Fortin-Modded Maxon OD-9 Overdrive

The Fortin-Modded Maxon OD-9 Overdrive is a limited edition version of the Maxon OD-9 overdrive, modified by amp designer Mike Fortin of Fortin Amps and built through the Maxon Custom Shop. Where the standard OD-9 is a take on the classic Tube Screamer-style overdrive, the Fortin version is aimed squarely at players running high-gain amps: Godlyke, Maxon's distributor, bills it as "sheer brutality in a box"¹.

The two changes that define the pedal are under the hood. The standard clipping diodes are replaced with red LEDs, which Godlyke says delivers "more organic, amp-like tone"¹, and the output stage is rebuilt for what the maker calls an "extreme output level to push any amp to its limits"¹. MusicRadar described the same design goal when the pedal was announced: it "features a new extreme output level and is designed to push high-gain amps harder"².

What the Fortin mod changes

The pedal starts as a stock Maxon OD-9, an overdrive pedal in the Tube Screamer lineage. The OD-9 itself is built on the original OD-9 (TS-9) circuit with true bypass switching added⁴, and a 2004 Zap Guitar review published by Maxon noted it offers "slightly more overdrive than its predecessor," the TS-808⁴⁵⁶.

Fortin's version keeps that foundation and changes two things:

The red LED clipping is the tonal heart of the mod. MusicRadar's Jonathan Horsley explained it plainly: "under the hood you will find the standard clipping diodes have been replaced for red LEDs"². LEDs in the clipping stage have a higher forward voltage than the diodes they replace, which changes how the waveform is clipped and, in Godlyke's description, moves the pedal toward a more amp-like character¹. The extreme output level is the practical half of the design: with more level on tap, the pedal can drive the front end of an already distorted amp harder than a stock OD-9¹².

Mike Fortin and the sold-out run

Godlyke's product page tracks four batches in total¹:

• First Batch: Signed by Mike Fortin, sold out¹³
• Second Batch: Unsigned, sold out¹
• Third Batch: Unsigned, sold out¹
• Fourth Batch: Unsigned, sold out¹

The signed first batch of 100 units is the collector's item of the run³. For context, limited Maxon OD-9 runs have a history of selling through fast: the black OD-9 Blackdrive run "sold out worldwide pretty quickly" in 2022⁷, and rare variants in the broader Maxon and Ibanez overdrive family have long commanded collector-market prices⁸.

Where it sits among the Fortin mods

The Fortin-Modded OD-9 is one of several Tube Screamer-family pedals Fortin has put his hand to. The same Custom Shop program later produced the Fortin-modded TS-9 Tube Screamer¹⁴, and the family also includes the Fortin-Modded Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer, the Fortin-Modded Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer and the Fortin Mod Mini Tube Screamer. On Fortin's own pedal line, players comparing high-output drives can also look at the Fortin HexDrive and the Fortin FOURTEEN.

Within Maxon's own range, the Fortin mod sits alongside other limited OD-9 variants, including the Maxon OD-9 Creamdrive and the Maxon OD-9 Blackdrive, both of which keep the original circuit and clipping while changing the finish⁴⁷.

What reviewers said

Published review coverage of the Fortin-Modded OD-9 itself is thin, and the underlying Maxon OD-9 circuit has the better-documented press history. One UK retail listing gives the Fortin-Modded OD-9's regular price as £307.00 GBP¹, which is the clearest published figure on the run.

Guitar.com review of the Maxon OD-9⁹

That clarity and refinement is the baseline the Fortin mod starts from, before the LED clipping and extreme output level push it toward high-gain territory¹².

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