Death of an 808

[dr0]

I have a very small pedal set up.
Four pedals.

This Maxon OD808 Overdrive , followed by an OCD, a Flashback delay and a Korg Pitch black tuner.

The 808 is the senior member of the squad, he joined in the late 90's I'm guessing.

The Maxon was modded by a fellow who does stuff like that, and it's a gem. I usually use it with all three knobs near the 12:00 position. It's the go to "lead" box, and also gets used for dirty rhythm on some songs.

It's a very pure sound, its not fuzzy, it feels like it opens the notes up.

Yesterday, mid-song he refused to turn off. The switch in the little guy has died, there is no "click" when you push it down.

I've reached out to my friend who modded it for me, but I know he's super busy and traveling, so for now I need a replacement.

The (by appearance) same pedal, less mods, is still being sold new. $150 at Mega OnLine Retailer #2.

But I realize that this pedal sits in the middle of the largest ecosystem of overdrives, the Tube Screamer clan, which even limited to Maxon and Ibanez had dozens of family members.

So, with that in mind, any suggestions for replacing (at least temporarily) the failed OD 808?

 

[dr0]

Re: Death of an 808

Oh, yeah: almost all playing is a Tele of some sort or another, with mid-output single coil Tele pickups. I float between a few amps but keep coming back to the Marshall JCM-800 combo.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Death of an 808

That switch should be pretty easy to replace. Open the back, is it soldered with leads or to the board?

 

[Nacho8807]

Re: Death of an 808

I think the TS mini is actually really good, and maybe the best TS Ibanez makes right now.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Death of an 808

Electro Harmonix East River Drive!! A straight up copy of the 808 with the layout and components chosen by Mike of AnalogMan. No mods, they just went for a good mass produced 808 copy.
I love mine, it's pretty smooth sounding. Built solid. Nice bright green LED. Not expensive. I've never compared to to the real thing but nothing about it sounds or feels cheap for sure.

Sent from my SM-G930U using Tapatalk

 

[Mincer]

Re: Death of an 808

You can nail the tone of that Maxon, but also add more gain range on the top and bottom, as well as a 3 band active EQ with the 805 Overdrive.

 

[dr0]

Re: Death of an 808

The amazing universe of Tube Screamer / 808 derived effects:

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Death of an 808

The only wrong Toobs Creamer is the one you don’t buy.

 

[dr0]

Re: Death of an 808

Obviously it's important that it's green.
I feel bad for the Orange and Red ones, I bet the other TS's pick on them at night when the store is closed and they are all sitting in the effects cabinet together.
"Your mama was an MXR"

 

[Blille]

Re: Death of an 808

Sorry for your loss.

First of all, IIRC the footswitch is on its own so this might be the easiest repair ever. Just get a new one and rewire it.

Second, there's a plethora of TSes as you can see. So my recommendation, assuming you want a new one, is to figure out what you want and go from there. If you want to add EQ, get the 805, etc.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Death of an 808

Agreed, the 805 would probably fill the void, but the switches used in those older pedals are typically available from several sources. Should be a relatively easy/fast/inexpensive fix if you absolutely love the pedal you already have and need to get it back on the road quickly.

 

[Liam1963]

Re: Death of an 808

Replacements:
EHX: East River Drive or Crayon (both are worthy substitutes, and affordable)
Ibanez: Mini Tube Screamer
Boutique: Wampler Pantheon (best OD I have heard in a long time)

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Death of an 808

Way Huge Green Rhino, or fix your switch.

 

[dr0]

Re: Death of an 808

First of all, IIRC the footswitch is on its own so this might be the easiest repair ever. Just get a new one and rewire it.

Thanks! I'll give it a try. Any suggestion for where I can order the replacement switch?

 

[dr0]

Re: Death of an 808

This one?
What do you like about it?

Not only is it Green, it has Green in it's name. So, that's promising.

 

[Blille]

Re: Death of an 808

Thanks! I'll give it a try. Any suggestion for where I can order the replacement switch?

Mammoth.

https://www.mammothelectronics.com/collections/switches


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Death of an 808

What do you like about it?

It's a great sounding TS with tweakable mids and bass. If I had to get rid of all pedals except one, I'd be stuck deciding between this and my Crybaby.

 

[dr0]

Re: Death of an 808

I see this one on Reverb, and they are asking $500 for it, so it must be vintage magic somehow. That's out of my price range.

The new ones have a few more controls on them. They are $129. new, so totally affordable.

 

[dave74]

Re: Death of an 808

 

[dr0]

Re: Death of an 808

I'm confused.
I don't understand.

Stomp the "on" button three times while saying "I want to go home, I want to go home" and you will be transported back to Kansas.

It's shaped like a Tube Screamer but it's Sparkly Red? WTF?