1970s Ibanez AD-230 Analog Delay & Multi-Flanger

Vintage Japanese effects unit, super high-quality pro-audio equipment

After suspecting that the GX60 Ibanez guitar amp that I've recently come across was built by Maxon, the discovery of this beauty may have confirmed it. The circuit boards inside the casing all have Maxon stamped on them and it all looks super clean as well.

This will need repair, however. It powers up fine and switches between effects, but the effects don't actually kick in unless you crank the volume to the max. Something must be shorted out somewhere. Hopefully it will be an easy fix. When I'm able to find the sweet spot and this thing works like it should, the sounds are top-notch.

This has a very large following in the collector's market, like most 70s and early-80s Ibanez gear. Famous players who used this model, which was manufactured between 1977 and 1979 are Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead and Steve Miller. On top of being highly-collectable, these are also incredibly rare. I've seen it listed from anywhere between $550 and $1200 recently.

Thanks for looking, more high-resolution photos here.

1990s Boss SE-50 Stereo Effects & SE-70 Super Effects Processors

The first rack mount multi-effects units from the top name in pedals are still favorites of gigging and recording musicians 20 years later

Released in 1990, the SE-50 Stereo Effects Processor immediately became a fixture on the rigs of the top players in the music world. James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett of Metallica reportedly used the box to produce some of the sounds from their legendary Black Album in 1990-91 and Hammett had it atop his rack on the following tour.

When the SE-70 was released 3 years later, it improved on initial model and has since been used by acts as diverse as Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top to The Prodigy. The 70 is still the superior unit, it's not nearly as noisy as the 50 and the reverbs are definitely cleaner. One of the cooler effects on here is a Vocoder, which when used on vocals, creates that scattered, echoey sound that Tommy James got on Crimson and Clover. Kind of worth it for that alone.

These are still great to use on vocals and some interesting effects for guitars. Not really what you're looking for if you just want pure tone though. The distortions aren't nearly as good as the old pedals and you can get better delays and reverbs on newer, cheaper rack units. Still a great piece of gear for the gigging musician, I was able to pick up the Midi foot controller, so these units have the ability to store effects in presets and use the controller like a modern multi-effect stomp box.

Thanks for looking, more high-resolution photos here.