What is it?
Ibanez MS10 Metal Charger from Power series. Made in japan between 1986-89.
Apparently, these units were a big seller. Which is once again something that i find intriguing. How does a very average distortion design with obvious fault in it become a big seller? I really do not know the answer to that question. Do you?
The fault i’m talking about is the low output level, which doesn’t rise above unity even with both, Level and Gain controls maxed. Gladly, this fault can be addressed with relative ease, as i’ve done with my unit. I do feel quite sad about that, as most people tend to think this is a collectible unit and so it’s ok to keep asking near astronomical prices for very common Power series box – with a built-in fault. No question about it. If i come across another unit in decent condition, and more importantly, for a reasonable price, i’ll grab it.
One of the dullest board designs in the series. The circuit design is quite complex with couple of separate clipping stages. As you can see from the photo above, i’ve removed one of the hard clipping stages to get the overall level up. Also swapping/upping one of the caps from the tone section is a thing i recommend. That way you can get more bass in addition to standard Ibanez mid-hump.
For some reason i’m missing the component side photo of this unit. I wouldn’t be bothered. The SML from Master series uses the same board.
How does it sound?
To me. Not much like anything. The more bass and omitted one clipping section do make it a lot better, but still it is nothing more than mild distortion driver. With the mods the overall tone is a lot more overdrivish than anything that i’d associate with a “metal” distortion. Stock unit works the best with a high gainer tube head – when pushed into the drive channel. Modded one works well as a standalone overdrive too. Not the worst distortion pedal there is, but definitely not among the best either.
Despite everything. I’d recommend the mods.
Reall cool blog. I dig these pedals.
If you want to increase the output level without altering the original sound from the MS10/SML, you may consider replacing r58, a 10k resistor, with a lower value, something like 330 ohms. In this way it will get louder, pretty much like any other distortion box, but with its trademark sound intact!
Sorry, but what do you mean by swapping/upping one of the cabs…?
“Caps”- as in capacitors. Check the schematic and see how the tone stack is done. Then figure out which is cutting the lows and change (or swap) that capacitor to higher value (up) to let lower frequencies through.
+m
my comment doesn’t seem to be visable
Due to spam crap, all comments are moderated and thus, appear once i’ve checked them….
+m
The suggestion of replacing R58 with 330 ohms instead of 10k ohms works really well. With every control at noon the output level sounds almost as loud as bypassed. I actually measured the output signal and in fact it only sounds like unity gain but with 330 ohms it is still a little lower than that. I didn’t try to just use 100 ohms at this point but tried before with 1k. But because there was no big difference between 1k and 330 ohms I was afraid that using an even lower resistance would have no more effect on the level but eventually will have other unexpected effects on electronics and sound.
hi,
i did some diodes cutting on mine,
(3+4) and this pedal now works quite good for
my overdive/rock blues stuff.
not the best for distortion or metal tones,
but overall cheap to get, and for the price
a solid and versatile pedal.
Just did this to my MS10 (removed D5 & 6) and Im very satisfied. As promised it is a very TS9 kind of sound. Works for me, that’s what I wanted to drive a tube amp anyway (and I get to use a pedal I would have otherwise sold)
Hi,
I cut the diodes 3,4,5,6
Now it sounds really great. Very dynamic and open. Nice overdrive sound.
I really recommend this mod.
Before I hated the pedal.
Hi!
I went on a little different road, changed the r58 for the volume (thanks), took away D1-D2/D3-D4 and changed D5 & D6 with a BAT41 and a BAT42. Now it’s a dirty distortion.
I have an MS10 that I bought in the late ’80s I do remember that when I got it I was concerned about the unity gain, then I discovered that it was effectively unity gain with the distortion and level at 12:00 and then I never worried about it ever again. I’ve always loved this pedal and have typically run a klon or something similar directly after it, particularly if I’m using my JC.
Thanks for the mods. I have one lying around and will try.
Why was this a big seller? Mid to late 1980s all the long haired kids wanted to play in metal bands (I was one of them). In all the metal fanzines was advertisement for Ibanez Metal Charger, AFAIK the only pedal with “metal” in the name at the time. So I ordered one, like lots of those metalheads. This was my first pedal and I had no internet to look up stuff. It did not take long to realize, that the pedal was bad.