History
Maxon (Nisshin Onpa) started out in the mid 1960s as a guitar pickup manufacturer. In 1969 they also became an effects pedal manufacturer, primarily as a producer of OEM products for other companies. During that time Nisshin Onpa was responsible for building a fuzz/wah pedal that was very popular, being marketed under a multitude of trade names including Ibanez. During the 1970s Ibanez became one of the company's main OEM customers. Nisshin Onpa designed and manufactured the now legendary TS-808 and TS9 Tube Screamers for Ibanez, and many other models, including the FL9 Flanger, CS9 Chorus, and AD9 Analog Delay. Nisshin Onpa also marketed its pedals under its own Maxon name during this time. When Nisshin Onpa and Ibanez parted ways in 2002, Nisshin Onpa began to more aggressively market its own line of Maxon pedals. Repositioning itself as a manufacturer of high-end mass-produced effects, Maxon expanded its line of analog pedals, using rare NOS components and classic circuit designs that are to this day highly respected and sought after.
Maxon continues to expand its product line. Although they produced digital delays and reverbs during the 1980s and '90s, they now concentrate mostly on "hard-to-find elsewhere" vintage type effects such as analog delays, analog choruses and flangers, and classic overdrive and distortion units. Most of the old Ibanez Nine Series is available in Maxon form these days, but the Maxon pedals now include true-bypass switching and circuitry equal to or in many cases superior to the Ibanez originals. The company prides itself on a reputation of quality over quantity.
Maxon's big break came when they began building the Ibanez Tube Screamers. Ibanez Tube Screamers were built by Maxon from 1974 until 2002. If you take the cover off any Ibanez TS-808 or TS9, and other Ibanez pedals from this period, the Maxon name will appear on the circuit board. These Maxon manufactured Ibanez pedals became famous through users such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Rory Gallagher, Carlos Santana and Gary Moore, amongst many other famous users. Ibanez still make these classic pedals but using different circuitry, thus losing some of the classic Tube Screamer tone, hence the Maxon models are so sought after. Maxon still makes these pedals today under their own company name (called the OD-808 and OD-9 as oppose to TS). However, supply of these pedals is very short and because of this, the Maxon pedals using the original Tube Screamer circuitry are little known and often overlooked. Currently, Maxon manufacture around 23 effects pedals for guitars.
Read more about this topic: Maxon Effects
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