Maxon OD820 Is The Holy Grail Of Overdrives

[Yngwiestein]

This journey took me several years. I started off with an Ibanez TS808, then TS9, then Maxon 808 & Maxon OD9, Home Brew Electronics & various other boutique pedals from Ebay, etc. I ended up with a Fulltone Fulldrive II blue mosfet pedal. I was close but still not where I was trying to go. Something was missing in the equation.

I finally narrowed it down to 2 pedals: Klon & Maxon OD820. It was difficult to track down someone who had a Klon to try but I got lucky and met a dude in a guitar shop who was kind enough to let me attend his band rehearsal and try his pedal. I easily came to conclude that Klons are worth the price they and the 12 week wait to get one. Even then I wasn't entirely sure about it but it probably would have worked out brilliantly anyway.

So the last pedal on my list was questionably worth trying. I had a few Maxon ODs in the past so I wasn't that thrilled about tracking one of these down. I was pretty impressed with the Klon Centaur.

So in a last desperate attempt to talk myself out of buying a new Klon I dug up review after review and all the sound clips & videos I could find of the Maxon OD820. I don't know what possessed me to do it but I came across a brand new one with a best offer deal on Ebay. I made the offer and ended up getting a fair deal.

The whole time I waited for it to get delivered I was thinking about how I should have bought the Klon. LOL! TO my pleasant surprise the Maxon OD820 exceeded its fantastic reputation.

I'm a decent player and have a fair amount of gear knowledge for someone who is not technical but still I see myself as an amateur. So even though I don't have all the savy and technical prowess I'm fairly sure that I can spot an outstanding piece of gear when I play it. The Maxon OD820 is the best kept secret in OD pedals in my opinion. You really have to wonder why they are not stocked in every Guitar Center, Sam Ash or local store.

So about the actual sound. It works as a boost and as a mild overdrive. There is a great amount of headroom and sustain. It's probably about the same amount of gain as an OD9 or a couple of hairs more than an 808 but it's the way it blends with your amp that makes it so amazing. I should note that one big factor in my OD selection was how well it works on different amps. Trust me when I tell you I put this pedal through a trial by fire.

Besides using it against my Fulltone Fulldrive II, I used these amps: Marshall JCM800 & 1959hw, Soldano 44 & Decatone, Matchless Chieftain, Budda Superdrive 30 & Koch Twintone I. So in there is a fine mix of EL34, 6L6 & EL84 amps.

Probably the hardest tests were the Decatone because it has 3 amazing channels and the crunch and OD already sound so fantastic and the Budda Superdrive because it can be very picky about which pedals it likes. The 820 passed with flying colors. My JCM800 was also a good test because even the Fulldrive got pretty grainy. The 820 didn't add the grain but it did brighten it a little. That was easily fixed by nudging the tone knob 2 clicks left.

Notes have so much detail and bloom through the 820. As a clean boost it does a fantastic job. On 0 it really passes the clean signal. As a boost I like it better than the Fulldrive. It's not compressed like the Fulldrive at 9v or OD9 by the way.

Another test was playing my American Special strat through it. The Texmex pickups squash the tone of any amp I played it through. Pedals make matters worse. Anything with compression sounds flat. The Maxon did a very fair job of getting great tone. Not enough to consider keeping the Texmex pickups but the best I've seen so far.

CONT.

 

[YEM]

Re: Maxon OD820 Is The Holy Grail Of Overdrives

I've been interested in this thing, though I find it impossible to find something to dethrone my King of Tone and my Silver modded TS-9. I'll have to play one of these things. Maxon FX are always high quality, this pedal is particularly intriguing to me.

 

[Yngwiestein]

Re: Maxon OD820 Is The Holy Grail Of Overdrives

... The Fulldrive is no slouch. It can go neck and neck with the OD820 and because of that I'm keeping it at least until I get a backup OD820. Where I think the 820 wins is as a clean boost and how it works with any amp. The Fulldrive can be generic sounding at times. It's not always inspring to play. This is something that won me over about the OD820 because it's the only pedal that sounds as good as any amp distortion I've heard.

Another pedal worth note is my EMMA ReezaFratzitz. It's a whole different kind of pedal and it only works with my EL34 amps. I think for Marshally sounds it's the best. It rivals my 820 when I plug it into my Marshall heads but only in very high gain sounds. It doesn't have the same clarity and headroom as the 820 but it's still so good you can hear the chord notes in a very distorted setting. If I had to choose between it and my Fulldrive, I would keep the EMMA.

So there you have it bros! An overdrive tested on a variety of the worlds greatest amps and it passed with flying colors. I can't offer any criticism except that the tone knob isn't perfect. It works great but there is a certain point in the knob where it goes from slightly too dark to slightly too bright. It's so subtle that it wouldn't make a difference to anyone but it's something I could hear after playing it a lot. I still would NOT consider getting it modded.

For me personally I finally found the sound I've been after. A lot of people including a couple of bros on this forum said they were outstanding. I'm glad I listened!

The only problem I run into now is the Maxon OD9 Pro+. Apparently it's not compressed like the OD9, has a little more overdrive & internally converts 9-18volts. One has to wonder if it's some sort of updated OD820. At this point I don't have the will to try another OD pedal because I'm happy with the 820 but I admit the thought crossed my mind

 

[YEM]

Re: Maxon OD820 Is The Holy Grail Of Overdrives

Without having played it the only thing i see that i might not like is that the clean boost and OD aren't separated into two pedals like the KoT. I use the clean boost of the KoT as a clean boost but i use it much more and rely on it much more as a boost to the KoT OD and as a boost to my TS-9 than as a clean boost, and it seems like the boost effect goes out the window as the gain is heightened so it is only a true "clean" boost. What are the other two knobs?

 

[Yngwiestein]

Re: Maxon OD820 Is The Holy Grail Of Overdrives

I've been interested in this thing, though I find it impossible to find something to dethrone my King of Tone and my Silver modded TS-9. I'll have to play one of these things. Maxon FX are always high quality, this pedal is particularly intriguing to me.

I didn't finish typing the rest before you replied but I was going to mention the OD9 Pro+. I have heard it's better than any modded OD9 or 808. Not to mention Maxon has 2 new miniature tube OD pedals on the market now. It will be interesting to see how they all sound.

You would be wise to get your hands on an 820. The first thing you will notice is less compression and more headroom. It doesn't take long to dial it in on an amp. Take an amp like the Budda Superdrive 30. It has a clean channel that goes from pristine clean to fairly distorted vintage sound. The 820 on top of a broken up clean channel is most impressive.

I have an amp that was very hard to get where I wanted it, the Soldano 44. It's one of the best there are but I needed more gain [it's a single channel amp BTW]. No other OD would come out so great, not even my Fulldrive. The Fulldrive does the job but it's more generic sounding than the 820.

It's weird but I can't explain it. Even though the 820 does not color your amp it does something to bring life into your sound. That's something the Fulldrive can't always do.

 

[Curly]

Re: Maxon OD820 Is The Holy Grail Of Overdrives

The only problem I run into now is the Maxon OD9 Pro+. Apparently it's not compressed like the OD9, has a little more overdrive & internally converts 9-18volts. One has to wonder if it's some sort of updated OD820. At this point I don't have the will to try another OD pedal because I'm happy with the 820 but I admit the thought crossed my mind

I read a thread on TGP. Someone with an 820 tried the the OD9 Pro and hung onto the 820.

anyway, I like the 820 so much I got two.

BTW, the way the 820 goes from clean boost to OD is seemless .. you can read the specs on their site if you want ... I've forgotten, but it's a dual pot or something. (I don't care -- it sounds good.)

 

[Yngwiestein]

Re: Maxon OD820 Is The Holy Grail Of Overdrives

Without having played it the only thing i see that i might not like is that the clean boost and OD aren't separated into two pedals like the KoT. I use the clean boost of the KoT as a clean boost but i use it much more and rely on it much more as a boost to the KoT OD and as a boost to my TS-9 than as a clean boost, and it seems like the boost effect goes out the window as the gain is heightened so it is only a true "clean" boost. What are the other two knobs?

All it does is boost the signal & add headroom and life to the sound if it's on 0. To me that's an ideal clean boost. There is a hint of grit but not like a Fulldrive. You can't even compare an OD9 to it because it just works different. I know most OD pedals are a twist on the same theme but the 820 is just different. There are only 3 knobs: gain, tone & level. Between the 3 knobs you can tweak a few different sounds.