Ibanez Soundtank & ToneLok pedal footswitch fix

  • Thread starter Thread starter MadAsAHatter
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MadAsAHatter
MadAsAHatter
Well-known member
It's pretty well known that these series of pedals have a footswitch that it somewhat unreliable and doesn't always trigger. The fix for this isn't very well known though. As I just finished doing the fix on my TS7 I figured I'd pass it along. Hopefully it will help someone get their pedal back in order.

The problem isn't actually with the switch itself, rather the capacitor that's connected to it. When new the flip-flip switch is pretty tight, but develops some bounciness to it. The cap connected to the switch is .001uF and is unable to handle this bounciness causing the switch to trigger unreliable. It needs to be a larger value.

The fix:
Look for the .001uF capacitor that is connected to switch and change it to a .01uF capacitor. Instant fix and you will no longer have any issues with the switch triggering unreliably.
This works for both the Soundtank and ToneLok series pedals.

Link to the capacitors I used:
0.01uf 50V Ceramic Disc Capacitors


The capacitor is not always labeled the same for each pedal, but it will always be the one connected to the switch.

These are the ones I've personally done and know for sure are:
Tube Screamer TS7 - C50
Tube Screamer TS5 - C3
Power Lead PL5 - C27
Thrash Metal TM5 - C24
Compressor CP5 - C3
Bass Compressor BP5- C3
Digital Delay DL5 - C4
 
Luca79 said:
I have a DS7 and EM5, if you know the position.
Click to expand...

I haven't opened my EM5 So I don't know the physical location.
I don't own a DS7, but if it's built like the other ToneLok pedals I've seen it should have a separate board with the switch. The capacitor should be pretty close to the switch.

According to the schematics....

For the EM5 it should be C27
1694903522581.png


For the DS7 it should be C50
1694903420719.png
 
I loved the smash box tonelok and the sound tank slam punk was the first pedal I ever had.

Sometimes I want to buy one just to revisit it
 
My first pedal was the PowerLead. About 10 years ago I got a case of nostalgia and tracked down the whole Soundtank series. Of course that was back when you could get them for $10-$20 max. The only one that was expensive by those standards was the EchoMachine which I paid like $75 for.

At one point I was wanting to collect the whole tonelok series too, but never got around to it. I only managed to get the Tubescreamer & AutoWah. Nowadays they're a bit too expensive to pick up "just for the hell of it." The listing rate seems to be $60-$100 for the Soundtanks, $80-$150 for the ToneLok, and $300+ for the EchoMachine. Crazy prices for something that cost $25 when they were new and frankly aren't anything special.

Here's my full set of Soundtank pedals. I don't use them often so they could use a little dusting.

1695070096762.png
 
I have used and abused an Ibanez DE-7 for years. It is my favorite echo pedal. My greatest fear is that the footswitch goes out. My fears, however, have been somewhat alleviated knowing that I can have those pedals rehoused.
 
MadAsAHatter said:
My first pedal was the PowerLead. About 10 years ago I got a case of nostalgia and tracked down the whole Soundtank series. Of course that was back when you could get them for $10-$20 max. The only one that was expensive by those standards was the EchoMachine which I paid like $75 for.

At one point I was wanting to collect the whole tonelok series too, but never got around to it. I only managed to get the Tubescreamer & AutoWah. Nowadays they're a bit too expensive to pick up "just for the hell of it." The listing rate seems to be $60-$100 for the Soundtanks, $80-$150 for the ToneLok, and $300+ for the EchoMachine. Crazy prices for something that cost $25 when they were new and frankly aren't anything special.

Here's my full set of Soundtank pedals. I don't use them often so they could use a little dusting.

View attachment 249299
Click to expand...
This is the coolest thing I have seen in a long time, and I am not joking.
 
japetus said:
DE-7's are so badass. The "echo" setting self oscillation and the ability to control it is amazing. It is a very warm sounding pedal.
Click to expand...
The DE7 from what I remember was pretty sweet. The EM5 will kill the DE7's echo mode though. Surprisingly the EchoMachine is regarded as one of the best echo pedals ever. Who would have thought from the meager potato bug.
 
MadAsAHatter said:
The DE7 from what I remember was pretty sweet. The EM5 will kill the DE7's echo mode though. Surprisingly the EchoMachine is regarded as one of the best echo pedals ever. Who would have thought from the meager potato bug.
Click to expand...
I had both, I liked the DE7 more. It's personal opinion but it has a fatter sound. The EM5 was a cool pedal but I never got the hype after it came. I used to buy the Ibanez pedals cheap because a local store would get them closeout and nobody wanted them. None of them would I really consider "classic". All the distortion pedals sucked, the tubescreamers were bought up by guys in the know, and the rest were just "boss is better. Still, to have a collection of all of them would be amazing and to play them all at once....
 
I'll take your word for it being fatter sounding. It was several years between playing a DE7 and getting the EM5. I remember my initial reaction to the EM5 was better than the DE7. I'm not the biggest pedal user to begin with. So who knows, I may prefer the DE7 if played side by side today.
 
I have both, and for me the DE7 is a more ambient kind of echo, more present and lush. The EM5 is a warm echo, but more discrete and work great for leads. Not worth the hype like a Klon not worth more then 300 bucks, but collectors are cork sniffers. A good alternative, and still cheap, is the Digitech Hardwire DL8.
 
MadAsAHatter said:
The DE7 from what I remember was pretty sweet. The EM5 will kill the DE7's echo mode though. Surprisingly the EchoMachine is regarded as one of the best echo pedals ever. Who would have thought from the meager potato bug.
Click to expand...
I will now revisit one if I see it!!
 
MadAsAHatter said:
It's pretty well known that these series of pedals have a footswitch that it somewhat unreliable and doesn't always trigger. The fix for this isn't very well known though. As I just finished doing the fix on my TS7 I figured I'd pass it along. Hopefully it will help someone get their pedal back in order.

The problem isn't actually with the switch itself, rather the capacitor that's connected to it. When new the flip-flip switch is pretty tight, but develops some bounciness to it. The cap connected to the switch is .001uF and is unable to handle this bounciness causing the switch to trigger unreliable. It needs to be a larger value.

The fix:
Look for the .001uF capacitor that is connected to switch and change it to a .01uF capacitor. Instant fix and you will no longer have any issues with the switch triggering unreliably.
This works for both the Soundtank and ToneLok series pedals.

Link to the capacitors I used:
0.01uf 50V Ceramic Disc Capacitors


The capacitor is not always labeled the same for each pedal, but it will always be the one connected to the switch.

These are the ones I've personally done and know for sure are:
Tube Screamer TS7 - C50
Tube Screamer TS5 - C3
Power Lead PL5 - C27
Thrash Metal TM5 - C24
Compressor CP5 - C3
Bass Compressor BP5- C3
Digital Delay DL5 - C4
Click to expand...
Thank you! I was having trouble even finding the pedal (thrash Metal) online, but it definitely has issues turning on and off….. you kind of have to hit the switch a few times before it will go from on to off and vice versa. I assumed it was going to be a switch thing, but when I opened her up, saw that the switch looked fine and was very confused. I’m definitely going to try this!

So, I don’t have the board in front of me, but it should be the first little ceramic disc capacitor (as opposed to those orange axial can caps?) connected to the switch that needs changing? I do remember looking at mine and seeing there were 3 (I think) of those right next to the switch.
 
FrankieClasson said:
Thank you! I was having trouble even finding the pedal (thrash Metal) online, but it definitely has issues turning on and off….. you kind of have to hit the switch a few times before it will go from on to off and vice versa. I assumed it was going to be a switch thing, but when I opened her up, saw that the switch looked fine and was very confused. I’m definitely going to try this!

So, I don’t have the board in front of me, but it should be the first little ceramic disc capacitor (as opposed to those orange axial can caps?) connected to the switch that needs changing? I do remember looking at mine and seeing there were 3 (I think) of those right next to the switch.
Click to expand...

There is a point where the switch will wear out where a cap change won't be enough and you'll need to replace the switch. Though you wouldn't see any physical damage to the switch and usually a cap change will do the trick. While you have everything open it wouldn't hurt to change both if you wanted.

From this crudely drawn schematic (which looks accurate) and picture I found it looks like it's C24 which should be one of those 3 ceramic disc capacitors that are next to each other by the switch.

1708620443983.png


1708620641355.png
 
Luca79 said:
I have both, and for me the DE7 is a more ambient kind of echo, more present and lush. The EM5 is a warm echo, but more discrete and work great for leads. Not worth the hype like a Klon not worth more then 300 bucks, but collectors are cork sniffers. A good alternative, and still cheap, is the Digitech Hardwire DL8.
Click to expand...
I still own a DE7 and it's one of the (very) few digital pedals that can do a convincing runaway self-oscillation.
One cheap pedal that could do it as well, is the Donner Yellow Fall, which in turn was apparently the same as the Mooer Echolizer.
These are PT2399-chip based delays; digital, but (very) analog voiced.
 
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