Is the Maxon OD-02 the better TS10? [Answer: No, different breed!]
Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2024 11:49 am
Recently I purchased an Ibanez DSC10 Digital Chorus. A few years ago a forum member sent me a CP10 Compressor in a pedal tour. While I really like the sound of the chorus, I wasn't fond of the hissy compressor (I don't know if Laurie, whom I sent it to, still has it).
This Ibanez 10 series has a cult following these days. Today, the TS10 Tube Screamer Classic seems to be one of the most expensive Tube Screamer variant out there. Several thousands must have sold in the '80s, but now they are fetching crazy prices.
[Blasphemious thesis warning!] But aren't the orginal Maxon pedals the better ones?
If you compare the Ibanez 10 series and Maxon 01 series, you will notice that the Maxon pedals seem to have a sturdier build quality. The jacks are screwed to the chassis as well as the (metal shaft?) potentiometers. The Ibanez pedals have potentiometers with plastic shafts that are simply soldered to the smaller circuit board and they only have supporting plastic sleeves (like the Ibanez Soundtank pedals) to prevent that they are too wobbly. But they are wobbly. And the jacks are only soldered to the main circuit board, a method that hasn't proven failure-free in all the Aria, Arion, Rocktek, etc. pedals.
All in all the Maxon 01 series has the sturdy build quality as the Maxon and Ibanez 9 series - the Ibanez 10 series has the build quality of the first generation of the Soundtank series.
Okay, that's nothing that you can actually hear. But in Bart's wonderful effectsdatabase you can always see if a pedal model is based on or relates to another one. We all know that Maxon designed the circuits for Ibanez in the '80s and they always stood in the shadow of the bigger name Ibanez. In the case of the horribly expensive Ibanez TS10 the effectsdatabase refers to the Maxon OD-02:
The Maxon OD-02 has five control knobs instead of the three in the TS10. Both have Drive, Tone and Level. But the OD-02 does also offer "Phase" (from "Tight" to "Fat"), whatever that one does (midrange eq?) and a "Mix" knob which seems to offer the possibility to blend in the original signal. That's really cool!
If the Maxon OD-02 happens to have the same sound as the TS10, it is still flying under the radar, because the used prices are really reasonable. I have seen a few that are about $120.
What are your thoughts? Can anyone confirm if the Maxon has the same circuit under its hood? So far I cannot find the schematics for the OD-02.
This Ibanez 10 series has a cult following these days. Today, the TS10 Tube Screamer Classic seems to be one of the most expensive Tube Screamer variant out there. Several thousands must have sold in the '80s, but now they are fetching crazy prices.
[Blasphemious thesis warning!] But aren't the orginal Maxon pedals the better ones?
If you compare the Ibanez 10 series and Maxon 01 series, you will notice that the Maxon pedals seem to have a sturdier build quality. The jacks are screwed to the chassis as well as the (metal shaft?) potentiometers. The Ibanez pedals have potentiometers with plastic shafts that are simply soldered to the smaller circuit board and they only have supporting plastic sleeves (like the Ibanez Soundtank pedals) to prevent that they are too wobbly. But they are wobbly. And the jacks are only soldered to the main circuit board, a method that hasn't proven failure-free in all the Aria, Arion, Rocktek, etc. pedals.
All in all the Maxon 01 series has the sturdy build quality as the Maxon and Ibanez 9 series - the Ibanez 10 series has the build quality of the first generation of the Soundtank series.
Okay, that's nothing that you can actually hear. But in Bart's wonderful effectsdatabase you can always see if a pedal model is based on or relates to another one. We all know that Maxon designed the circuits for Ibanez in the '80s and they always stood in the shadow of the bigger name Ibanez. In the case of the horribly expensive Ibanez TS10 the effectsdatabase refers to the Maxon OD-02:
The Maxon OD-02 has five control knobs instead of the three in the TS10. Both have Drive, Tone and Level. But the OD-02 does also offer "Phase" (from "Tight" to "Fat"), whatever that one does (midrange eq?) and a "Mix" knob which seems to offer the possibility to blend in the original signal. That's really cool!
If the Maxon OD-02 happens to have the same sound as the TS10, it is still flying under the radar, because the used prices are really reasonable. I have seen a few that are about $120.
What are your thoughts? Can anyone confirm if the Maxon has the same circuit under its hood? So far I cannot find the schematics for the OD-02.
