Maxon 808

[bananaladonpcp]

Hey everyone. I have a reissued maxon 808 that I use for a tiny boost on my Herbert just to tighten everything up alittle. I have it turned down pretty low. I really enjoy it alot except that when it's on and I'm not playing it makes alot of hiss. I always use it with a battery to help keep it quiet but the hiss really annoys me. My noise gate catches all the hiss but it bothers me that it's still there. Is there any mods I can do to help get rid of that hiss and maybe get alittle bit more bass out of it? Thanks everyone!!


-Alex

 

[Skrapmetal]

How do you have it set? I've never found myself wanting for bass when using mine as a boost.

Mine has a faint hiss as well, I just run it before my decimator. I'm not sure if there are any mods for cleaning that up, but if there are Analogman and/or Keeley would certainly be places to check.

 

[bananaladonpcp]

tone at 11oclock, OD at 9oclock, level inbetween 11 and 1 oclock. Depends on how I'm feeling that day lol. I don't really "need" more bass but it would be nice lol. I run mine right before my decimator as well. Thanks for the tip!

-Alex

 

[blackba]

The Maxon OD-9 has more bass if that is what you want, it sounds a little more agressive as well, the OD-808 is smoother. I don't notice hiss on either the OD-808 or OD-9. When using them as a boost, I typically have the gain at 9 o'clock, tone at 1 o'clock, and level at 1 to 5 o'clock. One thing I like about both pedals is that noon on the level is about unity.

 

[The Hoff]

Put an ISP Decimator at the end of your signal chain, you'll be good to go

 

[cyndicate]

For a high-gain amp I prefer to run it as a "clean boost", Drive None, Tone 1:00, Level Max. Don't remember it ever having hiss though.

 

[fluff191]

For a high-gain amp I prefer to run it as a "clean boost", Drive None, Tone 1:00, Level Max. Don't remember it ever having hiss though.

+1

I run mine the same way AFTER my gate and I dont have hissing problems. Might want to play with your V1 tube.

 

[bananaladonpcp]

Put an ISP Decimator at the end of your signal chain, you'll be good to go

I have the isp at the end of my chain. It catches all the hiss I don't hear it when it's on. It just bothers me that its there. It always hiss's no matter what amp I use it on and the other guitarist in my band has a 808 and a 909 and both of his make a hissing sound as well when they are engaged. It's not really all that noticeable to be honest. It just sounds like you are playing at a place with dirty power. I tried it alot of different settings on it including no OD and a max level. Didn't have enough bite for my taste so I added alittle OD. Like i said it's barely turned up. alittle less then 9 oclock. I more want to get rid of the hiss for when I am at home practicing. I dont usually use the ISP when i'm just in my room but I use the Maxon and it's super annoying to have that little hiss there especially since I'm using a power conditioner. I might just be being fussy lol.


-Alex

 

[Soundguy213]

are you using a lot of gain on the amp as well? You probably hearing the noise floor due to a ton of pre amp gain. Most overdrive/distortion pedals do that if your using level and overdrive on the pedal plus higher gain settings on the amp.

if that's your case, try what cyndicate said. turn your pedal volume all the way up and overdrive to zero.

if you hear it only while playing, like it's in the background of your sound, well that's just sorta of the nature of the beast. The more signal you have going into the preamp from outboard gear, the more the amp will compress the signal and the more hiss/noise you will hear.

 

[bananaladonpcp]

are you using a lot of gain on the amp as well? You probably hearing the noise floor due to a ton of pre amp gain. Most overdrive/distortion pedals do that if your using level and overdrive on the pedal plus higher gain settings on the amp.

if that's your case, try what cyndicate said. turn your pedal volume all the way up and overdrive to zero.

if you hear it only while playing, like it's in the background of your sound, well that's just sorta of the nature of the beast. The more signal you have going into the preamp from outboard gear, the more the amp will compress the signal and the more hiss/noise you will hear.

Yeah I'm using alot of gain. The pedal causes hiss when it's on. Doesn't matter what the OD and tone knobs are turned to. The higher the level knob the louder the hiss. I figured it was the noise floor i was hitting. Just curious if anyone was doing any mods to get rid of it alittle. It's not really that loud and like i said it just sounds like im playing at a place with dirty power lol. Just being fussy hahaha.

 

[RJF]

You have a Herbert and you can't get enough bass?

 

[guitarman967]

For a high-gain amp I prefer to run it as a "clean boost", Drive None, Tone 1:00, Level Max. Don't remember it ever having hiss though.

+1
The gain control never added anything good to the tone that I could here. Just muddied up the waters

 

[leib10]

I like having the clean boost as above, or sometimes with a little bit of drive added (at most to 9:00).

 

[guitarman967]

I like having the clean boost as above, or sometimes with a little bit of drive added (at most to 9:00).

I look at a "clean boost" as something different.
Clean=transparency.
I like what a pedal like the Maxon OD808 adds to the overall sound.
It's definitely not transparent or "clean" but it's just right for injecting higher gain amps with the right midrange boost and low clip that I need.

 

[blackba]

I like having the clean boost as above, or sometimes with a little bit of drive added (at most to 9:00).

As far as you settings, I find it generally sounds better to me if you have the drive up a little versus all the way off.

 

[TeleBlaster]

I replaced my 808 with a Krankshaft. Very similar but much better tonal quality, much less noise. To me the 808 had a weird muddy mid range, but the Krankshaft is very clear, more transparent then the 808.

 

[leib10]

I also will vary the drive and level based on the pickups I'm using. I like to use less when I'm using the Blackouts, a bit more when I'm using passives.