Ibanez - DFL Digital Flanger

mirosol · Post by **mirosol** » 26 Dec 2014, 00:30

Wrote about mine to my blog less than a year ago and today i got a contact from a person who had recently bought one. He was concerned about the pedal since it didn't sound like he expected. While comparing the shots on my blog to his board, the circuit had a number of differences. He uploaded a few photos to imgur here:
And the crappy phone photos of my unit are up at http://mirosol.kapsi.fi/2014/03/ibanez- ... l-flanger/

Could this be one of those where Maxon factory has used another model's MC4101F based board for a DFL? My first guess was that the unit was modded or "fixed", but the added resistors do look a lot like the ones used on the rest of the board. I think this question is aimed at Dirk more than anyone else..

I've attached the floater factory schematic. Why, because i think it's good to have it here.

Dirk_Hendrik · Post by **Dirk_Hendrik** » 27 Dec 2014, 09:31

Sure you mean CF7?

as fro that board and wiring,
Rather odd. Since I'm fairly certain this is not the "standard" DFL board.

mirosol · Post by **mirosol** » 27 Dec 2014, 13:33

Yes, CF7 has pretty peculiar "fixes" on the solder side of the main board. But i've seen similar fixes on a few units from 10-series and couple in 7-series. DL10 is the first one that comes to mind.

But the board inside that one fellow's DFL still beats me. I have no idea what's going on in there. The resistors on top of the dual opamp do look a lot like the resistors Maxon/Ibanez has been using at that time, but the way those are wired.. And the rest of the pins too.. The compander and the digital chip seem like only two things that are where they should be and i'm guessing those two chips are in those positions on all MC4101-based Ibanez boxes from L and 10 series. What's even more puzzling, there are no markings of any kind on the board. Every single Maxon/Ibanez board i've seen has had model number in silk screen or in traces. That board has nothing on it. Except for that dymo label that has number six on it.

So Dirk, what do you think? Factory fixed or has the board been a subject to a hack job fix?
+m

shaun_guitarist · Post by **shaun_guitarist** » 28 Dec 2014, 05:23

For the record, this is my pedal that's being talked about.
I have no idea what's going on with it. But it sounds like a generic airplane flanger and I'm sad haha.
Does anyone know how long I can't wait for a response from reverb customer service? We emailed them the night I figured something was up and have yet to get a response. I'm really hoping I can get my money back.

Post by **modman** » 28 Dec 2014, 11:14

Ibanez CF7: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4179

loylo · Post by **loylo** » 28 Dec 2014, 11:44

Could it be a DCL PCB "upgraded" to flanger?
I can't find any gut shots of a DCL so I don't know how its PCB looks like. Maybe in lack of a DFL's PCB, Maxon took a DCL's one and adapted it for flanger (adding regeneration, LFO and delay time adaptations, etc.).
Or it may be an early prototype of the PCB, as there is no marking. Maxon may have switched from AOP in DIP packages to SIP ones during the transition from 9 series to the L series. And comparing to the factory DFL's PCB, the place of the MC4101 is slightly offset from the bottom side. Tthe grounding plane near the jacks is also way different.

mirosol · Post by **mirosol** » 28 Dec 2014, 13:02

I've never seen a Maxon/Ibanez board with no labels, so this is even more puzzling. A prototype would be more feasible explanation than converted DCL. I don't have DCL so i can't confirm, but i'm pretty certain there are labels on that production PCB too. Either way. This is odd and rare occasion.

What comes to Reverb.com customer service, my guess would be that they'll get back to you after the holidays. I think you should be able to return the unit as it clearly isn't what it's supposed to be.

rocket512 · Post by **rocket512** » 31 Dec 2014, 13:21

shaun_guitarist wrote:I have no idea what's going on with it. But it sounds like a generic airplane flanger and I'm sad haha.

What did you expect it to sound? I have a working one, sounds like any other japanese flanger from the era.
Compared to the SF10 / FLL the range is a little limited, but it sounds very clear in a pleasant way.
It is my favorit flanger (I do not not know the ADA , though)

shaun_guitarist · Post by **shaun_guitarist** » 01 Jan 2015, 17:22

I expected it to sound like the beautiful swooshing low end madness that made me love rage against the machine. I dialed exact settings from several reviews and the sound was just not there.

Ibanez - DFL Digital Flanger [schematic]