Maxon
Maxon built the pedals Ibanez sold for years, including the circuit that became the Tube Screamer, before returning to selling under its own name. The Japanese company's OD-808 and OD-9 are the same lineage approached directly, and its analogue delays and chorus units have their own following. In our archive Maxon turns up wherever the Tube Screamer's history is being untangled, which is more often than you might expect.
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- Effects pedals
- OD808
- OD-9
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- SD-9
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Maxon FAQ4 questions
What is the relationship between Maxon and Ibanez?
Maxon manufactured the pedals sold under the Ibanez name in the 1970s and 80s, including the Tube Screamer. The same circuits were sold as Maxon in Japan and as Ibanez elsewhere, which is why an OD808 and a TS808 are so closely related — and why Maxon still sells its own version.
What is the Maxon OD808?
The overdrive that is the other half of the Tube Screamer story: the same mid-focused, gain-limited drive circuit under Maxon's own badge. Maxon still produces it, and the 40th-anniversary editions have included versions modified by other pedal builders such as Catalinbread and EarthQuaker Devices.
Are Maxon pedals made in Japan?
Maxon is a Japanese brand and its reputation rests on Japanese manufacture of the classic circuits. Check the specific model rather than assuming across a catalogue that now runs to dozens of products at a range of prices.
Is a Maxon OD808 better than an Ibanez Tube Screamer?
They are close relatives rather than competitors, and which one you prefer usually comes down to specific component and revision differences rather than a clear winner. Both are so widely cloned that the argument is mostly of historical interest — but the Maxon lineage is the original manufacturing one.