The Ibanez Sound Tank BN-5, known as Black Noise, is a distortion pedal1. It belongs to Ibanez's Sound Tank family of compact pedals, a line that also includes circuits like the Soundtank PL5 Powerlead Distortion. MAS Effects, a pedal maker that has worked with the circuit, describes it as "a highly underrated gem of a distortion pedal"2.
What it does
The BN-5 is a distortion pedal: it takes the guitar's signal and adds clipping and gain, producing a dirtier, more saturated tone than a clean signal or a mild overdrive. Within Ibanez's wider range of dirt pedals, it sits alongside circuits like the SD-9 Sonic Distortion and the DS10 Distortion Charger2.
The MAS Effects custom BN-5
MAS Effects has built a custom version of the Black Noise circuit, listed as a one-of-a-kind limited edition under the name Custom Black Noise BN-53. The same maker also sells a do-it-yourself PCB for the circuit, the Dark Commotion, described as an Ibanez Black Noise clone2.
The original Sound Tank pedals are long out of production, so players looking at the BN-5 circuit today are generally looking at used units or builds such as the MAS Effects Dark Commotion PCB2.
Videos
Six string to rock
Bleach and Matches
Rhys And Donny
Sources (3)
- Dark Commotion PCB product page, MAS Effects
- Dark Commotion PCB, MAS Effects
- Custom Black Noise BN-5, MAS Effects
