Maxon SD-9 Sonic Distortion 4-stars Reviews

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10 years ago

Nearly Outstanding!

Featuring the incredible build quality thats such a credit to Maxon this is a beautiful pedal..but theres a but....

Described as "Sonic Distortion" its really more a "Sonic Very Crunchy Different to a Tubescreamer Overdrive" albeit one that preserves nuance and detail well....but it lacks the tremendous "foldback" you can easily get with an OD9...its quite a "stiff" pedal which is lacking sustain/feedback....though give it a kick with an OD-9 and you're away....

So I find it works better with Humbuckers and put one of the new Ibanez SD9M pedals in the chain for single coils...

Downsides..its not the same value for money as the OD-9 as its more limited in its application...and it has that odd strongly sprung switching mechanism which needs a very firm boot to engage and which can then disengage if you wait just fractionall too long before lifting your foot...

Verdict?...unlike the OD-9 which seems to work brilliantly with any amp/guitar pedal the SD-9 ismuch more specialised...I've had it maybe 6 or 7 years and only recently found its niche...a peculiar flavour of pedal for sure..

11 years ago