Ibanez Smash Box SM7

The Ibanez Smash Box SM7 is a super aggressive distortion pedal that features DRIVE, LO EQ, HIGH EQ, and LEVEL knobs to provide precise effect control. The SM7 gives you obscene amounts of gain, tight low end, and searing highs. The VOID switch eliminates excessive noise and feedback making for some interesting gating sounds. The EDGE switch allows you to select between two different preamp flavors.

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User Reviews of the Ibanez Smash Box SM7

Submitted by Zach from Clinton Township, MI (28 points) on Oct 15, 2013
Solid construction, good sounds. It sounds pretty good on guitar, but if you crank it, it gets REALLY fuzzy and will nearly obliterate your signal. The void switch is useful for this, it's basically a noise gate. Works really well chaining with other distortions, it's good for giving a lot of low-end to another distortion that has more highs than lows.

I have not noticed the issue with the footswitch that others have mentioned. The "edge" switch doesn't really seem to do much. I noticed that sometimes, in a feedback loop, it clicked and just made a high pitch whine and obliterated the rest of the loop. Not sure what caused this, it may be certain spots in the dials? Whatever it is, once it gets there, it has to be turned on and off and have some switches and dials moved. Sometimes I have to undo the chain to make it stop, which is why I do not use this pedal live. I have used it in studios, but it has caused a few retakes. Not sure if this is just mine or all of this pedal. Overall, it's a solid distortion and has good low end and plenty of fuzz, especially for a cheaper pedal.
Good Points: -good sounds -solid construction -the press and lock knobs are quite nice, never had these on a pedal before
Bad Points: -sometimes acts up in a feedback loop -"edge" knob doesn't do much -at some settings, it almost obliterates the incoming signal
Price Paid: US$24.00
Purchased At: A pawn shop
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Submitted by Michael from Adelaide (18 points) on Apr 1, 2011
I first put this in my loop and tried to work it in but it wasn't giving me what i wanted out of it, so i replaced my distortion on my vox for it and WOW. It's much preferable. The void functions help eliminate unwanted feedback and the controls are excellent.
Good Points: Tough build Knobs that can get pushed in:P Good on vocals Pretty cheap
Bad Points: You could probably seek better distortion elsewhere. The Tonelock pedals LOOK boring, not that it matters.
Price Paid: US$0.00
Purchased At: friend
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Submitted by AQ from Saint Louis, MO (52 points) on Nov 21, 2009
This is my favorite distortion by far. For me, I don't use feedback loops or long chains. The source sounds are what's important and this pedal gives you a wide variety of sounds. Full blast it's a fuzzy beast and sounds great on junk metal and vocals. With the drive turned down it's fantastic on tape loops and field recordings, giving them a nice crunchy boost with the original sounds still intact. Using the gate switch is awesome for vocals or any kind of mic use, alowing it to feedback when sound goes in and remain dead silent when you're not using it. Great for contact mics too, as sound only comes out when the mic is vibrating. Sometimes it can be overloaded by a loud p.a. though. I also love riding the drive knob on metal sounds, switching between clean to fuzzy with the results blurred by delay afterwards. The edge switch is really noticeable on more quiet sounds, not so much with loud inputs. One of my favorite pedals for sure. I would buy another instantly if I saw it at pawn/used shop.
Good Points: great pedal, strong case, long battery life
Bad Points: i have the same problem with the switch as mentioned by others.
Price Paid: US$20.00
Purchased At: pawn shop
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Submitted by Jon from New Haven, CT (80 points) on Nov 19, 2008
One of my first pedals and one I still use pretty often. It is a pretty warm overdrive/distortion with a dry sound, but it can be aggressive in some situatùÐns too, depending of place in the chain. It can work magic in front of the harsher DOD distortions. The eq switch is nothing major, but ok, and the lo/hi knobs are quite responsive. The major thing about this pedal is the void/gate switch which is pretty useful, it can be toggled in three steps to control how hard it will gate the signal. It's a great addition to most noise-arsenals, but will not make it to my end-of-chain position anytime soon.
Good Points: The tone-loc series are just well built. Versatile. Cheap.
Bad Points: none really
Price Paid: US$20.00
Purchased At: ebay
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Submitted by AULOS from Hereford Uk (488 points) on Sep 28, 2008
A very aggressive, Noisy kind of distortion. Didn't get much time on this one. I do like the Tonelok feature, good idea, things get moved around in transit. These things can take a beating. As for features, It's about the same Quality as a DS-1, if you are experimenting with the bass, try the "Phat Head" First.
Good Points: Tonelok is excellent. Strong take on Boss design.
Bad Points: Kind of basic. Good Feedbacker - Noisy to use.
Price Paid: US$0.00
Purchased At: Borrowed.
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Submitted by flies from Edison, NJ (44 points) on Aug 25, 2008
high gain. more character than a fab metal, but less than DOD. high and low gain controls are responsive. the gain knob doesn't go low enough for me. There is variation between low and high, but not that much. This pedal can smooth out the high-end of the input, which can actually make the net sound less harsh. not like a filter, it's like if you input a crackly sound then something more fuzzy comes out. My switch was having similar problems as mentioned below. I opened up the (very easy access!) battery compartment and just blew on the switch which corrected the problem. For now. I have had it so far for about a month. Another thing about the switch is that (at least on my unit) the springs that push on the foot pedal can make springy noises when you push it. This won't be a problem if you're playing loud, but it's annoying to me cuz i like to play quiet sometimes (i like onkyo). the smooth/sharp switch softens the output or adds treble. I'm not sure that having this and a treble control is very helpful. It's not a very major change and this switch won't be very useful for noise. the main use that i've found for this pedal is the gate (void switch). If you have a level control on the last pedal going in to this, then you can set the volume so that it repeatedly crosses the gate threshold back and forth, randomly turning the sound on and off in rapid succession. This creates a great crackling/jittery effect. put a delay and maybe a distortion after it while this is happening and you've got something interesting. maybe i should just get a gate pedal tho...
Good Points: price includes shipping. cheap. gate. metal enclosure.
Bad Points: hopefully switch problems will not return.
Price Paid: US$24.00
Purchased At: ebay
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Submitted by Iain David from United Kingdom (144 points) on Oct 1, 2007
This was the first pedal I ever bought. The Smash Box is basically a harsh headachey distortion with a few additional features throw in for good measure. The noise gate offers some interesting 'dead stop' kind of effects (there are three degrees of severity to the gate), and there's also a texture selector..... needless to say I tend to keep mine switched to the 'sharp' setting most of the time. The tone itself is fairly thick, not a huge amount of bass but throwing an octaver straight after it remedies that. The Tone Lok feature is in my opinion pretty useless though, and as stated below the footswitch is particularly reliable.
Good Points: - Harsh tone. - High gain. - Additional features are really useful and don't just feel like they've been tacked on to make the pedal appear more interesting. - Can be picked up pretty cheaply on E-Bay.
Bad Points: - That damn footswitch. AAAARRRGGHHH!
Price Paid: US$0.00
Purchased At:
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Submitted by series_ from Portland, OR (184 points) on Oct 22, 2005
Another great pedal in the new Ibanez series. This pedal is great just for the options it gives you. 2 knobs for EQ- High and Low, Edge - which acts as a sharp or smooth setting, then Void - which is a noise gate that has 3 settings. I got this because it was on Craigslist super cheap, but was blown away by the sounds you can pull of with this thing. A very unique distortion - one I think will end up being a secret weapon in the end.
Good Points:
Bad Points:
Price Paid: US$10.00
Purchased At: Craigslist
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Submitted by disaffected from Rohnert Park, CA (2 points) on May 8, 2004
my personal favorite distortion, besides perhaps the ibanez fuzz or the dano fabtone. has lots of gain, can sound good on about any instrument.
Good Points: lots of gain, tone-lok system is especially useful, void and sharp/smooth switch are cool features, really durable, no mids.
Bad Points: [Geetarists can't read, can they? ed.]
Price Paid: US$35.00
Purchased At: zone music
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Submitted by Lich from West Kingston, RI (22 points) on Nov 4, 2003
i borrowed this from a friend a while ago and he told me to keep it as long as i'd like, so it's essentially mine. it's pretty powerful distortion, and i liked it a lot when i was using it to kill patterns on a drum machine, but when i just hooked it up in a feedback chain, it made everything sound really shitty, or sound like guitar. now all i use it for is vocals. i turn the low knob to the middle, the high and distortion all the way up. it works well for that, and when i play the mic to the amp for feedback, it distorts that pretty well too. it's made of metal, so it'll last. and i noticed the same thing the other person that reviewed it said. it really is kind of finicky with the on/off switch.
Good Points: good when used for vocals or mic feedback. nice highs. it's made of metal.
Bad Points: i just never could get it to sound right in a chain, no matter where i put it. but i guess i don't know if that's just me or the pedal. also, it doesn't always turn on when i try to turn it on.
Price Paid: US$0.00
Purchased At: borrowed from a friend
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Submitted by d. l. from Wakefield, MA (204 points) on Sep 6, 2003
This has become one of my top distortion pedals due its crisp, modern, high-gain sound. The two-band eq is very powerful and capable of some nice searing highs. The two extra switches are a unique touch: a distortion type mode switch for smooth/sharp (mine's just about always on "sharp"... hehe) and a built-in gate! How many distortion pedals especially in this price range have built-in noise gates??? It's very effective; max suppression, min, and all noise through. When would you want to suppress noise? It's cool for subtle effects, like punching some hum in and out and minimising feedback (aaahahaha!). Also, this pedal can get pretty loud. Yeah, as with all the boxes in the "Tone-Lok" range, the knobs can be pushed in, which has actually been useful for me a few times when stepping on pedals directly above, the knobs aren't in the way. Sometimes the on/off switching mechanism can be temperamental on mine. My smash box always turns on but at times requires a quick stab to avoid turning it off in the same motion.
Good Points: all-metal construction, great two-band eq, noise-gate, nice gain, inexpensive
Bad Points: slightly finicky internal switching mechanism?
Price Paid: US$55.00
Purchased At: Guitar Center
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