Briefcase Pedal Board

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A couple years back, I saw a blog about someone making a pedal board out of an old briefcase, and I decided to make one for myself. I scored the case from the local thrift store for $3.99, and went to work! This is what I came up with. The board has a two-level bottom made from 3/8" plywood, with a slightly lower area on the right to accommodate a wah-wah pedal. All of the wiring connecting the pedals runs neatly underneath the bottom layer, and the entire rig runs on a one-spot power adapter.

Although these are no longer all the same pedals I have on the board, they are, from left to right:
(top row) MXR Smart Gate, MXR Micro Amp, MXR Phase 90
(bottom row) Ibanez DL10 Digital Delay, Ibanez CS9 Stereo Chorus, Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer

(far right) Modified Jim Dunlop GCB95 Crybaby Wah

I have since painted the bottom black to give the whole thing a cleaner look; I will post pics as soon as I have them. Thanks for looking, and feel free to contact me for any advice if you're trying to make one for yourself!

Review: Ibanez CS9 Stereo Chorus

This is the Ibanez CS9 Stereo Chorus. For the price, it is probably the best bang for your buck out there. Don't get me wrong, there are better sounding choruses out there, but all things considered, this one takes the cake.

I have had two of these, and one of the subsequent "power series" CSL Stereo Chorus pedals, and they all sounded great, but this one is my favourite. It was made in 1981, but as far as I can tell, there's not too much difference between any of the ones from the original 9 series.

WARNING: The contemporary reissue of this pedal is NOT THE SAME!!!
                *Click Here for a comparison of these two pedals*

Recently, I started using a vintage Boss CE-2 pedal for chorus, but eventually switched back to the CS9. The Boss pedal sounded great with a clean sound, but not so great when distortion or overdrive was added to the signal. I tried adding gain before and after the pedal, but the only way I could get it to sound good loud was to turn the amp up. The CS9, on the other hand, sounds great clean and with distortion.

Highs:
-Solid construction
-Warm analog sound
-Stereo outputs

Lows:
-A little noisy
-Limited controls

Possible Modifications:
-True bypass wouldn't be a bad mod, although if you have a few 9-series pedals in your path, the buffers tend to work well together.

Rating: 7/10