The Ibanez PT-999 Phase Tone is a phaser pedal made by Ibanez, produced from 1976 to 1977 as part of the company's First Series. It is a compact single-effect unit of the kind players today group with other phaser pedals, and it belongs to the same Phase Tone family as the later Ibanez PT-900 Phase Tone and Ibanez PT-9 Phaser1.
Production, price and reissue status
The PT-999 was made for a short window, with TONEHOME listing its production period as 1976 to 19771. Its 1977 list price was 159 DM, the German mark, as recorded by TONEHOME1. The pedal has never been reissued: TONEHOME's entry states plainly "re-issued: no"1. That short production run and the absence of a reissue are the background to its standing among collectors today.
"re-issued: no"
The Maxon PT999 connection
Ibanez pedals of this era share their lineage with Maxon, and the Maxon PT999 Phase Tone is the pedal most often set beside the PT-999. RockBoard's PedalPedia entry for the Maxon PT999 identifies it as a phaser and states that "its circuit is exactly the same as it was when first introduced in 1974"21. When Maxon reissued the design, Guitar Player's reviewer Darrin Fox wrote in May 2000 that "the PT999 Phase Tone ($189) absolutely nails the meaty, low-mid warble of classic 70's phase effects," with the reissue listed at $189 USD at that time3.
Collectibility and availability
TONEHOME rates the PT-999's collectibility as high, while also rating its availability as good, meaning examples do turn up on the used market even though the pedal commands collector interest1. For players hunting related vintage Ibanez phasers, the Ibanez PT-707 Phase Tone II and the Ibanez BPL Bi-Stage Phaser sit in the same family of 1970s Ibanez phase effects.
Manual and schematic
TONEHOME hosts both the original paperwork and the circuit documentation for the PT-9991:
For anyone servicing or studying the circuit, the schematic is the same document a tech would work from, and it underlines how close the PT-999 design is to the Maxon PT999 described above12.
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Sources (3)
- TONEHOME, TONEHOME, 1977
- PT999 Phase Tone by Maxon, RockBoard PedalPedia, 2026
- Maxon Reissue Series Effects Review, Guitar Player Magazine, 2000-05
