Maxon Reissue Series OD808 Overdrive

Product Information

Use the OD808 as a standalone effect going through a clean channel, use it to boost your overdrive channel even further into filthy saturation territory, or even go the way of using two of the pedals together to help you blast out those dynamic riffs with conviction. Still, there's a lot of players that hunger for the original, and companies are happy to oblige. Tube Screamer can mean a number of different things, as even the original has changed many times since its introduction in 1979. In this guide, we're going to cover some of the best Tube Screamer clones, reproductions and adaptations on the market.

Let's assume it's a given that you want to buy a clone. That could be because of price, or it could be because of features not found on the original. Maybe you want authenticity, but even then a clone might be the best choice. You might assume that an Ibanez model would be the most authentic, but there are many different units. In fact, the original manufacturer on behalf of Ibanez was actually Maxon, meaning that the Maxon 'clone' is a more authentic Tube Screamer in some ways than modern non-reissue Ibanez units. The OD808 distorts signal in the amplifier circuit itself which yields a smoother, milder, more natural sounding distortion than a separate clipping stage. This is also the reason that the IC type used in the circuit has such a large impact on the unit’s tone. The Reissue uses the correct JRC4558 Op Amp that made the 808 the tone of legend. Traditionally-voiced pedals will get you closer to that old-school TS tone that Stevie Ray Vaughan and The Edge made so famous, whereas the more modern voicings of some pedals may take you down the higher-gain route. For over 40 years Maxon’s legendary "808" overdrive circuit has been an essential ingredient to achieving great guitar tone. Whether it’s used as a booster to drive an amp, as a Dirt box for crunch and extra sustain or as an EQ to shape the tone of a high-gain amp, the 808 in its many incarnations has shown up in more rigs and on more recordings than anyone would care to count.I got one of these after hearing for years how great they are. I didn't realise just how useful they are until I spent a few hours with this one! In recent years the OD808 has been adopted as the overdrive of choice by a generation of guitarists in a most unlikely musical genre – metal. Maybe someone would say that's bull because they're both just tubescreamers, blah blah blah. I've heard all that before and I still disagree. Let your ears determine what sounds good. All I can tell you is I've been through all those and I told you what I prefer and why.

Basically Maxon are the people who designed and built the TS's for ibanez up until about the mid to late 90's. Even early maxon made TS9 Ri's are going for silly money.. It's kind of like Swiss army knives. Victorinox make the "original" swiss army knife and Wenger make the " Genuine" swiss army knife, but they're both swiss army knives. For those who want only the very best overdrive tones emanating from their 'board, Ibanez has produced (and continues to produce) hand-wired versions of the TS808. The limited edition Ibanez TS808HW – whilst also acting as an investment for players who want to see their money put to good use – provides an impressive tone which delivers on all of the TS808-sounding promises. Whether it sounds that much better we'll never know – but it's worth getting hold of one if your bank account will allow.

Tube Screamer Shootout Videos

There are so many factors that come into play when you decide to buy a clone over the original pedal. When is a clone not really a clone? Simple: when it's designed and built by the original pedal's creators, making it more of a reissue than a generic clone. Which is exactly what you get with the Maxon OD808! A New Take on the World's Most Popular Overdrive Pedal My vote is get a Visual Sound Route 808. much less money than either of the Ibanez or Maxon pedals, all the common mods built in and a GREAT buffer (VS really do have an awesome buffer in their pedals). It's what i would spend my money on if i knew then what i know now. It turned out that the reason for the super-bright brittleness was the worn out ten year old valves in my Bad Cat Cub! It all disappeared with new valves. Hudson Electronics, while not the most well-known pedal brand on our list, make some super-cool vintage-sounding pedals – especially the Sidecar. It's hard to get hold of the exclusive Sidecar, but if you can, the tones are truly impressive. Think swampy, dirty, bluesy, fuzzy, bright, open-sounding and precise sounds all in one pedal. Which Ibanez Tube Screamer models are available today?

also, if you get an 808 or TS9 etc etc from whoever some are relay switched, some are TB, whole myriad. for the relay switched ones, this little item to convert them to TB without drilling holes is supposed to be good. saying that.. if you want it to TB something without modding the case, get it, if you get it because you want to improve your buffered tone, don't. I don't know where all this snake oil about Boss and Ibby pedals having cr@ppy buffers arose from. Oh, forgot to add, the VS route 808 is really cheap compared to the Maxon/Ibanez pedals. I know Agent Orange knows this, but for the OP's info, buffers in a chain are not a bad thing, it's all about context. Thats why i like the VS stuff so much.difference between them is easily summed up as "not an awful lot". in physical terms you're talking a couple of output resistors (forget the chip mojo, the chip has nothing to do with clipping in the circuit). The third thing to choose is the tone and clipping set-up. Of course, the one thing that Tube Screamers almost universally have in common is their 'mid bump' and soft-clipping diodes. Another thing to consider is whether you'd like a more traditional pedal over something more modern-sounding, or vice versa. The Extreme shares the same basic circuit architecture as the OD808. However, several key component values have been altered to achieve what may be the ultimate overdrive tone. To be fair i shouldn't really damn keeley and Aman modded pedals. it's just the mods they make the most of (the chip change) are pure and utter nonsense. the mods they hype the least (eq modification etc) are the ones that make the most difference. but then modding a TS to remove the mid hump is making the pedal "not" a TS anymore.