Nobels ODR-1 vs Vemuram, Karma, and Way Huge 

A few weeks ago I picked up the Nobels ODR-1 30th Anniversary which has a bass cut knob. It took me some time to dial it in, but now I can't imagine not having it on my board. I love how spanky it sounds. The perfect OD for me.

I like when you speak about your personal preference and the 'feel' of a pedal... RU-vid gives us a glimpse of how something sounds but unfortunately we miss how something feels when you are playing

I got the STO about a year ago from a local shop. Very happy with it. They all sounded very good if I am being honest.

I remember when I heard the Vemuram Shanks ODS1 for the first time, I was blown away by the quality of that sound, but I had no idea that it was ‘just another take’ on the Nobles sound. It kept haunting me and when I had a bit of financial luck I decided to buy one. And it didn’t let me down. Even when you turn it up all way way, every control (meaning the three controls on top of the pedal), it still sounds amazingly good AND it still cleans up really well, just by using the dynamics of your playing or by turning down the volume control on your guitar a little. I’m a happy man. As for the other pedals…, I never tried them. I only knew about the Nobles and I’ve heard many good things about them, but I didn’t give it much attention. I never had a moment when I was blown away by that sound. Not because it isn’t good, but because I never heard or saw something where that pedal was presented in an isolated way. After I found out that the Shanks ODS1 is basically a Nobles ODR1 I did listen to a number of demos. It always seemed to me like you could get a really good sound out of them, but you can also mess it up and make it sound muddy. That’s where (I think) the Vemuram shines. As long as you don’t touch the two ‘hidden’ controls you can’t mess things up. Both the bass control and the saturation control can work wonders, but under certain conditions it will muddy up your sound. 😊

Thanks for the comparison, really useful in lifting the vail on the Nashville “myths” a little. Darn, I think the Shanks is the one for me 😂. And a very Happy Birthday to you!!

Appreciate the review. I currently have the Shanks ODS-1, and have had two of the sliver anniversary versions and two of the green LTD versions. Each pedal sounds just a bit different, even within the same series - I was pretty amazed by that. I am considering replacing the shanks with something cheaper and before the reveal, I was preferring the STO because it has this interesting bloom to the notes that the others didn't have - thats what I heard anyway. I like George's stuff but its always a bit "different." This one sounds really close but with some more better goodness.

Happy Birthday, Young man!

Awesome shootout Mic. Thanks for this. Hope you can do the Maxon SD9 next time with the Landau Butter Machine, TWA SH9 and Geisha Drive.

Michael thanks for the shootout the Nobels ODR-1 has been my favorite drive for a long time and I've used a lot of variants. The Wampler Bell is a great clone with a bass control. I use it as an always on kind of thing with my bassman. I will say if you hit the front end of it with an sd-1 or tube screamer it's a great rock machine. Awesome video!

I have an original ODR1 and the Karma and can't tell the difference between them. I typically use it with a clean amp as my base tone and adjust the volume knob on the guitar to clean it up. Lately, I've been into the Keelep Super Phat Mod (modded BD2) a little more. i think they are int he same family, but the Keeley has a little better feel to me.

Not sure if you meant to do this with the opening, but the ODR-1 was designed to sound like a cranked bassman according to its creator. It's become my favourite low gain boosty drive over the last year or so. It's so full, and rich compared to the other options. The Shanks Vemuram looks sick too. Great sounds as always!

They ALL sound great.

The Vemuram is impressive. It seems to retain dynamics and pick attack regardless of how hard you push it .

I use 2 ODR-1 mini and stack them into a KTR set to a clean boost. ❤

Great comparison brother - they all sound killer! Can’t really go wrong with any of them!

I've got the ODR-1 BC, the mini, and the Karma ODR-10. The Karma is my favorite! I prefer to use it as a drive pedal instead of a boost.

Didn’t Bukovac make a blind Noballs ODR1 shootout last year and he wound up preferring the mini to all….or at least it was in the top two of all the variants?

@BigHairyGuitars Michael, great to see you back making videos again.. great pedal demo.. I think each one did something uniquely well and never actually heard or heard of an ODR1 until watching this! Cheers

I have the nobels and realy dig it, but my fav was the karma.

Been watching your vids for quite a while now. Would love to see some more Ninja Tracks related content!

It's all so subjective. I think you did a wonderful job covering all the bases in the demo/comparison. Truly appreciate all the time that was put into this one. I think, I'll keep my Shanks ODS and be thrilled. I agree with you about the Vemuram pedals, there's just something special about them that's different. In the same breath, nothing wrong or bad about the any of the other pedals at all. Just depends on your ear and what you personally hear and favor. Great job Michael!

I have the Vemuram Landau in my board. It's a distortion but the low settings on it out overdrives most overdrives. Like all Vemurams you'll need take out a 2nd mortgage on your home to buy one though, but it's been on my board since it came out and I probably will never replace it.

I too liked the Way Huge, his pedals are a favorite for me though. That said, they all have great sound.

It's sort of crazy how many OD pedals there are on the market, and it really is quite difficult knowing what to try out, they all have there own flavour, videos like yours are essential and fascinating.🙏🎸👍

Nobels circuit sounds good with literally anything I plug into. Whether its a jcm800 or a roland Jazz chorus, it does the thing across the board

Great demo! Quick, to the point, showed the range, constantly went back to bypassed sound. I’ve watched so many demos recently and you nailed it. Keep up the great work. I just grabbed the golden Nobels and it sounds awesome. Having the bass cut handy and sweepeable is a good thing. I was impressed with how close it sounded to Tom’s old Nobels where I never thought the newer green ones had the low mids right. It would be interesting to hear what you think about the 30th anniversary model.

Had the Nobels mini for a while, loved it until I got a Browne Atom, a vastly superior pedal, then I got a Shanks ODS-1. Worth every penny!

I have the vemuram. It’s an amazing piece of gear. I find that use it with the gain at zero as slight clean post a lot I rarely just past 12 on it. Your right by saying it’s more powerful, that’s what I’ve found to be the case

I got the Shanks second hand for 250 and I love it. It works with all my amps!

I wanted to hate the vemuram but they all sound great. Very ampy. They work with a few amps I use that don’t like or sound good with overdrives. Even used they’re $$$.the karma sounds great. Can sell my odr and make a whole way huge board that would be killer. They all sound good.

I already have the Nobels ODR-1. I was thinking about the Karma, but decided it's sort of better, but no reason to get rid of what I have. Vemuram is to good for me at my level. I think I will just stick with what I got. But if I were to switch, I'd go on YOUR recommendation of the STO since you have a way better ear!!!

ODR and Way huge.

Always love a shoot out. It’s all subjective at the end of the day. Way Huge was my least favorite. I much preferred the original and next the Venuram 😊

Vemuram are so gooooood sounding to my ears!! love 'em all!!!!

Odr 1 was released in 1993.

The original sounds the best to me. I think the Karma sounded closest to it, followed by STO and last Vemuram.

Never wanted to reach into my screen and adjust those controls as bad as this video. But they all sounded great to me!

I have had original 90s versions, the Karma, and Nobels 30th anniversary. Sadly, nothing I've tried sounds like the original. The vintage one has a certain weight to every note. The others are thinner. I have not tried the Vemuram.

The Shanks sounds the most "open"? ...the Noble and Karma sound very good, really close...the Way Huge sounds like it cuts short the sound wave ...weirdly

My only thing with my odr1 is the buffer is questionable , sometimes it sounds weird and crappy bypassed , specially into a cranked Marshall 4hole

From listening it sounded like the bass cut switch was off on the Nobels. Is that correct?

Funny thing, we sold original Nobels ODR-1 pedals (about 30 of them) to get rid of them in a Music shop for 2 dollars in nowadays money, about year 1998 😀 I still have ODR -S which was better. ( you know, more is more)

The Friedman Small Box OD beats them all, pretty soundly.

Agreed on the Way Huge pedal. Also, what's up with your tuner pedal? Is that a custom mod?

What do you think of the boss OD3? Is it close to the ODR1?

When I had the Karma, I def got better results running it at 18v.. Don't know if you tried that, but try it!!

Nothing beat the original.

From this unscientific comparison, I prefer the Nobels, if anything.

Nice 🎉

Really?I found the ODR 1 to be a bass heavy bummer.Now if your lucky or rich enough to have an older version.Putting Vemurum in that line up is a different to me.

Lee Mark Garcia Michelle Thomas Shirley

Where the drums come from ?

Kinda crazy that two of the greatest guitar players of all time are both named Guthrie.

Belle or bust!

🤘

To me, they all sounded better than the Nobels, which sounds too scooped for me. The Way Huge is too bassy, however. The Vemuram and the Karma are the winners for me, but probably the versatility of the Vemuram makes it the real winner

they all sound the same

I love my Nobels!

Nothing beat the original.