The Drunk Beaver Khmelnytskyi OD is a limited-run overdrive pedal, the 19th entry in the maker's Pedal Drop series, released on March 3, 2024. It takes its tone generation from the early Boss OD-1 circuit, the version built around a 14-pin op-amp, and adds an OD-3 style tone stack on the back end along with a three-way clipping switch. Guitar Pedal X listed it at $150 when it went on sale through the Drunk Beaver webstore1.
What it does and how it is controlled
The pedal has four controls: Volume, Tone, Drive, and a Clipping toggle. The Tone control comes from the OD-3 side of the design, which Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson described as a way "to greatly increase the versatility of that circuit" beyond the stock OD-1 arrangement1.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Volume | Output level1 |
| Tone | OD-3 style tone stack1 |
| Drive | Amount of overdrive1 |
| Clipping | 3-way toggle: LED / None / Silicon1 |
The clipping switch is the pedal's main departure from the OD-1. It offers three positions1:
- Silicon: rare milspec Polish CEMI diodes, which Karlsson described as having "almost exactly the same characteristics" as the vintage Japanese BAYP-84A silicon diodes Boss originally used
- None: the middle position, no clipping diodes in the circuit
- LED: two red LEDs as the clipping elements
The 14-pin op-amp story
The early Boss OD-1 is the pedal this circuit reaches back to. TONEHOME's reference documents that Boss later changed the design, "replacing the fantastic sounding 14 pin op-amp RC3403 with a dual op-amps (e.g. JRC4558DD)", the chip type associated with the later Tube Screamer-style circuit2. The Khmelnytskyi OD goes back to that earlier 14-pin arrangement: Guitar Pedal X reports that Drunk Beaver sourced NOS Motorola MC3403 chips, the exact equivalent specifications of the original 14-pin Raytheon op-amps, carrying the MX3403 designation rather than RC3403, and built the circuit with identical component values1.
"I really could not be more excited to get my hands on this - it's exactly what the Doctor ordered!"
Pedal Drop #19 and availability
The Khmelnytskyi OD is part of Drunk Beaver's Pedal Drop series, a run of limited pedals3. The Zhytomyr Sunset Preamp also appeared in the series4, and the Khmelnytskyi OD is number 191. Guitar Pedal X reported the pedal available on the Drunk Beaver webstore at $150 as of March 3, 20241. As with the other drops, runs are limited, so availability changes over time.
Guitar Pedal X noted there are no official demos of this pedal. Karlsson pointed to Analog.Man Mike Piera's 14 Pin vs 8 Pin video as giving an idea of the circuit's appeal1.
Related Drunk Beaver overdrives
Drunk Beaver also makes a separate pedal called the Drunk Beaver OD-1, an XR series compact recreation of the Polish Exar OD-1, described by RockBoard's PedalPedia as "a Tube Screamer-style overdrive known for its rich low end and asymmetrical clipping"5. That is a different product from the Khmelnytskyi OD, which follows the earlier Boss OD-1 14-pin op-amp design instead. Other overdrives in the maker's range include the Kharkiv Supercharged CMOS Overdrive, the Okhtyrka Honey Bee Overdrive, and the Olbia Overdrive. For the wider field, see the site's Overdrive Pedals page or the Boss SD-1 vs Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer comparison.
The Khmelnytskyi OD carries the series' approach into its own design: a 3-way Diode Clipping toggle switch offering Polish CEMI Silicon diodes, No Clipping, or two Red LEDs, alongside Volume, Tone (from the OD-3), and Drive controls1.
Questions
What op-amp is in the Drunk Beaver Khmelnytskyi OD?
The Khmelnytskyi OD uses new old stock Motorola MC3403 14-pin op-amp chips, which Guitar Pedal X describes as having the exact equivalent specifications of the original 14-pin Raytheon op-amps used in the early Boss OD-1. The Motorola parts carry the MX3403 designation rather than the RC3403 marking of the originals.
How much does the Khmelnytskyi OD cost?
Guitar Pedal X reported a price of $150 when the pedal was released on March 3, 2024, sold through the Drunk Beaver webstore. As a limited Pedal Drop run, availability changes, so the pedal may or may not be in stock at any given time.
Are there demos of the Khmelnytskyi OD?
Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson noted there are no official demos of the pedal. He pointed instead to Analog.Man Mike Piera's 14 Pin vs 8 Pin video as giving an idea of the circuit's appeal, since it demonstrates the tonal character of the 14-pin op-amp approach the Khmelnytskyi OD is built on.
What is a Drunk Beaver Pedal Drop?
Pedal Drops are Drunk Beaver's limited-run series of pedals, each a small batch released one at a time. The series began with the Kherson Drive in August 2022, and the Khmelnytskyi OD is number 19 in the series. Other drops include the Zhytomyr Sunset Preamp at number 15 and later releases such as the Kharkiv Supercharged CMOS Overdrive.
Who designed the Khmelnytskyi OD?
The pedal was designed by Vitalii, the circuit designer behind Drunk Beaver. Guitar Pedal X credits him with sourcing the new old stock Motorola chips and with the circuit design across the Pedal Drop series, including later releases such as the Vinnytsia Echo Machine.
Sources (5)
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2024-03-03
- TONEHOME, TONEHOME
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2023-10-27
- OD-1 by Drunk Beaver, RockBoard PedalPedia, 2026
