Nobels ODR-1 · Guitar Effect

Product Information

Both versions of the pedal work really well with a Telecaster; they are a perfect complement to a Fender amp if you play country but there’s also plenty for blues players in a pedal that can push an amp in a very natural way. Specs Level: controls the output level of the pedal. This control has a healthy range, but not nearly the level of headroom as a Klon. Another reason that the ODR-1 is a great option for something to color your signal, but probably not a great first choice if you’re looking for a clean boost. There are likely a few more viable varieties out there, but this is as good a selection as any really. If you feel I've missed out on any of the usual suspects do let me know by all means. Nobels are an interesting pedal company that have been around since 1985, but you may have not seen them around too much. They are considered to be one of the industry's best kept secrets and the ODR-1 is the pedal that got them that name.

Nobels is a German company that’s not very well-known in the United States. The ODR-1 Natural Overdrive was first released in in 1992 [1]. In 2002 [2], a silver “tenth anniversary” reissue was released, which was the standard for a long time until circa 2011 when the green version was rereleased. ODR-1 ON [Drive: Noon; Spectrum: Noon; Level: Full]Here is the pedal at its “neutral” setting, which confirms that it is voiced to emphasize the lows and lower-mids. Notice that as long as the drive and spectrum controls are set to equal values the intensity of the lows and lower-mids retain their respective relative values. Compare this spectrogram to the corresponding one for the Boss SD-1, and see that the two pedals are very similarly voiced, with the ODR-1 having an additional boost in the low frequencies, and the SD-1 having some more presence in the highs. While it’s a very effective tonal tweak, tightening up the real low-end for those who want it, we preferred the standard sound with its full-bodied warmth. Plus there’s no overt molestation of your tone except for some natural enhancement via the Spectrum knob, which simultaneously adjusts treble and lower mids to add crispness to the clarity or to mellow things down. Favoured by countless professional players over the decades, the Nobels ODR-1 is renowned for its clarity and versatility, providing a creamy-sounding natural overdrive sound to the guitar's signal. Thanks to the Spectrum control tone pot you can actually increase the Bass and Treble frequencies simultaneously, with the Midrange remains untouched in either direction, giving complete transparency with a pinch of warmth. All New Features

The best overdrive pedals in 2023 – at a glance:

If you want the ODR-1 sound but need something a little more compact for your pedalboard, here’s the ODR-mini.

It’s about time I did a feature on the Other Green Overdrive - which has long since become a firm favourite of Nashville session players. It’s very much a mostly flat-mids overdrive as such where its overall output profile is quite different to the better known TS808 - with quite a bit more low end present and much less in the way of compression - so a somewhat fatter more open-pored sort of overdrive. Both versions of the pedal work really well with a Telecaster; they are a perfect complement to a Fender amp Playing with the Heavy Water’s two distinct boosts against a tube amp makes for the most of its fun factor. Running it into a 30-watt tweed combo, we found it only took the lightest push from the clean boost circuit to tip the amp into full-on overdrive – and with the lows control at midday, it sounded every bit as pure and transparent as we remembered from the right-hand side of The Dane.

In 2019, the original designer of the ODR-1 released a boutique, hand-made “custom” version with three extra controls for bass, mids and clipping diodes. The Nordland ODR-C is a marvelously-engineered pedal that occupies the far end of the spectrum from the original ODR-1 and its budget build quality . The circuit has never changed and all versions are identical, except for some of the silver versions—the initial run of these had the Drive and Volume pots mistakenly switched during production, so Drive was 50k and Volume was 250k. This severely limited the pedal’s maximum gain. Later productions had this corrected, but many owners had to take out the soldering iron and switch the pots around to correct the factory error.

Most are fans of the extra low-end body, while several players have wanted more control over that aspect of the output - such that most ODR derivations have some kind of Bass Control or Bass-Cut - including the latest V2 variant / variety of ODR-1 - which has a Bass-Cut switch inside the battery compartment. I’ve long meant to get an example of the Nobels ODR Overdrive - but could never fully settle on which single variant would suit me best - while I’ve come close to acquiring the discontinued Mythos Erlking on at least a couple of occasions. The Nobels circuit remains popular though and has seen recently in new varieties at either end of the scale - courtesy of the Vemuram Shanks ODS-1, and brand new Wampler Belle Overdrive Mini.

The ODR-1 was first released in 1992, developed by Nobels to contrast with the mid-heavy Ibanez Tube Screamer. According to the pedal’s designer Kai Tachibana, he was inspired by the smooth breakup of a Fender Bassman head, its responsiveness to changes on the guitar’s volume knob, and how it preserved the original sound of his guitar. Not only that, but the pointers on the knobs are now GiTD Glow In The Dark, allowing you to make adjustments on-the-fly on even the darkest of stages. Nobels ODR-1BC Overdrive Pedal Key Features I know there's lots of players who prefer this to the Tube Screamer - but it largely serves a different genre. Definitely its own thing and a classic within the overdrive category - everyone should probably have at least one of these. I like to boost the spectrum just past noon, the drive quite high and slam the pedal with a boss OD3 to accentuate a bit more mids. The new ODR-1(bc) now offers a bass-cut switch under the battery cover to preset original ODR-1 sound or to preset slightly reduced sub-bass.