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NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2023 4:27 pm
by GuitarBilly
I bought this pedal today, since I want to build an "80's board" for my SDE3000. This is the boost pedal that was used by the L.A. studio guys in the 80's (Lukather, Landau, Pierce etc) so I've known about it for decades but never really owned one until now. I bought the current version of it, which is supposed to be close enough to the 80s one. I am sure it's not 100% exact but given that the original cost
over two thousand fucking dollars this one will have to do. Because seriously, people asking $2k for a pedal can suck my sizeable brown dick all the way up to the shaft's end.
Anyway, I really like this pedal. It's a very transparent boost, possibly the most transparent I've heard so far. I always feel like Klones add a bit of high end to the tone, even when bypassed because of their buffer, but this one doesn't. Obviously you can dial it to color your tone if you want to, but I found a setting here that is completely transparent with the Marshalls it adds gain and absolutely nothing else. Really cool.
Another cool feature is the "Remote" jack that allow the pedal to be switched on/off by a MIDI switcher. I have a NuX Relay Switcher here so I think I will incorporate that to the board and then use a MIDI controller to switch amp channels, boost on/off and presets on the SDE. Very 80's indeed
Anyway, this is the pedal I am talking about:

Highly recommend it.
Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2023 4:51 pm
by rock flag and eagle
I had always thought they were a tube screamer variant up until 6 months ago and they sparked my interest. Now Keeley has the Noble Screamer which can do both, so that will probably be the next OD I buy.
Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2023 4:58 pm
by Mike Oxhuge
I never heard of these before. Cool pedal. Good price too! HNPD!
Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2023 8:07 pm
by Telephant
Always wanted to try one but still haven’t after all these years. I’m also mildly interested in that new Keeley Noble Screamer.
Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2023 9:18 am
by TurboPablo
I am more than intrigued.
Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2023 10:04 am
by andvari7
I take issue with your disdain for the people who are selling the originals for hyperinflated prices. It’s the same issue I have with professional athletes: You can’t blame them for asking for that money; blame the idiots who are willing to pay that much.
However, I agree with you: While they are iconic session pedals, they are not worth $2000, unless it is a specific pedal used by Steve Lukather, and even that is a bit of a stretch.
You did the right thing, by buying the reissue.
Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2023 11:18 am
by GuitarBilly
Well you know how that goes. They're free to ask whatever they want... and I'm free to tell them to suck my dick.

Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2023 11:29 am
by thisguy
Around the year 2000 or so I was checking out a music store and the salesperson talked it up a lot and tried to get me to get one. Guess I should have.

Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2023 5:28 pm
by GuitarBilly
I took it to practice today and it sounded awesome. I had both the Marshall and the Mesa with me and played one set with each amp. The pedal worked well with both amps. It just expands the gain without changing the tone.
Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2023 8:52 am
by Marc G
I've always wanted to give one of those a try.... seemed like it's a tube screamer for people who don't like tube screamers lol
Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2023 11:53 am
by Heath
I picked one up back in January. I was using my MT15 exclusively and needed an in-between sound for crunch sounds. Thought I was going to grab a klone of some kind or a blues driver. I tried 12-15 and had landed on a klone when the salesman suggested the odr. It stomped everything else for a fraction of the price. I didn't discover how great of a boost it was until I was setting it up with my midi switcher and it failed to turn off when I switched to the drive channel. My settings for crunch worked perfectly as a boost too. My 17 yr old had been using that rig lately and calls it the "easy button" for soloing.
Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2023 12:12 pm
by TurboPablo
I'm going to order one tonight.
Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2023 4:58 pm
by TurboPablo
Odored.
Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2023 5:32 pm
by GuitarBilly
Heath wrote: My settings for crunch worked perfectly as a boost too.
Yeah that's true. It effectively turned the DSL into a 4 channel amp.
Heath wrote: My 17 yr old had been using that rig lately and calls it the "easy button" for soloing.
That's a good way to put it

Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2023 5:33 pm
by GuitarBilly
TurboPablo wrote:Odored.
Nice!!! Let us know your thoughts on it. I think you'll like it!!
Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2023 5:45 pm
by TurboPablo
GuitarBilly wrote:TurboPablo wrote:Odored.
Nice!!! Let us know your thoughts on it. I think you'll like it!!
Yeah. Demos were right up my alley. I am a no-medium gain guy. Should work well for my chicken picken. One dude compared it very faorably to a OD-3. Which is a all time fave of mine.
Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2023 6:36 pm
by GuitarBilly
I have an OD-3 here and I like it a lot but the ODR-1 is less saturated and more transparent. It's neither better nor worse, I just don't think they're very similar.
I think you could say the ODR-1 sits in between the Klon and the OD-3, but they're all different from each other.
Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2023 6:52 pm
by TurboPablo
GuitarBilly wrote:I have an OD-3 here and I like it a lot but the ODR-1 is less saturated and more transparent. It's neither better nor worse, I just don't think they're very similar.
I think you could say the ODR-1 sits in between the Klon and the OD-3, but they're all different from each other.
Actully, in the demo I watched they were suprisingly similar. But it doesn't matter. I own them all now

Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2023 11:07 am
by spawnofthesith
nice, i kind of want to haev a go at the mini version
Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2023 11:49 am
by Heath
spawnofthesith wrote:nice, i kind of want to haev a go at the mini version
I tried both and they sound identical, other than the larger version has a bass-cut switch in the battery compartment.
Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2023 2:35 am
by ke2
I have the mini. It's a nice drive pedal, especially for single coils. I've also used it on bass. It's fairly bass-heavy, so the low end doesn't disappear when you turn it on. I haven't tried using it as a boost yet, gotta give it a go.
Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2023 7:00 am
by Texsunburst59
Those are great pedals.
Back in about ‘01 I picked about 3 of the late 90’s versions on E-bay for about $45 each.
I gave 2 of them away to friends back in the day, and I still have one that is still in box with papers.
Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2023 9:51 am
by Heath
This thread inspired me to pull my ODR out and see what other amps it would work with. It seems to work well in front of every amp I have, even my notoriously picky Laney GH30R sounds great with it. Drive at 3, Spectrum at 6.5, and Level at 7.5 with the bass cut on, seems to be my favorite setting.
Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2023 9:57 am
by greatmutah
I don’t need another drive pedal. I don’t need another drive pedal. I don’t need another drive pedal.
Re: NPD: Nobels ODR-1
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2023 10:36 am
by eyeball987
Heath wrote:spawnofthesith wrote:nice, i kind of want to haev a go at the mini version
I tried both and they sound identical, other than the larger version has a bass-cut switch in the battery compartment.
The bass cut is a big reason why I boost in the first place, and also the reason why I have been on the fence about trying the ODR in the first place. Nice to know that the full size version has the bass cut switch.