NOBELS ODR-MINI

A popular overdrive now smaller than ever!

The Nobels ODR-1 Natural Overdrive was first launched in the early 90s, and quickly became a staple on the boards of session players and tonehounds in-the-know. But unlike many fabled overdrives, there is no mysterious character behind the pedal: no waiting list, no gooped circuits, no secret sauce to speak of. Nope, this was (and still is) a mass-produced pedal available on the average budget.

The pedal found a new lease of life in recent years after the lid was lifted by various influencers, giving a whole new generation interest in this forgotten gem. Fittingly, Nobels has released the ODR-MINI, which promises the same tonal characteristics in a scaled-down pedal.

Now, there are some obvious parallels to be drawn here. Green and ‘overdrive’ add up to ‘Screaming Tube’-style connotations to most, and it’s along those lines (it is an overdrive, after all). But while the TS is renowned for its ‘mid hump’, the Od-mini flattens this out, and has (to our ears) a wider gain range than a classic Tube Screamer drive. We mentioned earlier that there’s no secret sauce, but there is a concealed weapon, and it resides in that Spectrum circuit. This is your ‘tone’ control, and with its neutral position in the centre, turning it up (clockwise) cranks some of the bass and lower mids. Turning it down applies an almost bandpass style filter to your sound, giving you some punchy clarity to help separate your guitar, not unlike a less extreme version of a cocked-wah.

It’s a versatile little pedal, and in-use it’s easy to see why it’s garnered such a strong reputation. This mini version runs from a power supply only, but you can choose any centre-negative adaptor between 9 and 18 volts to experiment with your headroom. It’s becoming rarer that a revered overdrive can land at your feet for under £100 these days, but for £69, it’s an affordable entry into some classic overdrive sounds.