Maxon Fortin-Modded OD-9

The Maxon Fortin-Modded OD-9 is a limited-edition overdrive pedal built by the Maxon Custom Shop and modified by Mike Fortin of Fortin Amps, an amp designer the maker's page calls an "amp guru"¹. It takes the classic Maxon OD-9 circuit and changes one thing at its core: the stock clipping diodes are replaced with red LEDs, which Gearnews described as giving "a smoother tube-like overdrive tone that should be better suited for use with high gain amplifiers"². It was announced in December 2020 as a limited edition aimed at players running higher-gain amps².

What it does: smoother overdrive for high-gain amps

The starting point is the standard OD-9, an overdrive pedal whose improved circuitry, built around the JRC4558 IC, produces what the maker describes as "the ultra-smooth, creamy, dynamic overdrive so sought after by Guitar" players⁴. The Fortin modification keeps that platform but swaps the clipping elements, and the maker's page adds a second change to the voicing: "Enhanced upper midrange response for improved note articulation"¹.

For a player, the pitch is straightforward. Where a stock Tube Screamer-style overdrive can feel stiff in front of a heavily driven amplifier, the Fortin version is voiced to sit more naturally there. Gearnews framed it as a pedal "aimed for use with higher gain amps," with the red LED clipping stage producing the smoother, tube-like character². MusicRadar also noted that the LED clipping stage lets you run the pedal as a clean boost, "and for more natural, tube-like breakup"³.

The controls: Drive, Tone and Level

The control layout is the familiar three-knob arrangement of the OD-9 family³:

On the standard OD-9, the maker describes the overdrive and output level controls as adjusting "the intensity of overdrive and output volume"⁴. The Fortin-Modded version keeps the same three-knob format, with the tonal change happening inside the circuit rather than on the panel³.

Red LED clipping in place of the stock diodes

The modification at the heart of the pedal is in the clipping stage, the part of an overdrive circuit that shapes the waveform and creates the distortion character. The maker's page states it plainly: "Red LED's in clipping stage for more organic, amp-like tone"¹. MusicRadar described the same change from the other direction: "under the hood you will find the standard clipping diodes have been replaced for red LEDs"³.

Red LEDs used as clipping diodes have a higher forward voltage than the small-signal diodes found in a stock Tube Screamer-style circuit, which changes how hard the signal must be pushed before clipping begins. That is the technical basis for the smoother, more open character the press coverage describes³².

History and versions

The Fortin-Modded OD-9 comes out of a long line. The Maxon OD-9 itself was released in the summer of 2002⁵, and Vintage Guitar listed it at $180 in November 2002⁶. Circuit-wise, Analog Man characterizes the OD-9 as "a TS9 without the FET switching," placing it squarely in the Tube Screamer family⁵⁷. Aion FX notes that under the hood the OD-9 "been revised to use a new op-amp and to have true-bypass switching via relays" compared with its Ibanez ancestor⁸. Early OD-9s used a DPDT switch with conventional bypass; Analog Man reports that "In about 2004 they changed to an actual 4PDT true bypass switch"⁵⁹.

The Fortin version arrived much later, as a limited edition with a short production run²:

• December 2020: Maxon's Custom Shop unveils the Fortin-Modded OD-9, priced at $199, with a second batch scheduled for January 2021 release and available to preorder³.
• January 2021: The second run is slated for release, with 100 units signed by Mike Fortin offered alongside the standard edition².
• Four batches total: The maker's page lists a First Batch Signed, plus Second, Third and Fourth Batches Unsigned¹.
• Today: All four batch variants are listed as sold out¹.

The pedal carries a Fortin logo over the main pedal fascia to distinguish it from the stock OD-9². Its price sat well above the standard OD-9, which Gearnews listed at $147.00 in July 2025¹⁰.

The Fortin pedal is one of several limited OD-9 editions. Maxon also released the OD-9 Blackdrive, a European-exclusive limited edition of 250 units in a matt black finish announced in October 2021, and the OD-9 Creamdrive, a cream-enclosure European exclusive announced in April 2022. Both kept the stock OD-9 circuit with true bypass switching, where the Fortin version changes the clipping stage itself.

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