Morley MOD-D1B Distortion One

The Morley MOD-D1B Distortion One is a distortion pedal from Morley's MOD line. It is a little-documented pedal: the independent circuit analysis site Guitar FX Layouts, which published a DIY layout for it in August 2013, described it as "quite rare thing"¹. The same analysis placed it in familiar company, calling it "Morley's vision of the MXR Dist+/DOD OD250, with some noticeable changes"¹, so players looking at the Distortion Pedals field can think of it as Morley's own spin on that style of overdrive-distortion circuit.

Rarity and the secondhand market

Because the MOD-D1B turns up infrequently, it is not a pedal most players will stumble across. Writing in 2013, Guitar FX Layouts noted the scarcity and the price that came with it: "You can score one for >$200 at ebay"¹. That figure is a secondhand market price from 2013, not a list price, and it reflects the pedal's rarity rather than its original cost.

For players drawn to the circuit rather than the collectible, the published DIY layout offers another route to the sound. Morley's wider distortion history includes better-documented pedals such as the Morley MOD-DDB Deluxe Distortion, the Morley Just Distortion and the Morley Distortion Wah Volume¹.

The DIY layout and what builders said

Guitar FX Layouts posted a vero (stripboard) and tagboard layout for the MOD-D1B on 6 August 2013¹. Builders who worked from it left their impressions in the comments:

Norwichbadger's build also surfaced the one circuit detail worth knowing before building. The original layout used a 4K7 resistor on the connection to the Distortion 2 control, but the Tel-Ray schematic gives that resistor as 47K. As Norwichbadger put it, "I have built this and its a useful effect but found the distortion a bit too bunched up at the clockwise end." After swapping to 47K, the response was more gradual, with no adverse effect on gain or distortion¹.