The Black Cat OD-1 is an overdrive pedal from Black Cat. Its place in the brand's line-up sits alongside fuzzes such as the Black Cat N-Fuzz, the Black Cat Superfuzz and the Black Cat Monster K-Fuzz, but the OD-1 belongs to the overdrive side of the family rather than the fuzz side1.
What it does
The OD-1 circuit design the pedal takes its name from is defined by asymmetric clipping. TONEHOME's product page on the original Boss OD-1 OverDrive explains the idea2:
"the OD-1 features an asymmetric circuit where the positive and negative halves of the waveform aren't distorted equally"2
In practice, that means the two halves of the guitar's signal are clipped differently, which players and builders have long associated with a more natural, tube-amp-like break-up than symmetric clipping gives. The Black Cat OD-1 carries this circuit approach into Black Cat's line.
The circuit's reputation among players is reflected in how reviewers reference it. Reviewing a Black Cat overdrive pedal for Premier Guitar in 2021, the reviewer described the pedal under review as1:
"essentially a Black Cat OD-1 circuit"1
That a Premier Guitar review uses the Black Cat OD-1 circuit as the reference point for another pedal in the maker's range indicates the OD-1 is regarded as a known quantity, a circuit players can be expected to recognize by name1.
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Questions
What is the Black Cat OD-1?
The Black Cat OD-1 is an overdrive pedal built around the OD-1 circuit approach, in which the positive and negative halves of the guitar's waveform are not distorted equally. Premier Guitar has referred to it as a Black Cat OD-1 circuit when describing other pedals, which points to the circuit's standing among players.
Sources (2)
- Black Cat OD-Boost Review, Premier Guitar, 2014-04-07
- TONEHOME, TONEHOME
