Maxon OD808 "Original" Tubescreamer pedal made in Japan

We usually have no shortage of words, but there is very little we can add about the Maxon OD808: It's the real Tubescreamer made by the company that made the original Tubescreamer. 

Maxon (Nisshin Onpa) started in the 60's and their earliest products were pickups made mainly for Ibanez and Greco. The "Super 70's" pickups in early Ibanez Les Paul guitars were in fact made by Maxon. Maxon branched into effects and designed the TS808 for Ibanez. The rest as they say is history. 

In the words of Maxon

The Original Overdrive

• The world’s first tube-amp overdrive simulator - circa 1979
• Warm, creamy, organic overdrive with singing sustain
• Rebranded for Ibanez as the TS808 Tubescreamer
• The tone that made Stevie Ray Vaughan famous

Can a pedal be considered a clone if it’s made by the company that made the original?!?  Maxon designed the original OD808 overdrive circuit in the late 1970’s – they then rebranded this pedal for Ibanez as the TS808 Tubescreamer, and the rest is history...

The OD808 Reissue offers up all the warm, creamy, organic overdrive as the original and then some.  Never one to rest on their laurels, Maxon has tweaked the current version ever so slightly to reduce noise level while retaining the legendary “808” tone (see Tech Talk below).

The OD808 is the perfect pedal for adding smooth, tube-like overdrive to any clean amp – use it as a secondary dirt channel to beef up a song’s chorus section, or keep it on all the time for the crunchy tone that has defined rock and roll.

The OD808 is also ideal for pushing an already overdriven amp over the edge, a ‘la Stevie Ray Vaughan.   Hell, stack two of them together like Stevie did and the house is a rockin’! You’ve never heard – or felt – bluesy goodness like this before…

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.

Turns out that the OD808’s mild compression and slight low-end cut are perfect for tightening up high-gain amps; allowing fast note runs to stand out with clarity while making rhythms tight and punchy.  Just listen to any recording by Grammy-award winning Producer/Killswitch Engage founder Adam Dutkiewicz to hear how the OD808 has become the voice of a whole new generation of metal guitarists.

The Maxon OD808 – After 40 years it’s still being used to reinvent guitar tone as we know it.  Reinvent your tone – play the Maxon OD808.

Besides the fact that the Maxon OD808 Reissue sounds richer, warmer, and BETTER than the Ibanez TS808 Reissue, there are also these facts to consider:

• Lower noise floor than TS808
• Smaller, lighter enclosure 
• More reliable plunger type switch with soft-click tactile feel
• More affordable

TECH TALK

Maxon developed the OD808 circuit more than 40 years ago, and since then it’s become the most used, most imitated and most lauded overdrive circuit of all time.  While the 808-style overdrive circuit is commonplace nowadays, in 1979 it was a unique design and an industry first.

The secret behind the legendary “808 tone” lies in the amplifier section of the circuit.  Rather than having separate amplifier and clipping stages, the OD808 features a signal-distorting diode (Panasonic #MA150) located in the negative feedback loop of the amplifier stage.

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.

It should be noted that the Reissue Series OD808 uses different output resistors than the original version.  Vintage TS808’s are susceptible to microphonic noise due to static electricity buildup on the chassis.  To improve performance, the positions of the output resistors on the reissue OD808 were reversed and their values increased in order to reduce noise levels.  This circuit change has no audible affect on the sound of the unit, save for reducing the noise levels.

Input Impedance: 500K Ohms
Input Jack: 1/4 inch standard phone jack
Output Impedance: 10K Ohms
Output Jack: 1/4 inch standard phone jack
Output: 1
Controls: Drive, Tone, Balance
Switch: Normal/Effect
Noise (IHF-A): -110 dBu
Max Amplitude: 35 dBu
Power Supply: 9V Manganese dry cell battery (S-006P) or special AC adaptor
Power Voltage: DC9 V (Battery) / DC10 V (AC-adaptor)
Current Consumption: 5 mA (9V) / 6 mA (10 V)
AC Adaptor: AC210N (option) Input: AC120V Output: DC9V/200 mA Center - / Sleeve +)
Dimensions (main body): 61 mm (W) x 112 mm (D) x 35 mm (H)
Dimensions (whole): 70 mm (W) x 112 mm (D) x 55 mm (H)
Weight: 260 g
Accessories: 9V Manganese dry cell battery (S-006P) x 1