NOBELS ODR-1 Overdrive - CHEAP!

[greyblooz]

Just won a Nobels ODR-1 for like 1000 yen ($8 USD). With my G&L Legacy and F-50, I got a lot of great sounds. This is a very versatile pedal, and it is hard to get it to sound bad. Goes from clean boost to some really think and grainy overdrive, and is probably the most dynamic pedal I've ever played. It does exactly what you tell it to do with your pick attack and the guitars volume. It reminds me of the Addrock Ol'Yeller, but this is brighter and smoother (but with very nice grain.)

At high gain, the Spectrum know will tear your head off if you're not careful. It will give you a massive presence boost without sounding harsh. At the lowest gain settings, this is really useful -- almost like a treble-booster. Otherwise, the sound is faithful to the guitar and amp, and sometimes it's very hard to tell whether or not it's on or off.

It's green like a tube-screamer but I've never owned actually any of the tubescreamers, so I can't compare compare it sonically, but I can tell you that this does NOT have a JRC 4558 chip inside, but a CMOS chip, which is quieter. It also has a "REMOTE" jack which I doubt I'll ever use, but it tells me this is a professional unit -- not just a cheap copy. Unfortunately, the unit powers up ON -- not in bypass mode, which could be an issue.

 

[RoadKinger483]

I've actually been thinking about picking up one of these myself. Never heard one in person but hear NOTHING but great things about them

 

[RoadKinger483]

I've actually been thinking about picking up one of these myself. Never heard one in person but hear NOTHING but great things about them

 

[greyblooz]

Actually, I got another one these for my weekly beer money. Greedy of me. :twisted: I guess the Japanese are not hip to this pedal yet. I want to A/B it to the other for consistency. If it's the same, I'll probably sell in on eBay.

Do Boogie Board members buy/sell from each other?

 

[greyblooz]

Well, the two ODR-1's I have DO NOT sound the same at the same settings. They DO both sound good, but one is very crispy with the Spectrum cranked, while the other has more hair with the gain cranked. Both are Made in Korea.

I wish I understood more about circuit design so I could tell if the components are different.

 

[domct203]

From what I've read on these pedals they were just thrown together with whatever part they could get, so component brands and tolerance values could vary. Also there were a lot of pedals where some of the pots were in the wrong place, I think they accidentaly swapped positions of two pots.

Dom

 

[Jackie]

From what I've read on these pedals they were just thrown together with whatever part they could get, so component brands and tolerance values could vary. Also there were a lot of pedals where some of the pots were in the wrong place, I think they accidentaly swapped positions of two pots.

Dom

Well if that's the case our Japanese friend found two gems with the right recipe! 8)

 

[greyblooz]

From what I've read on these pedals they were just thrown together with whatever part they could get, so component brands and tolerance values could vary. Also there were a lot of pedals where some of the pots were in the wrong place, I think they accidentaly swapped positions of two pots.

Dom

I've also read that, but it was in reference to the first batch of Chinese-made reissues. These were made in Korea.

I'm wondering if since I was running the pedals in series, the buffer from the first one was preserving the highs, or the input buffer from the second one was sucking tone from the first. Last night I picked up a Boss AB-2 to test them in parallel. Stay tuned...

 

[greyblooz]

After using a Boss AB-2 to test my two ODRs, there's no doubt about it: two externally identical pedals sound different.

A is the first one I acquired. It has NO serial number, but on the inside of the bottom plate there is a black plastic plate that looks like it was used as a jig for manufacturing another device. Things like "MTA-1," "gain," "tuner" are printed on this. This one sounds very crispy, with a louder and dryer sound than the next one.

B (SN 21123303) sounds darker and juicier, with more gain. Try as I might, I could not get this pedal to sound as bright and crispy, or as loud as A. I could get both pedals to sound similar by compromising settings, but the A unit always had more of an edge and less gain than B.

Both have the same GS9423 / GD4007UB and SEC K535C /ka 4558S chips, but the A version also has a mystery 9-pin IC with NO MARKINGS instead of a second SEC K535C / ka 4558S.

Both do sound good. I prefer the crispier, sharper sounding A with mystery markings but that's a matter of taste.