Any info on Shanks ODS-1?

[MG]

I was watching Tim Pierce get some beautiful liquid tones on a Hendrix tune (video on Youtube).  Tim could probably do that with just about any pedal, but he mentioned that he was using a Shanks ODS-1.  Does anyone have any info?  Is it just another variant on back-to-back diodes, or is there something unique going on?

[ElectricDruid]

No idea, sorry, and the web seems very reluctant to show us schematics or even a gut shot.

Fancy volunteering to get one and trace it?!?

[Mark Hammer]

It appears to be a Vemuram pedal with the name Shanks, rather than "Shanks" being a brand.

[ElectricDruid]

TBH, given the price, it'd better have gold-plated flux capacitors and quantum regenerators feeding the lithium crystal drive circuit.
If it's got back-to-back diodes and is basically a tubescreamer in a brass box, a lot of people are paying a lot of money to hear the incredible tone-boosting effects of cognitive dissonance! Although I bet that enclosure is expensive to do...

[iainpunk]

Although I bet that enclosure is expensive to do...

doubt it, they probably use the left overs from the UPS truck paint shop.

cheers

[ElectricDruid]

Although I bet that enclosure is expensive to do...

doubt it, they probably use the left overs from the UPS truck paint shop.

It's supposed to be solid brass, rather than the cast aluminium us commoners use.

[DIY Bass]

I saw somewhere that it is based on a Nobels ODS-1.  It does seem to have a few extra controls in the form of trimpots.  I am not sure what or where they would be.

[GGBB]

^ Nobels ODR-1 I believe. And probably more akin to the present day ODR-1(bc) which has a "bass cut" switch. No idea what the SAT trimpot does other than maybe the obvious, but the BASS trimpot would likely be something similar to to the bass cut switch.

[GGBB]

I was watching Tim Pierce get some beautiful liquid tones on a Hendrix tune (video on Youtube).  Tim could probably do that with just about any pedal, but he mentioned that he was using a Shanks ODS-1.  Does anyone have any info?  Is it just another variant on back-to-back diodes, or is there something unique going on?

Tim tends to stack overdrives a lot, on top of pushing the front end of the amp a bit and using compression. So you usually aren't hearing just the one pedal in his videos. But I agree his tone is always delicious as is his playing. I think he also has an original ODR-1 (not sure) and he likes to use the Ibanez Mostortion too - both of the other two pedals - Danelectro and Karma - in that same video are Mostortion based/clones.

[DIY Bass]

The Aion Andromeda is basically an ODR-1 with an added bass cut knob.  No idea if it works on the same range as the Shanks ODR-1, but it has to be near enough that experimentation with filter parts values would get you pretty close I would think.

[GGBB]

^ Maybe.

There is more than one way to go about bass reduction. The Aion Andromeda's approach is simplistic - reduce gain in the low frequency section of the feedback filter in the first opamp section (gain stage):



Another approach would be to simply reduce the capacitance there - say from 2µ2 to 1µ or lower - leaving the overall gain the same and just reducing low frequency response. This would theoretically have less overall impact on the tone than lowering the gain of the entire filter section - not sure if in real life it would sound much different.

My guess is that the Nobels ODR-1 bass cut switch is the latter approach. No idea what the Vemuran Shanks ODS-1 does but it could be either the same as the Andromeda, or a variable approach to the switch similar to what's done in the Timmy.



Could also be something else entirely I suppose.

[ElectricDruid]

While interesting, all of these *do* fall into the general category of "tubescreamer-style overdrives". Just sayin'. 

[GGBB]

While interesting, all of these *do* fall into the general category of "tubescreamer-style overdrives". Just sayin'. 

A *lot* of overdrives are "tubescreamer-style" according your earlier definition - including ones that sound very different than a tube-screamer. 

[ElectricDruid]

While interesting, all of these *do* fall into the general category of "tubescreamer-style overdrives". Just sayin'. 

A *lot* of overdrives are "tubescreamer-style" according your earlier definition - including ones that sound very different than a tube-screamer. 

Clearly - "tubescreamer-style" is one of only a handful of basic types/designs that cover 99% of all dirt pedals, I'd say. It's not about the sound. It's a question of what you charge for the bits in the box. This pedal seems to have spent more money on the box than what's inside it. I'd query whether that's a good proposition for the buying public, but people are free to spend their money however they wish...

[GGBB]

Agreed. I've always assumed "Vemuram" translates into English as "luxury clone". Most so-called "boutique" pedals are little more than brands now - many of them famous - all producing similar products in different packaging. The value of any brand is whatever the individual assigns it.

[iainpunk]

Agreed. I've always assumed "Vemuram" translates into English as "luxury clone". Most so-called "boutique" pedals are little more than brands now - many of them famous - all producing similar products in different packaging. The value of any brand is whatever the individual assigns it.

i wish people had a more diverse taste in pedals, that would force ''boutique'' builders to come up with new/interesting/unique circuits, instead of 100 ''different'' tube screamer clones all costing more than 200$.

cheers

[MG]

Tim tends to stack overdrives a lot, on top of pushing the front end of the amp a bit and using compression. So you usually aren't hearing just the one pedal in his videos. But I agree his tone is always delicious as is his playing. I think he also has an original ODR-1 (not sure) and he likes to use the Ibanez Mostortion too - both of the other two pedals - Danelectro and Karma - in that same video are Mostortion based/clones.

I should have posted the URL in the original query but I didn't know if anyone was even familiar.  Yeah, Tim is a beautiful, lyrical and imaginative player.  Incredibly graceful lines, so his Hendrix interpretations are directly in the spirit.  Here's the URL I was referring to:

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6bW9yvKhNI

At 8 minutes in, he says he's using two pedals for the video: An MXR Microamp, and a Shanks ODR-1.  (Of course anyone interested should listen from the start. It's worthwhile.)  Tim doesn't mention Vemuram, so I thought perhaps there was an 'original Shanks' that was purchased or reissued by Vemuram.  I don't know the history of either name though. 

In any case, it appears that the ODR-1 would be the main overdrive component here.  If the session is live-mic'd, he's not getting the OD sounds from a blasting amp, unless it's isolated in another room.

I didn't hear mention of Danelectro or Ibanez Mostortion in that particular video, but it sounds like you know way more about his signal chain than most.  Given his unfailing beautiful tone, I'd be interested in anything that he uses, so I'll check on those as well.  Probably way easier to find schematics.  In this case, the sound was just gorgeous, and I hadn't heard of Shanks ODR-1 before.

[MG]

I saw somewhere that it is based on a Nobels ODS-1.  It does seem to have a few extra controls in the form of trimpots.  I am not sure what or where they would be.

The Nobels ODS-1 schematic seems to be readily available.  Two stages of back-to-back diodes.  The first, around an opamp feedback loop.  The second follows, with diodes going to ground.  I wonder if that's the main concept in the Shanks/Vemuram.

[MG]

No idea, sorry, and the web seems very reluctant to show us schematics or even a gut shot.

Fancy volunteering to get one and trace it?!?

It's rather expensive.  If I was certain that there was a great deal to be learned from the circuit, yeah, I'd consider buying one and tracing it. I absolutely love the sounds that Tim Pierce was getting.  And yeah, I know, it's Tim Pierce, so any pedal is going to sound good.  Hence my original query about whether this is just another well-tuned version of the age-old diode theme.

[GGBB]

I should have posted the URL in the original query but I didn't know if anyone was even familiar.  Yeah, Tim is a beautiful, lyrical and imaginative player.  Incredibly graceful lines, so his Hendrix interpretations are directly in the spirit.  Here's the URL I was referring to:

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6bW9yvKhNI

Oh *that* video. I thought you were talking about https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw-4LQglX3w.

At 8 minutes in, he says he's using two pedals for the video: An MXR Microamp, and a Shanks ODR-1. ... If the session is live-mic'd, he's not getting the OD sounds from a blasting amp, unless it's isolated in another room.

In fact it is live mic'd in another room. He has another video about his setup, but basically he has a bunch of heads which you see (and plenty of effects) in his control room, and a few cabs in another isolated room that are mic'd. He can easily switch heads and cabs just like effects. So you are always hearing a real amp and I think he has stated that he usually runs them on the edge of breakup.

Note that at 8:08 he says about using the MXR Microamp "to push the front end of the amp".

And I was right before about him having an original ODR-1 - spotted it on his pedalboard in an older video. So unless he got rid of it or loaned it out or something, it's interesting that he's using the Vemuram clone, however he often "promotes" products if he likes them (not sure if he does that for pay or not).