DOD 250 Vintage Distortion

Just like everyone says, two knobs, not so difficult. Mine's a 2nd generation board, with the LF351 op-amp, but appears to be in a formerly grey box. I got this off Ebay a few years ago, someone had painted it with pink and purple stripes, totally 80's. Bottom panel is still painted grey though. Date code on sticker inside is July 1982. That opamp was used in the first yellow ones, but maybe this was a leftover grey case or somthing. Who knows...

Perfect for it's intended use, I just use it to push the amp a little.

Your amp will make a huge difference in what you get out of this box. The thing is not a distortion sound generator, but just gives a bit of a push to the input, making good amps sing.

It's funny, I used a grey version with a 50W Marshall JCM800 vertical input top (was my first new amp) back in the very early 80's. I knew the combination sounded great, but eventually got rid of it for something else. Ooops, who knew the little grey box would end up so expensive! Back then it was just equipment, all new, no big deal.

I read an interview with BigEgo Malmsteen a few years back, where he described his rig, which was very much like mine, just with more amps. It was good tone.

Amps I use it with now are my own builds, an 18W Marshall-type, and a 50W Plexi type thing. Sometimes through a Matchless clone I built, but it doesn't like that one as much as the Marshall circuits.

Bulletproof.

No clue, I've never called DOD, though I have an EQ pedal from the 90's, and had to replace the switch. Not something to call the factory over, though.

These are great, though the reissues are really harsh to my ears. If you can't find a reasonably-priced vintage one, get an Analogman-modded reissue, or mod it yourself, if you're so inclined.

My favorite overdrive, over nearly 30 years of playing.

Two knobs, clearly marked. If you can't figure out how to use this pedal, you should be selling pencils at the airport.

I'm using this as an overdrive for bass. I've searched high and low for a decent sounding bass overdrive. I bought the DOD 250 after it was recomended to me by several other bass players. My search is now over. This pedal gives me the mild clipping that I've been looking for. Other pedals add WAY too much fuzz/distortion and give the bass a buzzsaw quality. The DOD 250 gives a nice 60's/70's overdriven bass amp sound. Other reviews have said that this pedal is noisy--they must have defective pedals--this thing is dead silent, even when cranked.

It's built to withstand quite a bit of abuse. I've had no problems with it so far. I wouldn't bring a backup--if it died on a gig, I'd survive. It's not a critical part of my "sound".

Forget it. Don't waste your time with DOD. I've never dealt with them regarding the 250, but I have with other products. Learn to do repairs yourself or take it to a local repair shop.

I play Rock, Blues, and Jazz. I've been playing since about 1979-80. I use to use an original MXR distortion back then, but wasn't happy with the way bass sounded with it. Thus began my search for an acceptable bass overdrive. If is was stolen I'd definately buy another one. The only thing that I wish it had was an LED light to indicate when it's on--no big deal, but it woud've been a nice addition. Bottom Line: If you're a bass player who's on a quest for the "Holy Grail" of overdrives, give the DOD 250 a try. It might be the one you're looking for. Of course, there's also the possibility that you might hate it, but you'll never know unless you try.

Is very easy to use.

Now im using it with a Fender Amercian Strat Plus with Lace Sensors.
Even a lot of the reviewers said was noisy, i don't found this to be a problem. I own a Original one, i traded it for a very bad acoustic guitar, i'm glad i did.

The sounds you can find in this Lbox are quite colourful.

I have two problems though. One is the screws for the battery change. I resolve it leaving only two of them (at opposite corners) so when the time for battery change comes i just unscrew one a little and remove the other. PRoblem number two: The batterys run out so fast that is almost imposible to use one for two gigs.

So that makes it not so reliable for gigs. At least for me.

like my friend in peru said. Ha ha ha ha ha!!
Im in Ecuador, i have difficult finding strings here!!!!

a good back up , but not a main.

You have to work a lot to get the perfect sound. Your tone depends in the level.

You can get a lot of tones from this little box but it requires time. This is one of the greatest overdrives that I have heard. You can get a very fat sound like SRV. You can get that Clapton old sound in Cream. And you can get a very dirty overdrive. This is the oldest pedal in my chain and is the one I love more.
Now I have my own sound!

I play a strat with single coils ?) Boss Hyper fuzz--) Morley Wah --) DOD Envelope Filter --) DOD Overdrive 250 --) DOD Delay sampler --) Boss Flanger --) Ibanez Equalizer --) Marshall JTM 60

You can throw it to someone?s head and I?m sure that you can kill him.

Here in Peru? HA, HA, HA

I play alternative rock. It is my main pedal. AND PLEASE TEST YOUR EFFECTS WITH TRUE AMPLIFIERS NOT WITH THAT STATE 30-WATTS CRAP.
DID I MENCION THAT I'LL KILL IF SOMEONE STEAL ME THIS LITTLE BOX.

all been said before, very easy, just 2 knobs and your ears

I liked this box alot when I first got it and liked it for that hard to find barely there breakup and thickened clean sound, but still thought the fuzz a little rough. So here goes, anyone with any skill and a small soldering pencil can mod this into a GREAT sounding just breaking OD. Inside is a simple circuit and there are 2 clipping diodes, one going one way and one going the other way. Just soften the solder on one of the diodes and replace it with two. Twist 2 together(both going the same direction) then , making sure to put them in opposite of the other, resoften the solder and insert the free ends, one at a time. REALLY SMOOTH LIGHT DISTORTION THAT I HAVEN'T FOUND ANYWHERE ELSE. And I think this unit retains the natural tone of your guitar, which is good.

I have been buying the new little danos lately, because they sound good and they're cheap but now I'm starting to have problems with there footswitches. THIS DOD HAS A NICE HEALTHY POINT TO POINT WIRED BYPASS

TRY THE MOD

This device is fairly difficult to get the "perfect" sound out of it. I have 2 of the reissues. Yellow casing, 2 knobs, Gain and Level. It requires some real listening tests to get it to perform in your prefered setup. I have noticed that at low gain setttings the drive lacks treble, and at several specific, sensitive spots, it is full across the freq. bandwidth. Esp. at higher gain settings. You just have to set it up according to your gear.

I have bought and sold a multitude of gear over the past few years. Many stompboxes, digital multieffects, and lots of studio rack effects. I have recently sold all this gear on online auctions, and have been searching for the perfect pedal board setup. I have a Warmoth Strat with Fender CS '54s and a Duncan Little '59 in the bridge. This is my main axe. I use a 70s Fender Bassman 50 amp with a 2x12" closed back cab. I bought one of the Dod's for $30 from GC, just to try it out, and was surprised. I opened it up and found it is a very basic soft-clipping type of overdrive. Very simple, very nice sounding. I was looking for a slightly higher gain pedal than my Tubeworks Bluetube Enhancer. This fit the bill perfectly. I had a Boss DS-1 distortion but that was a little over the top sounding to me, and a bit grainy. This pedal (DOD 250) has a balanced bass and midrange response, but the treble is a bit lacking. For this reason, it is really good for power chord riffing, ala AC/DC, for that powerful 3 chord kind of music. My Warmoth Strat is not poly-coated, just stained, sealed, and waxed, so this may be why the treble was lacking. I just swapped the tone cap from a .022 uF to a .010 uF polyester cap, to get a bit more treble with the tone knob wide open, and this results in a more gradual treble reduction when lowering the tone knob. This will help with "darker," warmer sounding strat (250K pots) guitars with little treble response.

I have the first 250 setup for mild clipping and the second for more distortion. These two pedals, combined with the Bluetube, make a very versatile setup. It won't do the "metallic" distortion like a DS-1 or a Metal Zone, but it will capture Aerosmith, AC/DC, & Led Zepplin sounds. With the strat selector switch in the mid/bridge parallel position, it will do the Jeff Beck "Spririt in the Sky" broken speaker fuzz lead tone with both pedals dialed in. Well, at least in my axe. I really enjoy the sounds from this pedal. It is a very good sounding overdrive pedal. The first 250 with the milder settings sounds best with single coils- more gain will make it "farty" on the lower midrange. The Seymour Duncan Little '59 'bucker sounds great with any gain setting. Try a Radio Shack part number 272-1065 (.01uF polyester cap-100V) on your 250K pot strat if it sounds dark. Avoid ceramic caps, they aren't good for audio applications. Just my .02 cents.

It is housed in a thick metal casing and the internal electronics are very basic. And yes, it has a "true" bypass. Meaning it will pass the guitar signal if there is no power. So it doesn't suck tone. A very simple layed-out pedal, and a good one. It can be relied on.

Dod isn't too good with responding to emails. I wish they would be a bit more businesslike.

I have been playing for 13 years. I started with metal, and now I play a wider-range of music styles. From Portishead mellow to AC/DC rock. It doesn't need a tone knob if your guitar is setup right. It won't do the heavier metal genres, or the heavy palmed muted stuff like I used to play back in the late 80s-early 90s. It is an overdrive device, made to sound like a clipping tube amp. It's tonal response is lower than the Ibanez Tubescreamer, but it can do leads just fine. Try it out, it is worth it. I use two for all my overdrive needs. A great little yellow box.

Very easy, 2 knobs, Level & Gain -takes only 30 minutes to calibrate to it's best sound.

I use a US Strat with YJM, HS-3, HS-3 and I'm looking for the sound of Yngwie Malmsteen (he uses it too) and I think it's gotten me closer to his sound. It adds distortion, but unlike Boss overdrive models, it's a clear/clean overdrive which makes every tone easy to hear. -however it's rather noisy

Had no problem with it!

If you're into melodic rock musik & Yngwie Malmsteen you can't go wrong with this one. I use it with my Yngwie-like strat and my Les Paul fitted with Seymour Duncan 59. It just sounds great for both rythm and soloing. BUY IT ! -but be aware of the noise. It's almost a must to have some sort of noise reduction when you're using it!

Very easy to use once you decide what you want it to do. Has Gain and Level knobs, old style metal switch, no LED. Mine is the reissue. I paid like $50 or something. HERE'S THE THING...For another $20 you can mod this pedal for true bypass AND a status LED in about a half hour.
Read on.

I use primarily an ESP Hybrid II with a Duncan tele neck p/u and the stock ESP bridge humbucker into the 250...Budda Wah...Maxon Phase tone...Fulldrive II...Blues Pearl Texas Tornado 20 watt amp.
The distortion quality with gain past about 11:00 is kind of raspy for me. I bought the Fulldrive to replace the 250 but hooked them both up at a rehearsal and got me an education. The 250 smokes the Fulldrive in compressed mode. I set the level all the way up and the gain at 10-11:00 and it provides a COMPLETELY TRANSPARENT boost that overdrives the amp beautifully and makes all the effects after it sound fuller and more alive. BTW the Fulldrive does the same thing in uncompressed mode but I prefer the compressed sound for high-gain leads. I would certainly use the 250 alone when I have the amp cranked
as it can push a good tube amp right into fat city with no problems.

I bought this pedal specifically because I wanted a pedal I could mod for true bypass. It had a sturdy metal footswitch which was NOT attached to a PCB inside. I put a Fulltone 3PDT switch in and followed instructions I found at Analog-Man website for true bypass and it was pretty simple. The third pole on the switch operates the LED(instructions also at analogman).
The box is as sturdy as you can get and the pots have a good feel. Backup? We don't need no stinkin' backup!

I have never dealt with them and don't plan to. Be aware that modding your pedal as I did will likely void the warranty.

I play original rock, pop and blues as well as some modern rock and covers in a band of geezers like myself. This pedal is well suited for all if this, especially blues THE WAY I USE IT. It also works well with my neck p/u for the jazzier stuff I do.
Funny, after I bought the Fulldrive I figured to just retire this pedal or keep for a spare, but it may just end up being the only pedal I keep on all the time.

2 knobs: gain & level. Figger it out.

My setup: Gibson SG or Am. Std Tele - Crybaby Wah - DOD250 - Ampeg Reverberocket 1x12. Simple. This particular box is an original, probably about 25 years old. It has been through a few wars, but it works great. This is probably the raunchiest, dirtiest overdrive I have played, and that is why I bought it. It *is* a bit noisy if you crank a knob or two, but all distortion boxes are like that. If you are looking for a smooth overdrive or fuzz, you are looking in the wrong place. I use this box for light overdrive, and it sounds great. When I want high gain, I use my amp's overdrive channel. Using the 250 with my sg, I get sounds much like Santana on Abraxas. I'm not sure if it has true bypass or not. It is a little trebly when the gain is cranked, but thats not how I use it. The rating would be higher if the unit was less noisy.

Very dependable. The thing is built like a tank, and the switch has been stomped on for the last 25 years. Great construction. I play my small bar gigs without a backup, but they are fairly cheap so buying a couple wouldnt be too much of a problem.

Never dealt with them, and with this unit I wont have to.

I mostly play classic rock and blues - Zeppelin, Santana, etc. I have been playing for about 2 years, and I would definitely buy another one of these if it were lost or stolen. I have owned other inexpensive distortion/overdrive boxes - Boss DS-1, Danelectro Daddy-0. The 250 is comparable to the DS-1 in sound, but much better in my opinion. This is a *very* good light-overdrive box, and is built like a tank.

Two knobs, if you can't figure this out something's wrong with you. The best sounding boxes are the most simple.

I played this in the store through a strat copy with a S-S-H pickup combination. I plugged it straight into the amp, maxed out the OD, and put on the 'bucker. Bam, there was AC-DC. Good 'ol smooth overdriven distortion. The amp was a cheap little crate, and it sounded great. I can only imagine what it'll sound like through my hot rod deluxe and strat. It's no more noisy than any OD box you have. And for anyone looking for metal, look at the fuzz boxes. This aint it. This is for guitarists who like a good sound and don't have to hide behind tons of distortion. This 'lil box can hang with my original tube screamer.

It's solid, damn solid. I'm going to buy it, and use it for variety against my tube screamer and amp distortion. It's made to be used. I am buying it soon, the thing is hella cheap too, like $50, the best value on the market to me. But, I haven't been able to test reliability yet.

Never dealt with them.

I play in a southern rock/country band. I love metal, and blues, and hard rock, and pretty much everything, country just pays bills. I love rock and blues, and this is perfect for it. As for pedals, as I said, this can hang with a TS-9. 'Nuff said. I'm going to buy it, but if it were stolen, it's cheap enough to buy again easy. It sounds great, and that's all that matters. I just wish it had a little more drive, but this bad boy of a 'lil box will make you fall in love with it. It's worth the money.