The PastFX OG-1 Super/OverDrive completes a long held ambition of mine!

Mar 12, 202608:00 by

Stefan Karlsson

BoostBoost and OverdrivePastFXTubescreamer Style Overdrive+-

The Boss OD-1 OverDrive pedal is widely considered to be the first of its kind. It had asymmetrical amp-like clipping, and just 2 controls - Level and OverDrive, and the very original version had a rare JRC3403 14-Leg opamp chip onboard. Many have rationalised that the Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer became more popular because of its softer clipping, while I’m of a mind that the reason the Tube Screamer outsold the OD-1 at that time was significantly because of its 3rd tone control.

I’ve always wanted a modified original 14-Leg / 14-Pin chip long-dash OD-1 - but with an additional Tone control. I had originally thought I would pick up one of the very original long-dash ones and get one of my friends to add a tone-stack to it. While most of those second-hand pedals I encountered in the wild were somewhat over-priced and always too battered for my liking. I typically go for very good quality condition at the very least - normally Excellent or Near Mint. And all those pedals I was coming across were always way over-priced. If a decent condition unit materialised - the price was ever in the realms of the ridiculous. And so I quickly came to realise that particular route just wasn’t practically viable for me or my Scandinavian sensibilities.

I soon pivoted to smart clones / takes and enhancements on that circuit. And on that journey I have acquired the Pettyjohn ODI, the Drunk Beaver PD#19 Khelnytskyi OD (with 14-Leg Motorola MC3403 chip onboard), then the iStingor Super OverDrive (which turned out to be something of a red herring), and now finally I have the perfect actual original chip version of the OD-1 with this superb PastFX OG-1.

The twist in the tale is that I actually prefer the Super OverDrive voicing on the OG-1 - which uses the JRC4558D chip! I still really like the OD-1 voicing - while the Drunk Beaver Khelnytskyi OD kind of got there sooner with an equivalent vintage chip - both those OD-1 variants are superb. While the OG-1 has the edge in shapeability and versatility.

The SD-1 voicing is bolder, significantly louder and slightly more vibrant. The OD-1 sounds spot on, while I seemingly like the SD-1 voicing just a little bit more!

Controls - Level, Mode : OD / SD, Gain, Presence : Stock / Additional High Frequencies, Tone, Clipping : Asymmetrical / Symmetrical, Bass : Bass Boost / Stock / Bass Cut.

Internal Trimmer for LED Brightness / Intensity.

Power - 9V DC [-] 80mA

This OG-1 really has the perfect complement of controls onboard - with additional Presence, Clipping and 3-Way Bass Controls.

I generally wholly prefer the pedal in Asymmetrical clipping mode, and with Presence and Bass in neutral positions.

Both PastFX's Verlie and Drunk Beaver's Vitalii are geniuses in evolving and improving classic circuits - using those same rare vintage components and adding super handy features to make those pedals even more versatile and shapeable! All 3 of my Boss OD-1 circuit takes are superb. The iStingor one is decent too - but that houses quite a different and distinct MOSFET circuit - versus the OpAmps of the genuine Boss ones and variants.

I am delighted to own all those variants - and super happy to finally have a proper actual JRC3403 edition. This has been many years in the making!

This is an every-way excellent take which beautifully covers both Boss OD-1 and SD-1 circuits in the one single compact enclosure - with a few more shaping options onboard.

As I mentioned in my original overview, there will be some going up for sale on the All Things Strings! Reverb.com store eventually, pricing TBC.

As the JRC3403 chip is almost wholly obsolete now there won't be more than a handful made. I don't know whether those have all been spoken for yet - but it's probably worth reaching out to Zach at All Things Strings!

I've had 3 major missions on the go since I came back to guitar in late summer of 2016 - I finally snagged a Spaceman Gemini III last year (Blue Edition) then this JRC3403 OD-1 take around a week or so ago. So the only major mission remaining as such is the hunt for a Blakemore Effects Deus Ex Machina OpAmp Fuzz! Of course there are several minor missions on the go too - all too many to mention!

You can read up more about the OG-1 on the PastFX Website.