12 of the Best OCD Style Pedals

I have featured the HotCake before in my piece on the 18 best (transparent) overdrive pedals. Yet failed to register at the time how similar to an OCD this pedal is capable of sounding. Both have this really great bright saturated crunch sound with rich harmonic distortion artefacts. And while tonal frequency profiles may not be identical, it is surprising to me at least how similar you can get those two pedals to sound. However good the HotCake may sound I don't really need another OCD of any description - particularly when I have both the OCD and Odyssey available for swap-outs.

Really great low-cost alternative to OCD - available for under £30! It's incredible how good the Cool Cat sounds for that little money. Obviously if you have the funds I recommend get the original, if money is tight, you cannot go wrong with the Cool Cat - a proper cool pedal in every way. The only downside really is its odd and slightly bulky shape. I believe some of these Danelectro enclosures are plastic too - which explains the low cost to a degree.

Surprisingly versatile overdrive with just 2 control dials - and sort of verging on fuzzy at higher gain, this relatively recently discontinued pedal still has a fair amount of overlap with a crunchy OCD. I would have preferred an additional tone control or two here, but for what it does this pedal is weirdly versatile and still in stock in odd places - try on Ebay and Reverb.com if interested.

Another incredibly good value overdrive with 'Tone Shift' voicing dial - covers a lot of similar territory as an OCD - with an equally broad range of gain. Some commentators note that its crunch is Marshall-esque, while to my ears it's definitely much closer to the sound of an OCD. For its highly affordable price, this one is definitely worth auditioning - it may surprise you!

Really smart medium-to-high gain drive with smart 'Stage 2' dial to ramp up the distortion. Has a slightly smoother tonal palette to my ears vs the OCD, and not at all really a replacement swap-out, although it does have a touch of overlap at upper-mid gain. This has long been on my wishlist as an intended occasional swap-out for the OCD, not a replacement.

I picked up this wonderful pedal in its first batch edition - just before Christmas after being blown away by a demo on That Pedal Show. It has a number of really clever toggle selectors which allow you to set the EQ-stack before or after the gain, ramp up the gain multiplier level, and change clipping options. Covers a huge range of gain, textures and tone across overdrive, distortion and fuzz. And somewhat surprisingly covers OCD tones with ease. When I first got it, I had not decided where it was going to sit within my pedal chain, but realised pretty early on that it could really competently cover off OCD style sounds and give me a tonne of variety besides. This is really quite a special pedal, and offers quite a bit more than the Fulltone OCD, but it can handle that as well. Currently my OCD-style+ pedal of choice.

Another really low-cost OCD style clone for around about the same price as the Danelectro Cool Cat. Both sound pretty great, but I prefer the look and form-factor of this latter one. The looks of the Cool Cat are rather Marmite-ish, and its dials are not quite as visible or easy to tweak. They're both pretty good, but I would probably take this one over the Cat.

Another Mooer classic clone, and the best of the mini OCD clones of which there are a few. I already have this, for a more miniature backup of my OCD, and it really impresses. If your pedalboard space is tight, then this will make a more than competent alternative for the majority of players. I've not found a lot of use for it yet but it really does sound close enough to me. Of course it comes after the Odyssey and original OCD in the pecking order.

Not necessarily an exact match to an OCD, but pretty well close enough for me - this benefits from a 3-way voicing toggle which provides increasing levels of gain. It is a full Danelectro Cool Cat dearer than the original OCD, so by all means factor that in. Some players however find the OCD a touch over-harsh, so you may prefer the tonal profile of this pedal and be willing to pay a little more for the privilege. To me they both sound great and it's really down to the ears and dynamic feel of the individual musician.

Another pedal like the EHX Glove which is often too associated with a slightly Marshall-esque tone, although I find it slightly more closely matched to the OCD Style. Has a sort of 'Crunch' boost switch for more gain, and can sound really nicely crunchy - very much like the original OCD. I find it sounds quite close to the EHX Glove too - which is a good 1/3rd less expensive.

This pedal is pretty new to me and I only came across it in my recent OCD research, but it sounds pretty decent, and according to the Vic Audio website it is modelled on the Zendrive for its low-gain tone and on the OCD for its higher gain register. It is relatively moderately priced and pretty decent sounding too. Everyone's ideal frequency profile is slightly different, so it may well be that this might be your favourite OCD-type pedal, it certainly warrants consideration.