OD-808 : Maxon OD808 Overdrive - THE OVERDRIVE

Let's face it: there are like one million clones out there of the famous Ibanez Tube Screamer. Made by Maxon in the 80s and now really rare and expensive. But can the OD808 as good as his old companion from the 80s? Let's check this out!

First of all, this pedal is build like a tank. And it looks pretty cool. I needed something to kick my Marshalls butts and this little baby does it pretty sweet.

Three controls - Drive, Tone and Balance - control the amount of gain, the highs and the level of the effect. It doesn't feature a true bypass switching (check out the Maxon OD-9 if you need one) but I personally think this whole TB discussion is way overrated. A buffer at the beginning of your chain is a great way to keep your signal fresh and full of highs.

Like I said before, the OD808 was bought to bring these chunky metal tones out of my DSL Marshalls. I tested it in front of my home amp (Marshall DSL 401) and on stage (Marshall DSL 100) - damn the OD808 rocks! The knobs control do something on every millimeter of their range - didn't have a TS clone like that under my feet before! I turn the Drive down to minimum, Tone around 3 o'clock and Balance nearly at maximum: that's exactly what I searched!

A nice chunky boost who cuts the bad, bad bass frequencies and turns my Gibson SGs into real metal machines! Of course you can have some nice texas blues sounds with drive turned up in front of a clean amp but I prefer the nice mid-boost and cut through the mix. Also on stage - what a sound!

If you play metal (it doesn't matter what genre) - don't waste time to find the perfect Tube Screamer - here is it: the Maxon OD808 Overdrive.