Maxon OD-808 Reissue

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

...

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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.

Very easy to use.

Sounds a lot warmer, natural, and a little more gritty than a TS9. Its not noisy, especially for an overdrive pedal. I use it with fender tube amps. I love this pedal. It has great sustain for lead and has enough clarity so the chords are articulate.

Ive had it for a long time and i take it out all the time and its been great.

I play most styles of music. I jam out a lot so I play whatever and love it all. If it were stolen, I'd have to buy another. There's nothing bad about this pedal. It sounds better than the ts9, ts808, ts9dx, fulltone fulldrive 2, boss sd1, boss od3, boss bd2, and many other ODs i've used.

3 Controls and a decent manual to boot, very easy.

Laney LH50R Jackson DKMGT with EMG81 and 85 set. No other effects. I tune to drop C, and set the amp to about 7 on the gain. Think Killswitsh Engage type tone, turn this bady on with the overdrive set to low and it just "heats up" the whole sound, WITHOUT destroying it, like most other pedal's I have tried.

Only just got the thing, its built to last though!

Only just got

OK we place alternative metal, failry technical here and there, lots of pinched harmonics palm muting, you get the picture. The fact this pedal can be uswed for so many things says alot. Yes I have tried it as a mild overdrive i.e. into my clean channel, and while not my usual "bag" it sounds VERY VERY NICE.

But I bought the thing to drive the hell out of my amp, and still be able to hear all the detail of the sound.

JOB DONE.

Very easy to use, but does not produce the best results right away. Requires a bit of tweaking.

This pedal is pretty good. It nails that peircing cut through the mix SRV blues tone. Yet, for me, it is a bit harsh. Played with a strat it seems to be scratcing at my face. Not pleasant. With a les paul this pedal sounds better. I would guess that this is due to the observation that over all this pedal is a bit thin sounding - not enough low end , as others have noted, and too much high end, which is particularly noticable with single coils. The resulting sound, even after tweaking the tone knob, can be harsh and unpleasant. Compared to my Ful Drive II, the Maxon is less rich, less full (less bassy) and harsher. However, it has an aggressive highend that makes the full tone sound somewhat timid by comparison. Essentialy, if you want a pedal that screams, is aggressive to the point of being a little harsh, but does indeed cut through a mix like a cleaver, then this could be a good choice. One of the cool tings about this pedal is that for chord work it produces a very musical and transparent crunch that cuts through nicely. When pared with humbuckers and used for rythym the pedal sounds great.

Compared with Boss and run of the mill pedals these Maxons are a cut above. Compared with the botique market they are on the lower end in terms of build quality, stability and internal wiring. However, overall these things are solid.

If this pedal is what your after in terms of sound (see sound section of review) it represents a reasonable value. There are a thousand overdrive pedals on the market, and the Maxons are cheaper, yet more limited and less versitile. Still, some people like a pedal that is easy to use and has one basic great sound. For the money these are a good deal.

this pedal couldn't be simpler to use; 3 knobs. the manual is helpful, but there really isn't much you need to know in order to use the pedal.

I'm using a very modified squire standard stratocaster or a schecter C-1 elite into a dunlop crybaby, the maxon, a digitech ditial delay, and finally into a Fender '65 twin reverb reissue. with the strat it can get a bit noisy if the gain is turned way up (mostly due to the single coil p'ups) but all in all this pedal is pretty darn quiet. the pedal itself sounds fantastic. it can go from slighty natural tube overdrive to pleasatnly transparent crunch. I do wish it had a little bit more of a bassy punch though...even with the bass at 10 on the amp, I feel like it's missy a little something when the pedal is on (that could just be me though). I've tried this pedal right alongside an ibanez ts-9 with the maxon behind the ts-9. that sounded great for leads and I would higly suggest trying that or even better, getting 2 808's. it gives a great SRV sound (esp. through a trat of course). Also, although I've heard that the digitech X-series pedals are trash, I've managed to conjure up a great sound from the number 1 setting on my X-series delay pedal that sounds great with the 808. It's a bit like a compression/slight reverb sound; it really brings everything to life.

the footswitch looks and feels a bit weak, but I've had the pedal for almost a year know and nothing has happened to it so far. I don't have the money for a backup, so I guess I don't have a choice but to use the one pedal, but it's not a problem because it's stayed strong through every gig i've used it with.

never had to deal with them

I've been playing a lot of SRV and Hendrix of late. and this pedal absolutely nails their sounds (although having a good strat and tube amp does help a bit). I haven't been playing for too long, only about 4 or 5 years, but after purchasing this pedal I've been able to dial in great tones that I'm really pleased with and which encourage me to go out and play more and more. I've heard that the analogman modification makes this pedal even better (which is hard to believe) but I'm happy with it for now. I compared the pedal to other maxon overdrives and the ibanez ts-9 and od-9, but this one just appealed to me the most. It has a great transparent crunch sound that I can only achieve otherwise if I turn my amp to deafening volumes. I'm definetely not the best player out there...not even close, but the pedal makes so easy to dial in great tones in a flash, and works great with all my other gear. I'm just 16 now, but I have a feeling that in 10, 20, maybe even 30 years, I'll still be using this pedal or one similar to it. I just wish i had the money to buy another one.

so easy-3 knobs...

for some reason these types of pedals have become the standard-just about everyone into OD has some type of variation
on this theme on the floor(or has used one)...i like this Maxon 808 and right now am using it for a slightly overdriven sound near the same volume as the amp's clean. it does not need a 'sort of dirty' tube amp to sound decent-i have a deluxe reverb(usually with a tele) that is pretty clean under about 4 and this is a good combination.
my pedal is the american export version with the 4558d chip in there-the japan market one another fellow below was talking about supposedly has more of a mid hump than this...i would call it overall a very good sounding OD-an old ts9 i have been borrowing is not nearly as good as the maxon.

it is definitely a 'smooth' sounding pedal but not too much-a little light on the bass compared to another similar modded OD i have(but more bass than other TS pedals) ...sometimes the little drop in bass/slight mid boost thing can really work in your favor. there is one thing thats a pain: the tone knob is pretty close to the switch and it tends to not stay where you set it. i'd get another if lost...

Very easy. Three knobs. Each does what it says it does. Manual was OK, but suggested no settings.

I use various Stratocasters and they go through a BOSS Tuner > Crybaby DIME-Wah > Maxon OD-808 > Ibanez TS-9 > Danelectro Tunamelt Tremolo > Ibanez Analog Delay > Radial Tonebone Classic and finally in either a '65 RI Deluxe Reverb or a Hot Rod DeVille depending on the venue or my mood. I use the Maxon exclusively as a boost with the Distortion on 0. The Level around 7 and the Tone on 3, 4 or 5 depending my mood. As you may notice I also keep a TS-9 on my pedal board. I find the Maxon to be smoother, so I figured I would use the TS-9 for when I need a harsher more piercing boost. Needless to say I use the Maxon more often. It seems to affect the tone of my amp and Tonebone Classic the least. I love how it kicks my solos into higher gear and keeps the tone well-rounded and "brown".

I have been using it without a back-up for more than a year. I have no complaints.

I have not had to deal with them.

I play a brand of hard-edged blues and this pedal suits me perfectly. I have been playing guitar for 17 years and music for 25. If it were stolen I would get a new one. I like that it is simple and that it adds overdrive in an even and smooth manner. I own a lot of distortion pedals and I like this one.

The maxon has a variety of good sounds readily available. The three controls are very easy to use and have a good range of sound within them. 10 for ease of use.

Great sound quality. There are a decently wide variety of sounds at one's fingertips. And by "decently wide", i mean "awesome". My setup is a Fender strat>>maxon OD808>>line 6 modulation modeler (mostly used for tremelo)>>dunlop crybaby>>fender '59 bassman reissue. I originally used the maxon as an amp driver (low drive setting, high volume setting) to drive the front end of my bassman. It did that thing well, although I could use a bit more volume boost. Now I use it as a heavy overdrive, with the drive knob all the way up. It does this very well, too. Don't look to use it as a heavy metal distortion box, even with the gain all the way up, it still sounds like overdrive...like the TS 808. I'll dock a point here for not having quite as much clean boost as I'd like.

I have owned it for less than a year, and have played half a dozen gigs with it. It seems remarkably solid, although it is fairly lightweight. The case is pretty narrow, so that makes for good structural support. I could imagine that the knobs could get a bit messed up after a few years of stomping, as they are not structurally protected (as boss and some other pedals are). But that's not worth taking any points away. 10 out of 10.

I have never dealt with Maxon.

Overall, I'll give it a 10. If the maxon got stolen, I'd either get it again or try one of Analogman's TS9 modded pedals--i've heard those are good. I definately adore the TS 808 sound, though. I play jazz, mostly, but am making ventures into rock and blues. The maxon is excellent for both those styles. I wouldn't call myself a distortion or overdrive expert. The only other distortions i've used are: overdrive channel on Fender Hotrods, the overdrive from cranking my Bassman up above 7, the overdrive on a marshall 30W Solid state combo (the amp of my junior high years), and a boss super overdrive. I personally prefer the maxon to all of the above. Well, i've also played my friend's original TS 808 which he got from his dad, who is an LA studio guitar player for porn soundtracks (Ha!). I couldn't tell the difference between the maxon and the TS 808. Overall, 10 out of 10.

3 knobs. if you think the ease of use for this is less than 10, you're a moron.

this is actually a follow-up review. I still use my Les Paul, but it go straight into this then into a Fender Blues Jr or a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I play jazz and blues and i fuse it with rock (not nu-rock, but more like english 90s rock). It cuts through the mix with ease. Its wonderful. its versatile cos it reacts well to how hard your attack is. i dont require much gain. it can be smooth for my blues or jazz lead playing, or very cut-through for rock.

with my fender blues jr already overdriven, it produces a killer sound. its just the perfect live sound, IMO. sustain, clarity, yet there's crunch. flip to the neck pup and its smooth as butter. i've gone through two different dist pedals since i got this (and about 20 before) and this is the only one i'm keeping. in fact i want a Maxon D&SII since its supposed to be a hopped up OD808. I could use a lil more gain for some of the covers i do. but for what i bought this thing for, its awesome.

for those who says it doesnt have enough balls... you need to step in front of a truck or something. of course not, ITS AN OVERDRIVE PEDAL, NOT A DISTORTION PEDAL. if you want to play your crappy Nickelback garbage, get a worthless Boss Mega Distortion. If you want a smooth, transparent overdrive with clarity and versatility. get this. my only complaint is the lack of true bypass and it should have easier battery accessibility. oh well.

Very simple to use. Three knobs do the trick: Balance, Overdrive and Tone. You do need a screwdriver, however, to access the battery.

Over the years I've used an Ibanez TS9, a Boss Blues Driver, and a Boss OD-3, and a Digitech Tone Driver. The Maxon OD808 is my favorite overdrive pedal. It gives you a mild warm and grainy sounding distortion that's perfect for classic rock and blues.

It hasn't failed me yet!

For blues and classic rock tones this pedal is perfect. I've been playing guitar for 15 years, and I'm always searching for equipment to compliment my tone. I have owned this pedal for a year now and am especially pleased with the results. After shows I've had guitar hounds come up and check out my pedal board to see what all I'm using. People have all been very complimentary on the sound I get from this pedal. I turn my Fender tube amp up just to the point where it's getting a little dirty (on the clean channel) and kick this pedal on. The gain dial is set all the way up, and the little tone dial is set around 10 o'clock. My guitar is an American Strat loaded with "Texas Special" pickups. This combination is perfect for the styles of music I play. If you play a strat style guitar through a fender tube amp, you'll love this overdrive. Don't think you're automatically going to sound like Stevie Ray Vaughan though!

super easy. three knobs.

yuck. i ran it through a '71 twin with a sg, epi dot with rio grande p90's and a fender jazzmaster reissue with craptastic results. no balls or bottom end anywhere to be seen. even with humbuckers the tone was too thin. i wont even get into what the jazzmaster sounded like. yes, i realize these twins are notoriously bright but this overdrive was "almost" close with the tone turned all the way down. i ran an original maestro fuzztone next to it and the lack of a true bypass affected the tone of that as well. this pedal came highly recommended and im still trying to figure out why.

did not have it more than a week but this thing is chintzy as hell. i thought it was going to be in a mxr style box. it looked like an mxr box but it weighed in at about 4oz... i could have smashed this thing with my foot if i wanted to. no where near mxr, ts9, or fulldrive construction. the switch was super loose and did not look very well made either.

never used it.

no bueno for this one. perhaps with a beefier sounding amp this would be different but whats the point in that? i love a fender twin tone and a good overdrive should be able to boost the volume and give it a more transparent overdrive. in my experience here it did not do the job. i sold this pedal and bought a reissue ts9 for less $$$ and sent it to the analogman. for 60.00 extra $$$ my overdrive problems are solved. what a world of difference.

This overdrive is very easy to use and get a good sound out of it. You have tone, the amount of overdrive, and the volume level to play with. Either wanting extra boost, or extra overdrive as well, it's pretty easy to get.

I owned a Boss OD-1 for years and wished it didn't alter my amps tone, mainly it's bass loss. When I plugged in the Maxon, my amp's tone stays the same and so does the bass response! I always loved to do a lead scale from low E to high E and emphasize the low to high in the scale and now the Maxon can do it for me!

I use it with a Dr. Z Max 38 2-12 combo and an Acoustic G60T. On both amps it adds the extra overdrive I desire and keeps the tone the same. I only use the overdrive on lead's and prefer the amp's natural tone for rythm. For the tone knob, I keep it cranked all the way at 5pm to emphasize the high strings.

For higher gain, I crank the overdrive all the way up. Usually, I'll keep the overdrive knob at 2pm or so. It just depends whether the song is rocking out or not.

I bought it over the holidays, so I can't give an accurate answer. However, it's all metal encased and looks as solidly built and my MXR distortion+ that I've had for 22 years.

There's a 1 year warranty on the pedal. They require you pay postage though which would be lame should the pedal crap out on me. I'll assume that the stuff I read about it is true and that it'll serve me flawlessly.

I've been playing for 22 years and now love to play blues and classic rock type of stuff. If I want to rock out, this pedal provides plenty of balls to my lead's. I love that this pedal doesn't jeopardize my amps tone. I'd buy another one should it get stolen or lost because in most of my blues jam situations, I'm up on stage with another guitarist and their amp, so the extra overdrive or boost helps me during my lead's. Especially when I play my Strat!

Try out this pedal because I think it's a good deal. By the way, I in no way started sounding like SRV. This pedal provides great overdrive tone to YOUR playing. It be like saying you'll sound like Jimmy Page if you buy his signature Les Paul model.

Bottom line, it provides me the overdrive and tone characteristics that I like.

Pretty much as easy as it gets. Overdrive, Tone, and Balance (Level) knobs and a footswitch.

Here is where it gets wierd: I bought the pedal on eBay and I was pretty excited to try it. Like I do with all new pedals, I stuck all the knobs at the 12 o'clock position so I could tweak from there. As I rolled counter-clockwise from center on the tone knob, an extra "tick" of noise kicked from my amp. I thought to myself, "damn, I got a bad unit." I kept tweaking and tweaking, and I realized that the first half of the space on the tone knob had a little bit of extra gain and extra upper-mids and highs to it, and even a little noisy. The latter half of the space on the tone knob seemed to be the "regular" space and had that warm, smooth kick to it that everybody talks about with these units.

Is this a two-stage tone knob? Is there such a thing? Seller claims it isn't modded, so maybe it's a lucky flaw? I just don't know.

Anyway, it is almost like having two pedals in one: 1 thru 5 on the tone knob being very akin to my Boss SD-1 Overdrive, and 6 thru 10 being like an original 808.

Strange? Yes! Am I happy with it? Yes!

Thought I got ripped off at first but now I feel like I got double for my money!

If anyone knows anything about a possible mod like this, let me know.

I've only had it for about 8 hours as of this writing, so I don't know how reliable it is. And being the piss-poor musician/working stiff that I am, I've ALWAYS gigged without back-ups. Now that I have this baby, I'm kicking my SD-1 to back-up status and this is now my main OD.

Don't know much about this category either. I just got the unit!

I like everything from AC/DC, SDRE, Foo Fighters, SRV, The Clash, Wilco, Blur, Teenage Fanclub, and Sloan. It's a great match for the mish-mash of music I like. I'd definitely buy another if it was stolen or lost. Tone is great, and my unit seems to be unique, which is a kick.

I A/B'd this unit to my Boss SD-1 and its smoothness and clarity where apparent right away. Definitely going to be playing with this one for a while.

Very simple to use. It has three controls: Overdrive, Tone, and Balance (output). There's a manual but... you don't really need to use it. Its pretty self explanatory. Unless you're a beginner, the manual is practically useless.

I'm using a Gibson Les Paul---->Maxon OD808---->Boss Tremolo---->Vox wah---->Fender Blues Junior. This thing is not noisey at all. It couldnt be even if your amp was up all the way and the drive on the pedal was maxed out as well while you stood directly in front of your amp. Its VERY quiet.

I got this because I wanted a boost for leads and i wanted a very transparent overdrive sound. Something that'd be very natural sounding and light for blues, something that'd add a little spice to arpeggios and something that'd just give me that ol' cranked tube amp sound without the headache! I just sold my old distortion pedal and wanted to upgrade. I decided I need an overdrive pedal (such as this) and a medium gain distortion pedal. I've only gotten the overdrive pedal and this thing is about as perfect as i had dreamt. Its sooo smoothe and natural sounding. In the store I had tried an Ibanez ts9, Ibanez ts9dx, and voodoo labs sparkle drive as well as the maxon. the maxon was MUCH better sounding than any of the other three. I used to own a Boss Super Overdrive pedal and that thing BLOWS compared to this.

Don't get this expecting a Metallica tone or even an ACDC crunch. Get it to boost your already overdriven amp or get it to color your sound to get something similar to SRV. Personally, I like to push the tubes on my Fender so they distort then turn this thing on to give it an extra KICK!

dont really know. i've not had a band in awhile. i doubt this thing is gonna die here at my house. the on/off switch seems kinda questionable though...

never dealt with them.

I play blues, jazz, and 90s rock. I've been playing for four years so i kinda know my stuff, but at the same time i'm still learnin. I also have a marshall halfstack but i don't really use that now since i'm not in the band so i didnt include it in the "sound quality" section. if it were stolen i'd definitely replace it. Or get the maxon od9. I've not checked it out yet, the local store didn't have one. Its supposed to be a modded version of this pedal. but its also about $30 or so more expensive so i may just get htis again. i love the sound of this thing, its perfect IMO. I hate the on/off switch. It feels like its gonna break on me! This pedal seems to me that it will be in my rig for years and years to come.

Easy to use. I'm reviewing this because unlike most of the other reviewers and readers out there, I have a very good original TS808 with which to compare it.

Here goes. The original TS808 was made for Ibanez by Maxon between 1979 and 1983. It sold for about $49. Now beat ones go for $350 and pristine ones go for $500 to $650. There are numerous 808-style clones out there.

I have a TS808 that I got for nothing, but comparing it to two other originals it is the best sounding. These had some variation in sound, all the way from basic TS9 to great. Mine's great.

So in brutal A/B testing, I compared my TS to the OD. There is no difference. The tone, gain and output are identical. The one made in 2003 is a clone of the one made in the early 80s. You can't tell the difference playing by yourself, and you won't be able to with your band.

I give it a 9 only because the Fulldrive--best of all overdrive pedals, ever--gets a perfect 10. The FD just has a bit less mid and a tad creamer tone. For all purposes, the Maxon OD9 IS a good TS808.

This pedal is built better than the original 808 and better than the reissue Ibanez and Maxon 9 series. It's cast aluminum, not zinc. Switch is beefier, too. I'd expect it to last a long time.

Don't know.

Here's the point: For about $150 out the door you can get something that's brand new, sounds identical to a great old TS808, and is in production. It's light and small, and won't take up much space in a guitar case or on a pedal board. Do not buy a TS9 and have it modded to 808 specs, get this brand new in the box for the same or less instead.

Do NOT spend any money on the original TS808. Get one of these instead and save big bucks. For the price, it's a steal, and blows away almost all the boutique overdrive pedals.

For about $30 more, you can get the Keely modded Maxon OD9, modded to 808 specs, brand new. This is true bypass and has exactly the same tone as a TS808, but a little more gain. Another awesome overdrive pedal.


For $50 more, you can get a Fulldrive 2. This overdrive pedal sounds a tad better than any 808 or clone, is true bypass, has a boost (higher gain) channel, is made of heavy sheet steel, and is made in America. I personally think the Fulldrive is the best of all in sound, features and construction.

These are probably the best overdrive pedals out there now. Pick your price and go for it.

Pretty darn simple. Input, Output, Gain, Level and Tone. There is a good manual that gives you some sample settings to start with.

I was never a member of the Tube Screamer bandwagon. I used to require a ton of gain for the stuff I played, but I have since changed many things about my taste and playing, and I needed a good overdrive pedal. This pedal does a great job of providing moderate overdrive that is very transparent and touch sensative. I compared this with Maxons TS9, which looks exactly like the Ibanez Tube Screamer, and while the tones were very similar, I thought the 808 was more transparent and dynamic. I tried the Fulltone FD2 (old and new versions) and I just can't make the FD work for me. I have other Fulltone effects and love them dearly, but the FD2 just doesn't do it for me. The Maxon OD808 sits in my pedalboard, which goes into a Fender Super Reverb. I have a Tech21 Double Drive for the over-the top gain stuff and a Sparkle Drive for the very slight, hair-around-the-edges semi clean tone. My 808 gives me everything in between...and it works nicely in front of the DoubleDrive to give me that over-the-top gain (like an OD into a Marshall) when I want it. If I had to say one negative thing about it, this pedal can at times sound a little bit harsh - especially with higher gain pickups, like a humbucker, so I need to back off the guitar volume a little to compensate. It really shines with my Strat's Texas Special single coils. R&B tones are just killer, and if you are into the SRV thing, this combination is as close as I have heard/felt.

I have a Maxon Chorus of similar construction, and that has been very relaible. I'm willing to judge this one based on my expreience with their other products. Its not built like a Fulltone, but is is still very well built.

No experience.

Overall, this pedal is fantastic. For me, this gives me exactly what I need in an overdrive (though what I really want is the overdirve that oozes from a Two-Rock amp...but that's another $4000 conversation). Very transparent and touche sensative - especially for a Solid State pedal. I really enjoy playing through this.

Very easy to use. Nothing fancy here. Just a straight forward overdrive good for pushing a tube amp.

I'm a big fan of Maxon pedals because they do their job without excessively coloring the guitar tone. My setup is a 1982 Ibanez AR-300 and 1996 Les Paul Studio through a Vox AC-15 (tube) and Fender Deluxe 90 (solid state). I use the OD-808 for light overdrive, a Boss SD-1 for heavier overdrive and a Marshall Shredmaster for big distortion. The OD-808 never leaves my rig.

The little metal button on top of the footswitch post popped off (it is glued on). Other than that, pretty rugged. No other problems.

Never needed to contact support.

One of my favorite pedals. Nearly identical to the Ibanez TS-9. Great for blues. Also great for any music where you want just a hint of overdrive. You will not get a heavy metal sound from this thing even if the overdrive is full on. Also great for classic rock.

very easy to use, tweek the knobs to your particular sound you desire.

american strat, noiseless pickups, into ge7 - maxon> vintage rat> boss chorus> dano echo> traynor 40 combo> marshall 212 cab ext. no noise at all. big lows, very versatile grind.

gigging 2 years, stomping on it all weekend .no problems .

no need to deal with the company.

i play all manner of electric other than metal,this pedal covers all the bases. if lost or stolen i would repurchase another. abit pricey but generally speaking you get what you pay fer. its dead quiet, tranparent, very versatile grind, excellent build quality, way more authentic sounding than most other pedals, and after playing 30 years i should know, but hey, sound and tone is subjective, youll buy what you want to hear. go take it fer atest drive , and cave as i did.

Like any other OD, but no numbers or markings whatsoever. In my opinion, that's silly.

Love it. I use it in front of my Mesa Heartbreaker head (modified by Voodoo Amps), along with an Ibanez TS-9 Reissue. The TS-9 is very good too, bu the 808 is smoother. I love tube screamers. A little noisy with single coils though, maybe noisier than my TS-9.

Don't know.

Never dealt with them.

I play rock and blues. I've been playing for 30 years, with a 10 year hiatus in the middle. Some people love tube screamers, others hate them. I guess some don't care one way or the other. If you like 'em, this is the one. The correct 808 chip. I AB's against an MJM Blues Devil for hours. That pedal costs $30 more and there's really no difference. When I could hear a difference, I preferred the Maxon. So I returned the MJM. This is a great tube screamer.

Cmon folks it has three knobs.

Maxon is the shit! Anyone who says their crappy cold-solder joint Menatone pedals are better than this is an idiot. Theres no noise, just clear gain that sounds like a tube amp thats been turned up full. Very convincing tube tone. The drive knob has a good range and a very smooth tapered response.

Built small butt tuff.

Excellent.

Throw away your cheesy Menatone pedals because Maxon is the shit. I play Strats and Pauls into tube amps.

Very easy to use --- tone, output level, and drive controls.

I tried this pedal thru my 90's strat w/Kinman Avn-56's and an Avn-59 in the bridge -- straight into a Carvin BelAir or a '69 Super Reverb (w/fixed-bias circuit). Didn't care much for the clean boost (thin sounding, and I couldn't dial in enough bass w/out losing definition), slight overdrive was better, but still sounded thin. Moderate-strong overdrive settings (2-3 o'clock) bring out the best in this pedal, although I thought the overdrive/distortion sounded a little too "linear" - I like it to throb, swirl, and swell a bit (ala Joe Walsh's tone on the original James Gang's Funk#49).

I didn't own it long enough to really opine, but it was magnitudes lighter than comparable BOSS and Ibanez products --- just didn't appear to be very sturdy in that regard.

N/A

This pedal has a couple of really nice sweet spots on it, particularly if you're into the southern-fried blues-rock sound. The sustain gets a nice harmonic-like squeal going, and it works equally well on chords or single notes. But overall it lacked that natural, musical sounding swirl that I associate with pro-level overdriven tones. I compared it to a Budda Phatman, a Roland GP-8 (the OD and Dist modules), Keeley-modded TS-9 (std mod), and an Analogman-modded BOSS DS-1 (pro mod). I kept the TS-9 and DS-1 in my chain, am keeping the Budda for unique situations (but it primarily rests in its box), and kept the GP-8 in the chain for its chorus and delay only. I sold the OD808 on E-bay. I've been playing for 20+ years.

This is super easy to use. Just turn the knobs until you get something you like. No manual needed. Also, really no review needed (I'm bored) as everybody and their brother has used one of these (i.e. Ibanez, which Maxon made. No secret there)over the last 20 years or so. If you've never seen one (if could happen) here's the layout of it...

1. Overdrive (volume)
2. Balance (gain)
3. Tone
4. Footswitch
5. Red LED
6. 9 volt jack

That's pretty much it, save for the in and out 1/4 in jacks.

This is what it is. An overdrive. I use it a few different ways, to kick an already cookin' amp in the ass, as a clean boost of sorts, and to add some grit to the clean channel, or as a lead boost. As long as you understand it's a OVERDRIVE and not a Metalzone or whatever, you'll be fine. Just don't plan on a wall of distortion with this into your clean channel.

Right now I'm pretty much using it with a VHT Pittbull 45 2-10 combo, or a old 1966 Gibson 4-10 Ranger. The Ranger is basicly a copy of a Fender Super, with more bottom end, and a slightly darker tone. The OD808 works really good with it, for that 'classic' 70s rock tone. This is really true when you turn it up a bit.

It also works really good with the VHT. I use it a number of different ways with that amp. It will make a noisy amp noisier (as will any pedal with gain) but it's really not bad as it's so mild.

For the most part, I play Gibson Les Pauls with buckers, and I don't have a problem with it getting muddy, UNLESS it's dimed. Even then it's still more transparent then my other OD/Distortion boxes.

I STILL like it better then my Boss SD-1. The SD-1 isn't a bad pedal, and has more gain, but the Maxon just seems to be more transparent to me. And it works better with the 2 amps above. The SD-1 does sound better with a tranny amp though, the OD808 just don't seem to work well with any of my tranny amps, but tube amps, it shines.

I expect no problems with it, and havn't had any. I've got several really (20 years plus) old Maxon built Ibanez pedals that are still going strong. I have no reason to expect any with the new Maxon stuff.

Never contacted Maxon, Ibanez is another story...

I've been using Tube Screamers forever, and this is the best one I've had so far. I plan on buying several more Maxon pedals to replace some of my Ibanez stuff that has gotten valueable over the years. It only gets an 8 as I feel Maxon is pretty expensive for basicly imported mass produced pedals. The do what they do well though. No complaints there.

It's an overdrive pedal, it's very easy to understand

I worked in a Hollywood Vintage Guitar store for a few months. I had hours everyday to try everything in the store. This is the best Tubescreamer. It sounds slightly more transparent/hollow than the original or reissue SD9's. ( I am aware that it's a slightly modded re-issue of an 808)

It's well built. I have no issues with its construction.

I have not had cause to contact Maxon

I play rock'n'roll. I like The Stooges, Hendrix, mainly '60's and '70's. I am lucky to own and play lots of classic tube amps, several British half and full stacks, and a nice old Super Reverb. This pedal suits some situations and not others. I don't think that you ever get versatile AND great in the same musical product. This is a great Tubescreamer. The best that I've found.

Easy to use if you know how to really play the guitar, and not just bang on the thing.

This pedal made history. It sounds like a tube amp- you lose a little bass response, but your ear adjusts, and the tone is very convincing, very wet sounding, with just the right amount of compression and sustain- sounds like a classic 1970's rock/southern rock pedal. Maxon is the shit!

Built small and tuff.

Excellent support here in the U.S.

I wail on guitar. Im damn good and not afraid to let you know that. Been playing 25 years and counting, own three guitars that are quite expensive mind you, and too many effects pedals to list, so I wont bore you any further but will say this- Maxon is the shit! Gotta go now. Dig the Banzai Cold Fusion too.

Easy to get good sound from...of course this depends on what you're using this pedal for...see below - sound quality.

This is an overdrive pedal, not a disto-metal-thrash-fuzz pedal. If you're looking for OTT gain, look elsewhere.
If you're looking for warm sounding, tube-like break up of signal, this is your pedal.
Am not a connoisseur of tone but I know what I like.
A/B'ed this with the ibanez TS9 and could dialled them up so that the two sounded just about identical but the OD 808 still edged slightly ahead in terms of smoothness.

Looks sturdy enough but unscrewing the base of the change batteries can be a pain if you don't have a screw driver handy.

No dealings.

This is a great pedal to stick in front of your set up to give it an extra boost. Unfortunately, this pedal will only really shine if you use it with a tube amp. The response to the dynamics of your playing will be enhanced. You can use a solid state amp, but then you'll wonder what the fuss is about with this pedal.

Very easy - cannot be easier ! 3 knobs :-)

The positive reviewers below are all correct:
this is THE tubescreamer legendary 808 circuit w less noise !

I have all the other very best pedals in the world: Klon Centaur,
Fulltone Fulldrive II, Ibanez TC-9, H & K Tubefactor, Baby Blue ...
and I tested them all through my Prosonic and my fabulous
brand new light (35lbs) Ashdown Peacemaker 40 all
tube sweet class A 30W, 3 channel 112 combo (see the review
as this is the best light all tube 3 channel combo <$700)
and what can I say about this pedal is simple :

I always use Maxon OD-808 in my band's live gigs
and helps me with SRV overdrive or singing Santana tone ...

Actually a mariage of Maxon OD808 with class A tube amp as
in Peacemaker (designer Mark Gooday from Ashdown is a 21st century genious - new Ranal Smith from UK this time )
is mariage in heaven ... but it works great also with fender Blues
Junior or Laney LC15R all tube class AB amps ...

I play all my gigs with it and never had a problem ...

Never need them

I play since 1960 (remember Duan Eddy instrumentals ?)
and I buy all the very best gear on the Planet:

Great LP or Strat through the VHT Valvulator 1 power-supply
and then into Maxon OD808 and finally through the
Ayron technologies' S & Slim pedal into the Ashdown
Peacemaker 40 is THE VERY BEST combination
that your money can buy (and you can carry those as
these are the lightest top units in the business).

OD808 is truly THE original, yet improved tubescreamer
so if you care about your tone and want to improve
the breaking of your tube sound - just buy one !

Very easy to use- three knobs control volume, tone, and drive.

Sounds like a tube amp- very convincing tone. The reviewer below who trashes this pedal in favor of a cheap throw-away overdrive is completely clueless and downright incorrect as this pedal is a real beauty- its built well too with quality parts. The reason the output section of the re-issue isnt identical to the 25 year-old original 808 pedal is because maxon has IMPROVED the design to eliminate static-electric build up which caused noise- so the re-issued pedal is quieter than the original. The sound is very clear, smooth wth lots of sustain.

No back-up needed.

Very fast responses to e-mail.

Been playing for 20 years, I use this pedal with a 1989 Gibson Les Paul Standard and the new Marshall AVT 50 watt amp.

Great pedal, so ignore the bad reviewers who have a bad axe to grind.