Andromeda

Nobels ODR-1 Natural Overdrive

Overview Andromeda Project Link

The Andromeda Overdrive is a clone of the Nobels ODR-1, a

somewhat obscure pedal from Germany that nonetheless is
considered a “secret weapon” among Nashville studio musicians.

The primary complaint of the ODR-1 is that it has way too much
bass with no way to dial it out. To that end, this PCB project
incorporates a variable bass control inspired by the Timmy and
Zen Drive. The stock tones are still there with the knob all the
way up, but now you have the option to turn it down.

Looking at the schematic, you can see a stark difference with

Japanese-designed pedals (i.e. most Ibanez & Boss circuits).
This is German engineering at its finest—tons of odd-value
resistors and capacitors forming very precise filters and signal
shaping. This is not a particularly simple build, but it’s very
rewarding and well worth the effort.

Controls & Usage

• Gain controls the amount of gain from the op amp that is fed through the feedback clipping diodes.
• Level is the output level of the effect.
• Bass allows you to adjust the bass response of the circuit. The stock ODR-1 circuit is the equivalent of
having the Bass knob turned all the way up.
• Spectrum is a very non-standard tone control of sorts. You can pan between a 700 Hz lowpass filter and
a 5 KHz high-pass filter, which is mixed with a fixed 2.1 MHz frequency boost (upper mids). This control
is much more complex than your standard hi-cut or Tube Screamer style tone control.

Modifications
This is a tight layout, so you won’t find any of the “standard” Aion modifications such as a
clipping diode switch. However, there are extra pads for the hard clipping diodes (D4 and D5)
in case you want to stack two diodes in series—for instance, two 1N914s or one 1N914 and
one BAT41 on each side. This will reduce the hard clipping of the circuit and result in a less
compressed sound and more output volume.

Note that D4 and D5 are not labeled on the PCB due to the extra pads. They are located
below D2 and D3 and are oriented as shown to the right.

The Bass knob is an addition to this circuit, and while you can omit this control and use the alternate Spectrum
orientation for a symmetrical control layout, I don’t recommend it—as mentioned earlier, the main criticism of
this circuit is that it has too much bass.

Any other standard-pinout dual op-amps will work in this circuit as well. Try a TL072 or OPA2104.

Like a Tube Screamer, you can adjust R7 + C4 and R8 + C5 to change the gain structure and the low-end
rolloff frequency.

NOBELS ODR-1 OVERDRIVE / ANDROMEDA OVERDRIVE 1

Parts
Capacitors Resistors Resistors, cont.
C1 68n R1 33k R24 1k2
C2 22n R2 1M R25 150k
C3 120pF MLCC R3 3k3 R26 150k
C4 82n R4 2k7 R27 15k
C5 2u2 electro R5 10k R28 15k
C6 2u2 electro R6 1k8 LEDR 4k7
C7 2n7 R7 820R
C8 82n R8 1k5 Semiconductors
C9 1n R9 12k
Q1 2N5457
C10 22n R10 39k
Q2 2N5088
C11 27n R11 10k
IC1–IC2 JRC4558D
C12 100n R12 12k
D1 1N4002
C13 8n2 R13 5k1
D2–D5 1N914
C14 560pF MLCC R14 2k2
LED 5mm LED
C15 8n2 R15 150k
C16 4n7 R16 3k3
C17 82n R17 1k2 Potentiometers
C18 1u electro R18 43k Gain 250kA
C19 2u2 electro R19 10k Level 50kA
C20 470n R20 20k Spectrum 25kB
C21 3u3 electro R21 4k7 Bass 50kC 3
C22 100uF electro 1 R22 22k
C23 47uF electro R23 5k1
C24 47uF electro 2

Build Notes
1
The stock circuit has a generous 220uF for the main filter capacitor (C22). I dropped this to a more
reasonable 100uF. There shouldn’t be any increase in noise, but I wanted to make mention of it.
2
I added C24 to counteract some low-frequency oscillations at high drive settings. 22uF is probably OK here.
3
The Bass knob is not present in the original, but I’d recommend including it. If you do leave it off, you’ll need
to jumper pads 2 and 3 of the Bass pot, and then use the center orientation of the Spectrum control.

Additional Part Notes

• Capacitors are shown in nanofarads (n or nF) where appropriate. 1000n = 1uF. Many online suppliers do
not use nanofarads, so you’ll often have to look for 0.047uF instead of 47n, 0.0056uF instead of 5n6, etc.
• The PCB layout assumes the use of film capacitors with 5mm lead spacing for all values 1nF through
470nF. I prefer EPCOS box film or Panasonic ECQ-B/V-series.
• Potentiometers are Alpha 16mm right-angle PCB mount.
• I recommend using these dust covers / insulators from Small Bear to insulate the back of the pots from
the board and prevent shorts. If you don’t use these, use some electrical tape or cardboard to act as
insulation. The right-angle pots will make direct contact with the solder pads otherwise.

NOBELS ODR-1 OVERDRIVE / ANDROMEDA OVERDRIVE 2

 Schematic

+9V VA VA VA

R15
150K
R18
43K
R19
10K

C13
8n2
C12
100n
Q2
2N3904
C11
2k2 2
+9V VA 1 3 1k2 R20
R14 27n
25kB R17 20K

3k3
R16
SPECTRUM
GND C14 560p

R5
VA

10k
Q1 2N5457 C10
R1

NOBELS ODR-1 OVERDRIVE / ANDROMEDA OVERDRIVE

GND IC2B
JRC4558D 22n 6

C1
68n
R13
5k1
IN 33k R4 R21 JRC4558D
3 IC2A 7 5

C6
2u2
C19
2u2

1
R9 R10 R11 5 7
R25

2k7 R8 4k7
150K

2 8n2 6

R2
1M
12K 39K 10K
3

C2 C7 JRC4558D
1k5

3
D4
D5
C8 IC1B C15
C20
470n

R3
3k3
22n 2n7 R22 3 OUT

C3
120p
C21
1uF

LEVEL
50kA

82n 1

2
R7
820R
R24
1k2

22K

BASS
50kC
GND 2
1

GND
IC1A
C16
4n7

D2

1
GND GND GND
C4 C9 C18 JRC4558D
GND
R26
150K

VA 1u
82n D3 1n 82n

R12
12k
C5 VA
C17
+9V VA 2u2 R23
PAD5

GND GND GND

GND GND 5k1

R6
1k8
15K 2
GND 1 3
+9V R27

8
8
250kA
C22 C23 C24 GAIN

LEDR
4k7
D1
R28
15K

1N4001
100uF 47uF 47uF

4
4

LED
5MM
GND GND GND GND GND GND

SW

3
General Build Instructions
These are general guidelines and explanations for all Aion Electronics DIY projects, so be aware that not
everything described below may apply to this particular project.

Build Order
When putting together the PCB, it’s recommended that you do not yet solder any of the enclosure-mounted
control components (pots and switches) to the board. Instead, follow this build order:

1. Attach the audio jacks, DC jack and footswitch to the enclosure.

2. Firmly attach the pots and switches to the enclosure, taking care that they are aligned and straight.
3. Push the LED1 into the hole in the enclosure with the leads sticking straight up, ensuring that the flat side
is oriented according to the silkscreen on the PCB.
4. Fit the PCB onto all the control components, including the leads of the LED. If it doesn’t fit, or if you need
to bend things more than you think you should, double-check the alignment of the pots and switches.
5. Once you feel good about everything, solder them from the top2 as the last step before wiring. This way
there is no stress on the solder joints from slight misalignments that do not fit the drilled holes. You can
still take it out easily if the build needs to be debugged, but now the PCB is “custom-fit” to that particular
enclosure.
6. Wire everything according to the wiring diagram on the last page.
1
For the LED: You can use a bezel if you’d like, but generally it’s easier just to drill the proper size of hole
and push the LED through so it fits snugly. If you solder it directly to the PCB, it’ll stay put even if the hole is
slightly too big. Make absolutely sure the LED is oriented correctly (the flat side matches the silk screen) before
soldering, as it’ll be a pain to fix later! After it’s soldered, clip off the excess length of the leads.
2
Note on soldering the toggle switch(es): It will require a good amount of solder to fill the pads. Try to be as
quick as possible to avoid melting the lugs, and be prepared to feed a lot of solder as soon as the solder starts
to melt. I recommend waiting 20-30 seconds between soldering each lug to give it time to cool down.

“RPD” and “LEDR” resistors

The resistors marked “RPD” and “LEDR” are generally not original to the circuit and can be adjusted to
preference. “RPD” is the pulldown resistor to help tame true-bypass popping, while “LEDR” controls the
brightness of the LED. I generally use 2.2M for the pulldown resistor and 4.7k for the LED resistor.

Sockets
Since double-sided boards can be very frustrating to desolder, especially components with more than 2 leads,
it is recommended to use sockets for all transistors and ICs. It may save you a lot of headaches later on.

NOBELS ODR-1 OVERDRIVE / ANDROMEDA OVERDRIVE 4

Drilling & Placement
Print this page and have an adult cut out the drilling template below for you. Tape it to the enclosure to secure
it while drilling. Note that the holes are shown slightly smaller than they need to be, so drill out the holes as
shown and then step up until they are the correct size for the components.

Hammond 1590B
(bottom/inside view)

Parts Used
• Switchcraft 111X enclosed jacks
• Kobiconn-style DC jack with internal nut

NOBELS ODR-1 OVERDRIVE / ANDROMEDA OVERDRIVE 5

Standard Wiring Diagram
This diagram shows standard true-bypass wiring
with a 3PDT switch. When the switch is off, the
input of the circuit is grounded and the input jack
is connected directly to the output jack.

The SW pad is the cathode connection for the

LED. This will connect to ground to turn it on
when the switch is on. Usage of the on-board +9V
LED connection is not required if you have
specific placement needs for your enclosure,
but’s incredibly convenient.

The wiring diagram also makes use of star

grounding principles where all of the grounds
connect to a single ground point (in this case the
sleeve of the input jack). This is best practice
to avoid added noise caused by improper
grounding. The sleeve of the output jack is IN GND OUT SW
unconnected.

If using a painted or powdercoated enclosure,

make sure both jacks have solid contact with SLEEVE
bare aluminum for grounding purposes. You may
need to sand off some of the paint or powdercoat TIP
on the inside in order to make this happen.
TIP
Make sure to double-check the markings of the
pads on the PCB for your particular project – they
are not always in the order shown here!

License / Usage
No direct support is offered for these PCBs beyond the provided documentation. It is assumed that you
have at least some experience building pedals before starting one of these. Replacements and refunds will not
be offered unless it can be shown that the circuit or documentation are in error. I have in good faith tested all of
these circuits. However, I have not necessarily tested every listed modification or variation. These are offered
only as suggestions based on the experience and opinions of others.

Projects may be used for commercial endeavors in any quantity unless specifically noted. No bulk
pricing or discounting is offered. No attribution is necessary, though a link back is always greatly appreciated.
The only usage restrictions are that (1) you cannot resell the PCB as part of a kit, and (2) you cannot
“goop” the circuit, scratch off the screenprint, or otherwise obfuscate the circuit to disguise its source.
(In other words: you don’t have to go out of your way to advertise the fact that you use these PCBs, but please
don’t go out of your way to hide it. The guitar effects pedal industry needs more transparency, not less!)

NOBELS ODR-1 OVERDRIVE / ANDROMEDA OVERDRIVE 6