DOD250-style Capsule Collection about to reach Lucky 7!
When I initially shared my DOD250 type collection I owned just 4 - the BTMB Gray Box Overdrive, Loophole Pedals Grey Matter, Pelican Noiseworks 50/50 Double OD, and VFE Distortion 3. Next my good friend Joseph Maxwell made the compact BrainBox EQD Gray Channel clone which was number 5, and recently I added the JHS Overdrive Preamp as number 6 and kind of considered it job done then!
At one stage I was looking to get either a Grey Box original DOD250 or a very early Yellow Box edition which actually has the same circuit - even while, and as Josh Scott related recently - all those early pedals all have slightly different components - and where the key element really is the input capacitor. I’ve been scanning Reverb.com and Ebay for quite a few years in trying to get the appropriate DOD250 in pretty decent condition and for the right price - but it’s all still a little silly - with typically way too high prices for relatively poor condition. So I’ve kind of resigned myself to just owning the tributes and derivations - which are more my style anyway!.
I thought getting to 6 would be about enough, but then a smart reader of this blog noted that I had forgotten about the relatively recent Gear Ant Yellow Jacket - which is currently sold out, but where I’m waiting for new stock to arrive to hit the trigger to finally add that one too - shouldn’t be too long now.
Each of these pedals is very much based on the DOD250 with some slightly more ’authentic’ takes than others, and some are distinctly more extended-range than others. Also, the majority in this selection mix up DOD250 and MXR Distortion+ flavours - each in their own way. While the VFE Distortion 3 also covers the MXR Micro Amp. Generally there’s only one or two different part variations - one of the main ones being Germanium Diodes (MXR) vs Silicon (DOD) - also of course capacitor and resistor differences. While it’s important to remember that the DOD250 was originally a part-for-part copy of the MXR Distortion+. It really only gained its own identity when it switched from Germanium to Silicon Diodes.
The Yellow Jacket has two distinct channels that you can stack - would have been cool to have an order toggle here with a mix knob - so you could control the blend - have either one first in the sequence, and even be able to stack them in parallel.
The VFE is rather about tuning in each particular variant - where the key controls are the Germanium to Silicon Hard Clipping Mode blender and Asymmetric / None / Mosfet OD Soft Clipping control.
The Gray Box, BrainBox and Grey Matter all allow you to switch between Germanium and Silicon Diodes - so catering for both varieties really - and more!
Individual pedal details below as usual :
Big Tone Music Brewery EQ'd Vintage Series Gray Box Overdrive - discontinued - $199 when new
BTMB's EQ'd Vintage Series is something of an under-the-radar secret weapons range from BYOC's Keith Vonderhulls. 10 classic varieties were released in total in 2014/2015 while somewhat inadequate support eventually led to their retirement and cancellation. And there are actually really relatively few of these out there in the wild - which is a real shame, as these are hand-made with premium / NOS components and are superbly versatile - and a notch above most genre alternatives out there.
Each of the EQ'd Vintage Series features 3-Band EQ with Parametric Mids, and then Level and Gain - with some having an additional Voicing/Modes switch - as is the case here. With everything dialled at noon it already sounds fantastic, and then you simply tweak to your tonal desire with those clever dual-concentric controls. There is a significant overlap between DOD250, MXR Distortion+ and in fact MXR Micro Amp too. The voicing / mode toggle here gives you a choice between Vintage (DOD250) and Dist+ (MXR Distortion+). And you get a distinct audible change to the breakup character.
This pedal of course utilises the original LM741 opamp and sounds fantastic! Do note that the sole above demo does not do this pedal justice in the slightest - I can vouch that this sounds every bit as good as you would expect. Update - the only demo has vamooshed now too - no longer live!
JHS Pedals Overdrive Preamp - $179
Much has been said about this pedal already, including by me! - and I love that you get two of the very original big box flavours in this one device. I do question the size of the thing - seeing how relatively small the circuit is - and why side-mounted jacks and not top-mounted ones - doesn't make a lot of sense really. Part of me feels that they should have rather gone with dual footswitches instead of the middle slider switch - and I would quite have wanted some sort of tone control too here to refine the output. I think it's a valid exercise, and I obviously like it enough to acquire it - but I don't see why this could not have been a top-mounted compact box with some smarter features to get more utility out of those two voicings!
Demiurge Instruments Brainbox Dual Overdrive (Compact EQD Gray Channel clone) - £90
This is a fantastic sounding compact take on the discontinued EarthQuaker Devices Gray Channel Dynamic Dirt Doubler - with largely the same parts and features - just significantly shrunk down in size and in a more exciting enclosure! As per the original we have a 3-way clipping selector for Silicon / None / Germanium on the left Green Channel, and LED / None / FET Clipping on the right Red Channel. The same core Green (Level) and Gain, and Red (Level) and Gain controls. And where the right hand footswitch activates the effect, while the left-hand one flips between Green and Red Channels. No idea why EQD would discontinue as great a pedal as this - it's certainly worth having - and particularly in this special Demiurge format! Alas this is a fairly recent pedal, and there is currently no official demo out yet.
Gear Ant YellowJacket - $225
A smart combination of Germanium Diodes on the right hand 'Yellow' channel - controlled by Gold knobs, and Silicon Diodes on the left hand 'Red' channel controlled by Black knobs. I personally would have had the left hand knobs in metallic red to colour-coordinate with the channel LED - but can understand from an unlit aesthetics how the black knobs look cool against the black enclosure. What you essentially have here is MXR Distortion+ on the right channel, and DOD250 on the left - where you can play those individually and stacked. You have two further +20dB Clean Boost trimmers inside to further augment the output, but no form of EQ. Despite some OCD hangups over design aesthetics / ergonomics I really rather like near enough everything about this pedal - and it's one of the few varieties that lets you stack the two channels. As mentioned in the intro - I would do a deluxe version with a stacking toggle-switch - either way order and parallel - and then a blend knob to balance the channels appropriately! I'm just waiting for these to come back into stock - when I will for sure add it to the collection!
Loophole Pedals Grey Matter Dual Overdrive/PreAmp - $249
This is the only one that was generally available for a time a couple or so years ago - while there are a few more recent varieties nowadays. Do be aware though that Mike Copeland makes these in quite small batches - so you have to move quickly when a new batch is announced. Mike was initially just going to do a single channel edition, but in early testing realised how fantastic those voicings sounded when stacked - so he added the second channel with slight variations in clipping Diodes.
What you have here is superbly calibrated and refined LM741 DOD250 circuit with additional 'Edge' knob or a sort of Bias / Diode Saturation control. This has a significant impact on the break-up texture and character - which you further tweak via Clipping Selectors - where the left-channel has 1N270 Germanium / None / Silicon Diodes, and the right-channel has BAT41 Schottky's / None / Silicon Diodes.
Considering the original source only had Gain and Level you get significantly more shaping and versatility here - and as Mike discovered those two channels really do stack beautifully!
Pelican Noiseworks with 60 Cycle Hum - 50/50 Double Overdrive - discontinued - $175 when new
I actually lucked out on one of these on Reverb.com around the same time I acquired the Loophole Grey Matter (Autumn 2019) - conceptually very similar in terms of two stacking channels, but with slightly different controls and an overall slightly rawer output.
On this occasion the Volume and Gain knobs are joined by separate-channel Sweet / Creamy EQ switches - which are 3-way tone shapers for Bright / Stock / Dark tonality. As mentioned - this renders somewhat differently to the Loophole Grey Matter take - which is generally slightly more refined, while both these pedals do have significant overlap.
This was obviously a collaboration between 60 Cycle Hum's Ryan Burke and Pelican Noiseworks, and rather limited quantities of these were released, including super-rare black colourway editions. I think less than 200 were made in the end, while the original batch numbered just 50. All these I believe utilise the classic original LM741 opamp and pertinent input capacitors!
VFE Pedals Distortion 3 : Boost, Overdrive, Distortion - discontinued - $199 when new
The Distortion 3 was the first of these I acquired - back then I didn't really have a thing for DOD250's just a passion for Peter Von Rutter's VFE imprint - where I was really just going by how great his pedals sounded.
Peter's pedals typically feature 6 controls - 3 regular and 3 small - as is the case here. VFE pedal's are typically quite distinct from anything else out there - an almost always a special high-quality and extended-range take on the genre in question.
Here we have controls for Drive, OD (Soft Clipping Type) - Asymmetric / None / Mosfet, Mode (Hard Clipping Type) - 1N34A Germanium / Diode Lift / 1N914 Silicon, Fat (Bass), Level, and Filter (Post-Gain Hi-Cut). If you're familiar with VFE pedals you know they deliver extra high fidelity and significant extended range.
The Distortion 3 derives its name from the fact that you can target the core tones of each of the DOD250, MXR Distortion+ and MXR Micro Amp. I believe this also uses the classic LM741 opamp.
Final Thoughts
You can see from Josh Scott's above rundown that there is no shortage of DOD250 clones and variants. I like to feel though that I've managed to capture the cream of the most innovative versions here. Obviously I'm a fan of compact enclosures and extended range features and functions - and the 7 pedals in the capsule collection have to be among the best. All are quality production made with a great deal of authenticity as regards the component selection.
I often get asked to name a favourite which is difficult here - as each one of these is its own brilliant take on the format. The ones here that let you stack two voicings / channels are probably a step above the rest - namely the YellowJacket, Grey Matter and 50/50. While the Gray Box's 3-Band EQ with Parametric Mids is fairly unique too - as is the Distortion 3's clipping blending.
All of these sound fantastic - but some lean towards the refined, the others more toward raw and raucous.
Do you have any DOD250 favourite variants of your own. What do you feel is missing from this selection. And should I still look to acquire an early original - by hook or by crook!?
