Maxon OD-9

very easy to use, same as any tube screamer type pedal.

this pedal sounds great. I've been searching for something that sounds this good for quite a while. Its warm, natural sounding, with very little fizz, even when the drive is fully wound. On my marshall jtm60 clean channel it adds real warmth and grit, but it comes alive when it helps add extra sustain and drive to the boost channel. If i am honest I would prefer the unit to provide a little more volume, but you can take care of that with the channel levels I guess.

built like a brick shit house! Can't imagine it going wrong, but will have to wait and see.

doubt if I'll need it.

The jrc 4558d op amp chip in these units is the key here. Its the sound I was looking for, so as far as i'm concerned it was great value for money. It is a quiet pedal too.

this is a follow-up to my previous review. turns out the pedal I purchased is actually true bypass. I never looked before and stated that it wasn't TBS based on the fact that I bought it used in 2003 and a number of people on the internet claimed it not to be TBS. It certainly didn't have any effect on my purchasing the pedal in the first place, but it's nice to know anyway. Special thanx to Andreas @ Stinkfoot for all his help and expertise.

As simple as all overdrives

mostly use humbuckers, 1 strat. Amps are all classic Briish all EL-34's. Compared the OD-9 to a stock TS-9 re-issue and the Maxon is noticeable better. Much clearer note definition, slightly less brittle and a shade louder. Also the LED was brighter on the Maxon [yes i used fresh batteries on both] I will update this review after I get the TS-9 modded. definitely don't think the Maxon needs any major mods. not "true" bypass but better than the TS-9. Overall a classic sturdy overdrive

still prefer boss style switches but so far so good

Here's the deal. I waited and found one used for much less than the cost of both a new one and a new TS-9 reissue. I say if you can find a TS-9 cheap, then go that route and have it modded. But if the cost is more than what you can get a OD-9 for, don't bother cuz it don't need any mods IMO except maybe a few tweaks that you can DIY for next to nothing.

Tubescreamer- volume, tone and drive, red led light and true bypass switching.

I also own the Maxon OD-808, so unlike most of the bozos who prattle over the internet, I am actually in a position to compare the two pedals and judge the differences. The OD-9 is a bit darker and fuller sounding than the OD-808 but still not as "heavy" as the Boss BD-2. With Fender amps the OD-9 is the way to go, while with Marshall amps the extra clarity of the OD-808 is preferable, especially with the stock humbuckers pickups (pups, Oh yes they are called pups, sorry, almost forgot)- make that should read "with my stock humbucker pups".in my 1989 Gibson Les Paul Standard.

Built like a tank.

Maxon is great.

I play blues rock- been playing for 25 years. Other effects I own include the Austone Millenium Overdrive, Roger Mayer Axis and
Spitfire fuzzes, Austone Fuzz Nutz, Blues Pearl Blue Screamer and Blue Balls distortion pedals, Fulltone
Soulbender, MJM Britbender (2-knob version), Zinky True Grit, Maxon OD 820 and 808 overdrives, Rx Prescription Overdriver (new white paint
version with led and better switch!), Vintage Rat, DOD 250, Banzai Cold Fusion, Boss SD-1 and the BD-2 Blues
Driver, and the Barber Tone Pump. I play VINTAGE Gibson Les Paul Standards and Fender Strats into tube amps.

stupid proof... no brain no worries

i use: guitar(checked on many)-->maxon od9-->big muff pi-->rampage by rocktron-->cry baby 535q-->marshall vb1 tremolo-->boss ce20-->akai e1 delay-->amp..

not noisy, sounds great, smooth but not too mach, i could use a bit more gain but no complains.
great for that vintage strat sound (like david gilmor).
goes very solid with neck humbucker.

so for conclusion- great sound, extremely better than ibanez ts9/ts9dx. clean on or off (try buying only true bypass), but not a kind of "all in one" unit so you need more overdrive/distortion units (i dont think its bad but some people looking for those so i informed you).

looks great..........
but i am not a guy who likes to run my pedals under a truck.
what can you do? if u just stomp on it it will operate forever! dont you think so?????????

i play electronic music, in this arrey u need to have many sounds and a very big spectrum of FX and instruments.
in this very creative world of electronic you need all.
i like to buy all good. so thats what i do... a guitar is a small part of it.
and this unit is good so its feets my crazt standarts

Very easy to get a good sound.

I'm using it with Strats, Teles and Les Pauls into either a Fender Twin Reverb or Roland Jazz chorus. It really adds that extra push I was looking for the Twin. It's a smooth transition from when the pedal is off and on soundwise. It' pretty quiet too.

I really like the way this pedal is built. It's tough and I have no worries of gigging with it.

Haven't had to deal with them and hopwfully I won't.

I Play a wide range of music so I have a varied selection of "tools". This pedal will always be in my line up. It's versatile and great sounding. I've been a pro player and session musician for some time. So from palying in the studio to playing on stage this pedal works for me. I would most definatley replace it if it got stolen or lost. For overdrive I also have a Bixonic Expandora pedal. I like the Expandora a lot, but I don't think it's as versatile as the OD-9. one of the things that made me choose this pedal aside from the fact it uses the same chip as the original TS-9 is that it's True Bypass.

Very easy to use. If you can find your way around a small combo amp, then you already know how to use this pedal. Comes with an informative, well-written manual.

I find this pedal somewhat overpriced for what it does, but in 15+ years of playing, this is the first overdrive unit I've heard that didn't sound like shit. I've been looking for so long that I decided to ignore the price tag and just go for it.

Too soon to tell but I will say this: I own a few pedals, all of which I consider to be well built, but this is the first pedal I've owned which I can honestly say I'd have no hesitation in belting through a plate glass window (not that I have any reason to...yet). I've never seen a pedal as solidly built as this. This Maxon company is truly a class act.

I have no regrets buying this pedal, but if lost or stolen, I probably wouldn't buy it again. It sounds good, the build quality is outstanding, but $250 is a bit pricey for a pedal that serves no purpose other than to add some raunch to your sound.

Not hard to uses at all. Mostly had roll off the tone knob to take some of the brightness out. Otherwise easy to set up and use.

Pretty damn good sounding right out of the box was my first impression. As the guy below says, it is VERY clear sounding with not too much of an upper midrange boost. It is extremely responsive and sounds more like a blackface Fender amp just breaking up than a buzzy overdrive pedal like a Boss SD-1. The sound is very transparent and juicy but their is a slight rolling off and hardening on the low end. It's no pronounced but it does take something away from the neck pickup of my Telecaster. Otherwise, it's amazingly musical for an effect and although the low end seems kinda weaker, the overall sound is bigger and very 3D sounding. Love the psuedo true bypass mode. I've been told by someone from Godlyke that these pedals will ship with a newly designed 3pdt switch as of Nov. 2002 and will really be true bypass switched but, this one does the trick as is.

Seems to be built like a tank.

Nice guys at Godlyke.

I play Blues and Rock and after getting hooked on Telecasters I decided I'd like a good overdrive pedal. I've read up on all of the top contenders like the Fulldrive II, the Klon Centaur, Menatone Red Snapper etc. and they are all more or less copies of the Tubescreamer design (for good reason) so I decided to go with the real deal. Nice pedal. Notwithstanding the guy belows' poke at Analog Man, my Maxon is on it's way to Mike right now as I do wan't to check out the TS-808 mod and the Brown option as well. Look for my post of the same pedal after the mod in a couple of weeks at the Analogman listing.

I don't believe that Maxon and Godlyke intend to market this pedal as some modern-day TS808, rather, it's to compete with the Ibanez TS9s. Therefore, it would be correct to include the TS9 470 ohm/100k ohm output buffer. And it would stand to reason that the TS808 spec might have already been tested and rejected.

I did experiment with the TS808 output buffer spec circuit and did not like it - seemed to make the pedal sound too smooth and so returned it to factory specs. A lot of circuitry is missing as the flip-flop circuit is omitted as was noted - the coloration added by the flip-flop circuit is noticeable by its absence. The pedal as is is VERY clear and has a very responsive tone. No mods are necessary on this one. Has the JRC4558D chip so many of you want.

Can't see how Analog Man will "improve" on this one, but I'm sure he'll come up with something for you guys with money burning a hole in your pocket. Here's my prediction: He'll have a "Brown Mod" to replace the resistors with noisy Emperor's New Clothes carbon composition resistors so you'll be able to get more of that "vintage" hiss.

Three knobs, drive, tone and level. One foot switch. Simple to use

The best sounding overdrive pedal I've yet heard (that includes a Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, a Visual Sounds Jekyl & Hyde, an Ibanez Tone-Lok TS-7 and a few others.)
Used with a Tele (Barton pu's), MM Super Axis (DiMarzio humbuckers) and another MM with P-90s into a mesa Boogie Mark 3.

So far so good.Looks very solid so I have great hopes.

No idea

If lost I'd replace it. Very good bang for the buck at $110 (Chuck Levin's Washington Music Center in Maryland.)