Analogworm OD808 MKIII Dual Drive

The Analogworm OD808 MKIII Dual Drive is a dual overdrive pedal from Russian builder Analogworm, announced on October 22, 2021¹. It puts two drive circuits in one enclosure: a Tube Screamer-style circuit on the left side and an OCD-type circuit on the right side, each with its own bypass footswitch so the two can be used separately or stacked¹.

The name points at the pedal's lineage. The original Maxon OD808, first released in 1979, was one of the first tube-amp overdrive simulators on the market and was then rebranded for Ibanez as the TS808 Tubescreamer²³. The OD808 MKIII borrows that circuit design for its Screamer channel and pairs it with an OCD-type circuit, giving a player both a mid-forward Tube Screamer voice and a more open drive in a single box¹.

Two drives in one pedal

The OD808 MKIII has two independent channels: blue for the OCD circuit and red for the Screamer¹. Delicious Audio described it as "a dual overdrive featuring a Tube Screamer-style OR transparent drive on the left side" and "an OCD-type circuit on the right side"¹.

For a player, that covers the two most common overdrive jobs at once. The Screamer side follows the tradition of the Maxon OD808 and the Ibanez TS808, a circuit known for its mid-frequency hump and mild, tube-amp-style overdrive¹³². The OCD side offers the other flavor, so the pedal can serve as a low-gain boost into a higher-gain drive, or as two standalone overdrives on one pedalboard footprint.

The Tube Screamer family this pedal draws on has a long history. The Maxon OD808 was designed in 1978-79 and first released in 1979, and Maxon reissued it in its original 1979 enclosure in 2004⁴². It was rebranded for Ibanez as the TS808 Tubescreamer², and the circuit has since been the basis for a wide field of clones and reissues².

Controls, footswitches and DIP switches

The control set is simple on the surface. Each channel has a Drive knob that adjusts the amount of overload¹. Beyond the knobs, the switching works like this:

• Right bypass button: activates the first effect in the chain¹
• Left bypass button: activates the second effect in the chain¹
• LEDs: the LED next to each button shows which channel is in use¹

Inside the pedal there is more to tweak. There are six internal DIP switches, with the upper two-position switch belonging to the Screamer channel and the lower one handling the OCD's internal switches¹. That means the two circuits can be voiced beyond their stock settings without touching the external knobs.

Transparent mode

The Screamer channel has a transparent mode, and it changes the character of that side considerably. In transparent mode the amount of gain decreases, the mid-frequency hump characteristic of the Screamer decreases, and the amount of high frequencies increases¹. Delicious Audio called the result "a great low-gain overdrive"¹.

This is a useful option for players who find Tube Screamer-style mid humps too narrow for clean-ish chord work. Flipping the red channel into transparent mode gives a flatter, more open voicing at lower gain, while the standard mode keeps the classic mid-forward push that the circuit is known for¹.

Power

The OD808 MKIII runs on 9 to 18 volts DC at 40mA, with the minus in the center of the plug¹. A standard 9V center-negative pedalboard supply is within range, and the wider 9 to 18V window also allows higher-voltage supplies, which some players use with overdrive circuits for additional headroom. The 40mA draw is modest, so the pedal is light on a power supply's budget.

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