Soundchecks SEPT.indd

SOUNDCHECK
the gear in review
TO THE NINES
Maxon Nine Series pedals
BY ERIC KIRKLAND
M
AXON’S FIRST SET of Nine
Series pedals, named for
their industry-standard ninevolt power requirement, were mostly
high-end reissues of popular pedals
that the company originally designed
for Ibanez. These four latest additions
to the Nine Series family reintroduce
three of Maxon’s lesser known but
highly prized vintage overdrives—the
OSD9 Overdrive/Soft Distortion, VOP9
Vintage Overdrive Pro and OOD9
Organic Overdrive—and include a
phenomenal revision of the renowned
AD9 Analog Delay. Each pedal features
Maxon’s super-duty die-cast zinc chassis, high-quality components and
true-bypass switching.
AD9PRO ANALOG DELAY
ANALOG DELAY PEDALS are known for
their warm tone and imprecise, lowfidelity repeats. The new AD9Pro takes
analog clarity and precision beyond
what most thought possible from a compact device and offers up to 450 milliseconds of delay. Maxon creates this
magic with four custom-made bucketbrigade devices (BBDs) and a circuit that
virtually eliminates aliasing and clock
noise. In addition to the delay time,
delay level and feedback controls, the
AD9Pro has a mini switch that selects
between Single-Head/Dual-Head operation to emulate the varying responses
from similarly equipped tape echo units.
Dedicated wet and dry outputs make it
simple to connect a dual-amp rig.
PERFORMANCE
THE AD9PRO IS a revelation. Echo at-
tacks are crisp, signal strength is increased, the effect sounds deeper and
noise is nearly absent. Analog delays
tend to smear distorted signals and
high-speed phrases, but the AD9Pro
delivers near-perfect note tracking
and detail. Dual-Head mode creates
wondrous pedal-born reverbs at low
settings and bouncing ping-pong effects as the delay time is increased. The
AD9Pro’s huge dynamic range (18db
more than the original AD9) maintains
the punch of your attack and ensures
identical performance in an effect loop
or in front of the amp.
OSD9 OVERDRIVE/SOFT DISTORTION
& OOD9 ORGANIC OVERDRIVE
THE OSD9 AND OOD9 utilize the same
164
GU I TA R WOR L D
TheOSD9’s 741
op-amp and
vintage OD880
circuitry create
some of the
most natural,
tube-like tones
available in a
solid-state box.
The AD9PRO’S
Single-/
Dual-Head
switch replicates
the repeats,
reverb and pingpong sounds
of single- and
dual-head tape
echo units.
MAXON NINE SERIES
PEDALS
LIST PRICES: AD9Pro,
$375.00; OSD9, $260.00;
OOD9, $260.00; VOP9,
$275.00
MANUFACTURER:
Godlyke, Inc.,
maxonfx.com
AD9PRO ANALOG DELAY
FEATURES AND
CONTROLS: Delay time,
feedback, delay level,
Single-and Dual-Head
mode switch
CONNECTIONS: In
mono, out dry, out wet
CIRCUITRY: Analog,
with true bypass
POWER: Nine volts
from battery or optional
adaptor
VOP9 VINTAGE
OVERDRIVE PRO
FEATURES AND
CONTROLS: Drive (dual
pot blends clean boost
with overdrive), level,
tone, 18- or 9-volt DIP
switch
CONNECTIONS: In
mono, out mono
CIRCUITRY: Analog,
with true bypass
POWER: Nine volts
from battery or optional
adaptor, doubled
internally to 18 volts
OSD9 OVERDRIVE/SOFT
DISTORTION
FEATURES AND
CONTROLS: Drive, level
CONNECTIONS: In
mono, out mono
CIRCUITRY: Analog,
with true bypass
POWER: Nine volts
from battery or optional
adaptor
OOD9 ORGANIC
OVERDRIVE
FEATURES AND
CONTROLS: Drive, level
CONNECTIONS: In
mono, out mono
CIRCUITRY: Analog,
with true bypass
POWER: Nine volts
from battery or optional
adaptor
ON
DISC
In the OOD9, the
original OD880’s
circuit design
mixes with the
famous 4558 IC
chip for exciting
high-gain crunch
and Brit-type
brilliance.
circuit but feature different central
operating components. A vintage 741
op-amp drives the OSD9 while a 4558
IC chip generates the OOD9’s more
modern tones. Maxon introduced the
OOD9’s extremely transparent and
tube-sounding circuit in its 1977 OD880
Overdrive/Soft Distortion pedal, and
vintage units now command upwards of
$600. New to the OSD9 and OOD9 is a
power-regulating charge pump, which
maintains a true nine volts and consistent tones at all times.
PERFORMANCE
NEITHER THE OSD9 nor the OOD9 will
alter your tone or roll-off bass frequencies, but their styles of overdrive differ
significantly. The OSD9’s 741 op-amp
enriches presence and drives the signal hard but doesn’t fatten the tone,
pump the midrange or make chords
creamy. Single-coils benefit most from
this pedal’s transparent tone and clean
attack. The OOD9 serves up harmonicsquealing rock tones, thanks to its 4558
chip, which is optimized to produce
higher gain, wicked low midrange and
a searing British-style crunch. Any
pickup will benefit from this pedal, but
humbuckers reveal more of its overdriven complexities.
VOP9 VINTAGE OVERDRIVE PRO
AVAILABLE FOR A short time in the mid
Nineties, the Maxon OD820 handily expanded on the TS-808’s well-established
foundation by functioning as a clean boost
as well as an overdrive pedal. The new
VOP-9 Vintage Overdrive Pro reintroduces the OD820’s circuit, which achieves its
amazing headroom and clarity by inter-
The VOP’s drive
knob has a dual
pot to blend
TS808-style
overdrive with a
clean boost.
nally doubling the nine-volt power supply
to 18 volts and using a dual pot on the
drive control that automatically blends
a clean boost with overdrive. For more
compression, an internal DIP switch can
be set to halve power to nine volts.
PERFORMANCE
THOUGH SIMILARITIES EXIST between
the VOP9’s warm vibe and the 808’s
midrange-heavy harmonics, the VOP is
far more vibrant and broad in its response. As opposed to the 808’s smoky
midrange surge, the VOP maintains
the original signal’s bass weight and
is capable of sharper treble tones. The
range of crunch aggression is dictated
by the player’s touch, and the high
dynamic ceiling can expand the compressed sound from your active pickups or humbuckers.
THE BOTTOM LINE
MAKE NO MISTAKE—Maxon’s Nine Se-
ries pedals are nothing short of production boutique instruments. For transparent overdrive choose the singing and
spacious tone of the OSD9 Overdrive/
Soft Distortion or the screaming gain
of the OOD9 Organic Overdrive. If the
TS-808 is your holy grail, the 18-volt
VOP9 Vintage Overdrive Pro will amaze
you with its clarity and power. As for
the AD9Pro Analog Delay, I have to
rank it as the most versatile, clear and
accurate analog delay that anyone has
built into a pedal thus far. ✺
PRO
CON
HIGH-END TONES, PROLEVEL HEADROOM, TOUGH
CONSTRUCTION
EXPENSIVE