The Ibanez BB9 Bottom Booster is a booster pedal from Ibanez. Premier Guitar described it at its introduction as "a booster that provides a fat bottom end and a powerful sound," designed to help clean tones reverberate even more and bring more intensity to a player's sound1. In other words, it is a clean boost aimed at thickening the low end rather than just making everything louder.
What the BB9 does
The BB9 sits in the clean boost family: it raises the level of your signal and thickens the low end without adding clipping of its own. Premier Guitar's Chris Kies wrote that "This pedal is designed to help clean tones reverberate even more and bring more intensity to a player's sound"1. It is true bypass, so with the pedal disengaged the signal passes straight through1.
The circuit runs three 4558 op amps at 18V, which the op amp gets from an internal charge pump that produces a +9V/-9V swing from the 9V supply2. That higher internal voltage gives the op amps more headroom than a stock 9V design, which is part of why the pedal can push a signal hard without breaking up.
Controls
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Level | Sets the output level; lug 2 of the pot wires to the output lug on the footswitch2 |
| Gain | A dual-gang pot with two rows of three lugs (six lugs total)2 |
The Gain control being dual gang means it tracks two parts of the circuit at once, which is how the pedal varies its boost character rather than simply attenuating the output2.
Circuit notes and the whine problem
The BB9's charge pump design is also its known weak point. Builds of the circuit have reported background noise, a whine, when the pedal is engaged, and the cause was attributed to the 7660 charge pump circuit2. One builder replaced the 7660 with an NE555 voltage inverter and reported:
"Worked fine with no noise. Great pedal to use with another overdrive/distortion!!"
That last point matters for how you would use it: like most clean boosts, the BB9 stacks well in front of an overdrive or distortion pedal, pushing the gain stage harder2.
The circuit fits a 1590B enclosure, the standard small-format box used for many compact pedals2. New units sold for pretty cheap, and used ones could be scored for a very decent price2.
In use
The layout's author, mirosol, used his original unit for recording with a Stratocaster in spring 2014 and reported that "it does fatten everything up in a beautiful manner," without hurting the Strat's sound2. That matches the pedal's stated purpose: added low-end weight and intensity rather than a change in character.
Players comparing Ibanez boosts today can also look at the Ibanez BTMINI Mini Booster, another boost in the same maker's range2.
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Questions
Is the Ibanez BB9 true bypass?
Yes. Premier Guitar reported at the pedal's introduction that the BB9 is a true bypass stompbox, so with the pedal off your signal passes through without buffering or loading the way a buffered bypass would.
Why does the BB9 whine when it is on?
Builds of the BB9 circuit have reported background whine when the pedal is engaged, and the cause was traced to the 7660 charge pump circuit that generates the internal 18V supply. One builder replaced the 7660 with an NE555 voltage inverter and reported the noise was gone.
Can the BB9 be used with an overdrive or distortion?
Yes. A builder reporting on the circuit called it a great pedal to use with another overdrive or distortion, stacking it in front of a gain pedal the way many players use a clean boost.
What op amps are in the BB9 Bottom Booster?
The BB9 uses three 4558 op amps, the same op amp family found in many classic Ibanez designs, running at 18V thanks to an internal charge pump that produces a +9V/-9V swing from a 9V supply.
Sources (2)
- NAMM '11-Ibanez TS9B Bass Tube Screamer & More FX, Premier Guitar, 2011-01-24
- Guitar FX Layouts: Ibanez BB9 Bottom Booster, Guitar FX Layouts (tagboardeffects.blogspot.com), 2014-09-15
