Maxon is certainly celebrating the Tube Screamer’s 40th anniversary in style - not content with tapping up pedal legend Robert Keeley, the Japanese company has now teamed up with stompbox behemoths EarthQuaker Devices, Catalinbread and Pigtronix to deliver three further fresh takes on the iconic overdrive pedal.
EarthQuaker pedal engineer Jamie Stillman’s OD808-40E adds the company’s ‘Signal Shredder’ mod, which promises a more open feel, with increased upper-midrange clarity and punch, plus alternate clipping diodes and increased output volume.
Catalinbread’s Nicholas Kula has lent his talents to the ‘ODin808’-modded OD808-40C, which aims to deliver “creamy articulate drive” that suits any instrument or amp.
There’s a flattened midrange to this heavily modified offering, taking it into distortion territory.
David Koltai, Pigtronix president, integrated a ‘Germanium Fat Mod’ for his OD808-40P pedal, which boasts a combination of clipping diodes, increased gain and an improved low-end curve.
These, of course, join Robert Keeley’s existing OD808-40K, which offers a ‘Max-Gain’ mod for hot-rodded, stacked-gain sounds.
Each pedal is limited to just 400 units and available in late-November (apart from the Keeley, which is available now) for $199 each. The first 40 units of each pedal will be hand-signed by the relevant builder, and include additional aesthetic or circuit tweaks for $400 apiece.
See Maxon for more info.
