NPD: Fortin modded Maxon OD808

B

braintheory

Well-known member
So I bought this pedal just to scratch that itch since I wanna try them all and am surprisingly impressed. Was expecting to just try it, sell it and move on, but it’s looking to actually be a keeper along with the 5 other boosts I’ve kept (of over 140 boosts I’ve been through). Besides this pedal I’ve really not been a Fortin fan. Didn’t keep the Hex Drive, 33, Grind or Fuzz and was very underwhelmed by the Natas and Meshuggah amps I tried, but am really liking this Maxon one. I know it’s very overpriced since it was a limited run, but still it sounds great, so what can you do lol. For me it’s worth it

I’m borrowing right now from a friend an actual vintage TS808 or OD9 (worth a lot of money these days) and I honestly am enjoying this Fortin one much more. Yes those 2 vintage ones sound more organic and warm, but the Fortin is way tighter, punchier, firmer, more aggressive, growly and very dense in the mids. It’s like a TS dialed in for metal. The Protone Dino Cazares I have in comparison still sounds tighter, more attack-y/clanky, punchier, firmer, more modern, but also smoother/less growl, drier, less organic, less warmth and less midrange density (that’s where all my pedals are lacking compared to this Fortin). It’s not gonna be sending my other keepers packing (Klon, Thorpy Heavy Water, Dino and 2 different versions Coppersound Broadway’s), but has its place to me among those and looking like it might be the boost I’d use 2nd or 3rd most often (Klon obviously #1 still)

I kinda didn’t wanna like this pedal because of the Fortin label, but seems to be one of my favorite boosts, so gotta hang on to it unless I discover something better, but right now there’s no other boost pedals on my radar. Seems like I’ve pretty much tried them all, except for a gold Klon (mine is silver no horse), but I’ll be able hopefully to try one soon, just won’t be able to buy one lol. Still feels weird that I’m saying such good things about a Fortin, but whatever it actually sounds great to me. Gotta give credit where it’s due
 

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I have 2 of these. I use them constantly. I didn't like the other Fortin pedals either (besides the Zuul). This one is a keeper and I would easily buy another just to have. I have a Fortin Cali and, oddly, when I toss this in front of other Marshall amps it sounds eerily similar to the Cali in OD1 with the extra gain stage on.

I also use this on my SLO-100 and it sounds really great.
 
itsgoodnow said:
I have 2 of these. I use them constantly. I didn't like the other Fortin pedals either (besides the Zuul). This one is a keeper and I would easily buy another just to have. I have a Fortin Cali and, oddly, when I toss this in front of other Marshall amps it sounds eerily similar to the Cali in OD1 with the extra gain stage on.

I also use this on my SLO-100 and it sounds really great.
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Yeah I had a Zuul too. I liked it, but sold it only because I felt the Highwind Phalanx and Guul were a bit better imo

I wouldn’t mind having another either. Maybe the OD9 version just to mix it up lol. I can see what you mean with it being like the Cali. It sounded great boosting my ‘79 JMP2203, ‘72 SuperLead 100 and especially my Naylor. Will have to try through my SLO now
 
napalmdeath said:
I actually dug the Hex Drive.
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Yeah I admit the Hex Drive was good, way better than I expected, but imo this Maxon one is much better. If I wasn’t spoiled by owning a Klon and a few others it’s very possible I could’ve actually held on to the hex drive
 
braintheory said:
Yeah I had a Zuul too. I liked it, but sold it only because I felt the Highwind Phalanx and Guul were a bit better imo

I wouldn’t mind having another either. Maybe the OD9 version just to mix it up lol. I can see what you mean with it being like the Cali. It sounded great boosting my ‘79 JMP2203, ‘72 SuperLead 100 and especially my Naylor. Will have to try through my SLO now
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FWIW I think the OD9 and 808 are exactly the same guts under the hood. I think the distributor had a few waves of orders and basically could not get enough of the TS9 to fulfill them so they took the guts of the pedal and tossed them in an 808 to satisfy the orders. the 808 are harder to find since they were fill-ins. I personally prefer the look of the 808 so I'm not complaining haha.
 
itsgoodnow said:
FWIW I think the OD9 and 808 are exactly the same guts under the hood. I think the distributor had a few waves of orders and basically could not get enough of the TS9 to fulfill them so they took the guts of the pedal and tossed them in an 808 to satisfy the orders. the 808 are harder to find since they were fill-ins. I personally prefer the look of the 808 so I'm not complaining haha.
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I agree, would be nice to have the OD9 just for the difference
 
While I've never played either, I always assumed the hex drive and the modded Maxon were the same thing. I guess not. What's different about them?
 
fearhk213 said:
While I've never played either, I always assumed the hex drive and the modded Maxon were the same thing. I guess not. What's different about them?
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I wish I still had my Hex Drive to AB for curiosity sake, but going off of just memory of having the Hex, I wanna say there would be similarities/overlap between the 2, the Maxon one I think would be more dense, aggressive and saturated in the mids and I remember the Hex maybe being a bit tighter and modern, but reallly hard to say without having both at the same time. All I really know is I do my AB comparisons and the Hex Drive didn’t seem worth keeping relative to what I had at the time (mostly Klon lol), still thought it was a good pedal, while this maxon one seems imo to very much still have its place after AB’ing with all my boosts through my various amps
 
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