Industrialectric Actuator OD-187 Overdrive

The Industrialectric Actuator OD-187 Overdrive is a medium to high-gain overdrive pedal built around a rare germanium transistor. Pedal of the Day, reviewing it in June 2020, described it as a pedal with a wide set of controls "to push your drive into wonderfully noisy territory," and summed it up as "a force to be reckoned with, and will make all the other drives on your pedalboard weep in awe."¹

It sits among overdrive pedals but is more involved than a typical drive: it was originally designed for bass, though the reviewer found it sounds fantastic on guitar too.¹

Controls

The Actuator OD-187 carries an unusually deep control set for an overdrive:

Control	What it does
Saturation	Overall gain and the signal being pushed into the transistors in the middle of the circuit¹
Dual JFET Preamp	Input control for the overdrive section¹
Clean Blend	Blends clean signal alongside the drive¹
Contour EQ	A unique tone-shaping control¹
High-Pass Filter	Non-resonant and passive¹

Alongside these it has the usual Main Output and Overdrive Output.¹

A feedback network, not isolated knobs

The defining feature of the circuit is how its controls interact. Pedal of the Day explains¹:

"All of these controls are tied into a Feedback network, so it's unpredictable and adventurous at the turn of any knob¹."

Pedal of the Day, 15 June 2020¹

For a player, that means the Actuator OD-187 behaves less like a set-and-forget drive and more like an instrument of its own: turning one knob changes how the others respond. Players who want a predictable, repeatable drive may find that challenging; players who like to explore will find a lot of ground between the knobs. If you prefer a more conventional drive circuit, comparisons like the Boss SD-1 vs Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer cover the classic approach, and distortion pedals or fuzz pedals cover other ways of generating gain.

Videos

**Industrialectric Actuator OD-187 Overdrive**
Pedal of the Day

**Industrialectric Actuator OD-187 Demo**
Tri Pedal Reviews

Questions

Was the Industrialectric Actuator OD-187 designed for bass or guitar?

According to Pedal of the Day, the Actuator OD-187 was originally designed for bass, but the reviewer found it sounds fantastic on guitar as well. That bass-first design helps explain the Clean Blend knob and the dual JFET preamp, both of which are features players often look for in a bass-friendly overdrive.

What does the Clean Blend knob do on the Actuator OD-187?

The Clean Blend knob is one of the pedal's core controls, letting you mix clean signal in with the driven signal. Pedal of the Day lists it among the pedal's key attributes, alongside the Saturation control, the Contour EQ and the high-pass filter, as part of a wide set of controls for shaping the drive.

Why is the Actuator OD-187 described as unpredictable?

Pedal of the Day explains that all of the pedal's controls are tied into a feedback network, so the pedal is unpredictable and adventurous at the turn of any knob. In other words, adjusting one control affects how the others behave, rather than each knob working in isolation.

What does the Contour EQ do?

The Contour EQ is described by Pedal of the Day as a unique tone-shaping control, part of a slew of controls that can push the drive into wonderfully noisy territory. It works alongside a non-resonant passive high-pass filter to shape the pedal's overall character.

Sources (1)

Industrialectric Actuator OD-187 Overdrive, Pedal of the Day (www.pedal-of-the-day.com), 2020-06-16

Type	Overdrive pedal, medium to high gain¹
Core circuit	Rare germanium transistor¹
Outputs	Main Output and Overdrive Output¹