N.E.W. Bass Overdrive: ODB-3 on Steroids

jeffwhitfield

jeffwhitfield

Well-known member
Not too many new builds lately...but I do have a few personal ones to post. One of them is a bass pedal based on the Boss ODB-3. I read about the ODB-3 recently and, after listening to a few demos, it sounded quite interesting. I was about to just buy a used one to play with but, after a bit of research. found out about the N.E.W. Bass Overdrive PCB by GCI. I've looked at the stuff GCI but nothing perked my interest till now.

The build went pretty smooth...although there were a few hiccups along the way. First, I screwed up and ordered solder lugs for all the switches when the PCB calls for PCB pins for all of them. So I had to wait a few times for new parts to come in. Once everything came together, the only other part that threw me was the wiring of the foot switch to the PCB. The instructions actually point you to a different instruction sheet for the Brutalist Jr. I was able to figure it out, which wasn't too difficult...but for a newbie, this will most certainly confuse the hell out of them.

Once I built it and fired it up, I was half expecting it to not work. One of my previous builds of a bass overdrive, a Black Mirror VII from PCB Guitar Mania, didn't go so well. So, yeah, I wasn't hopeful it would work. Suffice to say my fears were quelled and I was stoked when it came to life in all it's glory.

Quite an interesting bass overdrive that imparts its own character. I have two other pedals that I use as my main bass overdrives: a Darkglass Alpha Omega and a Tech 21 MP40. The N.E.W. Bass Overdrive sounds quite different from either of them...which is nice cause it means I have another flavor for some bass tones. It's not as modern sounding as a Darkglass pedal...but not quite as "classy" as the MP40 either. It's actually quite neutral really. You can definitely get it to sound more modern or classic depending on how you set the EQ and drive though. Really an interesting bass overdrive all around. A part of me wants to get a real ODB-3 now to compare to it. :P

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jimilee said:
That’s really sharp. I played an ODB3 for a while. I built a BYOC bass overdrive to replace it. I current have a OD3 built but not boxed.
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I did a search for an ODB-3 schematic. I compared the one I found to this one. It's not exact but definitely has the same DNA. They changed some of the component values: TL092 op-amps instead of RC4558's, 2N5457's instead of 2SK184's. Lots of other changes but it appears the general gist is there. They added a better EQ and some other options to shape the tone. Pretty damn snazzy really.
 
Would you mind helping me out and sharing how you wired the footswitch? I am newer to building pedals and like you posted above I am confused as hell hahah
 
ChooseBronze said:
Would you mind helping me out and sharing how you wired the footswitch? I am newer to building pedals and like you posted above I am confused as hell hahah
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jeffwhitfield said:
No prob, man. Lemme break open the enclosure and take a better pic so I can show you where all the wires go. :D
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I've done a drawing for all the N.E.W stuff on Godcity, straight to the switch. Hope that helps. I just finished one of those myself .... very snazzy indeed.

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Did you ever get an authentic to compare? I had one way back that I did not gel with but this thread has given me the g.a.s. both times I've come across it. Part of me is hoping you say it's super similar to save me a few bucks and an evening.
 
Fuzzonaut said:
I've done a drawing for all the N.E.W stuff on Godcity, straight to the switch. Hope that helps. I just finished one of those myself .... veto
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Thank you this is super helpful. Just so I’m understand , the clr is mounted to the pcb as R37 and not mounted off the board somewhere, right?
 
Did you use on-on or on-off-on for the spdt toggles? I used on-on for all the toggles but it looks like the clip toggle on your build is in a center position now I’m thinking I should have used something different. I hope you don’t mind all the questions, I’m still new at this and trying to learn as much as I can.
 
ChooseBronze said:
Did you use on-on or on-off-on for the spdt toggles? I used on-on for all the toggles but it looks like the clip toggle on your build is in a center position now I’m thinking I should have used something different. I hope you don’t mind all the questions, I’m still new at this and trying to learn as much as I can.
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Yeah, I chose to use on-off-on for my toggles, specifically for the Mids and Clipping switches. Looking at the schematic, the middle position will allow for no clipping and no added mids (just C16 and C18 only). Bypass still needs to be an on-on switch though.
 
jeffwhitfield said:
Yeah, I chose to use on-off-on for my toggles, specifically for the Mids and Clipping switches. Looking at the schematic, the middle position will allow for no clipping and no added mids (just C16 and C18 only). Bypass still needs to be an on-on switch though.
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Ok thank you!
 
Alright, so I got an official ODB-3 and compared it to the N.E.W. Bass Overdrive I built. Seems my build is a little mellow and lacking some drive. With the ODB-3 set at 50% Gain, it has more drive than the N.E.W. one. Plus, the N.E.W. pedal seems to be more mellow than the ODB-3. I have a feeling that there's a resistor or cap that's off on mine. Just need to do an audit and go from there.
 
jeffwhitfield said:
Alright, so I got an official ODB-3 and compared it to the N.E.W. Bass Overdrive I built. Seems my build is a little mellow and lacking some drive. With the ODB-3 set at 50% Gain, it has more drive than the N.E.W. one. Plus, the N.E.W. pedal seems to be more mellow than the ODB-3. I have a feeling that there's a resistor or cap that's off on mine. Just need to do an audit and go from there.
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Aion has an OD3 if that helps.
 
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