Maxon OD808-40: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of a classic overdrive pedal
First 40 units will be signed by Tube Screamer designer Susumu Tamura
Maxon OD808-40 - Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of their overdrive pedal · Source: Maxon
Maxon produced the OD808 Overdrive pedal back in 1979. It was designed by Susumu Tamura and was well regarded by many guitarists. It was then rebranded as the TS808 Tube Screamer by Ibanez and the rest is history.
Maxon OD808-40 40th Anniversary edition
More than just a reissue, the new Maxon OD808-40 has modifications specified by original designer Susumu Tamura. Maxon claims that it will deliver a “more open, articulate sound with an improved dynamic response”.
The original OD808 pedal was Maxon’s attempt to copy the legendary Boss OD-1 pedal, but Susumu Tamura inadvertently developed a pedal design that would go on to be far more famous and influential than the yellow Boss unit. The design was then taken over and re-branded by Ibanez and used by players like Stevie Ray Vaughan. So nowadays the little green overdrive pedal is more easily recognised by most players than the Boss pedal.
Signed
Just 400 pedals are being made, so it really is a limited run, each one comes with a signed certificate of authenticity to celebrate the occasion. The first 40 units will be hand-signed by Tamura himself and so I think these will possibly be quite desirable in certain circles.
First 40 units will be signed by Tube Screamer designer Susumu Tamura · Source: Maxon/Godlyke
40th Anniversary
2019 is the 40th anniversary of the original design, and Maxon’s new pedal will be going head to head with the ruby red sparkling Ibanez 40th Anniversary Tube Screamer pedal that was launched during Winter NAMM. This year could be an expensive one for pedal collectors.
I personally have never been a huge fan of the Tube Screamer design (I’m a Boss SD-1 user), but I think I’m in the minority here and so I can see these being quite popular. Though I get the feeling they will be purchased by collectors rather than players…
RRP – USD 199 and numbers 1-40 signed at USD 400 each
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