels, pre and post eq, the works) and a mini recording model (one channel, 5 or fewer watts)

Of course, if ibanez needs someone to help design the thing and do all the R&D work, i'd be MORE than willing to led a hand... *hint, hint* lol

-Drew

EDIT- actually, i may have missed the price point. you'd be appealing to beginners looking for their first "real" amp, so $300-$350 would be a better street price target. $400 tops. this might mean cutting something- maybe less wattage (10 would be totally acceptable, i'd imagine), probably the DSP unless you can do that cheaper than i'd imagine, and probably killing the prescense knob.

Also, maybe a 4-band EQ would be nice- high, low, and a parametric mid- frequency and boost/cut. would do a lot in the way of diversity, especially for the way it'd interact with the tube distortion.

(Edited by Drew at 9:03 pm on April 14, 2002)
 
#59 ·
Ibanez Effects & Amps

Don't know if this has been discussed, but here's my idea.

As for amps, I think the addition of a 1x12-ish combo of around 40-50 watts would be a grand idea. There is no sense in trying to make a good small tube amp, as there is far too much competition. My reasoning for the 1x12 is because I think many beginner guitarists are attracted to the name/price of the already-existing Ibanez amps, but may be disappointed to find their amp can't be heard over their drummer, bassist, large dog, etc. I think an affordable 1x12 practice amp would be great. You wouldn't need a ton of features. 3 band eq, pre/post gain controls. That's enough to keep most people happy. It'd still draw in the beginners, and maybe the larger size would attract more experienced players. If something like this already exists from Ibanez, please excuse me.

For effects... if brave, a multieffect unit might be proffitable. Are people still buying those Zoom things up? I really don't know.
 
#60 ·
Ibanez Effects & Amps

sorry Glen,
just for fun...

i think it wouldn't be bad to have sort of an expression pedal.
i always wanted to have a phaser which allows you to open and close the sound/phase with your foot.
kinda wah-wah pedal, but with phaser or flanger effect.
 
#61 ·
I second the idea for bringing back the original analog pedals, preferable in the TS808 series. I dont like the sound of the newer Ibanez pedals but am willing to part with several hundred for the old analog ones. They should be made exactly the same, electronics, case, stomp button, everything. I've got three pedals from the 808 series and they are beautiful.
 
#62 ·
I too like the all tube bedroom amp.

One more bit of advice - IMHO "gimmicky" names are horrible marketing tools. For example, Danelectro makes a bunch of pedals with silly names. Are any of them useful or of high quality? I don't know, but that's because I am not interested in buying a pedal called a "Pastrami on Rye." The "Phat Hed" falls in this catagory - the name is silly and therefore I believe there is less of a chance of me buying one. "Tone Blaster" isn't too bad, but I am sure there is something a bit more "professional" sounding that might attract more attention to the Ibanez amp line. I know this is superficial, but it may be something worthy of attention. (then again if I knew anything about marketing, I would probably be a millionaire by now)
 
#63 ·
I think (and dont all shoot me for this) but carvin had the right idea. I wasnt 100% impressed with the tone lok pedals, but carvins new pedals are key. they are cleap and sound great. i played thru an overdrive pedal the otherday and almost melted. now do the same thing in a stamped metal housing, and slap an iby logo on it ;)

Im not totally into the effects thing, i use none but a Ts9 tube screamer infront of my guitar. now this is where ibanez could sell me a pedal by making a good quiet high gain distortion pedal with just enough tone to not mud up my classic 50 (in a metal housing) :)

as for amps, I think the market is far too saturated. you are never going to sell a professional amp to a guy who has been a triple recto fan for years. or a marshall fan. I think the way to go is to do away with the tone blaster series and release a series of solid state amps ranging from a 10 watt 10" bedroom amp all the way up to a stage ready half or full stack, in 100 watts, something with professional quality and reliability that has the tone that todays musicians need, and should be priced within reach of most average players, to more or less compete with the marsh@ll MG series, which i refuse to buy because it says marshall on the front :)

but still in that genre, there is a major shortage of amps with good gain, and good tone, that are solid state. about the only real amps out there are peavey (the transtubes) and marshall (the MGs) and to some degree the randalls, but with a good marketing ploy the nu metal kids will be sitting around going, marshall who? :)
 
#64 ·
Yo dude......

I own an Ibanez TB25 amp and I think it is great for what it does. Great tone and construction........and looks very classy for a small amp :)


I usually run it through my POD. But I also have been playing it on its own a few times and, man, this thing rocks (especially with my Tone Zone pickup :))
 
#65 ·
Before anyone posts again, I think everyone should familiarize themselves with Ibanez's amp line:
http://www.ibanez.com/amps/index.html#

And, if you get a chance to A-B a Marsh*ll MG and an Ibanez TB-series amp, note that they're VERY similar in tone. I'd guess that the Marsh*ll buyers are paying a bit more just for the nameplate.

Folks should also remember that Ibanez is NOT aiming for the Mesa/Rivera/Dumble/Mill Hill folks. They are focusing on the 1st or 2nd time amp buyer, or those looking for a reliable SS amp for small space use.
I don't expect Carlo's TB-25 to sound like my Rivera, but it certainly got the job done in the hotel room where the Rivera would have been massive overkill (actually, the Rivera is overkill at the Meadowlands. LOL)

Now we should be back on track...aiming for the right thing...
 
#66 ·
Kevan, obviously i intend no disrespect by this, but i think with a bit of a push Ibanez could give the Mesa nu-metal crowd some competition. I mean, Ibanez guitars are a huge part of the nu-metal sound, and if you've got this rabid group of players all using the guitar, why not try to build on that brand loyalty by introducing an amp they would buy? I have a feeling that this probably isn't what Ibanez is hoping to do at the moment, and may be beyond their budget at the moment (dedicating that much time and money for R&D on a high-end "metal" amp), but i definately think it's an idea that they ought to keep at the back of their heads.

Ignore this one at will, of course. :)

-Drew
 
#67 ·
With the COSM technology for emulating amps we have received the POD and a multitude of clones. They all have the possibility to emulate a wide range of amps and speaker cabinets. That's too much.

I would like to see a single stompbox that emulates one amp with one speaker cabinet. There could be gain and a master volume as well as tone controls. This way we could have a "twin reverb" box or a "Marshall JCM800" box etc.
 
#68 ·
Re: Ibanez Effects & Amps

bob oakman said:
Most Stomp Boxes have a big problem… IMHO. NOISE! I understand that the introduction of noise is amplified by the properties of high-gain in an amplifier, but it seems the more you tweak a stomper, the more noise it introduces… Big problem.
Yes... a noise-eliminating circuit would be welcome.

bob oakman said:
Perhaps a built in power supply would be nice. I think people care about quality more than physical size and price… and who, besides me, uses batteries in their stomp boxes anyway?
Answer: Mr. Eric "Duracell" Johnson! :lol:

Now, seriously... Don't you think a stompbox with built-in 9V power supply would be too big? We would have to rebuild all our pedalboards! :D

Another thing I'd like to see is a delay pedal with a built-in expression pedal to control the effect. A unit of the same size as the Whammy would be great!
 
#69 ·
amp

Two things here:

1. Someone suggested going after Line 6's Spyder buyers...

I think this could work, and if Hoshino/Ibanez decide to look into it, I can offer one tip that would instantly make me buy their product over anything Line 6 offers -- model the Peavey 5150.

Hell, model the 5150 II, as well.

I'm madly in love with the IDEA of the Pod/Flextone family of amps, and while they do emulate other tones (and provide a few of their own...) they CANNOT emulate the tone I get from plugging straight into a 5150 head (either version -- I have both) and a 4x12 cabinet. Can't do it.

No matter how much I long to have a Floorboard instead a wah, an NS-2, and a MIDI switcher in front of me, I can't get the tone.

2. The main thing I dig about the Line 6 stuff is the floorboard itself, although not actually... Cuz the floorboard doesn't do anything. All the guts of it are in the amp or pod or whatever... all it does is control parameters.

What I would love is for someone to take the idea of the floorboard and give me a box which provides a digital wah (and I will hand it to Line 6 here -- NO WAH ON THE PLANET sounds as beautifully vocal as the one in my pod did) a selectable pre/post volume control, a noise gate circuit based on the Boss NS-2, and a tuner. It should also provide MIDI control like my DMC GroundControl (controlling up to 8 devices on 8 MIDI channels) and GCX switcher (letting you program MIDI Control Change messages into it) -- That's the one failure of the Line 6 gear -- their MIDI implementation is extremely elementary.

The kicker is that I want it to ALL be controlled like the Floorboard -- via a CAT5 Ethernet cable which hooks up to a box in my rack. I don't want any of my signal cables routed to the front of the stage and then back to the rack.

A Pod Pro with the amps and effects stripped out of it would be (almost) perfect, but realistically (since Line 6 isn't gonna sell me a one-off mod) that'll run me about $800...

If Ibanez can give me THAT effects set-up I'd buy it in a second. And then I'd buy another one. I'm sure I'm not the only one, either.
 
#70 ·
Since I don't know a thing about amps, I won't expose my ignorance to the open world. But I can make a simple suggestion about fx. I like the Boss vf-1. For those who aren't familiar with this ; it's a 24-bit multi-effects processor rack mountable. Personaly, I never use foot peddals during performance ; in fact, I don't play live ; only studio. So I would not mind to see something similar from Ibanez ; an "affordable" (400-500$) studio quality effect processor.
 
#71 ·
Re: Ibanez Effects & Amps

Rich said:
It seems to be the concensus of these amp guru boards that 50milliwatt amps fit the bill prefectyl.
deffinately that is a great 'bedroom level' cos when you got neighbours that don't like noise past 6 o'clock. There is no way of making a 40watt tube amp sound 'pushed to the limits'. A single channel would be fine as well (if its just for bedroom use) and would keep costs down. :twisted:
 
#72 ·
I think a stompbox that simulates a guitar cutting out effect, through a control would just be awesome. Or a stompbox that can add some sort of vintage crackle, kinda like a record through a megaphone or whatever theyre called... I know a few people who would be after one. Im not actually into the older sounding effects but they dont deserve to die... :roll: lol.
 
#74 ·
heres a nice question for ibanez:

why are the ts9 and dx ,fl9 and cs9 not made by maxon anymore?

and also the ts9dx is advertised as having the jrc 4558d chip in it and when i bought mine last year it didnt?

i collect ibanez pedals and guitars and have a butt load of them. not as many as rich though :)




now, to the original topic.


BRING BACK THE REAL "MAXON MADE" ANALOG PEDALS
 
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