2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the granddaddy of all overdrive pedals, the OD808. Maxon (via their US distributor Godlyke) reached out to four industry stalwarts and newcomers alike to develop their unique take on the venerable OD808 circuit.
Jamie Stillman of EarthQuaker Devices, Keeley of his eponymous company, our own writer Nicholas Kula of Catalinbread and Dave Koltai of Pigtronix, each reconfigured the OD808 to reflect their approach to design. The original designer, one Susumu Tamura, also retrofitted the original circuit with a unique take of his own. After the modifications were made, Godlyke’s team modded each one by hand using the specified parts lists, and as a result, each version is available only in a limited run.
After releasing the Keeley-modded OD808-40K Godlyke unveiled the Catalinbread version, the OD808-40C.
Its tone is described as…
…a thick wall of sound with insane amounts of gain and output, yet still sporting the classic 808 purr.
Extremely amp-like, the ODin808 offers less clean tone blended in with the Drive and a flattened mid-hump, bringing the 808 lineage into distortion territory.
You can hear it in the videos below.
Lookout for dedicated demos with the EQD and Pigtronix versions, Godlyke unveiled this video a few weeks ago featuring all four devices:
The 40th Anniversary celebration continues!
Maxon has collaborated with Catalinbread chief engineer Nicholas Kula to bring you the limited edition 40th Anniversary Catalinbread-modded OD808.
The OD808-40C features Catalinbread’s “ODin808” Mod which delivers a creamy, articulate drive that simply kills with any instrument, through any amp.
A significant amount of components have been substituted on the ODin808 to create its unique tone – a thick wall of sound with insane amounts of gain and output, yet still sporting the classic 808 purr.
Extremely amp-like, the ODin808 offers less clean tone blended in with the Drive and a flattened mid-hump, bringing the 808 lineage into distortion territory.
As with the OD808-40K, the OD808-40C ODin808 will be limited to a production of 400 individually numbered units, each with its own signed certificate of authenticity.
In addition, units 1-40 will be hand-signed by Mr. Kula and feature additional component substitutions including different Drive & Tone pot values, an OPA2134 OpAmp, and Catalinbread knobs!
Don’t miss out on this once-in-a-half-century opportunity – pre-order your Catalinbread-modded OD808 today!
