Nobels ODR-mini2

The Nobels ODR-mini2 is a compact analog overdrive pedal, a smaller take on the company's ODR-1 with one addition players had been asking for: a Bass Cut control on the outside of the pedal. Nobels describes the Bass Cut as helping to tame and adjust the low frequencies, with stepless adjustment via a potentiometer, so you can trim sub-bass without opening a pedal up.¹

Pedal of the Day, reviewing the mini2 in February 2025, called it "the next evolution of the little brother of the legendary ODR-1" and found that it "faithfully delivers the flexible range of tones that made its full-sized predecessor a cult classic," squished down into a compact enclosure.²

The Bass Cut control and where it came from

The Bass Cut function on the mini2 descends from the ODR-1BC, a full-sized ODR-1 variant. On the ODR-1BC, the bass cut is a switch under the battery cover, selectable between the original ODR-1 sound or a slightly reduced sub-bass.⁵¹ The mini2 turns that fixed choice into a continuous control: a potentiometer you can set anywhere between full low end and a trimmed bottom, without needing a screwdriver or access to the battery compartment.¹

That matters in practice for a few reasons:

• Tight low end under gain: cutting sub-bass before the clipping stage keeps distorted chords from turning to mush, especially with humbuckers or a dark-sounding amp.
• Small enclosures run warm on space, not features: putting the control on the surface means you can adjust it mid-set.
• Stepless adjustment: unlike the ODR-1BC's two-position switch, the mini2 lets you dial in exactly how much low end to remove.¹⁵

For context across the ODR family, the full-sized Nobels ODR-1 remains the reference point, the ODR-1BC introduced the internal bass cut switch, and the ODR-1X carries the design further with additional features. The mini2 sits alongside them as the compact option in the line. Nobels also lists the ODR-mini2 among its topsellers, with the maker's artist page describing the line as "boutique sound, non boutique price."⁶⁷⁸

Power and bypass

The mini2 is an analog overdrive pedal built into a sturdy metal housing, and Nobels squishes the ODR circuit down into a compact enclosure¹. The maker markets it as boutique sound at a non boutique price, and it carries topseller status in the Nobels range⁷⁸. Because the circuit is analog, its character comes from the ODR design itself rather than from any digital processing¹.

Bypass is true bypass, so the effect is fully out of the signal path when switched off.¹

Price and availability

Guitar World lists the ODR-Mini2 at $79 in the United States (the same review gives £69.99 and €77 for other markets).⁴ Pedal of the Day dates the release to February 2025.²

Players

Nobels lists John Stepp among the players using the ODR-Mini, and his quote on the maker's artist page reads: "The Nobels ODR-Mini changed my life. It's, hand's down, the best overdrive pedal I've ever played."⁹

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