Introducing the Nobels ODR-1X and ODR-mini 2 overdrive pedals | Which one should YOU buy?!

I’m super excited about this one – Nobels have unveiled the new generation of their ODR-1 and ODR-mini family of overdrive pedals!

The ODR-1 is a legendary overdrive. Beloved by the Nashville session pros for decades for its transparent tones and its crispy Telecaster twang enhancements, the ODR-1 is now a staple on pedalboards across the globe and in every conceivable genre of music.

And, for late 2024, the Nobels team have announced the next generation of Nobels ODR pedals.

First up is the new ODR-1 flagship, the ODR-1X. This pedal features the standard chunky green enclosure as normal, but it has a bunch of new features you won’t have seen on standard ODR-1s before.

Most significantly, it has two awesome extra control features – the variable Bass Cut knob seen on 2024’s limited edition ODR-1 30th Anniversary Edition pedal (which lets you gradually wind out any unwanted low end in your signal), and a Gain Boost switch, which can add up to a whopping 29 dB of gain to your signal!

Alongside the pedal’s Drive, Level, and Spectrum (tone) controls, you should really be able to get all sorts of sounds out of this pedal.

Besides this, the ODR-1X can also be switched between true and buffered bypass, it takes 9-18v power supplies (so more headroom if you need it) and you can use up to a two-button footswitch with it to remotely control the Gain Boost and turn the pedal on or off. Finally, it comes with a set of Nobels’ cool Mounty-P mounting plates, to help you attach it to your pedalboard.

For those who want a mini version, you’re in luck! The ODR-mini 2 is also new for late 2024. Perfect for pedalboards where space is at a premium, the ODR-mini 2 has had a redesign (both visually and physically), and it also features that awesome Bass Cut knob – a feature which many players found to be lacking in the original ODR-mini.

These two new ODR pedals are going to be great options for anyone who’s after a flexible overdrive, but you shouldn’t discount the others that are out there on the market still – and indeed, some of these can now be had for bargain prices!

In particular, I’ve seen the ODR-mini being sold at really cheap prices recently, and we can assume that the ODR-1 BC (BC = Bass Cut) will also be discounted at some point. And, if you’re a true Nobels fan, you can still get your hands on the limited edition sparkly gold 30th Anniversary Edition model, which is a thing of beauty in every way.

In this video, I also want to give you an idea of how the five pedals sound in a variety of musical styles, so I’ve prepared three loops to do just that. In the first one, you’ll hear all five pedals up against each other on an indie rock loop played on my Fender Telecaster’s bridge single coil pickup.

After that, there’s two rock loops played on the bridge humbucker of my Epiphone Les Paul. One features the three full-sized ODR-1s, and the other sees the two ODR-mini pedals doing battle!

Let me know which of the pedals you think sounds best in the comments!

Here are some links to the various parts of the video:

00:00 Introduction to the ODR family
00:54 ODR-1X specs and info
02:45 ODR-mini 2 specs and info
03:51 ODR-1 BC specs and info
04:22 ODR-1 30th Anniversary Edition specs and info
05:00 ODR-mini specs and info
05:34 Today’s rig and plan

06:36 Loop 1: all five ODR pedals together (Telecaster)
16:33 Loop 2: the three full-sized ODR-1 pedals (Les Paul)
20:25 Loop 3: the two ODR-mini pedals (Les Paul)

24:45 My thoughts
25:12 Why you should buy the ODR-1X
26:01 Why you should buy the ODR-mini 2
27:10 Reasons to upgrade your old ODR-1
27:29 Tone test: ODR-1X Gain Boost vs ODR-1 BC and my TC Spark Booster
28:06 Which one do you think is best?!

My setup was as follows: I ran the pedals into the front end of my Hughes & Kettner AmpMan Classic pedal amp, then went from the Red Box DI straight into my Focusrite Scarlett 2i4, which went into Logic Pro X. That’s it. No post-processing on the sounds was done. Oh, and I used my Boss RC-10R to record and play the loops. Here’s some links to those bits of gear:

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Enjoy!

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Backing music from the YouTube Audio Library: Duck In The Alley – TrackTribe.

#NobelsOfficial #NobelsODR1 #NobelsODRMini #OverdrivePedal #TransparentOverdrive #RichWordsMusic

*Note: certain links in the description are affiliate links. If you click said links and purchase anything as a result, I will receive a small commission. This doesn’t cost you anything extra, but it does help to support the channel. So, if you do that, thank you very much!*

@nobelsofficial5766

[RichWordsMusic]

Timestamps team:

00:00​ Introduction to the ODR family
00:54​ ODR-1X specs and info
02:45​ ODR-mini 2 specs and info
03:51​ ODR-1 BC specs and info
04:22​ ODR-1 30th Anniversary Edition specs and info
05:00​ ODR-mini specs and info
05:34​ Today’s rig and plan

06:36​ Loop 1: all five ODR pedals together (Telecaster)
16:33​ Loop 2: the three full-sized ODR-1 pedals (Les Paul)
20:25​ Loop 3: the two ODR-mini pedals (Les Paul)

24:45​ My thoughts
25:12​ Why you should buy the ODR-1X
26:01​ Why you should buy the ODR-mini 2
27:10​ Reasons to upgrade your old ODR-1
27:29​ Tone test: ODR-1X Gain Boost vs ODR-1 BC and my TC Spark Booster
28:06​ Which one do you think is best?!

[nobelsofficial]

Thanks for the great review, Rich! Best regards from the Nobels Team!

[JoelK]

Man, Nobles fixing all the things that made us buy all the ORD-clones! So good. Looking forward to buying some more ODR’s 🎉🎉

[nobelsofficial]

Thank you for the great and informative report on our new pedal. Always detailed and of high quality! Best regards from the Nobels team

[Electrolemming]

That was wild! The main thing that confirmed for me was that they really do all sound the same at the same settings, with two exceptions. Namely, the bass cut switch on the ODR-1 BC didn't seem to cut as much as the three with dials, and it also seemed like the basic ODR-mini still had more bass than them even with their bass-cut dials all the way down. So, I think that the ODR-mini 2 and ODR-1X were the winners, with the price vs. boost the main deciding factor between them. That's good news for Nobels, since that's what you'd want for your new versions, but I really would have had no way of knowing for sure without such a clear head-to-head. Thank you for that!

[rosskoko]

I've owned the odr1 silver version for years and love it. I thought it's time for my son to have one as well. Wasn't sure which one to get but now, after watching your review I have decided on the mini2. They all sound very similar to me over my speaker. Cheers for another very good video. I think your content is always very informative and I have purchased stuff on the back of that.

[natekincaid]

I just placed my order for the mini 2. Hopefully it ships in the next couple of weeks. Thanks again for the in depth review!!!

[thewilythylacine]

Another great rundown! Especially with the Spark demo at the end! The mini2 definitely has less bass, but I actually think it sounds more focused with the low end full on than the others. Since I am balancing space and budget on an already crowded board, and have a Spark already integrated into my setup, I think the ODR Mini 2 fits the bill for me. Thanks for this video! It really helped!

[petaralargic]

Killer overdrive.. Excellent vid as always

[natekincaid]

I really liked this a lot. I’ve owned the mini and am looking forward to the mini 2. I was surprised that even at full bass the mini 2 seemed to have less bass than the original mini. Thanks for putting in the work!!!

[lonesomelenny]

I have the original Nobels mini on my small pedal board and use it with my lap steel and a 5-watt Gretsch amp. It screams into a wonderful sustain I will get the new Mini 2 just for the hell of it. Thanks!

[Marc_FF_Guy]

All pedal comparisons should be done like this with a looped track. 👌🏼

[RICO_SUAVE]

Great demo! The new ord-1x is supposed to have the same circuit as the gold anniversary but with the added boost and true bypass features…. Gonna have to pick up this new model for the boost even though I already have the gold 👍🏾

[marc_leblanc]

The original Mini still wins it for me. Great review.

[MrGuitarDad]

The 30th really does sound hi fi. Lovely mid scoop. Awesome.

[Lamz..]

Nice comparison. I could happily live with any of them on my pedal board, they all sound great. I missed the bass cut on the mini 1 but that's nothing my EQ can't handle. Built-in it's more handy though when playing gigs.

[drewdemaio]

Great Video Rich! I've only recently been learning more about these pedals. Would love to see a shootout between the Mini-2 and the 30th Anniversary, being that they both have the same knob layout! What are your thoughts between those two pedals? I have the mini-2 now, would it be worth it to upgrade to the 30th Anniversary?

[nikolaki]

0:41 Need?? Need?🤣 I gave up telling myself that fib years ago. Thanks for doing this video - really helpful.

[erthjuice]

I bought the normal ODR-1 back when the only alternative was the standard ODR1-mini. I wanted the bass cut switch, however, the effect is so small that I never even could hearwhich way it was set. This video seems to confirm that. On my speakers with the telecaster I don't hear any difference at all. That said, the bass cut knob really is a good addition.

[byronabadia]

ODR mini2 sounds good! For my ears is the best!