Maxon Reissue Series OD808X Overdrive Extreme Effects Pedal 

You Will Like Me When I'm Angry! 

For years the Ibanez Tube Screamer has been one of the most popular and widely-used pedals on the planet. It’s used by a plethora of guitarists to boost and shape their sound and most would consider it an essential ingredient they couldn’t live without. Maxon were the company behind the Tube Screamer, creating them for Ibanez from the very beginning. After Ibanez started making the pedals themselves in the early noughties, Maxon started releasing their classic and world renowned designs under their own name.

Maxon’s quintessential Tube Screamer pedal is their OD808. It is a pitch-perfect recreation of the classic, cult favourite, TS-10. The OD808 is a fantastic classic Tube Screamer style pedal, however, Maxon wanted to push boundaries even further and offer something that hadn’t really been offered before. Something slightly angrier and more utilitarian. Thus, the OD808X was born.

A Tube Screamer on Steroids

The OD808X is a higher gain, more open variant on the classic Tube Screamer foundations. The quintessential Tube Screamer character is still intact but it is enhanced and boosted to a point not really ventured as of yet.

Firstly, the pedal offers more gain. The clipping is harsher and there is more of a volume boost on tap (+5dB to be exact). The soft clipping one might expect has been harshened to provide a bit more bite, dirt, and aggression. This extra drive, however, has not distorted the character and feel of the pedal. You can still wind the pedal down to act as a nice characterful clean boost or sit it in the middle to provide a push. At the top end of the drive control things get a little more spiky but it is not an enormous amount more drive than typically available on a Tube Screamer style pedal. It is the same recognisable face, only frowning a little bit more.

Openness

The second deviation from the standard TS formula is in its frequency response. This is probably the most obvious deviation from the traditional Tube Screamer recipe. The frequency response has been widened fairly significantly from the original OD808. This allows for a more subtle, open, natural sound which potentially affords the pedal a slightly broader appeal. The highlighted hump in frequency isn’t quite as pronounced and there is a little more focus on the lower-mids/bass frequencies. Because of this, the pedal is a little more robust and a little less sweet. The traditional OD808 circuit is very sweet and pretty as it is quite stylistically constrained. The OD808X broadens this to allow more of a spacious tone which doesn’t hijack the guitar's natural character quite as readily. 

Alongside the widened frequency response, Maxon have increased the high-frequency range as well. This allows the pedal to put out a little more treble and, as a result, perform with a touch more clarity. The clarity is accessible through the tone control when it is turned clockwise into the upper registers. Crucially, this extra brightness is not clinically sharp. The frequencies are finely tuned to provide brightness without becoming debilitatingly harsh.

Response

One thing that the OD808X has not compromised on is its dynamism and response. The pedal retains the OD808’s transparency wholeheartedly. Turning down the volume of your guitar will reign in the gain beautifully and your picking attack will have a really satisfying effect on how much growl each note will provide. The extra hardness present in the clipping does not affect this side of the circuitry at all. The pedal will still behave itself and react to your playing in just as vibrant a fashion as ever.

To Go X or Not to Go X?

For fans of the searing, bluesy, iconic tone of players like Stevie Ray Vaughan and John Mayer, the standard OD808 is probably the way to go. However, if you’re after something different and a little less dyed in the wool, the OD808X is definitely worth a look. It provides you with all of the benefits that a standard Tube Screamer style pedal would afford your rig without quite such an obvious and predetermined tonal palette. In that respect this pedal is a slight amount more versatile and transparent, whilst retaining a good amount of it’s Tube Screamer heritage. The extra gain and volume is also nice to push an amp that little bit harder.

Why Bonners?

Here at Bonners Music you have the opportunity to try one of these great Maxon effects pedals yourself. Just give us a call on 01323 636141 or better still, visit our showroom! If you can't see the Maxon pedal listed that you are after just call 01323 636141 for availability and the best price.