DOD 250 - variants, clones, and new 50th anniversary RI

[del]

I'm a fan of the DOD 250 preamp/overdrive in all sorts of variants. It's one of the classic straightforward distortion pedals: good signal boost with a fuzzy-but-not-fizzy distorto sound at it's core. I've had many variants over the years and I use one all the time for both guitar and bass (currently its a clone with a tone switch that adds bass and a diode switch as described below).

There's a new 50th Anniversary model that includes one of the most common mods found in clones: a mini switch to change diodes between silicon (DOD 250), germanium (more like MXR Distortion+), and none (more like an MXR Micro Amp). That same switch was part of the left/green channel of the EQD Gray Channel pedal. It's a cool addition that makes it an even more versatile pedal.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... ry-edition
It's a bit pricey compared to the standard reissue and all the clones that are available, but it will prob move to sale status soon.

Just praising this humble little number as a classic worthy of some chit chat.

~del

[sal paradise]

That does look cool. I fell in love with the DOD250 via the JHS overdrive preamp. Sold it & regretted it. Bought an old MXR Distortion+ that was nice, but didn’t quite have the same richness. After scouring eBay for a DOD reissue I ended up grabbing an analogman modded version; the mojo mod so built to exact spec as a 70s model, bs diodes and all. It sounds great but so damn heavy. Was not expecting it to be quite such a chunky metal box as they look like an MXR case in photos.

[Firecat]

I've had an Earthquaker Devices White Light, which I think is based on the DOD 250, for almost 12 years now. Probably one of the pedals I've been using the longest. I use it for heavy-but-not-super-heavy guitar parts and also to record fuzzy bass sometimes. Great pedal!

[Jaguar018]

Ugh! That looks really cool. I hate how much that sort of thing tempts me. I find that I like just about ALL of the 'major' recognized overdrive pedal flavors which I put into a few buckets:

TubeScreamer
DOD 250
Klon

I have not delved into the lore enough to say with any authority how MXR did this or the Timmy did that. At this point there are a zillion clones that are just as good as the originals, and all these different paths one can take. I think all of them generally sound pretty close to one another, but on any given say a certain pedal in a certain setting will have that extra bit of zip that makes it sound really good in the mix or whatever. That's why I want to get a bunch of them, even though I don't play live anymore.

[Dr Tony Balls]

Any builder worth their salt has built plenty of variations on this theme in their time. Two notable ones from me:

KWB Distorter was built as a charity run for the the Electrical Audio forums (the PRF). A user there had perfected his favorite mods to the DOD/MXR circuit but couldnt build anymore, so we partnered up and this came out. One half of the clipping diode pair is selected via the rotary switch on the side, and the other half is a germanium diode in series with a pot to control the amount of clipping. Basically it gives you the option for stock, symmetrical germanium clipping, and then every combination of less and/or asymmetrical clipping down from that. Cool circuit, made ~40 of them with a bunch of money going to charity. The cobra is for PRF-specific projects.




Many years ago I was asked to collaborate on a project building an amp and a pedal for art purposes. Basically the designers would come up with aesthetic fundamentals, the amp and pedal would be be built accordingly and paired with a guitar, and the thing would show as a functional work of art in a gallery and eventually be sold for one zillion dollars. I built the guts of the amp and the whole of the pedal and my buddy's shop built the cabinet for the amp. It was kind up to me what to do for the distortion pedal but it seemed going perfectly classic was the way to be, so I went with the MXR version of this circuit. I dont have good pics of the pedal, but here's everything at the gallery show:

[Stereordinary]

I’ve always loved the 250 and D+ circuits and owned a few over the years. A little bit of it has been chasing this one sound from this one clone that I never was able to identify again. Regretfully I’ve had to sell all of them. But a while back I went and saw the band Kowloon Walled City and picked up one of their KWB+ pedals from the merch booth. I love it so far, I just need to improve my pedal powering situation so I can use it more often.

[Dr Tony Balls]

I’ve always loved the 250 and D+ circuits and owned a few over the years. A little bit of it has been chasing this one sound from this one clone that I never was able to identify again. Regretfully I’ve had to sell all of them. But a while back I went and saw the band Kowloon Walled City and picked up one of their KWB+ pedals from the merch booth. I love it so far, I just need to improve my pedal powering situation so I can use it more often.

The "KWB" in the pedal I posted is no coincidence. The same guy I collaborated with is the one who made their pedals.

[hulakatt]

I love the 250 and have owned almost every generation except the OG grey. Aesthetically, my favorite has been the Love Driver but I always reach for the early 80's yellow box ones. If I'm honest, almost every generation sounds close enough to be within tolerance of each other that you wouldn't know in a blind test.

[JSett]

KWB Distorter was built as a charity run for the the Electrical Audio forums (the PRF).

I remember this one! The old PRF was a pretty decent spot, and such a great source of knowledge. Shame it went pear-shaped in the end.

[del]

I love the 250 and have owned almost every generation except the OG grey. Aesthetically, my favorite has been the Love Driver but I always reach for the early 80's yellow box ones. If I'm honest, almost every generation sounds close enough to be within tolerance of each other that you wouldn't know in a blind test.

I think this is pretty true. I have a YJM 308 (the Yngwie signature version from the 90s) that is notably brighter at high gain settings, but almost all other production models are difficult for me to distinguish - and they’re all FANTASTIC!

Clipping and tone mods, then, add good icing to this delicious cake!

Also, this thread has lead me to do a lot of comparison in recent days and I maintain a long standing preference:

DOD 250 > Distortion+

[Dr Tony Balls]

The old PRF was a pretty decent spot, and such a great source of knowledge. Shame it went pear-shaped in the end.

A shame, yes, but the new version that emerged is just as good, imo. I wish it still had the backlog of old posts from the old one, but whatcha gonna do.

[BTL]

[...] A user there had perfected his favorite mods to the DOD/MXR circuit but couldnt build anymore, so we partnered up and this came out. [...]

I can see why, with this kind of collaboration and commitment to community, you hold a grudge against Josh Scott. I have a friend on another forum who dabbles in pedals and amps, and he feels exactly the same way about JHS. I get it.

[hulakatt]

I think this is pretty true. I have a YJM 308 (the Yngwie signature version from the 90s) that is notably brighter at high gain settings, but almost all other production models are difficult for me to distinguish - and they’re all FANTASTIC!

The YJM308 is the only version besides the OG Grey box that I never owned. Always kinda wanted one, just because.

DOD 250 > Distortion+

Also yes.

I owned a vintage D+ years ago and loved it. Found the 250 a few years after that and really enjoyed the hell out of it and I had long known of their shared topology so I hunted down another D+ to see how much of my original love held true and... it didn't. It just didn't hold up after reveling in the 250, it was too soft and boring. I did find a love for the Micro Amp out of that though.

[del]

DOD 250 > Distortion+

Also yes.

I owned a vintage D+ years ago and loved it. Found the 250 a few years after that and really enjoyed the hell out of it and I had long known of their shared topology so I hunted down another D+ to see how much of my original love held true and... it didn't. It just didn't hold up after reveling in the 250, it was too soft and boring. I did find a love for the Micro Amp out of that though.

I think your use of the word "soft" is on the money when describing the D+. That's a nice sound and it's good for lots of music, though my playing isn't good enough or of the right style to take advantage of it.

I lean a little more into ragged-ness - even in mellow/quiet/gazey music - and the 250 gives me that in smaller or larger quantities.

[elektrovac]

This is the Reuss take on the classic Dist+/DOD 250 circuit.

Text from the website:
At the heart of the Old Black Shoe sits a ‘holy grail’ metal can LM308H opamp IC, which is legendary for its wonderful sound and distortion texture in early 1980s RAT pedals.

Other features of the Old Black Shoe are an extremely flexible clipping arrangement that can be preset to silicon, germanium and MOSFET clipping - and combinations of these, including no clipping (boost) - and a subtle and tasteful tone control (only rolling off the most harsh highs and never muffling your signal completely). Inside the pedal there's a 'FAT' switch which lowers the frequency response one octave down, compared to the original Dist+ circuit.

The revised 2021 edition adds a recovery gain stage to the circuit, which makes the pedal very loud. This is great in the pure germanium clipping setting (vintage Dist+ clipping), which otherwise has a weak output by design. We also added an output buffer to ensure a uniform high quality output signal from the pedal. In the original MXR circuit, the output impedance would change with different volume settings. In the revised Old Black Shoe it is completely uniform, so you are always passing on a healthy signal to the next pedal in your chain (still, the bypass sound is unbuffered, mechanical true bypass).