Maxon VOP-9 Vintage Overdrive Pro

The VOP-9 was designed with the seasoned guitarist in mind, yet it can be a great addition to any player's rig.

It's difficult to put into words what makes the VOP-9 stand out from other OD pedals. In the simplest terms, it accentuates the connection between your guitar and amp rather than getting in the way of it.

The VOP makes your fingers feel like they are working effortlessly - notes jump off the fretboard with vibrant, singing sustain and even the most subtle picking nuance is reproduced with exacting dynamic accuracy.

The VOP has a warm, smooth tone without the "fizziness" or mid-spike associated with many solid state pedals. It offers a tight, punchy bottom end with just a hint of mild compression and works equally well with clean or distorted amps to produce a rich, velvety guitar tone.

Based on Maxon's legendary "808" circuit, the VOP-9 has a few hidden tricks in the design that set it apart from your ordinary overdrive.

The VOP-9 features an internal charge pump that allows it to run at 9 or 18 volts. In 9 volt setting the VOP reacts more like a traditional overdrive, while the 18-volt setting it offers increased headroom and a fuller frequency response for a more expressive, dynamic effect.

While most overdrive's pass some degree of clean signal, the VOP-9 allows you to control the amount via the dual-function Drive knob - a dual-ganged pot that controls the amount of Gain as well as the mix between clean and distorted signals.

At zero Drive setting the VOP can function as a completely clean booster, perfect for boosting solos or driving a distorted amp.

Whether you're looking for the ultimate blues tone or that added push to take your solos over the top, the VOP-9 will bring your sound to life.

Over the years the VOP-9 has been the go-to overdrive for many exceptional guitarists including Scott Henderson, Dave Weiner, Jeff Loomis, Doug Rappoport, and Stuart Ziff.

Features - Maxon VOP-9 Vintage Overdrive Pro

• Clean Booster/Overdrive designed specifically for tube amps
• Warm, smooth overdrive that doesn't colour your guitar tone
• Extremely responsive to fingering and picking touch
• Dual-purpose Drive control with Clean Blend function
• 9-volt or 18-volt regulated operation (switchable)
• Mechanical True Bypass Switching
• Used by Dave Weiner (Steve Vai Band, GIT Instructor), Doug Rappoport (Edgar Winter, Rick Derringer, Kim Simmonds GIT Instructor)

Specifications - Maxon VOP-9 Vintage Overdrive Pro

The VOP circuit is basically a hot-rodded 808 with a few special tricks. After a JFET input buffer, the signal is sent a dual-gang Drive pot where it is split between a clean gain stage and the overdrive stage. As the Drive knob is turned up, more signal is sent to the overdrive stage while the drive of this stage is also turned up. If the Drive knob is turned down, more signal is sent to the clean gain stage and the drive of the overdrive stage is turned down. At 12 o'clock on the Drive knob, signal is split 50/50 clean/overdriven.

The VOP-9 features a standard 808-style tone control. However, the entire pedal is running at 18 volts via an internal voltage doubler that bumps up the clean headroom and provides greater output and a fuller frequency response than the typical 808 circuit - in other words, no midrange spike!

Even though the VOP circuit is running at 18 volts, it powers up off standard 9 VDC via battery or a standard external power adaptor.

The VOP-9 features Mechanical True Bypass switching via a Fujisoku 4PDT switch.

NOTE ON POWERING THE VOP-9 - this pedal's voltage regulator IC requires a high inrush current of approximately 2000 mA upon startup. When using with a Power Brick such as the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2+, this pedal should be connected to a high current power jack when possible.

• Input Impedance: 500K Ohms
• Output Impedance: 10K Ohms or less
• Maximum Gain: 46dB 1.5kHz
• Equivalent Input Noise: 112dB or less (IHF-A)
• Controls:
  • DRIVE, TONE, LEVEL
  • 18V (+-9V) /9V (+-4.5V) switch
• Operating Voltage: 18V (+-9V)/ 9V (+-4.5V)
• Power Consumption:
  • 30mA/9V, 28mA/10V at operating voltage 18V (+-9V)
  • 23mA/9V, 24mA/10V at operating voltage 9V (+-4.5V)
• Dimensions: 74 (W) x 124 (D) x 54 (H) mm
• Weight: 580g (including battery)
• Battery: 9V battery (6LR61 or 6F22) x 1 or Maxon AC adaptor
• Battery life:
  • Manganese dry battery +-9V 3.5 hours 25deg C / 77deg F (Panasonic 6F22NB)
  • Manganese dry battery +-4.5V 8 hours 25deg C / 77deg F (Panasonic 6F22NB)
  • Alkaline dry battery +-9V 10 hours 25deg C / 77deg F (Panasonic 6LR61G)
  • Alkaline dry battery +-4.5V 20 hours 25deg C / 77deg F (Panasonic 6LR61G)