Ibanez SML Super Metal

The Ibanez SML Super Metal is a distortion pedal from Ibanez's Master Series, produced from 1985 to 1986¹. It carries circuitry similar to the earlier SM9 Super Metal, which used two JRC4558D chips, making it part of Ibanez's 1980s line of high-gain "Super Metal" pedals aimed at metal players¹. For a player shopping the vintage market, that matters in two ways: the SML shares its basic design with the better-known SM9, and it has never been reissued, so every example for sale today is an original.

Circuit and family

The SML belongs to the same family as the SM9 Super Metal, a distortion pedal Ibanez produced from 1982 to 1984². TONEHOME notes the SML's circuitry is similar to the SM9's, built around two JRC4558D chips¹. The 4558 operational amplifier is a chip players know from a generation of 1980s Ibanez drive pedals, and its use here places the SML firmly in that era of Ibanez design rather than in the company's later made-elsewhere production.

The SM9 remains easier to find, with TONEHOME rating its availability as good², while the SML itself also turns up with good availability on the vintage market¹. A player who wants the Super Metal sound but misses out on an SML therefore has a reasonable chance of finding either pedal, since TONEHOME rates both as readily encountered.

Collecting one today

The SML was made in Japan, and TONEHOME's listing describes a boxed, near-mint example¹. The pedal has never been reissued¹, and TONEHOME rates its collectibility as high¹. Its 1986 US list price was $110 USD, with a 1985 list price of 255 German marks for the European market¹. TONEHOME also hosts a downloadable manual for the SML as a PDF on its product page, which is useful for a buyer of an unboxed example¹.

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