The Nordvang Custom No.1 Overdrive is a single overdrive pedal from the Danish builder Nordvang Custom, hand-built by the company's owner and proprietor. It is designed to be versatile enough to serve either as a clean boost or as a mid-pushed medium gain overdrive, and it sits in the Klon-style family of drives: Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson wrote that it is "not an exact circuit replication, but is very much based on the Klone pedal."1
What it does
The No.1 covers a wide gain range for a single overdrive. Nordvang describes it as versatile enough to serve either as a clean boost or as a mid-pushed medium gain overdrive. That versatility is one reason the pedal has a following: the company notes that fans of the No.1 requested a dual version of the pedal, demand that shaped its later dual overdrive pedals.2
Controls
Beyond the standard three knobs, the No.1 adds three option switches, which is unusual for a Klon-style drive and gives it more tonal range than the circuit it draws from.1
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Gain | Sets the amount of overdrive, from clean boost territory to medium gain |
| Volume | Sets output level |
| Tone | Shapes the treble response |
| Clipping switch | Selects clipping options for the drive character |
| LF Drive switch | Adjusts low frequency drive behavior |
| EQ switch | Adjusts the pedal's equalization |
History and status
The No.1 is a Klon-style overdrive rather than a copy: as the pedal's description puts it, "it's not an exact circuit replication, but is very much based on the Klone pedal."1 Each unit is hand-built by the owner/proprietor from the very finest components available1, and the pedal carried a list price of £373 GBP1.
The original No.1 Overdrive was discontinued in April 2020. The current expression of the design is the No. 1 Signature, and players looking for a Nordvang dual overdrive can also look at the Gravity v2.5 or Gravity Deluxe.
Price and availability
When Guitar Pedal X listed the pedal in its 2019 survey of Klon-style drives, it carried a price of £373 GBP as of July 2019.1 As with all Nordvang Custom pedals, units are hand-built by the owner/proprietor, which limits how many exist at any one time.1
For context on where the No.1 sits among drives generally, see the site's pages on Overdrive Pedals and Boost Pedals, or the comparison of two classic drives in Boss SD-1 vs Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer.
Videos
Simon Gotthelf Music
Eirik Stordrange
Akustikken
Questions
Is the Nordvang Custom No.1 Overdrive a Klon clone?
Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson described it as very much based on the Klon pedal, while noting it is not an exact circuit replication. It follows the Klon-style approach to gain, with added option switches for clipping, low frequency drive and EQ that the original circuit does not have.
Is the Nordvang Custom No.1 Overdrive still available?
No. The original No.1 Overdrive was discontinued in April 2020. Nordvang Custom later released the No.1 Signature, a refined version of the company's first pedal, which Delicious Audio covered in December 2023.
Sources (2)
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2019-07-23
- Wingman v2.0, Nordvang Custom
