General
Here, Maxon combine the convenience of a clean boost with an overdrive - both flavoured by valve-amplifier-style sound thanks to the real, physical valve (also known as a True Tube Booster) planted in the guts of this solid stompbox. Combine the TBO9 with a valve amplifier in a clean or semi-clean setting and add some edge to the natural tone without having to push the volume of your amp, meaning that you're getting sweet breakup at a more reasonable level. Use the Boost pot to control the valve preamplification and use the Drive pot to mix the clean and overdriven signals, so you can dictate the distortion level and retain your original sound. While the Maxon TBO9 can run on any standard 9 Volt power supply, internal voltage doublers push up the power to 30 Volts, giving you plenty of extra headroom and plenty of space for dynamics.
Maxon
First born in the '60s, Maxon was initially busy producing pickups, but by the end of that defining decade, had already started dipping into the dynamic world of effects pedal development. Since they were mostly making pedals for other brands, when the '70s arrived, Maxon were building stompboxes almost exclusively for Ibanez. As such, many legendary Ibanez pedals are actually Maxon designed and made. The most renowned pedal from this period has to be the Ibanez Tube Screamer (also known as the Maxon 808 Overdrive). This partnership carried on well into 2002 when Ibanez and Maxon finally parted ways. Ever since, Maxon have been producing their own gear, under their own name, and some of their fresh pedals include versions of older Ibanez stompboxes - reissued, and re-stamped with the now-independent Maxon name.
