OCD

[JiveTurkey]

yeah they're actually a music store in SoCal and they import these pedals under their own brand and also under the Tone Bakery brand (like the Creme Brule klone). If I am not mistaken, Jerry Dyer (of Surreal Amps) works for/with them and oversees the design and production of these pedals.

Tone Bakery stuff was great. That was before I was in pedal addiction land

 

[V|J]

I haven’t - do you know which version it’s based on? my buddy who’s a pedal builder said he’d fix the Joyo’s circuit so it should pretty much be a V1.3 with a buffer. So now I’m wondering if it’s worth me buying a legit 1.4 or 1.7, or maybe i’ll be happy enough with the clone.

I also remembered I have a Danelectro Drive V2 which is based on an OCD, and actually seems to have some of the characteristics I like from the V1.2. Doesn’t really scratch the itch for a real one but ideally the clones can cover different variations of the circuit.

I have had the hustle drive for quite long and tried to find which version it emulated.
From listening to youtube vids and forums, it seems to be based on 1.7, whoch is still fairly better sounding as compared to 2.0.

It gets great reviews.
Also, the helix version is overly compressed and way too gainy, even compared to running at 9 Volts.

 

[dronerstone]

Hmm. Never got along with the OCD, for some reason - maybe I used it wrong?

I borrowed an old one, and a newer one (no idea which variant # they were) throughout the years, from buddies who wanted to try and "convert" me.

No matter if I had it running into a clean amp, a fuzz, or a slightly hairy amp, it always sounded stiff/sterile/lifeless to my ears. Maybe missing dynamics, hehe too compressed?

Fwiw, I feel the same way about digital models of the OCD. Just not my cup of tea.

 

[Cirrus]

It's the mids and the low end for me - a little like a big muff (not as extreme), it sounds epic on its own but to work in a band arrangement you need an amp/cab voicing and response that works for it. It's a big scooped and IIRC the clipping is to a floating point rather than ground, so the distortion kind of follows your dynamics rather than something like a rat, ds1, klon etc where the clipping point is fixed. Again, this makes it feel very responsive to pick attack on its own but I think once it's in a mix, pedals that clip at a fixed threshold feel better to play into for me.

Plus the output impedance thing - when I had mine back in 2010-12, I really struggled with the thing where it sounded awesome on its own pushing signal into the amp, but then I'd turn on the true bypass delay after it so suddenly it was driving 6 inches rather than 20 feet of cable and it got way brighter and fizzier.

All that said, if it works for you, that's all that matters. Just know this: When I assume control of the world, everyone who likes the OCD will be rounded up into work camps.

 

[Jarick]

I don't know if it's a clone or how close it is or is not, but I got an MXR Super Badass Dynamic Overdrive a month or so ago and really like it.

All the reviews said it was inspired by the OCD as it has MOSFET clipping and the boost/cut switch and all that.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I don't know if it's a clone or how close it is or is not, but I got an MXR Super Badass Dynamic Overdrive a month or so ago and really like it.

All the reviews said it was inspired by the OCD as it has MOSFET clipping and the boost/cut switch and all that.

Never tried one but love it on looks alone \m/ MXR makes great stuff.

 

[Jarick]

Never tried one but love it on looks alone \m/ MXR makes great stuff.

I put together a full MXR board (well except for the tuner):

Polytune Mini
Fat Sugar
Super BA Dynamic OD
5150 Overdrive
Analog Chorus
Carbon Copy

The chorus is a real tone sucker so I have to find something else. Kills the high and low end in bypass, which is dumb because almost all MXR pedals are true bypass except this one.

 

[creative360]

Don Felder uses an OCD in to a Dumble-rebuilt tweed Deluxe and gets those zero suspend-disbelief vintage amp tones. This is one of those pedals where using it for its strength is key, meaning goosing an amp a bit further in to its sweet spot. Obviously anyone should use it for whatever he wants but that’s how it became legend, really just like Hotcake TS Klon Kot Tim etc ..

 

[Jarick]

Don Felder uses an OCD in to a Dumble-rebuilt tweed Deluxe and gets those zero suspend-disbelief vintage amp tones. This is one of those pedals where using it for its strength is key, meaning goosing an amp a bit further in to its sweet spot. Obviously anyone should use it for whatever he wants but that’s how it became legend, really just like Hotcake TS Klon Kot Tim etc ..

I had that revelation about 15 years ago...tried the OCD into my clean Fender amp but it didn't sound great. But into my friend's Marshall DSL50 set to crunch mode on the clean channel...we learned about the glory of boost pedals. That one along with the SD-1 and Zakk Wylde OD and others.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

modded (AKA correct circuit) Joyo Pedal is back. Sounds really good and behaves much more like I'd imagine it should.

comparing various tone settings to Helix's 1.2 here (seems to match a bit closer than AT5 but the behaviours are all quite similar), eyeballing settings:

 

[la szum]

I've bought and sold an OCD 3 or 4 times. Seems like I should like it, but I've just never jived for some reason

Same. I could never find an happy medium between the LP/HP toggle.

Too thick/bloated one way, and too thin/shrill the other.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Well I found an OCD for a fairly uninflated price so figured its worth a punt.

Got my Joyo Ultimate Drive side by side with it after correcting the clipping to the right orientation. My OCD is a V1.4, I believe the Joyo is a 1.3 with a buffered 1M Ohm input.

OCD has a more gradual onset of gain, and volume which I think Ill find more useful. The Joyo gets very gainy and loud very quick. Pretty sure they're capable of the same tones once you account for the level and drive differences. Build quality and feel of the original unit is definitely nicer than the budget Chinese build of the Joyo. Also nice to remove any doubt on what it SHOULD sound like. Will probably keep both for the time being but I wouldn't say one sounds better than the other.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

Well I found an OCD for a fairly uninflated price so figured its worth a punt.

Got my Joyo Ultimate Drive side by side with it after correcting the clipping to the right orientation. My OCD is a V1.4, I believe the Joyo is a 1.3 with a buffered 1M Ohm input.

OCD has a more gradual onset of gain, and volume which I think Ill find more useful. The Joyo gets very gainy and loud very quick. Pretty sure they're capable of the same tones once you account for the level and drive differences. Build quality and feel of the original unit is definitely nicer than the budget Chinese build of the Joyo. Also nice to remove any doubt on what it SHOULD sound like. Will probably keep both for the time being but I wouldn't say one sounds better than the other.

I found the ultimate drive I had for a while had considerably more bass than the v1.4 OCD I replaced it with. I think I had an early version of the ultimate drive because the circuit wasn't quite right for an OCD when I traced it.

 

[Stone]

IF its required for whatever tone i need, ill just use this
Might be the 1,4 v

COMPULSION DISTORTION HP (Fulltone OCD)

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I found the ultimate drive I had for a while had considerably more bass than the v1.4 OCD I replaced it with. I think I had an early version of the ultimate drive because the circuit wasn't quite right for an OCD when I traced it.

when I measured on plugin doctor, the bass sits a bit lower than the original one so maybe there’s a component that’s shifting things a bit lower. Only really reveals itself at certain settings though, I seem to be able to get the same tones out of them.

I like the taper on the original more though

 

[JiveTurkey]

I have had 2 Joyo Ultimate Drives. I liked the first one a lot. The second one feels cheaper, the housing (on both obviously) is ugly and it's noisy and noticably one dimensional af to my ears? My JRR is a LOT better in all regards.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

yeah that Joyo is 100% the worst looking thing I’ve ever seen and the pots are the cheapest of the cheap.

 

[JiveTurkey]

yeah that Joyo is 100% the worst looking thing I’ve ever seen and the pots are the cheapest of the cheap.

Have you tried the Weeping Demon wah? It's only saved by the all silver housing The first one didn't bother me I think because I liked the sound of it so much at the time. I don't if the second one I got was a dud or if I just have had some better drive pedals in rotation since then?

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Have you tried the Weeping Demon wah? It's only saved by the all silver housing The first one didn't bother me I think because I liked the sound of it so much at the time. I don't if the second one I got was a dud or if I just have had some better drive pedals in rotation since then?

I think thats my only Joyo pedal, I had a couple of others that I sold but I honestly can't even remember now without some detective work.

Still got a few Caline and Danelectro clones that I think are killer as well as a Big Knob














.....Big Muff clone thats pretty good (I paid like £20, didnt realise they cost a fair bit more new): https://bigknobpedals.com/product/green-russian/

 

[SillyOctpuss]

I have had 2 Joyo Ultimate Drives. I liked the first one a lot. The second one feels cheaper, the housing (on both obviously) is ugly and it's noisy and noticably one dimensional af to my ears? My JRR is a LOT better in all regards.

From posts on freestompboxes.org there appears to have been at least 2 versions of the ultimate drive. The first one contains an error in the circuit which was present in an old OCD schematic which was floating around the early DIY pedal sites, I think that's the one I had. They seem to have corrected this in the later version/versions.