Nobels ODR-S

The Nobels ODR-S, sold as the ODR-S Overdrive Special, is an overdrive pedal first released in 1993 as a sibling of the company's more famous ODR-1¹. It is no longer in production: Guitar Pedal X's 2020 overdrive buying guide lists it as discontinued².

What it does

The ODR-S takes the ODR-1 formula and adds a three-band EQ. As Nobels puts it, "The addition of a three-band EQ offers more tonal range"⁴. In practice that means the pedal can be voiced to sit with a particular amp and guitar rather than offering a single fixed tone, which is the main reason a player would reach for it over the ODR-1.

How it sounds

Nobels' own artist pages describe the ODR-S as working well as a low-gain crunch, adjustable with its EQ to match a clean sound, fat and transparent even at higher gain, easy to stack with other pedals, and cleaning up nicely when the guitar's volume is rolled down⁵. German guitarist Ali Neander, in his endorsement on the Nobels site, called it "ein Muß auf allen meinen Pedalboards, perfekt als Low-Gain Crunch, mit dem EQ optimal klanglich an den Clean Sound anpaßbar, auch bei höherem Gain fett und transparent, läßt sich gut mit anderen Pedalen stacken (z.B. vor einem Klon oder Klon-Clone). Wird bein herunterregeln schön clean."⁶ In other words, he describes it as a must on all his pedalboards: a low-gain crunch that the EQ matches to a clean tone, fat and transparent at higher gain, good for stacking in front of a Klon or Klon clone, and cleaning up nicely when rolled down.

Where it sits in the ODR line

The ODR-S belongs to a family that Nobels has kept expanding. The ODR-1 remains the core of the line, and later additions include the ODR-1X and the ODR-mini2, both of which add a variable Bass Cut control to the ODR-1 design³. The ODR-S's three-band EQ is its own distinguishing feature within that family: where the newer pedals shape the low end with a single cut control, the ODR-S gives full bass, mid and treble bands.

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