Guyatone OD-2

Two knobs, one for "leval" and one for "drive".

Obviously it's no high end Zvex or Fulltone. But for ??50, it???s the best in its price range. I played through Marshall, Ibanez, Boss, Rat, Digitech (to name a few) and came across this little orange box in Music Ground. I tried it through a Hiwatt Custom 50 with a wonderful Les Paul for about 10/15 minuets. It was clearly the best of the bunch IMO. Unlike the others, it was far more transparent and didn???t "coulor" the natural sound of the guitar or amp. With level on max and the drive on the minimum setting it???s a great to get the higher volume crunchy tones and bedroom levels, I use this setting the most. This why I was searching for and overdrive.

As you increase the drive from the minimum level, the sound does get compressed and it does make excess noise. This is why I???m giving it a 7. Though noise is expected.................

I'm playing a Japanese Tokai Les Paul with coil taps, Gordon Smith Gypsy 2 with p-94???s. These go through a few effects and into either an Epiphone VJ head or an Orange Rocker 30 combo (currently out of action :-( ) into a Vintage 30. I'm yet to try it with the Orange but it does sound great with the VJ. With the volume at 9:00 (clean and crisp) and I kick in the OD2 I get the same sound as if it was at 12:00 (crunchy and it puts a smile on my face).

I???ve only had it a few days so cant rate it properly. Metal housing, decent feeling footswitch. Time and use will tell.

I hope I don???t have to find out.

I play guitar, blues and rock influence my style of playing. My favorite bands at the moment are Wishbone Ash and The Who. My setup is written in the sound section. If it were stolen I would definitely buy another, but if I had more cash, I would problem look for something else. It is a GREAT pedal. I love its transparency and ability to give me higher volume tones at bedroom levels. It???s a shame about the noise it adds and ???compression??? when you turn the drive up. It looks and feels reliable. I like the fact if doesn???t have a tone knob, it does exactly what it says on the tin. If you???re 70 or 17 and on a tight budget (like me), this is the thing you want.

Very easy to use. The manual is minimal, but so are the options. I think a hatch for the battery access would have been easier, so I'll give it a nine.

I'm using a PRS Santana SE (old version), MIJ Fender Strat '86, Xaviere LP-type, DeArmond M-75T, and others through both a Peavey Audition 110 for small stuff and a Mesa-Boogie Mark I from '78.
With any combination, this pedal is a no-nonsense rock/blues box. The tones are raw and crackling with energy, not like a Marshall smooth sound at all. It's unique; no one else will sound quite like you on stage. I heartily reccommend it to people who love good old classic rock and blues, but want a sound all their own. I suppose I could sound close to my heros, but who wants to hear my second-rate version of their sound? Instead, this gives me a sound from which I can create my own musical identity.
It's quiet; more quiet than any other pedal I've tried.
I don't know why people gripe that this can't overdrive enough; with my PRS and other 'bucker quitars, this thing really growls. No death metal, but a good Angus Young type scream.

Looks tough, but the O-ring on the bottom: not cool, Guyatone. But other than that, it's a tank.

I've been playing for a long time, some semi-pro, mostly just for fun. I play blues/rock/occasional jazz/occasional punk. I feel that Keith Richards, Tony Iommi, early Clapton, and David Gilmour have the best tones in the world, and this pedal helps me get in that neighborhood, but in my own way. It makes me sad that some guitarists feel that they need to play exactly like their heros; where's the fun in that? If I wanted to hear SRV, Jimi, or any of the other greats, I'd invent myself a time machine and go watch them play. I'd like to hear something new from every guitarist out there, and this pedal IS something new. A classic, yet modern, sound. I really reccommend it to all the lovers of good RAWK n' ROLL!

Easy as can be. Only two knobs clearly labeled and a footswitch.

No.
The 'smoothness' of this pedal reminds me of the smoothness of white noise on a TV with no channel on. This is not how my tube amps sound overdriven, no way. Maybe the effect is different with solid state amps but there's no comparison with tubes.
I mod and sell TS9s all the time and this one does have some of the honking mid sound of the TS9 and it does have more bass, but it does not have the breakup that even a TS9 has. And a TS9 doesn't even have a good breakup compared to a real amp.
The lack of a tone control is a bad move because the pedal dampened my signal big time. I tested with a P90 Les Paul and my high end was lost in this pedal somewhere.
Very, very disappointed. See below for why and remedy.

Sturdy enough for me. Like all these micro pedals, be very careful if you go poking around inside to see what's what (I didn't on this pedal because it wasn't going to be worth effort) that you look and remember where the little wires connect because they will break loose for no reason it seems.

NA

I play blues and old style rock. Overdrive is what I like and I like to have only the barest hint available when I want it. I have distortion boxes for when I want a heavier sound. So I like hitting notes and having them sound pretty clean until I hit them harder. I like doublestops or chords to have some grind to them but not distortion. I don't like the OD-2.
I was disappointed because another of these micro pedals has a great, great overdrive that sounds very much like my tubes breaking up. It has a ragged, random sized crackle to it that the 'smooth' OD-2 (and the TS9) don't have. It sounds real. Really organic, not plastic. It is what I thought this OD-2 was going to be a better version of. It's the VT-3 Vintage Tremolo pedal if you can believe that.
The VT-3 has a great underlying overdrive to it that gives its tremolo effect the illusion of coming from a tube amp. That's the sound I'm lookin for Guyatone! If you set Intensity and Speed both to zero you get a wonderfully gritty, just barely there but powerful, tube sounding overdrive. But that pedal has too much of a volume boost built in and there is too much treble built in as well.
So, you can mod it. There's a resistor to change to fix the volume boost and a capacitor to add to equal the tone of your incoming signal. I ditched the tremolo portion of the pedal and reused the Intensity and Speed controls as an overdrive Level and Tone controls. Simply awesome.

A monkey can figure this out.

This is one of the best overdrives out there...maybe the best when you compare price and the fact that it takes little space on your pedal board. It actually reproduces the effect that you would get overdriving your tube amp. It's smooth and has great low end. Those who complain that it does not have enough gain should be looking at distortion pedals not overdrives.

Yes, to say that these are not built well is rubbish. Unless you are an elephant or that you abuse your equipment, these are built well enough. You can't argue with the size...it's the best part!

They actually sent me a folder with all of their products and stuff. other than that no contact.

I have owned this pedal for a few years and I am extremely happy with it. It has been a real main-stay in my effects board. Grate for blues and great for a little boost in gain as well. It will make your solid state amp sound more tubey and make your tube amp drive into heaven.

Just a comment...some people here are claiming the OD-2 has true bypass. Well, it does not. It, as well as the rest of the Micro Effects series, has "FET silent switching," as per Guyatone's own brochure, which I have right in front of me. See http://www.guyatone.com/microeffects/index.html and http://www.guyatone.com/reviews/ps_micromonsters.html.

Bought mine second-hand (maybe third-hand?) so there was no manual, but if you've managed to operate this here computer that you're tappin' on, than you'll have no problem with this pedal. People complain about the rubber ring to change, but I haven't had any problems with it. There's only a voulume and gain, so it's obviously pretty basic.

I realy like the gain that it gives. I don't use much, just enough to dirty up a strat tone or to beef up a humbucker. The only thing that I don't care for is that I find it takes away some of my low end, but that can taken care of by my amp setting easy enough.

Seems pretty well made, and I toss it around pretty good.

N/A

I really like this pedal. When I first saw it, I thought it was kind of too small to be taken seriously, but I liked the tone immediately. I've tried a lot of different distortion/overdrive type of effects in my 25+ years of banging, and this is definately a keeper.

This pedal is about as simple as it gets - two controls, one for volume and one for overdrive level. Very easy to control the range of sounds.

I run a Strat into this pedal, then to a Tube Works Tube OD pedal (for a higher level of distortion), then to a small amp. Usually, it's just this pedal and my amp - the amp's gain is fairly bad sounding, so i just leave it clean and use this pedal to add some grit. It provides a perfect bluesy overdrive, I can roll off the volume to clean it up for jazzier tones. I can get a Stones-y crunch to an SRV-type sound with no problems. I guess a tone control would be nice, but then again it's just something else to deal with. I'll give it a 9.

Owned it for a few years, and haven't had a single problem with it. I use a 9-volt adapter, some people have complained that the rubber casing is hard to get back on when changing batteries. It's travelled with me, moved houses in the back of a truck, and had just about everything spilled on it... still works great. I'll give it an 8, for the battery thing.

Never dealt with them, never had to. Hopefully won't need to.

I play mostly blues based music, as well as a little jazz and country. This works perfect, it adds a little bite to my jazz tones, and has a smooth overdrive for the blues sounds. If it were lost, I'd buy it in a heartbeat, it's the secret of my tone. I compared it to a Tubescreamer, some multi-effects, and a Big Muff Pi, and this one had the sound I was looking for. I leave it on almost all the time, it just lets my guitar come through nicely. Buy one.

simple pedal, extremely easy!

I hate reading through everyone's pedal/amp setup, I just want to know if the pedal sucks...this one doesn't! I use it primarily for just a little bit of dirt in solos. I hate distortion, but love tasteful overdrive. This pedal is the answer. My one and only gripe is that it doesn't have tone control.

I have owned it for two months, and it has not let me down. I do use it with a backup Ibanez TS5(an unbelievable pedal), but only because the Guyatone is brand new.

I have not required support.

I play mostly funk and jazz and I hate annoying overdrive or distortion. I do like a little overdrive for solos and this pedal gives me exactly what I want. You can get a lot out of this pedal if you want though. Like I said the only thing it could use is a tone knob. I love the size of Guyatone pedals, they are so cool!

Couldn't be easier to use.

Using this with a strat (s-s-s) and Epiphone (hum/hum) hollowbody. Both sound excellent through this pedal. Not particularly noisy for an overdrive pedal. Sounds great. Very nice overdrive tones, can get some ballsy distortion sounds too (too much for me - i prefer the lower drive levels). Not muddy and you can hear all then notes without too much break up.

no worries here.

no experience with customer support yet.

Excellent Overdrive. I like it better than the Boss OD pedals i've tried, and better than the MXR distortion + that i also own.

Easy to use - absolutely - just two knobs - Level and drive.
Think of it as another channel on your amp, for me it works that way.
Who needs an extra tone pot anyway, not me, not with this little OD anyway.

Very nice, transparent. I am able to acheive a nice overdriven tube sound that stays clean and varies with your attack on the strings (which is what I was looking for). It is great for lower volume practice, it enables you to get that cranked up sound w/o the volume. I'm using it with a Pignose Hog 20 and an Ampeg Super Jet, it seem to work well with both amps. Guitars with Humbuckers you have to play with your volume pots a bit, otherwise it will overdrive too much too soon,
but once you dial it in, it sounds great. Single coil guitars you can run full out with your guitars volume pots and it sounds just right.
This unit is also very quiet, so it sounds very natural.

Seems solidly built, I like it's smaller size, plus I think it is preety easy on batteries.

I had to contact Godlyke because I destroyed the first one I had with an external power supply (that should have worked). Let me say this, these guys are responsive either by phone or E-mail, just a great company to deal with, along with a great product (what a concept).

Bang for the buck, this one has it. I know I lot of people end up buying many many overdrive pedals in search for that elusive sound. Me I'm just happy I tried one of these little orange Guyatones first, I feel like I save both time and money. It just does for me what I expected it to do. I won't argue with anybody that spent big bucks on a higher end pedal, if the are happy that's cool. But I'd like them to try one of these I bet they be surprised.

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.

Its very easy to use. Just don't velcro it to your pedalboard ike I did. You'll leave the back of the OD-2 on the board.

I use mainly a Boogie Mark III with Fender Teles and Strats. I use Rio Grande pickups in all of my axes. I haven't noticed any excessive noise on any of the settings. Unlike other reviewers, I wish this thing had a tone control. The OD-2 I have is super trebley. When I roll back the tone control on the guitar half way it sounds great, but in the band I'm in, I'm working so many effects, pickup switches and amp channel changes that its not convenient to be changing my guitar tone knob all the time.

I've had this two months gigging almost every weekend and have had no problems. I would use it without a backup. I use everything without a backup except guitars.

I'm going to keep looking for that perfect overdrive pedal. Until I find it the OD-2 is fine. I'd love it if it had a tone control. It was definately a great value.

Can not get any easier to use, two knobs. You just plug in and play

I play an American Series Strat through several tube amps and only tube amps. MB Rocket 44, Highly modded Fender Bassman and a 1966 15 watt Gibson GA-15-RVT. It does exactly what is was designed for. That is to retain the guitars tone, but boost it and add some bite. It really is't a distortion box. Think tube screamer, but better. I tried out the current Ibanez Tubescreamers and this little Guyatone sounded better.

NO problems yet I'll wait and see. I don't use backup.

Never dealt with them. Never had to

If your looking a a Tubescreamer I highly recommend this pedal. It was the best 62 dollars I ever spent. I won't gig without it.

Anyone who needs a manual for an overdrive with two knobs (volume & gain) needs to be hit in the head with it. Very easy to get a great
deal of lead-smoothing sustain, provided you use it with a half-overdriven tube amp.

I am a devoted overdrive pedal afficionado. I've owned all the Fulltone drives and fuzzes,Bosses,Drive 0 Matic, Blues Pearl, Marshall,Ibanez and Maxon. THIS IS THE LOWEST PRICE I'VE EVER PAID
FOR A GREAT OVERDRIVE. Seriously, I paid 45 bucks for it and it replaced the above listed drives. No need for a tone control it is neutral. I give it a nine because a 10 is the reason we continue to buy new ones.

In keeping the cost down on this so it can outsell the boutique market, Guyatone opted to cut corners on the components, the pots are cheap the switch is OK but cheap, and the rubber ring that holds on the bottom is only good if you don't need to keep changing the battery. However it seems to be built good enough to withstand a few years of stomping. At least it isn't $200.

I hope they send new rubber rings to customers when they get dried out and break. Seriously, if you use a powered pedalboard instead of batteries, the bottom should stay fine for a long time.

I have used this pedal with a Gibson Les Paul, PRS McCarty, and C.S. Strat into a 72 Marshall, Blues Pearl ShreadHead and Bluesmaster, and an old Super Reverb. The guyatone was such a natural sounding drive pedal that it sounded good with all guitars. It is less compressed than an Ibanez or Maxon, and kind of reminds me of the old Boss OD-1,
the one with two knobs. However, this one didn't get shrill on high notes and didn't add treble which I hate. It added warm growly overdrive the Marshall sound and added a nice hollow tubey sound to Fender type amps. It makes me want to hear what Guyatone's expensive overdrive model sounds like.

Very Small Very Simple two knobs level and drive
battery access is a pain you remove a rubber ring and it's
sort a bitch to get it back on

This is the Perfect Booster. You must use it as a booster.
If you only try it as your source for overdrive tone it will not
satisfy.... BUT...... if your amp channel is already half dirty
then this will make it WONDERFULLY MORE DIRTY and thou shalt be
SATISFIED!!!!

who can say?

I don't care

Use it to boost your lead channel. Turn your crunch into SCRUNCH!!!

2 knobs, Vol. drive. Easy.

Comparing this pedal to a TS-9dx(setin ts-9 mode)through a Peavey classic 30,JCM 900 50w,Fender 60w Hotrodd deluxe ,
The TS-9s reissues and the Od-2 VERY similar in tone.
The Od-2 has slightly less drive,and less "snarl,bite,attack" then the Ts-9.For some players,situtations it is a plus,but I sometimes miss those slightly less smooth more agressive tones of the Ts-9.
Notes are more round on the 0d-2.
It is really usefull with the drive at around or below 12oclock for some clean boost/slight drive stuff,nice :)
The lack of a tone knob stinks :[ ,making it a very flat EQ response,so changing the amp settings helps.(Guyatone says it helps the tone.mmm.. really think so?)

So far so good after 3 months

Very nice pedal, great for blues and rock. :)
If you like the Ts-9s,boss Sd-1,ODs ect., this pedal is a worthy alternative.
Is sounds as good or better in somecases.
Construction/housing is simple,with the rubber ringplate on the bottom of the pedal,kind of flimsy and cheap in my book :{(this pedal should be cheaper to manufacture and buy to buy than the boss,Ibanez ODs since the others have better housings.

Very Easy to get great warm overdrive, two knobs, . Tiny, can fit in your pocket!

No noise at all. I wish they were true bipass though. It sounds great still(like almost true bipass). I use two fender stratocasters and a hot rod deville tube amp. The effects I use are: Guyatone WR-2, Guyatone VT-3, MXR phase90, Pro Co Rat, and Boss digital Delay. I used to use the Boss OD-3, which is a great pedal but not as smooth as the Guyatone. The boss also breaks up when playing the higher notes, the Guyatone does not do that. The guyatone also has more overdrive making it more versitile. I highly recommend this pedal! It was a lot cheaper than the Boss. I'm not busting on the Boss, it's a good pedal but I would of rathered put the difference of $20-$25 into another guyatone pedal.

It looks very sturdy and it's a great size as well

This pedal is a great match for me. As a said this thing is a great size for throwing it in your pocket and going, it also saves space on your board. It beats and of the overdrives that I have tried and owned. It doesn't have a tone control(which is OK because it sounds perfect) but from what I understand is that the more controls you have on the effect, the less tone you get. I own 3 Guyatone pedals and they are all incredible, for their size and sound. Don't waste your money on anything-just get a guyatone. You won't be sorry.

Easy to get a good sound, provided you can play, have a tube amp, and a good guitar. Never tried with a solid state rig, but its been my experience that distortion on a SS rig sounds square-wave, industrius-irritato. This little orange cutey has got bright yellow markings, and two knobs (level, gain). Go ahead, try to find a bad sound.

Playing a Fender `54 reissue Strat w/ vintage pickups, and a Les Paul Classic gutted and refitted with good capacitors, Duncan `59 and Screamin` Demon pickups into a Mesa Blue Angel 1x12. I bought this thing for several reasons. 1). I`m always on th lookout for a better overdrive pedal 2). I read the Guitar Player magazine review of it (Nov. 2000); and it won an "Editors Pick" award; their description: "like a TS-9 but clearer and better focused" and "non-compressed response" (which is something I`ve always hated about my reissue TS-9).
Also, I read the other reviews in this catagory, and everybody likes it. Do I agree? Hell yes! You can`t get a lot of the sounds you can from a TS-9 (there`s no tone control) but I don`t miss it. It goes from just breaking up to mildly singing sustain, (no heavy sounds, but cranked with a humbucker like my Screamin` Demon it can definately do vintage type classic rock), but this is all moot. This is a transparent, vintage overdrive thats great for blues, and roots, SRV etc.; and its the best of this ilk I`ve come across yet. Its narrow range of distortion is a plus in my opinion (makes it hard to get a nasty surprise on stage, you know what you are going to get, and its good every time), I have my Mesa V-twin for high gain solo stuff, and this thing for my blues tone. What`s that you say, you own a V-twin (that has a blues channel) and you bother with cheap asian pedals? Are you out of your mind? That`s right folks, athough the V-twin is my favorite high gain distorion pedal, I`ve never liked the "blues" channel much. Even more important, without some kind of aftermarket "mod" you can`t set separate levels and EQ for the "Solo" and "Blues" channels; making it very, very non-versatile in a live setting. This thing from Guyatone is the perfect compliment for me. Despite not having a tone control it always sounds good and not muddy even with my Les Paul; the absence of a tone circuit, makes for a simpler circuit. And in this case simple is better. When the unit is off, it has true bypass (Yahoo!). Hey Boss, how about true-bypass switching on YOUR pedals?

Only had it a month, its that inexcusable guyatone design with the rubber ring that is stretched around the perimeter, this holds the bottom on the unit. I concur with the other reviewers, this ring`s future prospects do not look good. Also, without a doubt, Boss`s construction is far and away better than these (internally too).
Still, it is a metal housing, and is probably quite durable (do not, however drive a centurian tank over it or throw it out of an airplane).

No experience, but it has a warrantee and I live in Japan, probably ok. I owned one of their amps once, they were there for me. Can`t say about US support.

I play blues primarily (at least as far as this pedal is concerned). Been playing longer than I`d care to mention. If this pedal were lost or stolen, I`d go out the same week and get another one (that`s the beauty part, they`re cheap, currently being produced, and did I mention cheap?) so there`s no need to hunt anyone down and rip their bowels out.....

Two knobs: level, drive. Plug it in, turn it on. There doesn't seem to be a bad sound at any of the settings. The manual (as if it is really necessary) is the same as it is for every Guyatone micro effect: a generic outline of all of Guyatone's micros... including some not available in the US.

I've played through/with dozens of overdrive boxes over the years, including original Tubescreamers. This is quite simply the best overdrive tone I have ever heard come out of a stomp box. Guyatone claims to use the in-line version of the same chip used by Ibanez, with the key difference being the elimnation of the circuit used for a tone control (as the OD-2 has no tone control). This may very well be its secret. I mainy use a G&L legacy and an Epi Les Paul w/Duncans into a reissue '59 Bassman or a Sovtek MIG 100. The LP sounds a bit muddy due to the lack of the tone control (as GP magazine says, it sounds like '0' on a Tubescreamer), although this is quite easily corrected by bumping up the presence and treble knobs on the Bassman (There is no need for a box w/ the Paul and the MIG). The G&L sounds absolutely dead on, as it has enough inherent brightness to keep me happy, and the OD-2 has more than enough guts to make it sing through a clean amp or kick my MIG into overdrive heaven (the main reason I bought it).

Overall, the sound of this box is fabulous, better than even tube-driven pedals, however there is one major inherent problem consumers should be aware of. It doesn't have a whole lot of volume boost, and this is overall a rather nice feature because it won't blow your ears off unexpectedly like, say, a Boss Blues Driver has a knack for doing, however if you stick a booster or a graphic EQ in front of it, it will turn to mush. It appears to overload quite easily, losing its character along with most of that oh-so tubelike drive. So if you're planning on running a boost, I recommend using something after it. I've taken to running my own Blues Driver in this position with the level all the way up and the gain on zero.

It also does not have the kind of gain one would need for playing metal, which is not a problem for me, but it could add a nice edge to a higher gain box and may be valuable to those in the metal sect for this reason. If your heart is in Blues, Surf (adds a delectably sweet edge to reverb and tremolo), Rockabilly or good old Rock and Roll, however, the OD-2 is absolutely indispensible for those times when you either can't turn your amp up or need to give a low-output guitar a kick it the slats. It is, to quote the reviews all over, 'more tube than a tubescreamer.' I firmly believe that if SRV hadn't been taken from us so prematurely that his Ibanez would be playing back up to one of these today. You just cannot beat this little box's tone. I'm giving it a '9' only because of the boost/mush factor-- which I think buyers ought to be aware of, although as far as the raw tone goes, the OD-2 really deserves a perfect '10.'

Hmm. See my review of the VT-3 tremolo (not the tube!!!) if you want to see why I gave what I gave.

Still haven't dealt with them. You get a 3-year warrenty, though...

I play a wide variety of music, mostly in the styles listed above (excluding metal...) with the addition of jazz, punk and probably anything else falling within this sort of spectrum. The OD-2 fits in perfectly; it is the overdrive sound I have been searching for. Nothing else has come so close to sounding like an actual tube amp, nothing else can fill in so well in a live situation where you can't fit your half-stack and can't crank your combo. Maybe it could be a tad brighter, although this would give it a bias toward humbuckers. Right now, the tone really doesn't seem biased toward any specific kind of guitar-- it just wants to make yours sound good. Getting a good sound is outrageously simple, and the true-bypass switch makes it 100% noiseless. Just don't stick any high-output boxes in front of it... this may apply to active pickups, as well.

There may be some inherent reliability issues, but provided you keep the battery out of it and don't use it to hammer nails, it shouldn't give any real difficulties.

It is a superb sounding box that you can get new for less than what a used reissue Tubescreamer will often cost. If you are considering purchasing an Ibanez, I cannot recommend strongly enough that you try the Guyatone first.

it is very easy to use only 2 knobs
drive and level

i play mostly blues and the sound is great i have tried many
pedals over the years and this is it.my previous pedal was a ts-9
but i could not stand the presence of compression on it.the od-2
with my fender hr deluxe has that old overdriven amp sound period
with the level at 3 drive at 5 it gives full round sound,heaven!

i have had it for only 1 week so icould not say.
however it feels a bit fragile,not built like a ts-9
but i bought it for sound

Very easy.. It has a line level, and a drive knob.

I am surprised that this pedal actually sounds good! I've possessed some recently that were very substandard! Anyhow, at least one of their pedals is good. The sound derived from this pedal is VERY comparable to a Boss SD-1(Super Overdrive). The guyatone seems to have a better bite than the BOSS. I like the tone over the BOSS pedal. Lets put it this way.. I used both pedals depending on what sound I need to get.

The battery compartment is real cheap. There are no screws. There is just a rubber lip around the bottom panel and the pedal. The rubber will break eventually. I use an AC adapter so I don't worry about that.

Very nice pedal. It's has more bite than a Boss SD-1