Guyatone OD-2

Two knobs, one switch, come on......

Wow. I should start by saying I don't like a lot of effects in my rig. I play classic rock and blues. I have a Peavey Classic 50 and play a bunch of guitars. Historically I've been very happy with the lead channel on the Peavey and used it for all of my distortion. I bought this pedal as a gift for my brother who has a one channel amp. It was cheap and had good reviews. Of course I had top play with it before I gave it to him and ended up buying one for myself. The heavy distortion on the Peavey is really nice but the crunch sounds are muddy and dark. This pedal is a perfect "third" channel for my rig. All of the tones are really nice and bright without being shrill. Very nice slight mid boost. I think it sounds best with single coils. I have a Hohner Tele model that Prince played through the 80's and it just sounds awesome through this pedal. It's very responsive to guitar volume settings and dynamics and is bright enough to give chords great definition without getting lost in a live mix. The Duncan Humbuckers on my Heritage 535 sound nice but not as good as the Tele. Lastly I have a Carvin neck through with a s/s/h which also sounds great through this thing. I have to admit I didn't compare it to other pedals but for crunch sounds it sounds like I've lifted a big wet towel off of my Peavey. The band was quick to notice how much better my rythm playing was cutting through.

Who knows really? You get what you pay for. The plastic jacks make me a little nervous. I fear walking on it on stage and breaking them.

Just buy one. I really doubt that anyone would be disapointed. I was totally surprised by the outstading tone of this silly little box. For 60 bucks you can't afford to not try it. I'm in love with mine and have been using it constantly. It delivers tight punchy Over Drive without getting muddy and sounds good on all of my guitars. Buying this pedal has vastly improved the tonal flexibility of my Rig. The Peavy takes care of clean sounds and hevy distortion for singing sustain while the OD2 takes care of everything in between. I love great gear that doesn't cost an arm and a leg (just look at my guitars) and this box is exactly that.

As there are only two knobs (level and drive) it couldn't be easier.

This is one of the few overdrive that I feel really is an overdrive as opposed to a distortion. I use this to drive a Jap Strat thru a Silverface Fender Pro Reverb (1969), basically in ablues rock setting. The drive knob really allows for changing the amount of crunch and it has a totally natural sound through my amp. The best thing about it is that it doesn't add a shrill hi-end to my tone. I find most overpriced and collectable overdrives do just that (TS9). Even if they have a tone knob, turning it down just makes the pedal sound muddy. This brings my guitar out front without making it harsh or gritty.

I have had no problem with this pedal, but there are some traditionally weak points here:the jacks, knobs, and battery cover "o-ring" thing could be more road worthy. On the other hand I have had this pedal for years and haven't had a problem.

No problem...no contact.

This pedal sounds awesome. It has bite, but no harshness. I find it a big inspiration to my playing. I've tried Ibanez, Boss, those crappy EH pedals, everything. I was shocked that this was the pedal that finally delivered. I was relatively cheap, so I suppose if I have a problem with it breaking (and I haven't...knock on wood), I would buy a new one. Multiple years use, problem free and perfect tone for $60...I can't complain about that!

Very simple. Level and Drive, pretty self-explanatory.

I am very impressed with this unit. I have been a Tube Screamer fanatic for many years now and I bought this to see what it was all about. I am submitting this review for Tube Screamer users who are wondering about the OD-2. I generally use overdrive units like this to push a Fender tube amp. I found that I could saturate the tubes with the OD-2 with less level than it took with a Tube Screamer. The sound is very similar to the TS808, but there are differences. The OD-2 has a little more bass response and is better defined. The TS808 is smoother. I like the TS808 on higher notes, but I like the OD-2 better for playing crunchy overdrive rythmes. I think I read a review of the OD-2 that said it is very similar to the Tube Screamer, just a different flavor. I couldn't agree more. I also found that the OD-2 is better in a band mix. The OD-2 is a little "clearer" than the TS808 and it stands out out more when mixed in a live situation. Switching is very quite and the unit is not noisy (relatively speaking for an overdrive). I'm certainly not getting rid of the TS808, but the OD-2 is a keeper. Both are great effects and I think it comes down to user preference.

Haven't had it long enough to comment. Not crazy about the rubber "o-ring" that keeps the back-plate on.

No experience with customer support.

Ease of use and sound quality are definately 10 (IMO). No experience with other categories. Don't like the rubber o-ring on back-plate so I'll give this 9 overall.

Very simple and easy to use. Only two control knobs for volume and gain. Can't really be any easier than this. The manual describes the knob functions, but I think most people get it without any help.

My setup is constantly changing. I play a strat, asat classic, robin avalon, gibson 135, hamer special with p-90's all through a fulldrive2, od-2, voodoolab tremolo, digiverb, digital delay through a Fender bassman blackfaced combo with 4-10's.

With the single coils, it gives you more tonal variation than with the humbuckers, although the humbs don't sound bad. I feel there is a little too much gain from the get go. It advertises "almost clean", so I am not complaining, however, if you are not using single coil pickups, you can expect a high degree of crunch even at it's lowest drive setting, which may or may not be useful to you.

I will say, for a pedal that is realatively inexpensive, it sounds pretty darn good. If you want that Stevie Ray type sound, this will handle a large portion of it. I'm not completely sold on no tone control, as everyone's amp is different and will react differently with different effects. If I left the eq on my amp flat or everything at 5, I find the pedal to sound a little dark or muddy, but not to where you can't play chords or use the neck humbucker. I think a tone control would really benefit this little guy a lot and also a tad more variation for the crunch and this would be a steal (but, then again, the price probably wouldn't be so inexpensive either) As far as bypass, I haven't noticed any real problems with my tone changing when the pedal is not in use.

I hear all kinds of things from great to bad, but Godlyke seems to distribute quality products. It's held up fine for me, and I welcome the light switch that doesn't take the force of 20 to turn the effect on. Keeping more body weight off the pedal = longer life (I could be wrong)but it makes sense to me.

Godlyke distributes great products. Companies like that get where they are from taking care of the customer. No complaints here. Also, with a warranty card inside, I can feel at ease.

For some people, this pedal will be all you need. For others, it may be limiting as to what it can do. I feel for the price to sound ratio, this is a great pedal. There are other better sounding pedals, but when it gets down to price, it's hard to say if another pedal is $150.00 better. I would think to most human ears, it would not be. This pedal can be used before and after other overdrive and distortion pedals giving you a wide array of sounds. I've fixed the muddy sound by placing after my fulldrive2. There the fulldrive pushes its clean, non-compressed boost through the guyatone's sort of compressed, mid-ranged bark. There you get smoother, louder and cleaner overdrive without having to constantly change the settings on your amp.

If you are on a budget and want a great overdrive, you may want to go to the store and try one of these. I think you will be pleasantly surprised with what you hear. More clean headroom and manual tone shaping would really help this pedal, but as I said, that would make it more expensive.

Totally simple. 2 controls. I don't miss a tone control at all.

Pretty close to a classic Boss (late '70s) OverDrive. I use this for punk/rock'n'roll, a warm, driving, dirty but melodic sound (Gibson SG, Melody Maker, or Tele into a Mesa Boogie combo), and it's almost perfect. It's 90% as good as my Fulltone overdrive (the ultimate) and fits in a gig bag a lot easier.

Doesn't seem all that solid, I stepped on it once at a gig and broke a knob?but it's still going two years later. The rubber-ring thing is a big pain in the ass, you wouldn't want to be changing batteries five minutes before you go on.

The first one I bought was defective, the plastic jacks were messed up, and they sent me a new one.

For what I play?basically punk rock'n'roll with bits of blues, reggae, and psychedelia?it's great. I don't like overkill distortion, you get dirt and drive as much from the intensity of your playing as from a box, and this is fine. I use the Fulldrive for recording and some gigs, but this is the one I take to practice. I'd definitely replace it.

Good Sound- Easy! It's pretty basic.

G&L Legacy with Lindy Fralin P-ups, also Tele Custom 72 reissue, sometimes an Epi Sheraton II, into an ampeg Reverberocket RI )with Celestion Vintage 30 speaker replacement). Chain is Boss Tuner-TS808-modded SD1-OD2-Guyatone MC2-Boss DD3-Dano Tunamelt tremelo-Dano Mini Delay-Ampeg Amp clean channel. the whole thing is not noisy. The OD2 is pretty fat and there's no way to change that, but it's a good fat. I keep the OD2 on a lot with the gain at 9-12. If I want to get a lot more overdriven I kick on the SD-1 and that sends the tone right over the top. My brother uses the OD2 and loves it.

I keep it in the pedalboard. I have the SD-1 next to it as a backup. I've had my other Guyatone mini pedal for 2 years and have never had a problem so I don't foresee any problemsn with the OD2. It's sort of small. The rubber gasket on the bottom might crack.

The rubber gasket on the bottom might crack, like I said. That happened to my bother and he contacted Godlyke and they sent him one right away no charge and offered him an endorsement deal.

It's great, warm overdrive sounds , not too crunchy. Fits my sound. Been playing 35 years, Play banjo and and steel guitar as well as various guitars. I used this to replace my Boss Blues Driver, which though cleaner when you brought down the gain, was a little harsh. I would buy it again.

drive and volume, couldn't be easier.

i wanted a warm pedal for classic rock type sounds. this is not a metal/high gain box. with my hamer 25th anniversary semi hollowbody run thru the OD2 into a reverend hellhound 60w tube combo the tone is better than several other overdrives (i compared it side to side with a tube works tube driver, and a boss sd1). believe me, w/ my guitar and amp ALL three pedals sounded good, but the OD2 sounded more transparent. i had to tweak the others tone controls, and still they sounded a bit unnatural. the OD2 doesn't have a tone control, its that transparent IMO. i have a maxon 808 on back order, but for the price difference it better just SLAY this lil orange wonder, which i doubt. according to the literature, the OD2 was moddled after the original TS808. i actually owned an 808 in jr high (before they were worth $300!!), the OD2 reminds me of that tone.

the rubber gasket might wear out if you change batteries, but i use a powered pedalboard.

dunno.

this is what i wanted. i still am going to try it side by side against a maxon 808 and maybe a fulltone fulldrive2 if i can get my hands on one, but the high price tags on these 2 compared to the $69 new OD2 would make it doubtfull that they can out perform in the bang for buck ratio.

A great little pedal!! Very simple to use but at the same time quite versatile: less is more! And a very nice color, too (orange)!!

Just plug in and you'll get good, realistic, "organic" and natural tones. It's not noisy, very versatile (from a clean boost for driving a valve amp to pretty good distorion over a clean channel; reminds me of guitar tones of Spin Doctors and mellow Soundgarden tunes). I'm using it with a Strat (Seymour Duncan pickups), various stompboxes (small stone, ch-1 chorus, octaver..) into a Mesa formula preamp with Marshall 20-20 power amp into a 2x12 H&K cabinet. The mid-bass boost might be a problem or a good thing: depends on what you're using it for. Not very good on a pure, uncolored and undistorted volume boost, it will darken your sound a bit anyway, BUT THAT MIGHT NOT BE A PROBLEM. Much better so than a trebly and inconsistent boost. In one word: your playing feels always very natural with it!

It seems very well built; especially the footswitch is really high quality: better than a Boss and much cheaper!!

I play rock, alternative rock, funk and i like blues. I always find a way to use my Guyatone overdrive which suits the songs fine; especially live, an overdrive is probabily one of the most helpful pedals to carry and this little orange thing does all i need. I prefer this simple design, without a tone control. Maybe i'd like it to be less mid-bass ranged, but still it sounds very good in many settings: GO BUY IT, it's a bargain!!

Very easy to comprehend. Two knobs, a switch, an
LED, and everything clearly marked (tho the contrast
between the text and background colors could be better.)
Doesn't take much tweaking to decide whether or not
you're going to like it... Docking it a point for having
a bit less floor-stickability than many pedals, because
it does not have a full rubber tread on the bottom.

I play a J. Vaughn Strat, a '77 and a '79 Strat, and
a Godin SD, thru a Fender Concert, a Princeton, a
Hot Rod DeVille, or a Carvin Vintage 16. Of these, only
the Godin has a humbucker.
I don't generally care for fuzzes, and was looking for
a transparent boost with just a hint of distortion. I
will not use a box with a tone control (they generally
aren't voiced very well, and make things sound either
too thin or lifeless) so the Guyatone's stated design
philosophy sounded right to me.
I haven't found it to be very transparent at all, though.
There's a definite (and highly unnatural) low-mid bump
which I don't like. It does help the Vaughn Strat, which
is very thin-sounding, and it sounds good with the Godin
(thru the Concert, with the Concert's mids dialed down
slightly below center.) So "transparent" per the product
literature? Definitely not. But not useless, either.
The "drive" sounds kinda pinched and scratchy -- a very
little dab'll do ya (like on "2".)
One good thing, which I've not found to be true of other
overdrive or fuzz effects, is that the sound never mushes
together -- you can always get some dynamics out of it.
I've found that withe the gain about halfway up, and the
drive on 1 or 2, I can get some ok sounds, so long as the
amp is loud enough. At low amp settings, this is a very
thin-sounding unit, in spite of the low-mid bump.
It's not exactly what I was hoping it would be, but it's
still useful as a "special purpose" effect. Better-than
average for hard chording -- a little harsh, but never muddy.

The rubber gasket holding the top housing to the bottom
plate is pure cheese. Otherwise, the switches, knobs,
and jacks are all well-assembled and solid-feeling, and the
circuit board is neatly assembled. Overall, for a home-recording
duffer like me, it'll last forever, if the internal components
are of reasonable quality. Road warriors should probably
devise a way of securing it which does not stress the cheesy
gasket too heavily.

An unknown.

I bought 3 pedals the day I bought this (a DOD Flashback Fuzz,
a Fuzz Face reissue, and the Guyatone.) I returned the other
two -- they were horrendous-sounding, and the Fuzz Face was
a piss-poor design in general.
I'm not thrilled with the OD2, but it has its uses. If somebody
would make a pedal like it, but without the frequency bump,
I'd be thrilled. My old Electro Harmonix Linear Power Booster
(one gain knob and no signal coloration) with a smidge of
grit from a separate drive control would suit me fine, if
someone would make one. Maybe it's time to buy Craig Anderton's
book, and start rolling my own? Dunno. But the Guyatone will
do for now, and I'll keep it even if I find my true love.

Easy

Initially I bought the Guyatone od-2 to use in my 'I'm too lazy to bring the big guns to the gig/jam rig'. A Warmoth strat>E.B.vol ped>morley wha>LaneyAOR A3012 series 2. I always use the overdrive of the amp. That's still my favorite sound. It fattened up the sound, I mean this little pedal fattens up the sound. Really good harmonics. It does color the sound, but the color is pleasing. I can get close to the Robben Ford sound. Of course not dead on. Damn he uses a Dumple. But for this modest rig that's saying something. The Guyatone OD-2 has since found a place with the big guns.

I'm used to not having overdrive/distortion pedals, so I would use it without backup....but I hope it will last. I don't like the rubber ring that holds the bottom to it. I'm thinkin', down the road here, duct tape, rubber bands. I forecast some trouble.

Never dealt with them.

Rock fusion/blues/wannabe jazzier. And now been playin' celtic rock. Fun stuff. I'd buy it again. It's inexpensive and worth every penny. What did I A/B it to? Most all of the overdrives mentioned in these reviews. My favorites are the Baby blue overdrive and the TS-9(which I haven't used for 2 years, (I know your asking what the hell do you want?) now I add the Guyatone to the list. The rest stay in a box down in the basement. I don't even know where that box is anymore. As I mentioned before I like pre amp overdrive the best and the overdrive unit has to work well with that first.