school me on the maxon OD808

adrianb

adrianb

New member
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: :yes: ). 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.
 
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.
 
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.
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Would you say they sound similar?
 
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.
 
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.
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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:
 
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.
 
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.
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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:
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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...
 
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.
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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.
 
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.
 
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.

 
nevusofota":eevt32fu said:
Years ago I compared the OD9 to the 808. Like them both but the OD9 had the very slight edge.
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Agree, that's why I went with the OD9 also. Love it.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
Click to expand...

The Suhr Koko boost might be worth a look.
 
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