Maxon OD-9

3 knobs. Standard Tubescreamer set-up. Trick is to find the best combination for your sound.

I play a stock 1985 Japanese '57 Reissue Strat (I bought it in Tokyo and it was made for the Japanese market, not for export) through a Blues Jr. with a Jensen C12N. When I first bought the unmodded pedal I was a bit disappointed. It hissed loudly when on. The hiss increased with an increase in gain and effect level. The tone control was unusable past half as it became raspy with ice pick treble. With the Analogman 808 mod the pedal is almost silent unless gain and effect are all the way up (even through my single coil pups). The tone control can be used in all settings. I get a beautiful clean boost with the gain turned off or barely on, to a bluesy solid tube crunch with the gain up from one-quarter to half, and an incredible double-stack Marshall tube distortion at three-fourths. The sound is transparent, natural and sweet. Absolutely Incredible!

Maxon builds pedals that could survive a nuclear bomb. I don't anticipate that the mod will have any problems. I have, and will gig without a backup.

Mike replied to all emails quickly and was able to change the return address upon request. Much appreciated.

I've been playing on and off for over 35 years, mostly blues and classic hard rock. This mod allows me to achieve the cranked up sound I love for rock at low volumes and that smooth, creamy, just at the point of breaking up sound that suits my preference for blues. It also allows me to increase the volume with or without an increase in gain or unwanted "pedal" noise. I use a Digitech RP50 with the Blues Jr. for a touch of delay and reverb (a great pedal for this purpose). The modded OD-9 eliminates my need for multiple amp and effect settings on the RP50. I would feel confident to use the OD-9 without the RP50 to gig if needed. I am very pleased with the work that was done as I now have a useful pedal that allows me to pick and choose my sound within a natural tube driven framework. If lost I would quickly replace this pedal from Analogman and I am thinking of adding another, perhaps the Silver Mod, at some time in the future. It is well worth the additional investment. Next time I will purchase directly from analogman.com.

Very easy to use with 3 knobs!

This is a great pedal! My setup SG Standard->Some type of phaser->Dynacomp or Analongman BiComp->TS808 reissue or OD9->Marshall JCM2000 DSL 401. Its no more noisy than my TS808. The OD9 is great for crunchy type distortion. You can lightly rake your strings and it sounds clean. Play a little harder it gets a little "dirty." Really smack the strings and its some crazy distortion. I did feel that the OD9 was a little louder and sometimes harsher compared to the TS808. These pedals are pretty much identical the one difference that I noticed is the TS808 sounds like it has a slight, slight amount of compression and the OD9 is True Bypass.

Its a Maxon of course its Reliable!

Never dealt with them

I play classic rock and hippie stuff. I already had the TS808 reissue and then ordered the OD9 from Music123.com. I did end up returning the OD9 only because I felt that it sounded almost exactly the same as my TS808. If i had known then what i know now i would have definetly gone with the OD9! Its an awesome pedal! If it was stolen i would be pissed and would buy another one. The one thing i wish it had was a little more gain for some more distortion but its an overdrive pedal so i think i'll live.

Three knobs so it is really friendly to techincally challenged folks like me

Ok folks,these are the words from the worlds biggest pedal hater ever so here we go.I ve been playing for 20 years and curently own '64 Stratocaster,'64 Super reverb amp and '58 Les Paul reissue.
I play bvlues and classic rock and this pedal is amazing sounding box.
I have owned all existing versions ov tube screamers and that one is the best. It has less mids and they are so sweet and juicy.All other TS I ve played had those papery mids I ve hated.True bypass is great if you use good cables(I don't he he).It is brighter than old screamers so I keep the tone at 0 or at 9 o clock.

Just great is my verdict.Most natural sounding pedal I ve played.
Best tube screamer ever produced.
Al my friends musicians and the crowd in the audience love my tone.
Mabe it is just a great match to my guitars and amp,mabe other units are not that good,but mine sounds killer.
Absolutely dead on SRV tone with '64 strat and SR amp.
With Les Pauls it does Allmans,Green,ZZ..

It is built like a tank

Simple.well built and great sounding pedal for not so muck money.
It was my last attempt to love tube screamers and I m glad I bought it.
You have to realize that I own great guitars and amps but I can't imagine anyone using any decent gear would be able to make this pedal sound bad.
Great for blues and classic rock.
Amp has to be tube and you have to turn it a bit because it wont sound good if the amp is to quiet.

Three knobs for overdrive, tone, and level. Pretty simple setup.

Fantastic. This is the best tubescreamer available.

I'm running a Fender 52 reissue telecaster with Bare Knuckle Country Boys into a Budda Budwah->Toadworks Mr. Squishy->Maxon OD9->Fender Silver Face Champ with a Weber 8a125 speaker.

The OD9 is a midrange heavy pedal like all tubescreamers but isn't thin sounding. It has a great clear tone although a little on the nasal side do to the midrange boost and slight bass drop. The true bypass switching works great, there is no signal degradation at all when the pedal is off. Each of the control knobs seem to have plenty of range. I really enjoyed the pedal before I purchased my Toadworks Mr. Squishy, but when the two are paired together it sounds fantastic. I think adding something to beef up your tone just before the pedal really makes this thing shine. These two pedals make my small champ sound exactly like a miniature version of my friend's 1972 Marshall 50 watt head, a very thick tone.

I don't gig with this pedal so I'm not in a position to say.

Haven't dealt with them.

This is the best tubescreamer available. I owned a Maxon OD808 and I prefer this pedal do to its wider range of distortion and its true bypass switching.

It's a good pedal in its own right, but after adding the Mr. Squishy and beefing up the tone I'm very satisfied.

Three knobs make it easy to find your sounds. Gain has to be pushed pretty high to start to get the pedal to sing. Is pretty much a one-sound pedal but that's the sound most people want from this pedal to begin with.

A very full, warm tone. Almost ne edge at all, and even with higher tone settings don't expect alot of bite. Then again, that's not what people buy this pedal for. Very quiet but not especially flexible in tone ranges.

Seems solidly built. Very heavy compared to many pedals.

If this is the sound you want the Maxon OD will make you happy. If you need some other options in the same pedal this isn't it. Again, very warm and full. I guess you need to have a clear idea what you want before buying this effect. It is what it is, and that's all.

I know there are aleady a lot of good reviews on this but I just had to add one because I love my OD-9 so much. It's super easy to use. Just like the old 80's TS-9 it replaced, 3 knobs. Super easy to get a good sound from it.

The OD-9 has a little more drive and gain than the old TS-9. It has more range to the amount of drive as well. That means I can get the very close to the old TS-9 sounds or I can get a little hotter TS-9 sound. Maybe between the hot side of my old TS-7(which sounds very good but the switch went out) and the TS-9. The TS-9 sounded a little smoother than this OD-9 but I like the OD-9 better live because it cuts well. It is THE mild overdrive sound! The true bypass works very well. It does not change my tone when bypassed. I love this pedal!

Seemd well built. I just hope the switch never goes out like the one on my old TS-9 did. These have a true bypass switch that's most likely different than the old ones though. I've used it for the last 6 months without any trouble.

I don't know. Their website had some useful information though.

Great sounding pedal! I would buy another if it was lost or stolen. I am using it with a '71 Twin Reverb and several other, mostly true bypass pdeals and it works well with them all. I use it in conjunction with a Fulldrive II custom cream for more dirt and both together for tons of gain. It plays nice with other.

Very easy to use - the typical tubescreamer set up.

Within the parameters of the Tube Screamer world this pedal is the best. It has the correct chip, it is noise free, it is built well, It has the universal (Boss) AC jack, it is housed in the good old T/S chassis - but most importantly it sounds great! Smooth tube amp break up with a nice mid range bite. Doesn't suck tone when off and works well with the amp when it is on (especially if you use Silverface or Blackface Fenders).

I gigged with the same one since the day they came out without a problem. (3 years or so)

Answered all my emails. No complaints. Be nice if Guitar Center carried Maxon.

Coming from the world of "tone freak voodoo", where every little thing is analyzed and scutinized but basically boils down to paying big bucks for vintage gear, I have some advice - use your ears and some logic.

I own just about every overdrive pedal known to man: Ibanez T/S, Sparkle Drive, Fulldrive2, Klon, SD-1, OD-808 - you get the idea. The common thread to most/all of these pedals is the JRC4558 chip but the circuits are similar. This pedal has the right chip with a modern refresh on the circuitry. So you can spend $$ for a vintage TS9/8 with some noise or get your TS9 modded for more $$. The OD-9 comes brand new with the mod already done for just a little more than a TS9 re-issue and it sounds great.

I like my gear to sound good and be reliable so I can not worry at gigs. But I also try to keep as much of the gear as duplicate-able as possible in case it got lost or broken. In my set up the only thing that is vintage is amps (old Fenders). I like the OD-9 because it sounds good, is road worthy and I can afford a backup or just buy a new one if I had to.

Simple!

This is a great sounding pedal. I've owned TS808's, and TS9's. this pedal nails the 808 sound better than any boutique pedal out there. The mid-hump is not as big as then TS9 (like an 808). I've noticed that there are some clowns on eBay modding these, which is completely rediculous, don't be fooled by a couple carbon comp resistors, they are completely unnecessary and will only add noise. Buy a stock one and you'll be psyched, don't be a sucker. Hey, it sounds great and it's true bypass.

Built like a brick shi*house.

Never used CS.

I've tried over a dozen 808 boutique clones and this is hands down the best!

Very easy to use. Only three dials, so nice and simple. Each one has a noticeable effect on the sound and has a good range of sweep. Volume/Tone/Drive is all you need! Very easy to get a good sound.

I tried this pedal in the shop with some others (see below) using a Marshall TLS601 combo and a variety of guitars including a Hofner Colorama (with P90s), a Tokai Love Rock and a Tokai SG. With everything at 12 o'clock the OD-9 does exactly what I was expecting - it adds more volume and a subtle bit of extra colour to your sound. Most noticeable was the extra midrange 'honk', something I was really hoping to get, so I was very impressed. The OD-9 is quiet with True Bypass Switching so when it's off it's OFF!

I'll be running this pedal in my usual set up:

Gibson Les Paul Standard/Gibson Les Paul Junior Special/Gordon Smith SG-1 -> Maxon OD-9 -> Marshall Blues Driver (used as a volume boost only) -> Marshall JTM60 2x12 combo (with the parallel effect loop always on full mix via a patch cable, thickening the sound)

I'm a classic rock sound fan, so think AC/DC, The Darkness, Tokyo Dragons, This Lizzy etc. I like things simple: 12-54 strings, a fixed bridge, low pre-amp gain and as much master volume as possible. The OD-9 is perfect for what I was looking for - that extra bit of bite and honk for solos.

I've not given the OD-9 a 10 because I haven't found my perfect setting yet, but only because I haven't had chance to look! I only got the pedal yesterday...

It's very solidly built with a large metal case and solid switch. I'd have no problem gigging it without a backup, but would always take a spare battery. Having not used an Ibanez or Maxon pedal before, I'll give it a 9.

Never dealt with the company or the UK distributer, so can't really say. If I had any problems, the shop I bought it from would be my main source of support.

I also have a Parker P-38 and Zoom 509 Modulator (for that 80's spandex sound; a USA Fender Strat (for classic clean sounds) and a 1983 '62 Squier Strat with David White Old Glories (for those SRV/Hendrix moments). I have no doubt that the OD-9 will be ideal to enhance those types of sounds too, especially the Strat sounds.

As a comparison, I A/B'd the OD-9 with an Ibanez TS-9 and a Maxon OD808 in the shop before I bought it. I put everything on each pedal at 12 o'clock and flipped between them to compare sounds. I found that:

TS-9: Very clear and bright pedal, quite sharp. A good sound if a little thin maybe? My second choice.

OD808: More mellow than both other pedals and with a bassier tone. I found it a bit too mushy at the bottom end - I like a tight bass sound. Possibly the smoother and less intrusive of the three pedals. My third choice.

OD-9: Sounded the fullest of the three, with a midrange 'honk' that the others didn't have. Seemed to have a very noticeable 'sweet spot' when bending a third string to hit a double stop. Maintained the original sound, but added more of it. The one I bought.

All three pedals were good, and the differences were quite subtle, so it's worth trying them all back to back to see which one your ear prefers. Overall, the OD-9 did it for me. Highly recommended.

oh come on look at the thing

My setup is prsC22 or fender lonestar(fat 50's)through a Mesa boogie studio 22+. Compared to my boss sd1 the od9 sounds much fuller. It provides good sustain especially when the level is increased. Doesn't have any of that thin or tinny sound associated with cheaper overdrive or distortion units. Sound is very real. It also sounds really good for boosting a slightly overdriven sound from driving the clean on a tube amp. Very smooth!!!!! Doesn't have as much gain as the sd-1 but can be boosted with a great sound by with the sd-1(with minimal gain settings) I am very impressed with this pedal. Is also very quiet. Nothing gets a ten cause there is always something better. But i would recommend giving it a try

Seems to be built to take a good deal of abuse.

A great addition to my collection. This pedal is and will be used everyday. It makes playing guitar fun which is why we all do it. A great investment for me!!