Maxon VOP9 Vintage Overdrive Pro pedal

General

While the Maxon Vintage Overdrive Pro has definitely been developed with seasoned guitarists in mind, it's a worthy edition to the set-up of any guitarist, no matter their level. Rather than simply sitting in between, this pedal kind of enhances the collaboration between the guitarist, guitar, and the amplifier. For a start, the dynamic sensitivity of the VOP9 is incredibly high, meaning that every little nuance and variation in your paling is given full presence. Rather than a sharp and piercing distortion, this stompbox shapes a warm and sweet sound with a nice and thick bottom-end and a little light compression, which can be used just as comfortably with a clean amp as it can with an overdriven amp. In 9V mode, this pedal reacts just like traditional overdrive, but push it into 18V mode, then you'll immediately notice how much more headroom it provides - and even more dynamics. Set the Drive pot to '0', and you have yourself a solid clean boost.

Maxon

When it was first born in the '60s, Maxon was actually busy making pickups and by the end of that defining decade, had already started dipping into the dynamic world of effects pedal development. Since they were mostly making pedals for other brands, when the '70s arrived, Maxon were making pedals almost exclusively for Ibanez. As such, many legendary Ibanez pedals are actually Maxon designed and made. The most renowned pedal from this period has to be the Ibanez Tube Screamer (also known as the Maxon 808 Overdrive). This partnership carried on well into 2002 when Ibanez and Maxon finally parted ways. Ever since, Maxon have been producing their own gear, under their own name and some of their fresh pedals include versions of older Ibanez stompboxes - reissued, and re-stamped with the now-independent Maxon name.