Maximum Drive (Maxon OD-01 The Driver)

[MichaelW]

Build Rating

5.00 star(s)

Despite the close naming to my last build report, the Ibanez Jet Driver.

This is not the same pedal. First of all this pedal dates back to the mid 80's.
I don't believe there is an Ibanez counterpart to the OD-01.

However, like the Jet Driver, this is a pretty high gain pedal. There is a toggle that switches between two "voices" I would call it although it's labelled as "Overdrive & Distortion". One mode is more aggressive and open sounding than the other.

I've read a lot of people saying that this pedal sounds like a Tubescreamer in one mode and a RAT in the other.

I'm not getting that at all. Interestingly enough, to my ears it sounds very much like a Boss SD-1 and an SD-1 on steroids in "distortion" mode.

Another cool obscure vintage pedal that has recently showed up in the PPCB catalog.

Another recommended build. Both as a standalone overdrive into a clean amp or a "DRIVER" into a dirty amp.
I built this to BOM using the 1S1588 clipping diodes. I would highly recommend procuring some from a reliable source to have on hand.
I know a lot of folks poo poo mojo parts but I can hear a difference and the 1S1588 is one of my favorite clippers both as hard clipper or soft.
This is the guy on eBay I get them from. 1S1588 Brian is a great seller and all his parts are legit.

 

[Guardians of the analog]

Bougie Diodes, Big Caps, buss wire and Crayola color scheme...it's a Mikey Wong build report

 

[MichaelW]

Oh I forgot to post the schematic I found for this.
It's not Robert's but it will give you an idea what's going on.

 

[dcfvgb]

Love the colors!

 

[Aentons]

Cool, I didn't realize there was a board available for this.

I've had a few in the 01 series. This is one of the few I kept. It sounds really good to me. Interestingly, I kept the JD-01 Jet Driver which is a Muff variant, completely different than the newer TS based JD9 Jet Driver. There were a couple other interesting ones in that line, like the OD-2 Overdrive and the OR-1 Rock n Roll, that I ultimately got rid of because they didn't sound super great in stock form and I didn't want to mod the vintage stuff. I'd love to see some boards become available for those.