30 Pedals in 30 Days: Maxon’s AD10 Analog Delay and ASC10 Analog Stereo Chorus

Don’t forget to check out the video at the bottom of the page. 

Just because something isn’t complicated doesn’t make it simple.

Maxon once again proves that you don’t have to jam your pedals full of features in order to make them versatile. And you sure as hell don’t have shove a bunch of crap in there to make them sound good. The AD10 Analog Delay and the ASC10 Analog Stereo Chorus prove that sometimes the best way to offer players the most versatility is to give them a pedal sounds good and that’s it. For 30 Pedals in 30 Days, TheToneKing.com once again dives into the world of Maxon as we check out the AD10 and the ASC10.

For those who don’t know their history, Maxon was the company behind Ibanez’s ultra-mega-famous TS808 and the TS9. And, ever since, they have strived to keep the same level of quality in every pedal that they produce. This has led them to becoming one of the best-kept secrets in rock. Players from Killswitch Engaged (A TTK favorite), Asking Alexandria, Pearl Jam, Buddy Guy, Helmet, CCR, Marty Friedman, and Slipknot all don Maxon pedals as a part of their rigs. Players that know tone reach for Maxon.

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The AD10 is a bare bones 100% Analog Delay pedal with 0-600 mS delay time. To curb the problem of distortion on the repeats, the AD10 includes a special filter that keeps the repeats clean. The controls are about as bare bones as it gets. You have a Delay, Repeat, and Blend controls. The Delay sets the time in between repeats, the Repeat sets how many repeats there are, and the Blend knob mixes between the dry and wet signal.

While the controls are bare bones, the possibilities are endless if you know what you’re doing. Throw both the Delay and Repeat at 9 O’Clock and crank the blend, and you’ll get a righteous slapback

 

delay.  If you really want to get some sweet self-oscillations, crank the hell out of everything and everything you play will feel like you’re reliving an acid trip. The AD10 is also capable of faux reverb, double-tracking, and pitch effects if you manipulate the Delay control while the guitar is still ringing.

Not so simple, huh?

The ASC10 is just as elegant. A classic analog chorus circuit with wide a wide stereo split, extended operation Rate and Depth controls, and Stereo Outputs. With the ASC10, Maxon

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kept the chorusing effect especially wide so that it would sound like two guitars being played at once. The stereo outputs are phase-inverted, creating a panning of the chorus between two amps or recording tracks. Players could also run mono from output B for a more dramatic chorus sound.

As the Rate is adjusted, a red LED indicates the speed of the rate, while a second LED indicates if the pedal is on or off. Careful manipulation of the Rate and Depth can lead to 12-string simulations to a rotary speaker simulation. What other sounds can you get out of the ASC10? Well, that really depends on you.

Both the AD10 and the ASC10 are specially designed for use either in the front of the amp or in the FX Loop. They both also include a buffered bypass, to ensure little signal loss through long stretches of cable. And, both of these pedals are part of Maxon’s compact series pedals. We’ve said it time and time again. Real estate ain’t cheap! To test them out, we whipped out our small Holeyboard and found that we could easily fit five of Maxon’s compact series where we could only fit three or four of some of our other pedals.

Sometimes a pedal comes around that gives players the ability to sound unique. Depending on how much players are willing to tinker it, the possibilities of tone are nearly infinite. Maxon has managed to come up with two of them with the AD10 and the ASC10. Digital time based effects offer players options to set more parameters, but usually it’s at the expense of the warmth and depth of analog. Plus, unless you buy something really expensive, you’re at the mercy of what the manufacturer thinks an effect should sound like. With pedals like the AD10 and ASC10, players have the option to create those effects organically.

Compact. Bare bones. Versatile. Analog. These are just a few of the words that describe Maxon’s AD10 and ASC10. While many manufacturers are too busy trying to build a bigger house, Maxon is making sure that the foundation is strong. TheToneKing.com is always keen on pedals that let players be themselves, and, as we found out for 30 Pedals in 30 Days, that’s exactly what the AD10 and ASC10 does.

For prices on the AD10, ASC10, or any Maxon gear, check out: MaxonFX.com

Click here to enter into TheToneKing.com’s 30 Pedals in 30 Days Randall Give-Away! 

Randall Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/randallamplifiers

Product Page: http://www.maxonfx.com/compact-series-effects-pedals

Unboxing Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4ym8S9T96I

Official Full-On Demo & Reviewhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbSvhAeuTsE

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbSvhAeuTsE’]

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About the Author: Marc published his first novel Becoming in 2010. It’s a kick-ass book with monsters and dreams and stuff, and you should buy it. Since then, he’s written thousands of articles for TheToneKing.com, many of which have been picked up for circulation by manufacturers and other news outlets. His next book, Drugs and Pancakes, should be available early 2014 if his alcoholic editor can find time to work on it in-between destroying his liver and screaming about punctuation. He graduated from Roosevelt University with honors, which means that he’s not as dumb as he looks. He’s been playing guitar for over 25 years, which is almost twice as long as most of his students have been alive.

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