The Korg ToneWorks 105OD Classic Overdrive is an overdrive pedal, and the first release in Korg's Spirit Animal series. Like other pedals in the overdrive family, it pushes the front end of an amp for added grit and sustain, and it adds a boost function on top of its core drive circuit1.
What it does
The 105OD works as a conventional overdrive with an added boost function, giving a player two gain-related tools in one box: the drive itself for pushing an amp or fattening a clean tone, and the boost for lifting a solo or a riff above the mix1.
Josh Scott and Nick of JHS Pedals, writing about Korg's vintage ToneWorks DSP pedals, described one character quirk of the unit's sound:
"it has a weird aliasing harmonic that's slightly irritating as the note decays, but just like certain irritating family members, it's kind of endearing."1
That kind of digital-era artifact is worth knowing about if you are comparing the 105OD with analog overdrives, where notes fade without the same harmonic byproduct.
The enclosure
The pedal's graphic is a talking point in itself. As Josh Scott and Nick put it:
"You'll notice it has a spider on it. Or maybe an ant? It has four legs."
Videos
Max Tone (ToneReview)
Pepe Music
JimijaymesGuitarist
Questions
What is the KORG ToneWorks 105OD Classic Overdrive?
It is an overdrive pedal from Korg's ToneWorks line and the first release in the company's Spirit Animal series. Alongside its overdrive circuit it includes a boost function, and it carries a distinctive graphic of a four-legged insect that observers have read as either a spider or an ant.
How does the 105OD sound?
Writing for JHS Pedals, Josh Scott and Nick described a quirk in its decay: they said it has a weird aliasing harmonic that is slightly irritating as the note decays, but compared it to certain irritating family members in that it is endearing all the same.
Sources (1)
- KORG VINTAGE TONEWORKS DSP, JHS Pedals
