Ibanez CS9 Stereo Chorus

The Ibanez CS9 Stereo Chorus is a chorus pedal from Ibanez's 9 Series, produced from 1982 to 1984 and sold under the Ibanez name in a purple enclosure. JHS Pedals, in a history of chorus pedals, describes the circuit as "pretty much a CE-2 with a faster rate and a little more depth, so it's more intense overall"¹². It was released alongside the TS9 Tube Screamer, which JHS calls "the pedal that most people know"¹.

What it does to your sound

The CS9 is a stereo chorus: it splits your signal and detunes a copy of it, and the INV output lets you run the two voices apart for a wide, two-amp spread. Fromel Electronics, a shop that mods the pedal, calls it "impeccable in stereo using the INV output" and describes the sound as "A chorus with a singing, vocal quality all its own"³¹.

One thing to know before buying or modding one: the stock circuit is a creature of its era.

History and versions

The CS9 belongs to the 9 Series, the same early-1980s Ibanez line as the TS9 Tube Screamer¹. TONEHOME dates the production run from 1982 to 1984 and records a reissue running from 2004 to the present, with availability rated very good².

The circuit's family tree runs wider than the CE-2 comparison suggests:

• The vintage pedal was built by Maxon and sold as an Ibanez³.
• Maxon's own CS-9 Stereo Chorus Pro is, per David Szabados at Legendary Tones, "an updated version of its own earlier chorus unit, which it also built under the Ibanez name"⁴.
• JHS Pedals traces the lineage forward: Ibanez followed the CS9 with a Stereo Chorus from the Power series in 1985 and a Super Stereo Chorus from the 10 series in 1986, both modified versions of the CS9 circuit¹. The 10 series unit is covered on the Ibanez SC10 Super Stereo Chorus page.
• The CS-9 Stereo Chorus also appeared as the last effect in the Ibanez UE 305 multi-effect unit, per Pedal of the Day⁵.

The CE-2 comparison

The pedal players most often hold up next to the CS9 is the Boss CE-2, produced from 1979 to 1982. TONEHOME's page on the CE-2 notes that "it is mono and has a remarkable mid-boost"⁶¹. So the practical difference for a player is that the CS9 gives you stereo outputs and, per JHS, a faster rate and more depth, while the CE-2 is a mono pedal with its own mid character¹⁶.

Who has used one

Jazz guitarist John Scofield used a CS-9. Tim Mahoney, writing in Premier Guitar about hunting down oddball pedals, recalled "finding out he used a CS-9, so I had to get one"⁷.

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