Maxon RTD800 Real Tube Overdrive/Distortion

Maxon has been making tube powered pedals for a while. The old Real Tube series was replaced recently by the Real Tube II series. THe pedals in this line include the RTC600 Real Tube Compressor, the RTO700 Real Tube Overdrive and the RTD800 Real Tube Overdrive/Distortion. I am going to review the RTD800. The RTD800 has independent overdrive and distortion circuits. It operates its tube at very low voltage to extend the tube life. The overdrive circuit features two stages of clipping. The tube is placed after the OD circuit giving it a more authentic tube OD sound. The built in noise reduction is a great feature for a distortion pedal.

UTILIZATION

There is an array of controls on the face of this pedal. There is a Master knob that controls the master output of the pedal. There is a gain knob that controls the gain level of the pedal. The bass, mid and tremble knobs control the EQ of th epedal. The OD/Dist switch switches between gain modes on the pedal. The NR switch activates the noise reduction and the knob controls the level of noise reduction you want. The boost switch controls if you want the boost engaged. The boost you get is between 3-9db. The pedal is pretty light for its size. The chassis feels solid and it feels like it can be stepped on plenty of times. The power cable is in 2 parts as one ends with the power brick and the other ends with the plug.

SOUND QUALITY

With the gain and master on 5, bass and mids on 6 with treble on 8 you can get avery cool 70s overdrive sound. This is with the gain mode on OD. You can get a more modern overdrive sound with you turn the gain all the way up and the mids up slightly still on OD mode. With these settings if you switch on the Noise gate and switch it to Distortion mode you can get a tight chunky metal Rhythm tone. The difference between OD modes and Distortion is pretty big. A lot of pedals like this say they have dual modes but the modes are so similar you can hardly notice. This pedal it is really like two different pedals. The Distortion mode has more volume and much more saturated gain than the OD mode. The whole sound tightens up. Within the Dist mode I had to dial back some high end because the high end can easily become harsh and over the top.

OVERALL OPINION

If you are a pedal collector you will like this pedal. It has lots of features and does what it says by essentially having 2 pedals in one with a tube driven pedal setup. If you are looking for 1 good versatile pedal this can also work for the same reason. It is a bit pricey at about 400 dollars so you may be better off just getting an amp. If you are a pedal guy and are looking for something else to step on this pedal is a pretty good candidate. Tube driven gain with dual modes and a built in noise gate. Thats just about everything you want in a noise box.