OCD-Ge Germanium Obsessive Compulsive Drive Pedal Review

Love it at 9 volts instead of 18

I got this pedal about 6 months ago and plugged it into a Fulltone IPS-18 PS. I thought it was an 'OK' overdrive, but not worthy of the hype. It was just too soft clipping, spongy and could barely make it into distortion territory. It improved if I put a boost pedal in front of it, that helped, but wasn't a magic bullet either. It seemed to me that the germanium aspect of the… read more pedal had been over-baked in and this pedal was just too 'glassed'. Quite honestly, I was thinking that I was done with germanium. That all changed when I watched Don Carr's video demo of the pedal. In the video, he casually mentions at one point that he prefers the OCD-Ge at 9 volts and that really caught my attention. I switched it over to my isolated 9 volts PS and everything changed. I'm no expert in the differences between driving a pedal at 9 or 18 volts and I just assumed that more is better. Not true in this case, for me anyway. The OCD-Ge jumped to life at 9 volts! I was completely amazed, it's like a whole new pedal now. I'm big on distortion and fuzz and this thing now goes from overdrive to distortion to just past the verge of a fuzz breakup. The tone range matters now, whereas it really didn't do a whole lot at 18 volts and the LP/HP switch is actually useful and makes sense. Thank you Don Carr!!! You have me and my OCD-Ge learn to love each other!

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Fulltone OCD-GE

I'd been looking for a while to find the right overdrive pedal for me. I tried the Fulltone Robin Trower Signature OD, and while it's a great pedal in its own right, and pairs great with my fulltone mdv-3, it's more for a certain sound and specific style of playing (just my opinion). I was looking more for a jack of all trades overdrive, and after doing some research, I was between… read more the original OCD and this OCD-GE. After talking with my sweetwater rep, Alex Campos, I decided that this GE version was the one for me. I've been playing with it for a few weeks now, and all I can say is wow. This thing sounds amazing, and you can get all the sounds you're looking for. From a nice clean breakup/boost, all the way to pretty heavy classic rock tones, bordering on Distortion sounds. It sounds great with both my Strat and Les Paul, is very dynamic, and is super easy to dial in great tones right away. I've been preferring the LP setting so far, but the HP sounds really good as well, especially if you're needing to cut through a mix. Build quality is great as usual, and it feels like a very study piece of equipment. It is a bit pricey, but worth it in my opinion, as I don't think I'll need another overdrive any time soon. This is a winner for me and will be on my pedalboard full time going forward.

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OCD

After reviewing and testing out mini overdrive pedals this one clearly is the winner I've had many of my musician friends tell me that this one of the best overdrive pedals you could get and I couldn't agree more very happy with and would highly recommend it to any musician

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Exactly what I wanted

I had been eyeing an OCD for almost a year before I finally one as a gift. I plugged it in to my Vox ac30 and my Les Paul. It was awesome from the get go. Adds the amount of gain I need without altering that LP/Vox sound I want. Not sure how different this Ge version is, but I don't care. This is my favorite pedal.

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Love it!

I love this thing!! Don't have to use a distortion pedal anymore! I run it through an old VHT PITTBULL 45 combo and I into a 10 band EQ pedal then put this thing in front of a mini-Tube Screamer! Kick in the tube screamer and get a really nice clean kick butt distortion! You can play with the drive setting on both pedals and get a lot of different degrees of distortion! If I don't… read more kick in the Tube Screamer this thing has a really really good overdrive sound! I love this thing! Thinking hard about getting another one while I still can!!

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