Maxon OD-808

As easy as a any tube screamer obviously

Easily a 10, here's why:

I A/B'd it with my TS9, the difference is that the TS9's distortion has a very high treble to it that the OD808 doesn't have regardless of how you set the tone knob, making the distortion less focused, more scattered and harsh. The OD808 is smoother and more focused regardless of which knob is turned to what.

I A/B'd it with my Full Drive 2, and the FD2 has the same smooth and focused sound, partly because they use the same JRC-4558 op amp, but the OD808 has a realy nice upper mid range, sort of nasaly snarl to it that the FD2 doesn't have. The FD2 has a more transparent middle-of-the-road distortion. That upper mid nasaly voicing the OD808 adds realy makes a strat stand out and sound powerfull no matter whether you use it as a clean boost or if you dime it.

Other tuber screamerish clones I've tried such as the Sparkle Drive are similar to the FD2 in that they sound like a tube screamer in general but they don't have that realy nice kick in the upper mid range. I can't find that nice mid tone in any other pedal.

Comparing it to a Blues Driver type overdrive is apples and oranges. They are both called overdrive but they are a different effect in reality.

Great, but the knobs need tightening after being brushed by your feet so many times.

don't know, don't need to know

Definately try it if you see one, and listen for that upper mid range.

Three knobs, it don't get much easier.

I just play for fun, and am big on gear. I have been on the hunt for perfect tone from the get go and the hunt is over. My main guitar is a Carvin dc400c. I use this pedal mainly as a boost for solos. It is first in my chain after my wah then goes into a boss metal zone, a od-1, and then delay and chorus and finally a 56' fender deluxe. This pedal really adds a lot of warmth especially through a tube amp. And it makes all of my other distortions sound better. In short it is the $%^&.

so far so good

no clue

This pedal is awsome, I was told that maxon made the original ts808 by ibanez, I don't know but I honestly don't see how the ts808 could be any better than this baby.

Very, very easy to use.

Anyone who gives this a 1 for sound quality doesn't know what they're talking about. This pedal sounds GREAT and gives you a nice/warm layer of customizeable distortion over your amp sound. This is the real deal for getting the classic 808 tone. Great for blues and rock.

No problems noted.

I have dealt with Maxon's customer support and they've always quickly responded to my emails.

I've tried the following: Ibanez TS808 reissue, Maxon OD-9, Maxon OD-808 and this one sounded best! Gives you a nice real sounding overdriven tube amp sound.

3 knobs

guitars:
-epiphone sheraton
-gibson les paul
-gibson custom shop non reverse firebird (3 mini hums)

pedals:
-crowther hot cake
-mjm london fuzz II
-maxon od808
-maxon D&S
-Boss DD3

amps:
-fender blues junior
~i've also had a fender hot rod deluxe, marshall jcm2000 DSL, soldano astroverb, and peavey delta blues 210 while owning this pedal.


this is the best tubescreamer/tubescreamer clone out there. if you can't get a good tone out of this, i'm surprised that you can even work your way around on the internet.

with my fender blues junior, i use it to push the amp's natural overdrive over the top. adds lots of sustain and bite.

with my marshall, i'd set it on slightly dirty, and use this to fatten up the tone. it sounded better than just the marshall on full boar.

with the soldano, i used it as a lead boost.

i dont remember how it sounded with the peavey because i never played the peavey on account that it sounded like crap.

this pedal isn't for metal. if you dont like mids, stop playing guitar. drums and bass are for the low end. vocals and cymbals are for the high end. guitar takes care of the mids. if you have a problem with that, play something else. this thing has a lot of mids and it cuts through the mix like a knife. i've never had a problem being heard.

i've had it for years. never a problem.

great guys

i play rock, heavily influenced by british music. think Oasis, Beatles, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (theyre british influenced), Interpol (same as BRMC), and Coldplay. I also really like Neil Young, Dave Matthews Band, Bob Dylan, and the Sex Pistols.

If you dont dig this, then you dont dig tubescreamers. If you do like tubescreamers, then this is as good as it gets. Its better than that Ibanez TS808 reissue. The only ts clone that rivals this, and may be better, is the Maxon OD9. i've never tried that one though. I definitely dig this more than the Fulltone Full Drive 2.

Since the day i've bought this, i've gone through many drive pedals. fulltone distortion pro, fulltone soulbender, dod flashback fuzz, boss ds1, boss amp factory, hao rust driver (which really kicks ass, check it out if you want a Marshall Plexi-esque tone for $130), Boss SD1, and many others. This has been my favorite whether i use it just for a boost or for some extra dirt.

I dont always use this pedal the most, but its been the pedal i've owned the longest and thats for a reason. my rig, and my sound, has changed drastically over the years and this is the only pedal thats been able to make the cut every time. sure its only an overdrive pedal, but it has so many uses and what it does, it does well. even when i set it out of my chain, i know its only temporary.

if you want the best tubescreamer, get the Maxon OD 808

Simple to use, nothing wrong with that department. It only get's one tone!!!

Sound's like CRAP!!!! Ok here's the setup. Tele or Strat then OD 808 Band Master or Twin. The pedal for what it is is good if all you want is a thick compressed tone with no bottom end. But it is to harsh in the midrange, and as I said has no bottom end and just to compressed. It'll pretty much cover the SRV overdriven tone. But if you want your own tone better look else were. Unless your in a SRV cover band. One thing I don't under stand is that in the description is states that it is transparent, and lets your true tone of your instrument come through. That is a false statement. I screwed around with the thing for about two weeks and just could not get it to sound good. No transparency at all. So I have taken it to some one to mod it so it will be more transparent, more bottom end, less compression and less of that harsh midrange. Lesson learned don't get caught up in all the hype. If you want a good overdriven tone out of your Twin or Band Master or what have you, have some one build a pedal to your specs.

Hasn't fallen apart. Which im surprised being that I got pretty angry with it and knocked it around a few times. I think it'll hold up like a SM57!!

No need to call them. If I did im sure I would have the authorities at my house.

What style of music do you play? I play it all from Rock to Metal to Out Law Country to Blues.

Is this a good match? Absolutely not!!!

What other gear do you own? Vintage Strats, Teles, Les Pauls, Marshalls, Twins, you name it.

If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else? I would get a Expandora, or a have a pedal built to my specs.

What do you hate? To compressed, no bottom end, no transparency and to damn harsh in the mids. Think of some one honking there horn at 3 a.m. thats what this thing sounds like.

What is your favorite feature? It is very small and doe's not take up much room.

Did you compare it to other products? Yes, and then later own I found the Expandora. Much better pedal and a little bit more.

Does it help you make music, or does it get in the way? I get absolutely no inspiration from the OD 808. In fact most of the Maxons just sound like... well I can't repeat that here.

Fairly easy: turn knobs and keep your ears open. Needs some adjustment to playing style and taste but overall it's a breeze.

I'm using this with a little Fender Champion. The OD delivers crisp sounds. You can hear individual strings in a chord. It gives you mild overdrive to an AC/DC type rock'n'roll tone. No noise. Beware, you still won't sound like Hendrix or SRV unless you also know how to play like them. I'd say for an od pedal this is a good deal. I have owned the Ibanez tube screamer before, early Eighties issue, and think this Maxon does sound better.

It looks fairly reliable but I'm not sure because I've never gigged with it. The housing is metal but thin. While I wouldn't fear for an MXR even if you throw it against a wall (except for pots and switch), I'm not sure if this Maxon would survive it. They could have also put some foam into it. The battery rattles around as is.

No idea.

Rock, Blues, some jazzy stuff. This pedal is good for that but will not create a wall of sound type distortion. It would be interesting to use it for boosting a cranked tube amp. I have a feeling that should sound pretty good. I've been playing for over 20 years, own Tele and Strat guitars.
I like this pedal's simplicity. The switch is very easy to operate. Much easier than the similarly built MXR pedals or my RAT distortion. The Maxon OD808 and RAT complement each other nicely. The OD definitely helps me achieve certain sounds: a nice crunch and punch for rhythm. I got it used and feel that the high price due to vintage tube screamer craze is not really justified. For $130 new I feel this pedal is overpriced because it's in essence a simple box. However, it sounds good and is still cheaper than a vintage whatever and probably better than a new TS9.

simple. Better know what power tubes are for or by a mesa boogie instead.

Sounded like a cheap effect stock. now it is very transparent with much more low end. With my Blackface '66 Bassman I can actually switch it on and do not lose any bottom. It even adds bottom to my super lead marshall. Stock the maxon od808 would jump in with all mids and wasn't very clear sounding. But with the mod it sounds so real. Like having the bassman on 10.

seems fine

Very good communication, Mike replys to all emails. no problem.

Very cool. Even has true bypass now. Just ask Scott Henderson.

overdrive, balance, tone...easy!
Nice manual with setting options to start off with. Included most of the old Ibanez series pedals. Showed me different things to do with my old Ad-80, Fl-301dx, Cp-835 and EQ.

First off, it did not sound real to me. Too many mids in yer face, no bottom. Sounded like a cheap effect, not an overdriven power tube section of a good amp.

Then I sent it to analog mike, YO! What a huge change! Perfect match to the bottom of my black face '66 bassman and added bottom to my Marshall. Much more transparent. really pushes the power tubes, not pre-amp distortion for all you lesser noise makers.

Mike also put a true bypass switch on it, perfect.

Would not ever contact maxon, although they made great effects in the 70's and early 80's the Od-808 is like a Ts-5. Actually having a ts10 output section, very short of a claimed true TS-808 replica.

If you really want a 808 by this and send it to analogman, he makes these sound huge. and with true bypass yet.
I do not work for Mike, I don't even know him aside from a few emails
but this is worth it! And worth mentioning!
Just ask Scott Henderson if you don't believe me.

CERTAINLY ONE OF THE BETTER overdrives out there. It gets that 808 vibe (overdrive w/o excessive crunch) very smooth. You do a lose a bit of teh bottom end when the effect is engaged. But that seems normal w/ most pedals. works great w/ a clean fender style amp or in front of a marshall. Don't know if its worth it to get it modded as the pedal sounds great as is.

so far so good, have taken it out a little. Seems well built.

havent dealt with them yet. Have heard good things about them.

overall very happy w/ it.
If you like a TS9 but want something a little more harmonically rich and not so middy, get this.

Very easy to use. If you've ever used an overdrive pedal with a tube amp, you know how to use this.

I A/B'd this with an original Ibanez TS-808 in a music store for about an hour with a Fender '69 Strat and a '57 Les Paul Goldtop Reissue through a Fender Bassman Custom Shop reissue. The shop I auditioned it in is rather small, but the owner was kind enough to let me open up the volume for a few minutes to really test the pedals. I've bought a lot of gear from him already, so he was pretty cool about the testing thing. I was mostly trying to hear if there was any difference between the two pedals. I used the same settings on both pedals when I was doing the comparison. I have to say that the two pedals sounded extremely similar, if not exactly the same on most settings. I'd say the only difference I heard between the two was that the original was just a tiny bit more harmonically rich. But ONLY a TINY bit. Certainly not enough to justify spending another $150 for the original. In a mix, there is absolutely NO WAY anyone could tell the difference between the two. If someone really wanted the sound of the TS-808 and didn't want to pay the ridiculous price for an original, the reissue would certainly be the way to go. If one wanted to make this sound EXACTLY like an original, then he could get it modded at AnalogMan.com. Mike is excellent to deal with, and it would still cost far less than an original TS-808!

I already own many pedals and amps, so I didn't buy this one. However, if I was in the market for a Tube Screamer type overdrive, this certainly would be a winner. It seems at least as reliable as the original, and I like the switch much better. I've always preferred the positive action and "click" of a mechanical switch as opposed to an electronic one. I own two other Maxon pedals, and I've never had any problems with either, so I would expect the same from this.

Never dealt with Maxon - No opinion.

I've been playing since '77. I own a lot of gear and I'm pretty picky about tone. Anyone looking for the sound of the original TS-808 won't be disappointed with this unit. Why spend $350-400 on an original just to have a box that sounds almost exactly the same as this one? You would have to be extremely anal to be able to justify the difference in cost. The major differences are entirely cosmetic. I just want to reiterate that NO ONE, I repeat, NO ONE will be able to tell the difference in a band situation. If the original TS-808 is the Holy Grail, then the reissue is the Return Of The Holy Grail. Highly recommended to anyone looking for the TS-808 tone.