YAMAHA
In the 80s Boss pedals dominated the market, but other manufacturers
were also producing high quality units, and one such manufacturer was
Yamaha, a company renowned for excellence. Over the years Yamaha produced
pedals in many styles but none were more stylish, in my mind, than the 10M 'Sound Device Series' series. Firstly they looked futuristic and almost Lego like. The knobs were sunk under the foot switch and walled from the front to stop accidental movement of the controls. Very clever indeed. The 10M pedals were all matt black and only colour coded by name. They were incased in metal and every bit as tough as their Ibanez and Boss counterparts. These pedals are rare now today, and there is not an awful lot of information on the internet about them except for blogs and guitar forums. I have yet to see catalogs and company literature on them. So my advice to anyone interested in them is, grab 'em while you can!
THE 10M II SERIES
THE 10M SERIES
These babies came before the 10MII in 1984 and had a grey casing
with colour foot switch. All the knobs were black and greay. Very nice!
Note! I do not own any of the 10M pedals but I'm eyeballing them on line all the time.
I'll take them all please...
THE 10M II SERIES
These were all black and had no painted
switches like their predesessors. I'm not 100% sure when these came out but it was around 1987. The knobs were black and colour-matched each model. There was 6 in the line up and I own five now so all that remains to own is the Graphic EQ.
DISTORTION DI - 10M II
I guess this could be classed as a hard-ass distortion, the sound is clean and
transparent with a rich tone. It sounds a bit thin with single coil guitars but
much fuller with a twin humber axe.
I guess this could be classed as a hard-ass distortion, the sound is clean and
transparent with a rich tone. It sounds a bit thin with single coil guitars but
much fuller with a twin humber axe.
Back to the future of analog bliss!
Aren't those knobs cool. Don't lose them!
Hear it on YouTube!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVrepEqCgYk
OVER DRIVE OD - 10M II
This is a nice over drive and it does not colour your sound until you crank it.
It can be used as a clean boost with the overdrive turned down full and the
out level cranked up. The overdrive sound has been compared to a TS9 by
some, but all I can say is it's a natural sounding pedal that has a
nice rich transparent tone.
You can't go wrong with black and orange!
Industrial good looks!
Hear it on YouTube!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjxiiepqeGI
Hear it on YouTube!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjxiiepqeGI
FLANGER FL - 10M II
This box has a nice warm, full sound and has enough
variation to keep most Flanger fans happy. I prefer the sound
of this to the Boss BF-2 which is a bit muddy to me. You can
get mild sounds to far out sounds and it is always
pleasant to the ears!
Purple Reign!
One from the side!
Watch FL - 10M II Demo on You Tube
CHORUS CH - 10MII
This is a fine analog effect with plenty of depth and
a lush sound all of it's own. It is mild in comparison to
other brands of chorus but that is fine by me. The 'Direct
Out' socket for stereo is in an awkward place and it is
best to use an L shaped jack to neaten it up!
Relaxing in the grass!
The Direct Out for Stereo is in a funny place
but that's what I love about it!
See and hear the CH - 10MII on You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nxbjH-Q8Pg
COMPRESSOR CH - 10MII
This was a recent auction win on eBay, it was cheap and at the last minute I thought I'd double my bid just in case. I won it for £33 which is pretty good for an analog classic from the 80s. You won't get anything of this quality new for that money today. I popped it on my board and it has a more elastic snap than my Boss CS-3, which I have been using non-stop since 1992. It sounds pretty quiet and who knows after a few gigs and some more chopping it may stay there for good!
The old squeeze! I really like the elastic feel this gives my Tele for country twang!
Hear it in action!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=golt-PiBGws
GRAPHIC EQ GE - 10MII
I do not own this as of now, but...
The most 80s colour scheme ever!
THE 20M SERIES
These were slightly wider and had more features. You can see the
word 'digital' in small letters on some of them!
Harder, Faster, Stronger, Better!
Size matters! The difference is this!
DISTORTION MBD - 20M
It's mean, it's chunky, looks and sounds great.
The 'balance' control blends two separate distortion
circuits making it a very versatile unit indeed. My first
impression was 'wow', the sound was big, very clear and there
was hardly any noise coming from it, making it very impressive
for such a high gain unit. This pedal sounds expensive and
you can more or less get any sound you want.
Under the hood!
How I love to see 'Japan' printed on chips!
SEE MBD - 20M ON YOU TUBE!
DSC-20M DIGITAL STEREO CHORUS
This is a very clean sounding effect and has three
different modes, Chorus, Alpha and Beta. How scientific!
If you put a dummy load on output A you can get a vibrato effect.
Digital meant an entirely different thing back in the 80s and
more likely an analog circuit processed by digital ICs.
A peep under the hood. It looks like a model
of a large factory in there!
A chip! This controls the show!
SEE DSC-20M ON YOU TUBE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUMbxku5skU&list=UU5s0pTM1NTM7ngNdtc6L4Cw
DIGITAL DELAY/SAMPLER DDS - 20M
This must be one of the most underrated digital delay pedals of them all.
The sound is warm and beautiful and I think I prefer it to the boss DD3. The sampler
is a nice touch too and handy for the odd moment you feel like playing over your own
riffs. These are rare now and you don't see them that often. When they pop up for sale you will pay around €100 for one. This one was bought online, the seller said it was not working. I got it very cheap and got it working again. The jack plugs are attached to the board and are held to the casing with two plastic brackets, this is the weak point of this design
which can move with use.
SEE DDS - 20M ON YOU TUBE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFypuqSf4Ds
THE 01 SERIES
These predate the 10M, 10MII and 20M series
THE DIY SERIES
Do It Yourself! Don't laugh, but these babies
were plugged into a masterboard that
had switches to control the pedal.
The socket!
The masterboard. Now isn't that Japanese
ingenuity in all fairness?
Hi,
ReplyDeleteamazing collection of gear. I like specially your pedals collection!!!! WOW
I was checking you pedals you have an Yamaha DSC-20M chorus pedal, I actually have the same unit but mine has no Out B jack or it's wiring, is there any change you could take a picture of that that jack so I could check how it's wired?
Thanks
Hi, Thanks for reading my blog. Sorry for taking so long to reply. I shall open it and send a photo so you may be able to repair it. Unfortunately, I do not own all the pedals, such as the 10M series, only the ones stated in the 10MII series and I own the three 20M pedals. I have no 10 series or DIY!
DeleteRegards, Alan