Analog Man Maxon OD-808 Silver Mod

Very easy to use. Three knobs (Volume, Tone, Drive). Manual had a few grammatical errors - appears to be from the translation - Not Analog Man's fault. Not sure if the dial setting examples are accurate now that the pedal is modded, but it appears to be a good place to start.

Sound is fantastic. I have played many pedals over the years and this is by far the warmest, most responsive, most transparent sounding pedal I have played. It really works well with the sound you already have. It just fit perfect for me. When on, it didn't make any huge sonic changes to what I had already, but enhanced it. I was really impressed.

I had no intentions of sounding like any other artists, so I can't comment on that.

The pedal works very well with my other pedals. Again, it just fit right in.

I use a 76' Gibson SG, 70's Silverface Fender Twin, and a Boss DD-5 Digital Delay......and now this pedal...that's it. Nice and simple.

Pedal is VERY quite. Surprisingly so. No noticeable hissing, popping, etc.....

Just bought it but, it appears to be built like a tank. Its got a good weight to it. Yes, I would use it without a backup.....

I contacted Mike several times with questions. He was very helpful and communicative. Purchasing the pedal was easy, they provided me with all the transaction information, and kept me informed of the shipping status. Very good.

I am seriously thinking of sending some of my other pedals in to be modded. Hopefully he can do something with them to make them sound better......

I guess I play dance punk. This pedal seems like a great match, but I'm not a professonal on this kinda matter. It works for me, thats all I can say.

I've been playing for almost 15 years now. I've had allot of gear over those years. Too much to name.....

I have used it in conjunction with several other pedals to record direct to get down scratch ideas. Mostly a Sansamp GT2. It has already showed itself as an important creative tool.

Only negative thing is the price. $250.00 is expensive, but so is most gear.

It's really easy to get a good sound - in fact I really haven't found any bad ones. It sounded great the way the knobs happened to be set when I got it back. It took me a few minutes more to find the sound I had been looking for.

My main guitar right now is a Les Paul Special, but I have a few others...you know how it is. Typical setup is guitar>Maxon OD-808 Silver Mod>Fulltone Fatboost>Diaz Tremodillo>MXR Analog Delay>Dr. Z Route 66. I also might run a Fulltone '69 in front of the Maxon, depending on the gig. I use George L?s for all my cables.
Here?s the thing ? ever since I got my Dr. Z last year, I?ve been looking for a tube screamer type pedal that doesn?t sound cheezy. Most of them boost the mids quite a bit, which is OK, or even helpful, for Fender amps (and clones) which have a scooped mid sound anyway. But the Z has a flat EQ, a much more textural sound, and it ?hears? everything ? good or bad.
I bought the Maxon used. I had already put in a Fulltone true bypass switch myself, because the Maxon sucked a lot of tone from the signal. That solved the problem when it was off, but it still lost a lot of low end when engaged. Also, the feel of the pedal overall was sort of ?choked?. It was compressed and really undynamic. The sound was OK, sorta trashy, but it was hard to find the right volume settings on the pedal because of the lack of dynamics. After reading everything on Analog Man?s website (and the reviews here on HC) I decided to send it in for the Silver Mod.
It sounds absolutely amazing now. The feel is completely different?it?s really not even the same pedal anymore. It?s everything I had been looking for ? it has that creamy, screamy, tube screamer thing, but on a whole new level. It?s wonderfully transparent, and that?s just the beginning. It?s sparkly, breathy, incredibly dynamic, full of harmonics and wonderful sustain, maybe even a little unpredictable (as in, I knew that was gonna be good but not THAT good) and IT IS SO MUCH FUN! I mean, isn?t that the whole point? When you step on your pedal, do you want to say, ?WHOO-HOO!? or, ?Gee, I don?t know, I guess I like it...maybe...? I seriously can?t wait to step on this thing again.

I haven?t had it that long...ask me in a year. I?m certainly not worried about it; I would use it without backup. It feels heavier after the mod, too ? I tend to think that?s a good thing. I always carry extra batteries.

First of all, the Analog Man website is great. Tons of information, instead of lots of fancy animation and pictures. Mike Piera has answered ALL my emails quickly, in a professional and friendly manner. I sent him my pedal and had it back within a week, and I have no doubt he would stand behind his work if I had a problem. And you can have complete faith in the cash-in-the-battery-compartment payment system! I love that.

In case I wasn't clear, the $75 price tag was just for the modification - I already had the pedal.
I play jazz, blues, R&B, soul, and rock?n?roll ? covers and originals. This pedal fits like a glove. I?ve been playing for almost 20 years, professionally for 12 or so. I?ve had a lot of toys, and this one?s now my favorite...OK, along with my Diaz. I love all my children!
If it got lost (who is stealing all this stuff?) I would order another one right away.
Comparisons? I don?t really think there are any. I had a mid-80?s TS-9 for years, but it was really compressed and mid-rangey. I traded it for my Fulltone ?69. I have a friend who has an original Ibanez TS-808 and I like the Silver Mod better. I waited a ridiculous 3 months for a Klon, was very disappointed when it arrived, and sent it right back. It?s not in the same league ? heck, at the price he?s asking, it?s not even on the same planet. I?ve tried a Voodoo Labs Sparkle-Drive, a Menatone Red Snapper, a Hot Cake, and a Blues Pearl Blue Balls. Out of those, only the Blue Balls is still around ? it?s fun, but it?s a much heavier sound, and not nearly as dynamic. I love my Fulltone stuff, so I also tried a Fulldrive 2 at a store, not through my own gear, and not on a gig, but...I think the Silver Mod is better. I?m done looking. The Analog Man Silver Mod is the best tube screamer type pedal that I?ve played. If you like that kind of sound even a little bit, you really owe it to yourself to try one.
The only additional thing I could wish for, would be that it would emit a powerful ultrasonic mind-control beam to prevent drunken idiots from requesting Mustang Sally :-)

This pedal is straight ahead. Level, Tone, and Gain knobs. After the Silver Mod from Analog Man, the OD-808 became so much easier to get a great sound at any setting. If used as a boost= easy. If used as an overdrive= easy.

I use Fender guitars through Fender amps. THIS MOD ROCKS! It takes the Tube Screamer sound (which is already good) and takes it to a whole new level. With the silver mod, it was less noisy both on and off. It increased bass response dramatically while on or off. I noticed it fattened up my Strat and Tele sound instantly! It seemed to add a grit that wasn't there before and overall the frequency response was much better. This pedal is so versatile it can achieve many of the sounds made famous by guitarists.

This Maxon pedal seems to be built well and I know I can totally trust Mike's work.

Analog Mike is great. He has a quick turn around and is always ready to answer questions.

I play many styles of music and this pedal is perfect for all of them. I probably won't get a backup but if this pedal was lost or stolen I would buy this pedal and have Analogman do the mod as quickly as I possibly could. I LOVE THIS MOD! If you are in the market for a tubescreamer/overdrive, seriously look no further! This set-up is the real deal!!!

Quite simple to begin with. The silver mod just makes the knobs more useful. Before the mod I really didn't want to turn any of the knobs past 1:00 because of the harshness created (too much treble, to much distortion). Now I can get useful settings around the dial.

My setup-American made Strat plus (3 gold lace pickups)>Fulltone Deluxe Clyde wah>OD808silvermod>Tone bone classic distortion>sibechodrive>Vox AC15 TBX(blue alnico speaker). I liked the sound of my Maxon before the mod but had a couple of reservations.
1) When engaged, it effected my tone considerably . It was easily dialed too harsh and really sucked the low end out of my tone and was somewhat noisy at higher gain settings. It also rendered the higher pickup positions on my Strat useless making them very nasal sounding.
2) It wasn't true bypass so even when disengaged it still sucked a lot of low end out of my tone. The mod definitely corrected both situations, on and off. After the mod it has more low end (without comprimising any of the highs). It's much less harsh, more musical and much more transparent allowing my original tone to shine through. It also appears to be more quiet but I can't say for sure. It may have lost a touch of the higher gain potential but that doesn't matter because before the mod I couldn't turn the gain much past 1:00 without the sound going to hell and now I can crank it wide open, so it's kind of a "less is more" type thing. And one other very important thing. Before the mod, I couldn't use the top 3 pickup settings on my Strat because it just got soooo nasal sounding. Now all pickup positions sound excellent, very usable. And as for the true bypass, well, IMO it's the only way to go. So, if you like your Maxon but wish it was just a touch more transparent with more low end and a little more usable at various dial settings, I highly recommend the silver mod. I'm delighted with mine.

Yeah, I'd use it without a backup although I'd have an AC adpt. in case my battery died. My unit is brand new so I haven't really put it to the test but Mikes work has a great reputation according to the many reviews I've read on his stuff.

Mikes big on quick turn-around times, quick response to emails and he stands behind his products. Nuff said.

I only use this pedal with my Strat and my Jaguar(2 single coils with a 59 trembucker on the bridge) but it's fabulous with both. It's simply a really good sounding all purpose overdrive for single coil pickups and the mod makes the pedal sound and play exactly the way I want it to. If you're gonna spend the money on the Maxon why not go a few extra bucks for the mod and turn something good into something DAMN GOOD.

It's much easier to shape a nice full sound. The silver mod made the tone knob much more useful.

The chain of events: Strat, Maxon OD 808 "silver", Sparkle Drive by Voodoo Lab, Holy Grail verb., 66 Fender Bassman head,and a 212 Marshall cab. It seems more quit than before. I'm also plugging the One Spot into the back of the Bassman head. It may be a combination of things but it seems quieter. Here is part of an email I sent to Mike.
Hi Mike,
My Maxon pedal sounds great! I love the silver mod and I can hear the difference with the true by-pass. I don't lose the low end and the sound is more hi-fi. I don't know how to put it into words? The tone has a nice sparkle to it, kind of a shimmering effect. I couldn't be happier!! Great job!!

So far so good! I've had it maybe six weeks now?

Mike response quickly to every email! I have full confidence in him as a technician and as a business man. I'm looking to purchase one of his comp/sustain pedals as I write this......

I primarily play rock/blues. I would replace it if it were stolen! How can I explain this??? Aaaa yes! Before the silver mod it was like singing through your nose. Now it's singing with the use of it's diaphragm!!!!