school me on the maxon OD808

adrianb · Sep 20, 2015

I use a Bad Monkey as my main and only overdrive pedal. It's kinda beat-up and i'd like to get a backup pedal. Since they don't make the Bad Monkey anymore, i have to choose between a Maxon OD808 and an Ibanez TS808.

Now i witnessed the OD808-boosted high gainz brutalz rage back on HCAF but many insisted the BM sounded just as good for about 1/3 the price.

So people of RT please school me on every detail of the Maxon and Ibanez boxes, and compare them to the BM. Thanks.

By the way i play a Mesa-type of sound nowadays (Roland Cube 40XL on Rectifier mode, gain dimed :gethim:

). This setting with my BM on level 10, gain zero, through my garbage strat clone and my grimy fingers is MY sound and i don't want to change it.

Anonymous · Sep 20, 2015

Big fan of Maxon pedals. Currently own an OD9 and love it, almost got the 808.

Here's a great link that shows the Maxon differences

https://youtu.be/Ak_nWBdEMhg

slash57 · Sep 20, 2015

Why the eff did they discontinue the bad monkey?
Anyways, the OD808 will be great and it's not as noisy as the Bad Monkey.

adrianb · Sep 20, 2015

slash57":tdeyf7yz said:
Why the eff did they discontinue the bad monkey?
Anyways, the OD808 will be great and it's not as noisy as the Bad Monkey.

Would you say they sound similar?

Anonymous · Sep 20, 2015

I had the bad money for a while. Not bad especially for the $ but too mid rangy for me. Maxon imo blows it away and is one of the best if you ask me.

adrianb · Sep 20, 2015

DICKROSE":2nxvwui4 said:
I had the bad money for a while. Not bad especially for the $ but too mid rangy for me. Maxon imo blows it away and is one of the best if you ask me.

Did you run the BM as a boost? How did you set the gain control?

My BM, with gain on zero, is pretty transparent. Doesn't add a lot of mids. :confused:

Oblivion DC · Sep 20, 2015

Both the Maxon and the Ibenez will give you a big mid bump, more than I remember the Bad Monkey doing. That's the nature of those pedals. If you like your sound the way it is just grab a used Bad Monkey off of eBay or Reverb and call it a day.

Les Zombie · Sep 20, 2015

Ive been using the 808 for the past 10 yrs and its been my fav pedal to boost my rectos and herbert.

Anonymous · Sep 20, 2015

adrianb":dmiln7o9 said:
DICKROSE":dmiln7o9 said:

I had the bad money for a while. Not bad especially for the $ but too mid rangy for me. Maxon imo blows it away and is one of the best if you ask me.

Click to expand...

Did you run the BM as a boost? How did you set the gain control?

My BM, with gain on zero, is pretty transparent. Doesn't add a lot of mids.

I've always ran my boost pedals as clean boosts. (Level max, gain zero, tone about 10 o'clock)

I've always found the BM a bit on the high end side, mid range speaking. I don't have this sue with the Maxon.

Different guitars, amps, etc respond as such...

adrianb · Sep 20, 2015

Oblivion DC":1sii25tl said:
Both the Maxon and the Ibenez will give you a big mid bump, more than I remember the Bad Monkey doing. That's the nature of those pedals. If you like your sound the way it is just grab a used Bad Monkey off of eBay or Reverb and call it a day.

That's actually not a bad idea. Seeing as how i like the BM.

That said if the tonal differences between the OD808 and BM aren't so great i'd be open to trying it out. Different colors and stuff.

The lousy switch on the BM does piss me off...

Funny though it's just like yesterday almost everybody on HCAF was trumpeting the OD808.

Buckeyedog · Sep 20, 2015

I think the OD808 is much better than the BM. I have the BM and had the OD808. Just much more clarity with the 808. Although for the $$, the BM is tough to beat.

nevusofota · Sep 20, 2015

Years ago I compared the OD9 to the 808. Like them both but the OD9 had the very slight edge.

adrianb · Sep 20, 2015

What's the story behind the TS808?

motorboy1 · Sep 20, 2015

Maxon 808 by far. I owned the TS808 and did not care for it. Sounded flat and no dynamics.

billsbigego · Sep 20, 2015

I have a voodoo labs sparkle drive which I like. It's got a 3 way mod, which is essentially the TS mode, > bass mode and warm (sorta scooped) mode. It also has the ability to blend back in the clean signal, which is cool.

But my next pedal (soon) is going to be the Maxon OD808 based on clips I've heard. Mostly, this video which has me jonesing for one.

Anonymous · Sep 20, 2015

nevusofota":eevt32fu said:
Years ago I compared the OD9 to the 808. Like them both but the OD9 had the very slight edge.

Agree, that's why I went with the OD9 also. Love it.

anomaly · Sep 21, 2015

When it comes to overdrives, it seems to be more feel thing, and the tonal subtleties you will notice while playing live, or when jamming with a band. The Maxon od808 is one of those pedals that just feels right. It doesn't thin your tone out like some other OD's do, and it's got a nice smooth, bouncy character to it. That said, i still love my cheap Boss sd-1, and my MXR 6 band for boosting just as much as the Maxon. Different flavors. I had a Bad Monkey for a short while and i did not like it... lately i've been more into using EQ's for boosting my amps. It seems to retain more clarity.

Sick Michael · Sep 22, 2015

Very subjective topic. Bad Monkey has always worked great for me, boosting a dirty amp. Better than the old SD1 cos the hump is less and the boost is more transparent, and no low end suck. I'd use something else for adding juice to a clean tone tho.

bbaug14 · Sep 22, 2015

Sort of on topic. I have an OD808 and while I like it for it's natural sounding texture, it still has a slight EQ shift and some bottom end loss, to my ears. It is the pedal I'm using right now for a 'clean' boost though.

What would be a good pedal to take a slightly dirty amp... say a 50W Plexi w/volume at noon, and drive it such that it sounds like you are just turning the gain up on the amp (to something like 3 o'clock)? No EQ shift, just natural additional gain. I've tried

Carl Martin Plexitone
Timmy
oD808
TS9
SD1 (with and without the Keeley mod)
OCD

I've yet to find a pedal that does this right.

JimmyBlind · Sep 22, 2015

bbaug14":19qxrkhs said:
What would be a good pedal to take a slightly dirty amp... say a 50W Plexi w/volume at noon, and drive it such that it sounds like you are just turning the gain up on the amp (to something like 3 o'clock)? No EQ shift, just natural additional gain. I've tried

Carl Martin Plexitone
Timmy
oD808
TS9
SD1 (with and without the Keeley mod)
OCD

I've yet to find a pedal that does this right.

The Suhr Koko boost might be worth a look.