I found one of your videos yesterday and this one appeared in my recommended list today. This channel connects with me on many levels. Everything from the thorough explanation of these pedals, the descriptive clarity, the genuine objective product reviews, pacing, the videography, the playing, the overarching theme of functionality and minimalist high quality above raw acquisition. There’s a polished and professional aesthetic. I’m impressed, and now subscribed. 👍🏽
Bought an original ODR-1 in 1997. Still have it. Played literally hundreds of gigs with it in my pedal board. It's a very cool pedal, but it's a FACT that those early ones were built with sub-standard components. I had to have mine repaired, and now I'm reluctant to gig with it. So I'm going to get a reissue for that purpose. Good video!
“My Always On” pedal. I have several. I even went as far as to build one into a Strat, so I’m never without. Its amazing how some tones can truly inspire as did this video. Thanks for sharing our secret...BTW, Guthrie was the guy who turned me on to the Nobel’s..
I got mine about a month ago now and it's definitely a keeper. I can't say it's my favorite because I have no idea what to compare it to. 🤣 It's different than my Klones, my Screamers, my Blues Drivers, my everything. It's unique and fantastic. Again, a keeper.
I have had one for a couple years. i run a ProCo Rat, a Klon Klone, and the Nobels OD1 in series, with none of them doing any heavy lifting. It creates a palette I can shape and mold into something unique. I like the bass cut on the modern OD1's. Guitar lives in the hi mids of the mix, so that's where I like to play. A little subtle spacey 'verb and a nearly imperceptible delay fatten up my little creation. I try to stay out of the way until I get the nod, then I dime out my volume pot on the fiddle. Ain't guitar a helluva drug? I would truly be screwed without the escape it provides. BTW- the Marshall Origin 50H is a great platform for those pedals. The Poor man's Plexi. Love it!
I do something similar: Broadcaster type guitar - Turbo RAT clone at lowest gain - Wampler Belle (ODR-1 style pedal) at low gain - clean JTM45. Glorious! Belle gives base tone that I can control with guitar vol knob, quick the Turbo RAT for solos.
I trust your reviews and level-headed, even-keel, thoughtful assessment. I put this pedal on my birthday list based on what I saw, heard from your video. Thanks.
I bought one after hearing what you had to say about it. Everything you said is true. I had no idea how good my telecaster could sound. I use it in front of a Line 6 HX Stomp. These minis are very versatile. I don’t think that I would call them a tube screamer because there’s so much more to them in such a small package. A definite must for a telecaster player. You can go from that beautiful ringing twanking telecaster country sound to hard rock driving sound. After I saw your video I thought about it and the next day I ordered one on Amazon. $80 and two days later I was plugged in and playing. Cool thing is I don’t have to deal with a 9 V battery. Thanks Keith and your five watt world: This is one secret weapon which is very affordable. . 🎸🎶
Somehow missed this one when it came out. I like the ODR-1 a lot. It can be strident in the upper mids on its own if you crank up the Spectrum knob, but in a band or recorded mix this cuts through real well. A related pedal I also really like is the Visual Sound (now Truetone) Open Road. AFAICT it uses the ODR-1 circuit, or a very close approximation, but with less bass. It works great with beefier sounding guitars. Out of production but fairly easy to find used.
I think that the left side of the Truetone VS-XO is that circuit. I’m going to do a mini pedalboard video using two of their double pedals. They sound great and are a great value. Thanks for watching.
I just ordered one of these. The sounds you were making made sense to me. My board is headed back to mini pedals. It seems that the mini pedal crazy has slowed down in recent years, but I like finding what I need in the confines of a Pedaltrain Nano+ and my 65 Princeton Reverb and Roland JC22.
I'd imagine the reason why you still see them on professionals' pedal boards even, with iffy pots, switch, etc...is for the exact same reason I used a Harbor Freight air ratchet when I was in auto body repair. They're inexpensive and very easy to get anywhere(any state/city). Same reason Joe B uses common speakers in his rigs, etc... Not so with some boutique pedal or even a Centaur, which I also see on many pro boards. But I'm just guessing here because I really don't know if guitar/music shops even stock OD1's regularly.
Wow, this was the first pedal I ever got and I had no idea until now... I grew up somewhere in the German hinterland and that's what they had in the music store in the next bigger town. I wish I would've had more 'headroom' at the time to really check it out. I was mainly looking for more gain so better don't ask what I traded it in for. Definitely less versatile and subtle. Now I know why the other guitar player was so happy, lol
There's got to be a reason these are on so many pro's pedalboards and this excellent vid definitely makes me GAS for one! I also noted with interest that of the 6 boards shown at 02.03, 3 featured an Xotic Effects RC Booster, my 'always on' pedal of choice ... again, there's got to be a reason etc ...
Dude not only do I love all your videos for the content itself, your voice/voiceover skills are on another level. Is there a market for voiceover guys right now?? Bc you need in
Ha! That voice playing in my head all the makes it less fun for me. ;) Seriously, 20 hours of editing is enough listening to my voice every couple of weeks. But thanks for watching John.
I have found that I can always appreciate your videos. I have tubescreamers, but I want other overdrive sounds. I bought a Bad Monkey and had it modded to reduce noise and add a little "deep" sound. I listened to videos with the O.C.D GE and a few "Timmy", "Bluesbreaker"and Dumble "Clones". I will consider the Nobels Pedal now, Thank You for your review !!
I recently discovered the Nobels odr mini and love it. I like it as a low gain overdrive. As far as the spectrum, to me it is similar to the tone knob on a guitar. With it set at noon, it sounds similar to having the guitar tone knob at 5. Which to me works really well with this circuit. Gain at 9 o’clock and spectrum at 3 o’clock is where i am currently using it.
I‘m a bit late to the party Keith 😂 Try the Nordland ODR pedals. They’re (hand-) built here in germany from Nobels pedal developer Kai Tachibana, the „father“ of the Nobels ODR. This new pedal is unbelievable and worth a video!
I was amazed by the fact you push the review until buying 3 times the same pedal just to check the sensitivity of the controls.I think this pedal ratio price/sound quality is a killer.
I really love this pedal and have it on almost all the time when playing my tele or 335...it's an incredible overdrive that maintains the tone of the guitar but fattens it up. Built like a tank. I run mine into a Blues Driver and between the two I can 3 great gain sounds without twisting a knob.
Welcome Zac! My channel's recently had a big surge in popularity so you ended up getting a lot more plugs than when I last wrote. Glad to do anything I can. Love your Lounge shows, always have. Great to shine a light on these great studio guys and the rigs they use to make it all happen.
I spent 2-3 hours trying every OD pedal my local shop had including some lighter distortion pedals with a Duane Eddy Gretsch (Dynasonics) and a Princeton. The ODR was my favorite with the Blues driver and Rat closely behind. The ODR not only lives up to the hype but actually succeeded it. I went with the full size as I don't care for mini pedals. The knobs are too small and close together. I agree about preferring stomp switches over boss style. I can get amp like gain, country, blues, modern rockabilly, and punk all from this pedal. Easily my favorite pedal ever.
I was just wondering when I'd see a new video Keith. Gotta say, that strat sounds boss, boss. You know what's funny is that my maple fretboard 'strat' is the same color. I rebuilt the spaceship, was gonna do a short video on it, might throw in my white strats.
Hey TCM, Yeah, I thought of you when I pulled out the EJ for this vid. Every time I feel like I'm in danger of selling it I play it, and then it's back with the keepers. I was really impressed with how the bridge pickup got along with the little Nobels. This one is actually the Mary Kay white is yours? And what's yours? And what color is the new Suhr? What your new Sherwood Green CS was lonely or something? ;) Would dig seeing the new (current?) pedalboard. My wife has challenged me to put a board together and play it for a set period of time without changing it for a year. This idea appeals to my minimalist philosophy side so I'm wrestling with what would make the board. I'm sure I'll end up doing a video on the process and final board. But back to, what's on yours? And where did the infinity jets go? I miss that. Thanks for watching. Keith
@@fivewattworld ah looking more carefully I do see the transparency of the white on your EJ. my Lentz is vintage white, my Suhr is olympic. but it might be easier to show you? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tKYLisy0i_U.html I still have the Infinite Jets, the CT5, all the delays, etc. I just usually plug them all in when I need them and dont use them as frequently any more. To be honest the bigger board is mainly about having a few things on there so I dont have to keep tearing down the small board.
First time I've seen this pedal, it sounds really great but I already have too many overdrives... By the way, Brian Wampler did a good video on how different Tube Screamers can sound due to pot tolerances
Hi Keith, love your channel! I’m looking for a transparent(ish) overdrive to put after my wampler tumnus. I’m using a Cornell Plexi 7 amp which is a 7 watt amp based on the Marshall PA20. Do you think the ODR-1 is suitable for the task or should I look elsewhere, for example, for a Timmy or Lightspeed? Thank you.
Spectrum as in tonal spectrum or range from dark to bright. Anyway awesome mini pedal. If I hadn’t just purchased Plumes, I would have picked an ODR Mini for sure.
None of my rigs gel with the pedal. Way too much low-end is still coming through for my rigs. What it does well that's unique is the scooped sounds when you dial up Spectrum. Otherwise I'd prefer to stick with a bluesbreaker or klon or something else that retains some low-end. I can't chord with this without it sounding like mud or having to dial back the low-end on my amp to compensate. Great for leads though.
Great video as always. I have very little experience with pedals. There is a $25 AUD price difference between this and the full size. How would you describe the difference between the two and can you recommend one over the other please?
Thanks Duncan. I had both and sold the full size. The mini is just more solidly built AND is less expensive. Each one is different. So try a few with your rig before picking your favorite. Best of luck. Keith
I was about to order the clone of "big ODR-1". My experience is that the clones in many cases sound much better than the original pedals (the quality of parts is 2x better), but later on if I only can afford them, I usually buy the genuine pedals if the clones sound good (to get rid of the remorse). However, it is a hit and miss game, since some cloned layouts are not 1:1 to the original, but helps in the short term, to quench my GAS. Anyways, your video convinced me to buy Nobels ODR mini. No shortcuts this time :-)
Have been looking at the mini for a while but your review nailed it for me and I have ordered one . But I was also interested in that PRS you played in the demo. What model, and do you like it and still have it ?
I had to go back to see which guitar I played on that. And no, I sold it along with all the DGT's years ago. That was the first one I bought and loved, and it was the last one to leave in my move from DGT's to Strandbergs. Check out the videos on the TC mini pedals to see the full collection of DGT guitars from back then. They were things of real beauty.
Damn you, Keith! You made me interested in a new pedal, and that's hard to do. I have the 6 on my board that I use and it's enough. I'd rather play than shop. But this vid puts a shamanistic spin on the ODR-1 that has my attention. I gotta be more careful which 5 watt vids I watch.
Being a huge fan of 5w (or therebouts) amps I wonder if your going to get around to other common 5 watters? AC4 in various (semi current) guises, Class 5, DSL 5 etc...
Great review again Keith. Love your videos. I just got an OCD. Have you ever tried one and how do you compare it to the Nobels? Now I want a Nobels mini. I just wish guitar center had them. Thanks again for the review.
Hi Luis, I've never owned an original OCD, only the Mooer mini clone of it and that was a number of years ago. From what I understand the OCD is sort of a Tube Screamer with more bottom and top than the original. Definitely in the Marshall mids forward camp still though and a widely revered pedal. The guys on That Pedal Show did a show years ago on "classic overdrives" and the OCD was one of them. The Nobles is sort of its own thing by all accounts. I said in the video that it was sort of "Dumbley" and I got cooked on The Gear Page for saying that by a couple of guys. I only meant that the lower mids remind me of the "cheweyness" of an Overdrive Special sort of tone. All of these thing depend on your guitar and amp as well of course. I really like the Nobels with single coil pickups, for that low mids boost. But then it also works well with the humbucker guitars I use probably because they have low output pickups which tend to be brighter as well. Since I bought three of these I'll likely be selling one or two on Reverb. Picking up one used to try might be a way for you to go as they are starting to show up used now. Thanks for watching and for writing. I love the community created around the channel. Have a great new year. Keith
@@fivewattworld like those neophytes on the gear page are sitting on a hoard of Dumbles for comparasion. Lol. Thanks for the review btw...was thinking of a Greer Lightspeed but really leaning towards Nobels now
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. As I said on TGP and really in the vid, the thing that reminds me of the Ford/Carlton/Lindley sound is that lower mids that the Nobels does, much in line with the complexities of mids you often find in old tweed amps. And by all accounts, tweeds are a big part of what Dumble chases within the Blackface Fender circuits that most often form the base of his designs. I haven't touched a Lightspeed, they are of course thought of as one of the top edge of break up tones (along with the Bearfoot Honey Bee of course). There's a guy that builds a mini Honey Bee clone and though I've often been tempted to try one I've never ponied up. And really the mystique around the Nobels is a big part of why I felt like digging in to this one. I had fun. Glad you liked the video. I would tell you to take your main guitar to try out a few different ones at the store if you can. There are subtle differences in feel.
@@fivewattworld Try the Joyo Sweet Baby clone of the Honey Bee. Full eq range, like a dumble pedal. I like mine quiet a lot, also because you can dial in those low mids. Very amp-like, too.
Been a fan of this channel for a good while now,love everything you provide for us,and your honest thoughts about this pedal has finally pushed me to buying one ...thanks so much
I got one a few weeks ago and my board immediately lost some weight when the Nobels Mini replaced my big heavy old Danelectro DaddyO. I'll be interested to read how other people like to set the knobs.
I've had my hands on a number of vintage ODR1s...some of them are great but well, they vary a LOT. At the moment I actually have an XTS Imperial which is a great, really well built version of an ODR1 without costing the stupid money that a certain company is asking for their version in the pretty box :-)
Ah... the Crowther Hotcake. Dan Steinhardt’s Tele + a Hotcake = Magic. I feel that buying the Soul Food is a poor man’s Hotcake. Or Tumnus. Or Nobel ODR. Still gonna use my Telecaster, but I’m still thinking I need something with humbuckers, too (eventually). Like a G&L Bluesboy or ‘72 Thinline. Great stuff as always, Keith.
Hi Ken, Happy Christmas mate. It isn't a little fuzzy like a Hotcake. I've had one twice and sold them both times but that probably had to do with the guitar I was playing mostly at the time. For now this little Nobels is the project of the season. Something that plays/feels the same but has buckers, like a Cabronita or thinline with full range is another voice. Two guitars that are pretty different can't be "too many". If it is I'm in real trouble. : ) Keith
Yes, Keith! It’s the trap, but it’s not at the same time. The Cabronita is two humbuckers, right? That’s something I haven’t considered. Maybe I’ll check one of THOSE out. I definitely like the thinner neck that the Tele has. It’s mostly just practicing more to get used to the light touch of an electric, as opposed to an acoustic. I missed A brand new Nobels mini on Reverb ($59!). $80 seems the going rate. I may pick one up in lieu of the Hotcake. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Is this pedal the Nashville Klon ? "Natural OD" is the marketing language, sounds like "Transparent OD". I just pulled the trigger on a Klon clone. Unless the Klon is disappointing, I think I'm set for a Transparent/Natural OD pedal.
I would have a nice full tone out of my Princeton amp with my ES335 but the Nobles added too much low-end. This was a total bummer cuz I love the sound of the pedal. But I would have to dial the low-end off on the amp. Then when I shut the pedal off my tone was super thin.
The first pedal I ever bought in the 90s, as a teenager learning to play guitar was an ODR-1... now, nearly 40 years old I just so it for around 14 times what I paid back in the day. Going to replace it with a mini... sounds identical to the 90s original from what I can tell. Lovely video, I look forward to checking out your other stuff.
I'm usually underwhelmed after purchasing a pedal (I have a LOT of pedals and guitars and amps) they never live up to the hype and get retired to the storage bin that is the "Island of misfit effects". I was totally taken off guard when the OD mini arrived today...cheap overdrive whatever, lets see what you can do before you are banished to the storage bin...l put it on my board that sits next to my desk going into a tweed vibrolux. I was speechless...this thing sounded great! strobostomp>fulltone custom shop deja vibe mkII>super badass variac fuzz>retrosonic 808>nobels od mini>fender engager boost>ehx canyon>strymon bluesky>tweed vibrolux. I inserted the OD Mini in the spot I had an analogman prince of tone...I'm leaving the p.o.t. off and keeping the nobels on. The nobels stacks well with those other pedals on the board and sounds great through the deja vibe. Thanks for the review and keep up the good work!!
Probably the most difficult issue for me. I have room for 5 pedals on my board. One is a tuner. So I am always trying to figure out the 4 pedals I want. I am really down to an OD, Chorus, compressor and Reverb. I have a wah on the side. So finding the right pedals is a quest. Thanks Keith!
The spectrum of a tone is changed whenever you don't use just a linear multiplication of the signal level by a factor, like 10 or 0,5. So, anything from the common "Tone", usually meaning high cut (when down), to Bass, Mid, etc, effectively changes the signal spectrum. This is kind of trying to justify the use of the word in this pedal. The other thing is related to the components. I've made a comment in your video about the TS that explains a bit more the subject, technically. So, the "way more" gain is not true. Specifically on the variable resistor vs potentiometer, these are really two very different uses for the same component. - On the variable resistor, usually used in the feedback loop of an operational amplifier to control the gain, the absolute value of the resistor between the center pin and one of the others is what matters (the third pin is not used or is shorted to the center one). - When used as a potentiometer, as in output volume, what matters is the relationship between the resistor from the center pin to the ground, and the total value of the resistor. On the first case the absolute value is of little importance, but is present. On the second, it has no effect at all.
How would you compare the Nobels with a Timmy? I've had a Timmy for some years and I've always been able to get a great tone out of it. To be honest, I found nothing here to make me want to go out and get a Nobels... but maybe I'm missing something. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Cheers! :)
Not the same animal really. I’ve had Timmy’s and they are much more transparent than the Nobels. The warmth of the Nobels is great w really bright guitars. I think that’s why they are so popular in Nashville. They have a much wider range of gain than a Timmy as well. There’s really nothing else like them. Not saying they are for everyone and it’s off my board now as I splurged on a Jesse Davies Duelist recently, but it’s not in the for sale pile... yet.
@@fivewattworld thanks for your thoughts on this. I just got a Timmy. Like it a lot in sometimes, but it doesn’t go well with one of my amps (5F2-A tweed variant). Brian Wampler just came out with his take on the ODR but it’s almost 2x the cost of a mini ODR.
Thanks Aaron, glad you liked it. I spent the afternoon playing it today with my new Strandberg strat style guitar. It loves the Nobels! Particularly on the bridge ‘bucker.
@@fivewattworld At one time, I got one of the green reissue ones used, where the guy had apparently run over or stomped on it to where the knobs were a little more indented than they should have been. So it would cut out and stuff, I thought due to it having a thin aluminum plate that the pots mount to. The design is not as good as the Boss enclosures. So I sold that, and a year or so later, got the same model brand new. And that one was also finicky, like mild pressure on either the pots or jacks (plastic jacks) would occasionally cause it to cut out or crackle. Which sucked, because it is known to be a great pedal, and on a bunch of albums, as I understand it. So now that I'm wanting to do a board of all mini pedals, this size, price-point, true bypass, and metal jacks, this looks awesome, and as natural/transparent drives go, it's much less than a Tumnus or even an MXR Sugar drive.
I agree on the Tumnus or Sugar Drive. Or the Nashville guys use something like a Mostortion (three band eq) or an RC booster (powerful two band eq) to tweak the tones. I like that this has a specific color and like that in my drive pedals. It's what makes stacking so fun/interesting. Finding that two pedal combination that gives you the three or four tones you want. I'm working on doing some mini pedal versions of famous guys pedalboards, Andy Timmons, John Mayer, Mark Lettieri, David Grissom, maybe even Eric Johnson (though I'll need to buy some more delays for that one :). I'm all about this small and light rig game. Too much fun. Stay tuned and chime in with comments and ideas. I do this mostly to support my "learn things and share them" mission and the community is the best part of all that. Yeah Aaron, so I'd dig knowing what you end up with on your mini board and what kind of music you're playing with that. Keith
@@fivewattworld Sure. I'm a hobbyist. I act mostly, but play for fun. Hard Rock, Rock, and Blues. Mess around with country or metal just occasionally. My current plan is: Mini-Tuner-(-either TC or D'Addario)-->Comp (Xotic SP)-->natural/transparent/low gain(Nobels , Sugar Drive, Tumnus or BYOC Bluesbreaker)-->Distortion(BYOC Rat Clone or Xotic SL Drive)-->(Possibly a BYOC Rams Head Muff, probably unnecessary)-->Delay (Probably a TC Flashback mini)-->Homemade Mini Switchable buffer (made from Guitar Pedal Parts PCB), as needed based on whether the SP comp ends up working as a line driver/always on or not. I'll try to update about which of these possibilities become reality later on. Also considering a one-stop mod/delay option of the Keeley Super Mod Workstation, so that all my dirt and compression would be mini pedals, and then I'd just keep them all on one board, and then add the Keeley on the floor if I need modulation/delay.
@@aaronblack425 Cool. This is pretty similar to what will end up on my "big" board. It's looking like, Polytuner mini, Wampler Ego mini, MXR Phase 95 for univbe-ish tone, Nobels, Blackbox bluesbreaker clone mini, KOi drive, (and maybe the KOSound fuzz, or his PI muff he built me, still testing), Flashback mini (or two, love two delays) reverb in the amp. Huh, I hadn't written that down, doesn't look like much. I'd better just get to building it. :)
If u complain about low-end, please try and OCD and then tell me :P. For me it is fine about low-end cuz it's not killing the hi-end and mids. You've got all frequencies there.
If you push a blues driver set to edge of break-up and unity, into an OCD set to a bit past edge of breakup and unity, you get a real nice mid-gain plexi tone. that's how I use my pedals on my gig rig. BD for bite, OCD for warmth, stack em for high gain. And of course push 'em both with a klon(e) for that mid-range sqwauk.
Looking for a mini solo boost pedal with some EQ - (have the Spark mini which is nice but seems to boost the high end a bit) mini tumnus, mxr m293 . . . what about this one? Nice Demo by the way.
“Mini w some EQ” is the challenging bit. I wouldn’t think of this for the EQ. I had a mooer pure boost which was a copy of an xotic TC boost that has separate bass and treble, I was surprised by how goood it sounded. If you have to go mini.
Well mini and EQ is tough. I really like an MXR 6 band as a boost or the Rockett ML Drive is my current do it all favorite. You can see one peeking out during the guitar shots in the most recent video.
@@fivewattworld Yes...newer version is even more tweakable with added boost. I have older version: Its basically TS pedal but with added very helpful features. (adding headroom..adding, cuting lower mids, bass..) great to make singlecoils fatter and unmuddy some humbucker. Overal very dynamic..you cant hide behind it! :)
@@j.rozman7016 Well I'm against that, "can't hind behind it" . I want a pedal that is advertised as "you can hide behind this one." :) . I'll look for a used one, but I'm trying to find a niche in mini pedals. You have any favorite minis?
@@fivewattworld well I like my mini Polytune pedal. :) I do recommend Pedalpal fx pedals: Pal 800 Gold overdrive for all Marshall (for bluesbreaker/plexi/jcm) sounds in a box. Cheers. :)
Pots and caps at +/- 5% are expensive. By default, their tolerance is way higher.. resistors these days are extraordinarily accurate. Anf 5% may be a spec but almost all these days are in the 1% range. Hand matching is not needed in most cases. But caps and pots... the quality is up, the tolerance... not so much.
Wow! That's a better deal than I got when they came out! And I was thrilled at $69.00 each for the three used in the review (two since sold of course.)
