The Vemuram John Shanks ODS-1 is an overdrive pedal from the Japanese boutique maker, built around a brass enclosure and carrying the name of producer and guitarist John Shanks. It sits in Vemuram's drive range alongside pedals like the Jan Ray, Karen and Galea, and it belongs to the wider family of ODR-1-style overdrives covered in Guitar Pedal X's roundup of that circuit type1.
Controls
The pedal keeps a familiar three-knob layout on top and adds two trim-pots on the rear panel, giving extra shaping that stays out of the way once set1:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Level | Sets the pedal's output level |
| Gain | Sets the amount of overdrive |
| Tone | Shapes the treble response |
| Rear trim-pots: Bass & Saturation | Rear-panel trimmers for bass and saturation, set to taste |
Control layout per Guitar Pedal X1.
What reviewers said
Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson, reviewing the pedal among ODR-1-style overdrives in December 2023, found the sound lived up to the price of entry but questioned the value next to cheaper alternatives in the same field1:
"I'm not contesting that it doesn't sound good - it most certainly does. But $385 is a lot to splash out for the Brass enclosure"
MusicRadar's Rob Laing, writing in April 2023 during his own search for a holy-grail overdrive, named the Shanks ODS-1 among the pedals on his list, describing it as pricey and noting it was due to appear in a further video, alongside the Truetone Open Road2.
For context on how the ODS-1 compares with other drives in its class, see the site's guide to overdrive pedals.
Videos
That Pedal Show
James Emerson
shnobel
Sources (2)
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2023-12-06
- Is the Nobels ODR-1 the real holy grail overdrive pedal?, MusicRadar, 2023-04-25
