# TRASHMETAL (Ibanez TM5 Thrash Metal Distortion)



## SYLV9ST9R (Mar 28, 2022)

Being a teen in the 90s, I had a cheap Ibanez guitar and a basic Peavey as my amp.
Then, as I found the distortion of my amp lacking, I bought what I thought was going to make me a metal star, the Ibanez TM5 Soundtank Thrashmetal.
Well, I was a bit underwhelmed then, with the toyish feel of the guitar, and a bit of an anemic feel to the distortion. Still, I played through that and that pedal was part of my sound at this time, and the only pedal I ever had before I started back playing (synths then guitar) 7-8 years ago.



So when I came across the Vero layout for this pedal at Guitar FX Layouts, I was happy to take a trip down memory lane and built this, without the plastic casing and bad switching buffer. I've read that it shares characteristic of a RAT, but with a different flavor (I find it more focused).
Although I don't find the tone control that useful, and it really shines with the Distortion cranked, this was a fun, personal nostalgic project and I'll try to incorporate it in my playing, revisiting songs I used to play back then.

Stayed true to the yellow of the OG and went with a simple metal lettering design. Did a bit of virtual light distressing on the design and went without varnish to keep the grainy quality of the UV print, to give it a bit of character... I had a bunch of these little terminal blocks at hand, so decided to try them on the LMS 3pdt board just for kicks, works well.
As I'm writing this, I just realized I forgot the first H in THRASHMETAL , but hey, I find it a fitting tribute to the casing of the original Soundtanks (or to my metal playing...).


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## Paradox916 (Mar 28, 2022)

That’s awesome! Love the name.


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## Coda (Mar 28, 2022)

I have the Power Lead, and a friend of mine has the Soundtank Compressor, and they both have the same thing in common: the footswitch sucks. How was yours?…


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## SYLV9ST9R (Mar 28, 2022)

Coda said:


> I have the Power Lead, and a friend of mine has the Soundtank Compressor, and they both have the same thing in common: the footswitch sucks. How was yours?…


I recall the same sucky experience.


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## Feral Feline (Mar 29, 2022)

Yeah, "TRASHMETAL" is a hipper name, good-natured poking fun at "Thrash Metal".


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## SYLV9ST9R (Mar 29, 2022)

Feral Feline said:


> Yeah, "TRASHMETAL" is a hipper name, good-natured poking fun at "Thrash Metal".


Indeed, a "happy" accident.


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## fig (Mar 30, 2022)

That looks like a lot of fun! Cool Vero sir.


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## SYLV9ST9R (Mar 30, 2022)

fig said:


> That looks like a lot of fun! Cool Vero sir.


Thank, as much as I dislike outboard wiring, I have to admit this was a fun build.


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