# Ibanez TBX 150H - Awesome amp for metal!!



## unsuture (May 23, 2009)

Ibanez TBX150H Tone Blaster Xtreme Guitar Amp Head: By The Josh
I am going on about two weeks with this amp. My marshall was becoming unreliabe for my gigging needs. So I went out on a search. I have had many amps from crates , marshalls(3 of them), even fenders(ugh). 
When it came down to it I was narrowed down between 2 amps. The Marshall JCM800KK and this one. The JCM800k requires a certain kind of cab with it which threw it way out of my budget. I just needed a head. So I tryed out the Ibanez and was blown away. This thing is louder than hell. And the distortion is sick. This is strictly a metal amp. Iam sure you could get some medium rock sounds out of this but I didn't try. I only do gore,doom, vomit gutter death. Stuff.
Now I am rocking this with a Shecter Omen-7 Ex which I highly rec and the Seymour duncon black-outs. 
I little side note about this amp. It has a dual control parametric Eq. That will be the core of getting your sound combined with the gain,volume, and hue. Thats a few more options than most amps out there. So take you time and play with it all by your self with no one around.
Ok so bottom line is this is a metal amp. It is a amazing bargain for the price. Ibanez is know for how reliable their products are. It has great tone. Lots of power 150watts. 
Hands down this is the best metal amp you can get for the money. The line 6s in this price range just cant hang with this neither can the crate amps.
Let me give you a idea of what stlye music I play go to 
www.myspace.com/unsuture so you can ge a idea of the style I play so you know where I am coming from tone wise.(The recordings currently up are not with that amp or guitar)
I highly rec this out go out and get it. If you have any questions about this amp msg me here or e-mail me at [email protected].

Thanks 
The Josh

Unsuture Ways



Here are the specs:
*Ibanez TBX150H Tone Blaster Xtreme Guitar Amp Head Features:*


150W at 4 ohms
Two discreet channels
2 separate 3-band active EQs with parametric midrange on channel 2
Normal Channel w/Switchable Overdrive
Hot Channel w/Switchable Boost
Gain and Volume Controls Each Channel
Reverb and Resonance
Channel, Reverb, Overdrive and Boost Footswitch Jacks
Accessory Compartment
LED Indicators for Channel, Reverb, Overdrive, and Boost
Effect Loop
*Ibanez TBX150H Tone Blaster Xtreme Guitar Amp Head Specifications:*


25"W x 10.1"H x 10.1"D


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## AeonSolus (May 25, 2009)

at last the TBX150 gets the deserved rating  can you post some youtube clips or even soundclick ones?? i'm thinking of buying the head too, i had the 100 watt version before, but got it stolen  

cheers


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## vampiregenocide (May 26, 2009)

Awesome, I was thinking of getting one of these when I upgrade my rig. What are the cleans like with it? I've heard they are one thing that lets it down a bit.


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## BrainArt (May 26, 2009)

Awesome! I'm going to get one of these. I played the JCM800KK at my local music store and have to say it's an amazing amp..... for crazy shredding metal, because of the no clean channel it loses versatility. I'll definitely get one of these it will go great with my Ibby guitars.


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## AeonSolus (May 26, 2009)

Just do what i did, stick a compressor and a tube processor (like the one from grant fidelity) and the amp comes alive


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## Rex (Jun 20, 2009)

For the price, is


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## Greg Price (Jul 8, 2009)

Would like to go back to a post by AeonSolus on 05-26-2009. I would like to know what type/brand of compressor to go with the Grant Fidelity tude processor, and how to set this up. I don't have the TBX 150H, but the TBX150 combo.. Thanks!


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## MerlinTKD (Jul 9, 2009)

I've gotten to test out both the 150 head and combo, and smaller versions as well, and I absolutely love them!

They're without a doubt a solid-state amp, they don't even bother with trying to sound 'tube-like', but Ibanez (IMO) used that to their advantage. The strengths of solid-state tone, the sharpness, clarity, and tightness, are strongly emphasized in the TBX amps. 

I find them very very transparent, too. They don't add a lot of tone to a signal, so much as really just amplify (and distort) it. Different guitars sound, well, different through these amps. Interestingly, they do seem to interact really well with Ibanez pickups, and I would surmise they would with DiMarzio's as well. I will say they seem to be biased towards the treble end of things, so pickups with a lower-mid emphasis (e.g. most Duncans) don't come through quite as well, IMO. It doesn't quite have the punch you'd want to hear from a PAF or JB, the way a bassier or tube amp would.

The 150 combo is exactly like the head, just attached to a 2x12 cab, so it sounds, well, exactly like the head. Actually, all the TBX series sound exactly the same, from the 10w up to the 150H, just louder and with more features. My current fave is actually the 65w combo, it would make a tremendous recording amp.

I disagree with the opinions about the cleans... I find the cleans to be very clear and sparkling, not warm, but very good (of course, I like super clear cleans). As I said, it's not a tube amp and sounds nothing like one, so the cleans are not that organic, almost acoustic sound you can get from a Marshall or a Mesa, but quite similar to (but fuller than) a Fender solid-state clean. I've found it easy to warm the tone up to a degree by boosting the bass and dropping the treble on the clean channel, using the neck pickup, and even rolling off the tone a bit. The cleans sound very good with some chorus and a little delay, too.

I too highly recommend this amp as well, in fact the whole TBX line, as long as what you're looking for is a tight, clear, sharp tone.


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## AeonSolus (Jul 10, 2009)

back when i had my TB100 (the previous version) head i boosted my signal with a Maxon OD808, Used a grant fidelity last on the chain on the effects loop and a Electro Harmonix Black finger tube compressor to add more tube "saturation" and compressing to my sound, worked well, until having tubes outside of my amp started being a trouble at gigs since they would break before or after some of them because all of the gigging hassle  but it really worked great.


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## ieatcrayons (Jul 30, 2009)

sounds good if you like the digital, piercing, cheap, mush all your notes together tone. i played it at a guitar store and it sounded really bad. if i was like 13 and was trying to start a band i would probably like this. 

i play a 6505 so all solid state amps sound so empty to me.


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## BrainArt (Jul 30, 2009)

"sounds good if you like the digital, piercing, cheap, mush all your notes together tone. i played it at a guitar store and it sounded really bad. if i was like 13 and was trying to start a band i would probably like this."

I like mine that I got. Maybe you just didn't EQ it to kind of open the sound up a little.


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## Intimes (Feb 10, 2010)

I'm selling one of these heads if anyones interested


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## blister7321 (Feb 16, 2010)

this is my favorite solid state amp ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
how much?


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## xLukex (Feb 18, 2010)

I owned this amp for about a year and played many shows with it. It is definitely a decent amp for the price. It has a lot of power and gave off a great distortion tone with the "x-mode" I recommend it if you're looking for a decently priced solid state head. I kept mine in great condition and had no problems.


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## Malacoda (Feb 21, 2010)

Cleans are ok, judging by that Youtube review (great review btw). The distortion sounds ok, but like ieatcrayons, I have a 6505+ so everything solid state sounds mushy and meh. This sounds a lot like my Line 6 Spider III 120 Combo - I worked out a pretty good tone on that, but it still isn't close to my Peavey.


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## mikeshallperish (Jul 27, 2010)

i have one and personally like the older model alot more. this amp sounds good for a solid state amp, however im sick of solid state and am going tube for tone. im running it with emg 707s and celestion speakers and it sounds too thin for me. still a good overall amp for the price.


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## Bevo (Aug 21, 2010)

I gave this a go and it was pretty nice, may even pick up a smaller combo to leave at work.
Those comparing this to the 6505 or tube heads are missing the point, its a SS amp to be compared with other SS amps.


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## AngelSKinGarden (Nov 11, 2010)

I own this myself and gotta say it is good for the money. If you can't afford really nice equipment at the time, this is an option worth looking at. It is not to be confused with amps costing three times as much!


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## Phlegethon (Nov 16, 2010)

had a chance to play a tbx150r and was reasonably impressed. the one thing that sticks out in my mind is how much the Q for the mid frequencies really worked at sculpting a voice on the gain channel. this is one feature I wish was on other amps, it was very powerful in what it did and bone simple to use


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## crush_taylor (Jan 15, 2011)

I just bought one of these heads a couple months ago because I wanted to get a decent cab for home use and figured for the price I'd get this head till I decided what amp I really want to pair the cab with. Let me tell you, with a nice cab like my Orange PPC212 this amp sounds fantastic for metal. I'm not too picky right now, but I'm so impressed with the tone and tightness and brutalness I can get out of it that I'm in no rush to get a new head for the cab. I'll eventually post a clip of my shitty playing...


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## conortheshreder (Jan 18, 2011)

Would this be a good way of powering a Line Pod xt pro?, By the sound of it't a very transparent amp which I'm assuming would be good for a digital Preamp


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## unsuture (Jan 20, 2011)

Here is some live video of the amp in action. The myspace links have gone down i think.


Thanks,
The josh


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## hubub454 (Jan 17, 2012)

I own this head, and I run it through a Marshall cab. It is sick, I've never had a tube amp so I cant compare it to that, but compared to Line 6 and Crate, it blows other cheap amps out of the water. From day one when I got it like 4 years ago, its been my sound. The reason I love mine so much is because not too many other people have it and its a unique sound, I dont have the same rehashed sound as every other kid in town with a Line 6. It has a mean overdrive channel, and an X mode that blows you away. I love this amp and it keeps me goin when I play. I play mostly metal, so the clean channel works perfect for me, so I'm not looking for too much out of it.


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## Heyitstahtoneguy (Jan 20, 2012)

I own this head. I run it through an early marshall lead cab. Low volume it sounds thin and digital, however, you crank this past 12oclock and the true color of the head comes out. I use a boss ns-2, and a Ibanez ts-9 in front. Definitely recommend this head on a low budget. I didnt like the cab, i do suggest getting an mesa cab or orange, since there thicker cabs which will help give it some low end!


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## ibanez1986 (Jul 6, 2018)

I just got my second TBX150H and I love this head. What settings would you recommend for a heavy/punchy metal tone??


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