Maxon OD-808 Reissue

Sandard gain-tone-level (balance) controls.

I fell in love with the sound of this pedal. Whether I'm running it into a slightly overdriven or clean amp (Fenders here), it comes up with the goods. It's amazingly transparent: the character of each guitar shines through. The tone control has a very nice range to it. I wish it had a tad more gain in store but otherwise I'm very happy with it.

Doesn't really look like something you can kick around without fear of breaking it. Good thing I'm using it through a Boss LS-2 on my board, so I'n not touching it.

Haven't dealt with them yet.

A great sounding pedal, beefs up my tone nicely when needed. As mentioned above, I love the way it lets my guitars shine through. The range of gain on tap here is a bit limited, but paired with DS-1 Ultra, this thing is an essential part of my arsenal.

Easy.

Sounds terrible.

Don't know - gave it back.

Can't understand how anybody can like this kind of sound.

pretty standard for an overdrive, only three knobs

I play a USA jackson w EMGs into a single rectifier (on the vintage channel). I use this pedal with a Boss NS2 noise suppressor.

I play old school metal similar tone to helloween etc. I always try and minimise gain on the amp to let the clarity and punch shine through (gain is usually 12 oclock which isnt much at all on this channel). Mid punch attack for staccato picking is important for me and one thing I pay close attention to.

I also have a TS808 and a Boss SD1, both of which are fantastic in their own right but this one is a winner for me. It has less mid range "nasal" punch than the TS808 and is the most neutral sounding of all three which is perfect since I use it as a tightener/boost to my already distorted amp tone.

The pick attack is as good as on the TS808 but a shade less aggressive than the SD1 which certainly has more gain at its disposal. The SD is more dirty and gritty sounding especially in the upper mids, but I wanted a more transparent sounding pedal.

Loss of bass is not an issue at all, but if I ever went back to a vintage marshall the lack of gain might lead me to dust off the Boss SD again...

I have to say it looks pretty flimsy in comparison to my TS, which looks as though you could drive a tank over it.

Havent had to deal with them

Have been playing guitar seriously for about 7 years (plus about 5 years playing bass).

I'm afraid alot of people get confused about what overdrive pedals do, hence some spurious, low scoring reviews. All they are really used for is to boost the signal going to a tube amp which adds a tone which some people like. They arent distortion pedals so they wont really do much with transistor amps! they certainly wont make you sound like dimebag or whoever :-)

As a neutral sounding boost with clear uppper mids and little loss of bass this pedal is a dream and an absolute keeper for me.

It is annoying that you have to unscrew the whole thing just to get at the battery and it doesnt feel anywhere near as sturdy as the TS version so I cant give it a 10, but on sound quality alone it does get a 10 and I'm really fussy!

I play blues / rock ... right now my rig is various strat's / tele's into - older analog "stack-o-dimes" crybaby - >> STL (super tuberscreamer) >> CS-2 (comp) >> BD-2 >> Uni-VIbe (stereo) >> .... various amps ... mostly fender clean - (blues.. & all)

i'm writning this review becasue i see a lot of 10s everywhere... i Love Tubescreamers , ihave used several incarnations to pump up that smooth blues tone ... this one is nice but TOO nice, i have used the Ibanez SD-9 Awesome pedal (truley a 10) TON of gain never turned it up too much... but w/ my current rig i scaled back a bit to a STL Super Tubescreamer also a 10... The Maxon 808 is transparent and all... but it doesn't have enough punch ... i love the switch design, nice thats it's true bypass... probly be great with the analofg man 808 mod (can't say honestly) you MAY really like this pedal just know that (IMHO) it's too polite... too tame... not enough gain ... and i don't mean - big distortion / fuzz or gain like that .... I MEAN TUBESCREAMER TYPE GAIN... so in that sense IT"S LIMITED... i guess if it's within your required paramaters then fine... just wanted to give you the benifit of a disenting opinion ... i don't run that many pedals .. i believe most cases less is more... but in this case ... less is just not quiet enough... for me... there has always been hype around the tubescreamers ... you might like it ... but you might want to try it first ...thats all i'm sayin ... lol

...

....

3 knobs !!! how difficult can it be???

setup:
guitars: 1995 PRS CE24 - 1996 Gibson SG standard - 1991 fender american standard stratocaster - 1984 Tokai telecaster - 1989 mongrel Charvel
into
cry baby - MXR dyna comp - Xotic BB preamp - maxon OD-808 - Xotic AC booster - Seymour Duncan pickup booster - MXR Smart Gate - Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe - TU2 tuner (in effect loop) Boss DD-20 all in Laney VC15 amplifier

Sounds awesome as a boost on the dirt channel as a boost or great on its own on the clean channel. Sounds amazing on top of the Xotic drives as well. People tend to grubble about loss of bass etc... but that's to be expected with a Tube Screamer type pedal. If you play loud enough the bass loss won't be a problem at all (" ))

does feel a bit flimsy compared to my other pedals but as long as you don't jump on it both feet with the intent to kill it..... As for back up I've got other pedals on the board (not counting the ones who are bored to tears in their little box waiting to see the light of day)
GAS is a terrible affliction (;-))

no idea - never got in touch with'em

I play everything and anything as long as it's good music. I play in 3 bands: a 50's and 60's cover band, a 70's 80's 90's 00's cover band and my local church worship group. The OD-808 sounds great in every situation.
All in all I'm looking for another one, just in case the 1st one packs up.

No problem there. N/A

I use it through Fender original blackface deluxe reverb. Various other amps. Tube and solid state. Sounds really great.
I also have an Ibanez turbo tube screamer. TS9. Maxon sounds better to me. You can really hear the difference. It has some more mids. It's just more vintage in sound and feel when you play it. It cuts through more. Ts9 sounds "bigger" to me but lacks some character. It is personal i guess. Ok, in a band situation- you could not probably hear it...

Ok. It is very light- which I like but it seems way more vunerable than the Ibanez. In a pedalboard-great. Otherwise, you got to take care of it. Almost feels plastic. Ibanez is heavier and really is heavy duty.
My main issue, the reason that i am writing this is that you have to unscrew the bottom plate to change the battery. Ok, that it cool- like it always was. BUT, the screws are really rubbery and If you don't have the exact size screwdriver, which you won't have somewhere on the gig, you will just ruin the screws. I could not open it at home. The screws are just soft. I will use it in a studio with a wall wart but, for gigging I will take the Ibanez( there is a battery compartment).
Anyway, if you will not use the battery than it is great.

N/A

I am a pro musician. Jazz- fusion. If it was stolen, I would buy a maxon series 9 tubescreamer. It is true bypass. Ibanez is not and maxon vintage reissue ia not. They all sound great but I would check for practicality of them all.
Maxon od 808 is the best for pedalboard 'cos it is very light and you power it via dc9 input. It sounds great. Looks wonderful.
Accessing the battery is bad. Shame for such a great sounding product.
I would like to see how it is with the new Ibanez ts808.

Very easy to use

I'm a believer. I can't speak at all about how metal guys use this pedal with their high gain amps. That makes no sense to me, if your amp has a gain knob, why would you buy it if you didn't like the sound of it or need more gain? Anyway, if you have an amp that only overdrives if you crank it - but need/want overdrive at lower volume levels - and like the vintage overdrive sound (similar to a small fender tweed cranked), this is the best overdrive I have ever played. Hands down. If will not give you any more gain than that level. So if you think you need more gain, look into a Fulldrive or something of that nature. Like most of you, I have tried a ton of OD's. They did a great job on this one. It definitely cuts the bass and blasts up the midrange. If you don't want that sound, don't look at a tubescreamer

Solid construction.

Haven't had to use it, so I have no idea

In my opinion, absolutely hands down, the best overdrive pedal I have ever played.

This pedal is very easy to use, as are most pedals. The manual is bland, but really the generic settings they give are just a good start, who uses those anyway. As for getting a good sound out of it, I had no problems at all, anywhere across the board it sounds good to me.

I am using this with an American Standard Tele, as well as a Highway 1 Tele, modded to the end of the earth through a Fender Deluxe Reverb. The OD 808 sounds fine all throughout the sweep of gain and volume. As with a tubescreamer, it seems to sound best when amp is already overdriven, but even when played at lower volumes I must say I am quite satisfied. I found that the ts9, Blues Driver and Sparkle Drive were quite farty sounding at lower volumes, but the OD808 was very nice. If there is a downside I have not found it yet.

I would depend on this as it seems like a well built pedal, but being a paranoid guy, I would use a backup...but that's just me.

n/a

I play Blues, and in my opinion this pedal is a good match. I've been playing long enough to realize good quality, and that's what this pedal is. For me, I'm not about high gain distorted sound. That's why this pedal is terrific. If you like a smooth mild overdrive this is it. the only reason I won't give it all 10's is because no pedal is perfecy

These are basicly the Ibanez tubesreamer in Maxons own format. Theres just three knobs; gain, balance (level of effect) and tone. What I like about this pedal is that it has a traditional plunger type stomp switch rather than a hinged type foot switch like you get on a Boss pedal. I previously had an Ibanez TS9 tubescreamer but the footswitch kept failing and I got sick of repairing it, so I got this as a replacement. Sounds virtually the same to me.

I run a Les Paul into a 100W JCM800 stack on the high input with nearly everything maxed out, my core tone is therefore very distorted. I run this pedal with all knobs set at around 2 oclock and basicly it gives my tone definition which makes it excellent for old school metal. Because it tends to boost the mids (like all Tubescreamers) it tightens up the bottom end which makes the tone very chunky, it even works well with drop tunings. You need to use this with a good valve amp that is turned up and cooking, when playing at home I have to turn the volume of my JCM800 down to below 1 and at this level you dont get the full effect of the pedal. When played into a clean amp you get a nice light bluesy type of drive.

Seems rugged enough with its MXR style die cast box.

Sent an e-mail to Maxon once and got a polite replay after a few days (the Japs are generally polite people anyway!)

Shove it infront of a cranked up naturally distorting valve amp for hard rock and metal tones. Shove it infront of a clean amp for blues and lighter rock tones. These really are the dogs doodahs for making your tubes scream. Theres loads and loads of expensive boutique Tubescreamer clones out there but if youre after a tubesreamer tone then just buy a Maxon (or Ibanez) tubescreamer. They are the original and best in my opinion. I think alot of boutique pedal makers make money out of peoples curiousity and addiction to buying pedals.

Very easy to use three controls:

Drive, Tone, Balance

Input, Output, 9v input, battery compartment

Awesome pedal.

Warm overdrive great for blues/rock tones.

Great for boosting your amps front end to give your amp more grind ie metal.

Not true bypass but no noticeable tone loss

Used live and in studio no problems

Never needed them

Great tone from this pedal. No audible tone loss with effect in effects chain.
Great as a stand alone overdrive pedal or used as an amps boost or combined with a Distortion pedal.
Rugged and reliable.

Very easy to use, 3 knobs: Gain, Tone, Balance. My only problem is the fact that you have to unscrew the back to replace the battery but it's not that big of a deal, but I gave it a 9 because of that.

I play a Fender Telecaster with an after market Seymor/Duncan mini-humbucker and I also play a Gibson Les Paul Classic through a Fender Twin. On my drive channel this thing sounds great, adds some bite to my tone. I get a little more gain, a little more high end as well, sounds really good. On my clean channel it sounds good also but I wish that it had just a little more oomph, If I could get just a little more out of this thing I would get a great. It is a little noisy if you have it turned up to the max and have your amp cranked but it's not unbearable...
I am considering trying out the Maxon TS9 Pro, which has a boost and is switchable to 18 volts... Anyhow this is a great pedal, not a 10 but close.

I have only had it 2 weeks now so I guess I will have to get back to you...

Haven't had to deal with 'em.

I play punk rock music, Ramones, The Clash, Against me! type stuff. If you are looking for a high gain pedal this is not it, but if you are looking for a pedal to add to your sound with this is perfect. I probably would not buy it again, not because it doesn't sound good but because I am looking for just a little more gain (like if this pedal went up to 11 it would be perfect) I do love the look (very retro), and it does sound great through my drive channel, but I wish the battery was easier to get to since I hate dealing with adapters at shows. In the end I am very happy with this pedal.

Very simple to use.

3 controls:

Overdrive - controls amount of drive

Tone - equalise sound

Balance - mix of effect and dry signal

Well the sound of this pedal is very cool.

It can be used as:

1) a traditional overdrive pedal (sounds great as a stand alone overdrive SRV, Hendrix, Zep tone)

2) a boost pedal to add more clarity or grit to your sound (especially with high gain amps, helping to cut some low freq and add some mid freq creating a punchier sound for recorded or live sound)


Now although this pedal is not true bypass I can hear no audible change in tone. Which is nice to know as there are a few overdrives out there that suck alot of tone. Not this one though.

Relatively new pedal so we shall see.
There are alot of pros out there who use them both in studio and onstage so Im guessing it will be fine.

Have not dealt with them, never had a need.

I like the sound of this pedal. It is quite a nice looking pedal too and small; which is nice, if like me you have a rather over filled pedal board already.

Compared to other overdrive pedals I have tried I have to say I prefer this one.

Very easy to use and very versatile!

I see a lot of guys with reviews who are trying to sound like "artist A" or "artist B". Screw that! I play metal and I wanted my amp to have bit more edge in general, so I bought this overdrive pedal for just that - simple!

I have a 100 watt Carvin X100B Head, and I play Ibanez RG's/Jackson PS-4's all with DiMarzio pickups. The Carvin has a great crunch and an incredible clean, but I want more of a "chunk" than a "crunch". Right away I knew that this pedal would do the trick! Instead of plugging into the high gain input in the Carvin, I went into the second or low gain input. This gets rid of a lot of noise right off the bat because I use the overdrive on the distortion channel.

This pedal does exactly what I need it to do - it takes that crunch and turns it into a much more dynamic chunk that I need for my metal sound. I crank the distortion on the Carvin to 7 and dial in the Maxon's overdrive about a quarter of the way. The tone knob yields some surprisingly versatile results - all the way down it seems to suit or even compliment a slightly scooped sound. In the middle it starts to favor the upper midrange bite and all the way up it really shows its fangs, complete midrange grind. I have my tone set a little past the halfway mark to give me that bite without being too overwhelming.

I personally think this is a terrific combination with my setup. I now have more chunk for rhythm and when I switch to my lead channel (via a G Major volume boost => Ground Control MIDI Pedal) there is a lot more definition in that tone and definitely more sustain.

If your amp is not already suited in some way for metal, this pedal (or any other) probably will not do the trick! One pedal will not answer your prayers if the amp it's going through is garbage. I have a moderate amount of gain dialed in on the amp with the Maxon contributing just enough to give me that chunk that I need - I've never been happier with my Carvin or my sound!

Middle of the road switch - not heavy duty but it can withstand some gigs!

I play metal all the way - Maiden, Metallica, Priest, Queensryche, Pantera, etc... - I took a leap of faith when I bought this pedal off Ebay but I'm glad I did. It does exactly what I need it to do, it takes an already solid crunch and helps turn it into more of a metal chunk.

If you want to sound like Stevie Ray Vaughan...I don't know what to tell you other than you're wasting your time! I think this could be a terrific pedal for an agressive, slightly overdriven blues sound and that's great if that's what you want - I want metal and you want blues. But it's another thing entirely when you're trying to sound like somebody else! Stop it you fools!

A+ on the metal scale! UP THE IRONS!!!

3 knobs to get your sound. As normal in an overdrive pedal.

Some 3 knob pedals are tricky to get a tone out of, but you can't really go wrong with this pedal!

Pretty much 90% of the settings I tried gave me crystal clear tones with that smooth subtle overdrive I've been looking for as of late.

Whisper quiet pedal when bypassed. Not much gain hiss either (but it's not a gainy pedal)

Pretty much I was using my Seymour Duncan pickup booster to send my AC30 into a silky overdrive at a lower volume. The problem was that I never got the top end clairty with the booster.

While this pedal colors the pure signal a bit, it's still giving me a comfortable compromise to the AC30 drive I want.

I have a few other Maxon boxes (AD999, AD9, CS9) and I have never had any problems. So I'm not worried.

I house everything in a metal pedal board, so I should be safe)

never delt with them. never had to

Seems to be a really solid wicked little pedal. I've had it for about three weeks now and it still hasn't found its way back to the store or into a wall, floor, or other hard surface, so I'm sure I'll keep it for a while.

I recently picked up a Distortion Sustainer II pedal just for funzies, so I'll see how that goes.

(1970's AC30 <- OD808 <- Gibson ES-335

This unit is very simple to use, and you it is very difficult to get a bad sound out of this unit.
The manual is very useful for starters to help you how to use it as a clean boost or to drive your amp that extra mile.

well it is booring to hear about others setup's but maybe it could be nice for others. Here i go: Fender American Standard or Hamer Studio (american version), the strat has noiseless pickups, and the Hamer Seymour Duncan 59, JB on the bridge. The setup: Boss Line Selector> Mini Qtron > Cry Baby 595Q > OD 808 > Big Muff (USA) > Maxon PT 999 (phaser)> Bheringer Tremolo > Maxon AD 999 ( sometimes on the amp FX)loop) > Rivera Hundred duo Twelve Combo (100W). This is the setup of my drems and all the Fx's are gorgeous and they do sound good with each others. The OD 808 it is simply a must for someone who cares about tone. It really makes you sound good if you have a strat and a valve amp. This thing blends with your valve amp as if it whas build inside. I use it to get the obvious SRV thing, and to push the amp into insane overdrive and sustain. This pupy realy adds harmonics and dynamics to your sound, depending on the settings, it also adds some fatness to your strat. The secret strenght of the OD 808 is to blend whith your gear and mantaining your tone, althoug it is not totally transparent it realy colours your tone in a good way IMO. I have also to say that if you have a toneless guitar and amp, this thing it's useless. The OD 808 is the god of OD's but it's not Jesus ... I also tried a bunch of OD's but this one got the place in my FX chain. Artists like Santana, Gilmore, Korn, SRV, Aerosmith, use some kind of OD with the pedigree of the 808, and it is for only one reason ... this thing is GOOD. Go and find Why ...

This thing seams to be very reliable.
It is built like a rock and the footswitch it's way better than the Ibanez version, Which it is similar in tone (Maxon whas the original manufacturer for the Ibanez best sellers until now, including the famous TS-808).

No comments on this issue ...

I play rock, blues, funk, and this pedal really shines.
I started playing when i was a teen and i'm 33.
When i purchased it i thinked to myself, s***t i have to buy another one ...
I love everything about this one.
I have compared it to the Ibanez, Boss, Fulltone, and this one beats them all in price/performance. The TS 808 is very close sounding, the TS-9 it's a bit harsh to my hears, and the Fulltone is quite good, but too expensive and a subtle/fancy variation on the STANDARD 808 tone.

Very easy to use, three knobs. I am assuming the reader is familiar with the Ibanez Tube Screamer.

I have 6 OD's, 2 TS-9's, a Visual Sound Jeckyll and Hyde, a Snarling Dogs Blue Doo, The Maxon OD808 and a Menatone. All of them offer up a bit of noise through my main rig, a much modded Strat and a Blues DeVille 4 X 10 amp. Most of the reviews here seem to be along the lines of the OD808 vs. the TS-9. Since I think Maxon produced the electronics for the origional Ibanez TS-9, I suppose it's only logical that is what most of the buzz is about. I think the Maxon is far superior to my TS-9's. It's more musical and allows more of the natural Tone shine through. And that's where I'll focus my attention. The only other pedal on the board that is as "musical" is my VS Jeckyll and Hyde, but that is a much more tweakable unit than all the others. As for the Maxon, and a straight up OD sound, the thing really sings for me. I play mostly only blues these days and it's a great pedal for that alone. I also got mine new for ony $80 bucks, but that's another story. I don't have an orgional TS 808 to do a side by side comparison, so if you're thinking TS-9 consider spending a few more bucks and try out the Maxon. I think that you'll agree with me.

It has been very reliable, but so have my TS-9's. I don't do gigs without a back-up pedal, even if it's of another make and model

No experience with customer support from Maxon.

For blues or blues and classic rock, this thing is great. It seems to be a bit lighter built than the TS-9, but the switch seems much smoother. I don't think this pedal would do much for the metal crowd, but for singing solo's and violin like sustain, well if that's your thing, consider this pedal. Try several pedals at once if possible. If your music store won't let you, then buy elsewhere.
The low price $80.00 was a one time good deal. Plan on spending bettween 120 and 150 U.S. Dollars.

Three knobs. Overdrive = how distorted do you want it?; Balance = how loud do you want it?; Tone = sweet or sour?
On/Off footswitch. Comes with a manual and a well made, robust box (always keep hold of and cherish those boxes, folks, especially if you want to sell later...)
Using the pedal is fairly intuitive. I defy you to not get a nice sound out of this pedal. Quickly.

I use this pedal with a Wah, Tremolo, Marshall Shredmaster and Delay through my mark one Laney LC30 valve amplifier, through the clean channel.
This pedal is fairly transparent even though it doesn't have an integral bypass. It is not noticeably noisy. I use one setting irrespective of the song we're playing. I use it as my signature tone. To really dirty things up, I add my Shredmaster to the mix.
I totally love this pedal. I think it is superior to the Ibanez TS909 (which I have tried). I find the Ibanez to be a little harsh.
The Maxon uses the legendary 'Holy Grail' JRC4558 IC chip and they are (I believe) the original manufacturers of the highly regarded Ibanez TS808. So you can't question the pedigree! The tone has a 'finished' or 'mastered' quality to it and I can coax a very subtle feedback at low volume from it. Such a beautiful sound. Sexy and seductive...

Never had a problem with it. No backup required. Rock solid build quality.

Can't comment.

I play Rock and Blues. This is perfect for my needs. If It were lost or stolen, I would replace it instantly. Love my green magic box. Creamy, capivating sound. Helps me write songs and take chances!

easy to use.
thre knobs: overdrive , balance, tone

my setup is : fender mustang '66+ maxon od808 + proco vintage rat +ibanez ad80 + boss ce-2 + fender '59 bassman ltd.
i think that this is one of the best overdrive, for my sound,i also have the fulldrive 2 but i prefer the od808..........
the od808 with my bassman is the base of my sound+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

ok!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE THIS PEDAL, I PLAY CLASSIC ROCK, BLUES, ALTERNATIVE AND OD808 IS THE OVERDRIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3 knobs, easy as 1,2,3
Overdrive, Tone, Balance. Easy to quickly dial in a useable tone

I used this pedal reclently whilst recording a demo. I finished my clean parts and wanted a warm drive just to push the clean channel.
I was running a Framus Pantera Custom, Marshall Comp, into a Peavey Triplexxx for the clean and the crunch on the Triple was just too much and brittle. I tried a Russian Big Muff, too throaty, not creamy at all. Then a Tech21 Comptorsion, sounded too sharp and transistory. Then the Maxon. I just put all three knobs at 12 o'clock, mix pickup setting on the guitar, eq all at 12 o'clock on the same and it si the best drive sound I have ever got. Its so full and you can still heard all the richness of the clean sound. This is not a distortion pedal, its a sweet natural tube drive sound. Amazing!!!!

I don't reckon this thing would break if you run it over in your car!!
Solid!

Adds tube tone to your clean without changing the charcteristics of the tone and its just utterly great.
Go buy one!

POSITIVE: 3easy butons,DC in.

NEGATIVE: Excesive little and light case.I like ProCo Rat Box

POSITIVE: Best light-medium overdrive in the world.Creammy.Velvety.

NEGATIVE: Residual noise too loud.

I need it everytime and everywhere.
Maxon OD-808 or Ibanez and ProCo RatII for ALL GENERES OF MUSIC.

I don't know.

For Single coil and Humbucker.
Preserv original pickup tone.
For transistors amps.
To boost valve amps.
Maxon OD-808 or and ProCo RatII for ALL GENERES OF MUSIC.
DON'T PAY MORE FOR AN IBANEZ.
MAXON IS THE ORIGINAL COMPANY WHICH PRODUCED FOR IBANEZ.

VERY easy. Just use your ears and know-how.

I think it's great, BUT I use it a very specific way. I put it front of an amp that is on the verge of overdrive and the set the level high (3:00) and the gain low (8-9:00). In this way I'm not hearing the sound of the overdrive per se, just the boost, with a little bit of welcome drive and compression. When I do this, my tone is transparent, it sounds like my amp, AND the characteristic tone is smooth and "woody." I ride my volume pot andn vary pick attack for variation in tone. If the amps breaking up already, this really pushes it into great msuical overdrive. I fillow it with other pedals for more agressive overdrive/distortion/fuzz, but I love this pedal for gentle overdrive, and organic woody tone. I never use it with the gain high and the level low, I'd rather use a smaller amp. In the studio, I used it as descibed above, this week to push an 18 watt marshall into even more hair. Sounds great, and there is no TS mid hump anywhere to be heard.
I no longer use pedals like this to take a CLEAN sound and make it OVERDRIVEN, the way I might have in the early 80's. So, used right, this pedal is a great addition. But, ok it's not a Klon. So no 10.

So far.

I play Americana, blues, alt country, fusion, rock, britpop thogh various amps (old vibrolux, tweed deluxe, marshall 18 watt, Gibson skylark). I do like this pedal as the first stop in my pedalboard. Used the way I use it, there is no loss of low end, no mid hump. It doesn't go into endless sustain and raging distortion the way I use it, but believe me, if the amp is set to break up, it'll deliver the goods, with a nice organic woody tone.

three knobs. overdrive, tone, and balance. just how i like it.

this pedal can be kinda tricky. if you're using it on an already overdriven amp, dont turn the overdrive up that much. use it as a clean boost. this way, your tone will stick out more and it does sound a bit dirtier.

also, i think it sounds best when used with an amp thats clean, but is on the verge of breaking up. kinda like when you crank a fender tube amp and when you hit the chord hard enough, you can hear a little bit of breakup. if you turn this thing on when your amp is set like that, this thing really kicks some ass.

also, it doesnt sound that great with really high output pickups. it gets compressed and its just not that great. sounds great with my tele, es335, and les paul though. i love mids so the mid "hump" that some people bitch about, is a blessing to me.

ive had it for a few years and its been through hell. its still ticking.

i love this pedal. i've gone through so many different drive pedals since i got this. i've had pedals that cost anywhere from $15 (used DS-1) to $260 (fulltone distortion pro, among a few other fulltones i've had) and this one is by far the best. i like the fact that i can play it and it doesnt sound like pedal overdrive; it sounds like the overdrive from an amp.

this pedal doesnt allow you to make mistakes. if you can't play, you'll know. it has such great tone that i dont have to worry about my sound and i can just worry about my playing.

be warned that this pedal is not for everyone. if you're into metal, this isnt for you. if you dont like the tubescreamer mid hump, its not for you. however, if you want a nice overdrive that packs a bit of crunch, this could be for you. better than the ts9, ts9dx, and the ts808ri (which is good though).

Very easy to use. If you know how to work a TS then you will know how to work this (because it is a TS). Manual is worthless...

This is my setup> '04 Gibson LP Standard > Fulltone Clyde Wah > Sweet Sound MojoVibe > Fender PT-10 tuner > Maxon AD900 Analog Delay > '89 Marshall JTM 45.

I also use a 1975 Traynor YMG-3 Guitar Mate Reverb.

Also, I use '59 Danelectro DC2 Reissue, Fender Custom Shop Tele, Gibson EDS-1275 and a '85 Fernandes Strat copy.

This pedal I find is not very good with the LP and the JTM45. It gets very muddy and highgaining, even when set properly with gain on zero and level max. Doesn't boost at all actually bogs down your tone and gets lost in the mix. (i gig regularly and the JTM45 is usually maxed out). Not nice! With the tele it cleans up a bit but still does not jive well with the JTM45. Impossible to use it with the doubleneck and the danelectro. All in all this is not a good pedal with the JTM45.

With the '75 Traynor and the Fernandes (which I believe has more tone than any fender other than the custom shop guitar) the tone is standard SRV. Dull and repeated to death by every wanna be out there. Colours your tone. Not transparent. Adds alot of mids even when you are trying to run it as transparent as possible. The tone the traynor is glassy, shimmery and clean with a wonderful breakup (this is a non master volume amp, 35w, with a greenback) when you put the od808 it loses all the shimmer. Its great if your want to forget about your amps tone and just have SRV tone.

If you are looking for SRV tone this does it better than all the other TS reissues out there but its still a TS which has inherently a very limited sound range.

Runs better through a very clean non-master volume amp without any other pedals. In the traynor it will actually boost your tone. Also, tested on a Marshall JCM 900 4102 and a JCM 900 2100 (both master volume amps) and it was not a pleasant tone... very muddy.

Seems quite sturdy. The battery knocks around in the casing. Switch is okay. Not a heavy duty switch by any measure. I am returning it on monday to try something new. so I cant say if its longterm reliable

I've dealt with Maxon concerning my AD900 and they were prompt in their reply and helpful (very to the point).

I am mostly a rock/blues player. Working on bluegrass right now (great slide and hybrib picking to be learned there). Currently play in a Led Zeppelin Tribute who gig 2x a month and practice 2x a week. I have been playing for 11 years. I am very picky about my tone and even more picky about my pedals. Have gone through tons of pedals and am still looking for the perfect boost (the fulltone Fatboost was great but i stupidly sold it!).

I didnt actually purchase the pedal. I know the owned the guitar store where i shop and he lets me borrow pedals to test them out so there is no actual loss and none of that "well i payed alot of money for this so I'd best live with it". Sat with it for over 3 hours tweaking it and didnt find anything that impressive. Played it at a show and ended up using it for one moment and then realizing it just drained my tone and shut it off; never to be used again. Its now back in the box and ready to be returned.

Dont particularly like this pedal. Never been a big fan of TubeScreamers. Colours the tone too much and turns your tone to moosh in high volume live situations where you have an amp that has fantastic breakup.

Definetely better than the Ibanez TS reissues. But that is also based on the TS9 board and not the TS808. I had the opportunity to play an original TS808 and it sounded quite close to this pedal.

A low cost faithful replica of a classic pedal. Not for me though but for you SRV fans out there this is a cost effective alternative to boutique pedals and originals.

can't find more easy working pedal then this

i may say i got impressed by the worm tone this little pedal speaks out...it's one of the best i've played til now and i think it's really cheap for the price it's been sold out.
i play indie stuff ( metal guys this pedal it's not for you for sure)
use it on a twin reverb with the cs pro9 and ad9 also from maxon and a shredmaster from marshall..i like to keep a small and simple effects chain...use spring reverb and tremolo from the amp.
i think the od 808 came to stay on my pedal board..it can go to bluesy to great sustain...but in high extreme settings it gets noizy..oh yeah..

i alredy depend on it

don't know..never dealed with them

i play for about 12 years...this pedal it's pretty good for blues lovers..or any other style where guitars like to use smoth distortion...really worm and with great sustain.
on high settings gets noizy ( but you aren't playing metal with this right??!!! it's an od pedal)
i 've choose this one cause i also have other maxon pedals and i think they are pretty good..i ordered the od 808 without even played it..and it got me so surprised...really nice.

This pedal is very easy to use, but can be tricky to get a good reorded tone with it at first. I kinda wish it had notches or markers to where you set it instead of estimating? But it is still easy to use. The manual is helpfull and has some sample settings.

I bought the Maxon and use it on a 5150 and Ibanez guitars. It can be a little noisy on some tweakings, but low noise overall. The mids really come through with this pedal whether you like them or not. Not as transparent as I thought it would be, but I like the sound! Saturates nice. The sustain is killer, but with that comes a little distortion....It is a give and take. I think most of the settings sound kinda the same. Organic sounding. Not sterile

It looks a little weak in the stomp button part....It is pretty light. I like the looks, but It wouldn't hold up if you clapped someone over the head with it...haha

I play metal. All styles. I bought this as a boost and is how I am rating this pedal. I have been playing for 18 years and have only tried a few overdrives as boosts. This one made the 5150 sound better! I love the saturation live, but don't during recordings. I love the playability, but not much headroom. I like the looks. I did test after recording test with the Digitech Bad Monkey A/B'd and I went with the Bad Monkey. So I am returning the Maxon. They sound so similar...The Bad Monkey has a more clear sound, and is trasparent to my amp. The Maxon is more organic/tube sounding, but doesn't record as hot or clear. I did what is suited for me.....It might be different with a different amplifier. I spent a lot of time trying to get a good recording tone outta the OD808, but it fell a little short....For Live applications and quick success, this would be a great pedal. My overall rating is based on my needs for this pedal and price.