Maxon OD-808 Reviews

boost my tube amp

Very nice smooth overdrive, that blends perfectly with my tube amps native drive. Those who want more bottom-end may like to check out Vop 9 vintage overdrive pro by Maxon. OD-808 seriously cuts downs the bass frequencies.

Everybody needs an overdrive! For what it is, it is expensive. Evry other TS overdrive will have the same components inside, a different case and it will cost half the price. But a Maxon brand will always sound different, right? That's what I thought, and I got it. Ha, ha, ha...

Is great in front of the amp on hi-gain channels. I use it with gain at 9'clock and level & tone at noon. This way I lower the gain on the amp. The result is higher hi-gain definition, better compression, cleans the bass flabbiness and gives chunks on palmed riffs. Of course, it can be used in so many other ways. An overdrive is a tool.

Awesome

I tried out the ibanez ts-9, but did't quite like it. This od-808 though is beast. I would recommend this Distortion pedal in front of the amp, after your volume and/or whammy, but before your delay/reverb/flanger etc. Turn the drive all the way down or at 8 o'clock max, the balance knob should be maxed out, while the middle, tone button can be set however you like it more. I use this pedal in this, mentioned settings, to boost my clean tone, it gives me more clarity, bite and a bit of great sounding compression. I would recommend it especially if you use peavey 6505 6505plus 5150 or 5150ii.

Adding to this the pedal is light weight, for what it sounds, and it seems pretty strudy, it's ridiculous!!!

cool OD nice mids

doesn't better the low end and does not have that many options

used it before distortion pedal .. and to boost a distorted amp

as a stand alone od sounds nice ... is not much tranparent sounding and does't clean boost

808

Really good for tightening up your metal rhythms or boosting those lead tones in any genre I use mine into a 6505 and it sounds awesome!!! I also use it wit a AC30 just to push it n break it up a bit more real nice. Its a very solid pedal and you will use it more than you think. Great price too!!!

I really like tubescreamers, it's a really good tool from blues to metal.

This one is a kinda classic these day's, and everyone should have one.

Great for lead playing, really fattens your tone, and gives you a great sustain.

Also nice to boot the input of your amp with, if playing metal.

It gives you a more tight tone, and makes you tone jump out of the speaker a bit more!

Maxon OD-808

I play heavy metal, and if I inspire any heavy metal players to go buy one of these, I hope you dont expect to hear balls to the walls gain. You have to do alot of messing and playing with this pedal to get the tone you want to achive. This pedal really adds chunk to your palm mutes when used with your amps natural distortion, and it makes everything more clear, which is very important. I have been playing religiously for 4-5 years now, and I own this Maxon, a pair of Epiphone Flying V's, an Ovation Acoustic, a Dunlop Crybaby, a DigiTech Multi-Chorus, a Boss Noise Suppressor, and a Boss Metal Zone, that now sits in its box in the top of my closet. There isn't one thing that I wish I had asked prior to buying this pedal except maybe "Can you knock off about 10 bucks?" I went down to the local music store and checked this pedal and the Ibanez TS808, and pretty much they were similar, except the Maxon was a little less harsh on the midrange and had more tonal control. If this were stolen, I wouldnt have to buy a new one, because I would hunt down the SOB that stole it, beat his you know what, and take my Maxon back.

The original

The Ibanez tube screamer is one of the most popular and most well known pedals out there. Especially with blues players it still is a must have on every pedal board.

But what most people don't know is, that the circuit boards in the original pedals were built by a company named " Maxon ". Maxon now placed their own version of the TS 808 on the market.

Everyone who is familiar with the original pedal should know the setup: One drive (distortion), one balance (volume) and one tone knob.

The pedal can be used as a distortion pedal (Much drive, balance on middle), or as a booster ( less drive, lot of balance). Like most guitarists I mainly use it as a booster in front of a distorted amp for soloing.

A must-have

If there is one pedal that you NEED, it is the Maxon OD-808.

You can use it for various things and in each category it just makes your guitar sing like never before.

Use it as a lead boost or overdrive: get a thicker more controlled distortion rather than cranking up the gain on your amp

Every guitar player I idolize uses the Maxon OD-808 and that should suffice as an explanation to why YOU should too :)

Best pedal, ever!

The original and best overdrive pedal.

Great overdrive pedal using the same chipset as the original Tube Screamer from the company that originally manfactured it! A truly versatile and pedal for simulating valve amp overdrive that retains the clear guitar signal without developing into mush! A must have for Blues, Funk and Rock. A1 quality product made in Japan.

Standard pedal for Metal and not only!

If, like me, you play Metal and you especially play on down-tuned guitars or 7/8/9 string guitars and your tone is too muddy, this pedal is the solution.

This pedal is the classic pedal that has nowadays become a standard, just like the Ibanez Tube Screamer TS808. In fact, Maxon was the original manufacturer of the TS808 until Ibanez started to produce these pedals themselves.

So it is virtually identical to the TS808 but the price is lower!

There is practically no effect on the tone. It does not add more bass or more treble or mids. What it does is gently cut the ultra-lows and the ultra-highs to give a focused, tight sound. No mud or harshness.

The construction is super; It's made from metal, not plastic, and also comes with a free battery.

Also present is a tone knob to adjust for your own taste. I leave mine in the middle position.

The 'secret' to using this more as an eq pedal than an overdrive, thus using your tube amp for the gain, is to set the level knob to max and the drive knob to minimum. This gives you the eq part of the pedal and leaves the gain for your tube amp.

Very happy with this pedal although it doesn't overdrive my amp as much as other pedals, so I have to turn up the gain all the way on my amp. But it's no big problem. Overall, excellent pedal and very good price.

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.

This is the orignal tubescreamer

I was looking for a pedal to make my amp sound tighter and to get more sustain for my solo's.

In the 1970's Maxon build the first tubescreamer for Ibanez. There are many overdrive pedals on the market. This one is mid priced and of very good quality.

The case is very well build and made of metal. The knobs are easy going. In this pedal the orignal chip, called IC 4558, is build in.

I us this little frog in combination with my Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier. The OD-808 makes my amp tighter in the base. So the whole amps sound more agressiv and right in you face.

For me the best tubescreamer I ever played.

It is the pedal, I will always keep on my pedalboard.

Gives your amp that little kick it needs

I use this pedal to give my amp that little boost it needs. I primarily play and record metal music.

It tightens up the amp a bit and gives it a bit more bite.

Construction is good, design is sleek. Only gripes I have with it is that the knobs could have been made a little more solid, and changing the battery is a hassle since you have to unscrew 4 screws to get there.

Great OD pedal!

Overdrive pedal

I bought this to give my old marshall jcm 800 2203 a boost. It does a good job and gives me the possibility of everything from AC/DC to early Metallica-type of tones.

The construction is solid and the appearence is clean. Plain and simple it's a great overdrive-pedal!

Worth it!

I bought this pedal in hoping it would tidy up the tone of my amp and add that extra kick that is needed for a heavy band, and it did it perfectly. I have a Framus Dragon Head and a Peavey Valveking Cab. They are a good combination. i bought the Framus second hand and it clearly wasn't looked after. it was at least 4 years old with stock tubes. so with it being a high gain amp and heaving low end tubes in it didnt do it any justice. my funding itsn't brilliant so i only bought a replacement set of power tubes which had a massive impact, but it still didn't have that kick to it. so after watching reviews i picked up this jem and it just works fantastically. i had comments off people in the crowd at live shows saying how good it is. When messing around with it, it shows its versatility.

Worth every penny!