Zakk Wylde overdrive.. the original one

lespaul6

Well-known member
Man, I forgot how good this pedal sounds.. I think I may prefer it to my SD1. Its close. Some say its noisy but I'm not hearing it. anyone still rocking one of these? does it have a secret switch located inside lol
 
The oldest gray/metal ones did not have the switch, AFAIK. It's the off-white ones that did.

I have a Classic Overdrive that has the switch, and I think I like it better in GT-OD mode, but ZW-OD mode is cool too.
 
Rex Rocker":1juus3g3 said:
The oldest gray/metal ones did not have the switch, AFAIK. It's the off-white ones that did.

I have a Classic Overdrive that has the switch, and I think I like it better in GT-OD mode, but ZW-OD mode is cool too.

I had one of those also. I think I kept mine in GT-OD mode also. Eyeballing a used ZW-OD though at the moment though.
 
fek":1n9gp6vs said:
Rex Rocker":1n9gp6vs said:
The oldest gray/metal ones did not have the switch, AFAIK. It's the off-white ones that did.

I have a Classic Overdrive that has the switch, and I think I like it better in GT-OD mode, but ZW-OD mode is cool too.

I had one of those also. I think I kept mine in GT-OD mode also. Eyeballing a used ZW-OD though at the moment though.


Best 39 dollars Ive spent in awhile... I'm going to open it up and try out the GT mode, Ive heard good things
 
crwnedblasphemy":2z5pjzw4 said:
it’s noise, my lord the noise. i sent mine back within 5 minutes of opening.

I have heard this complaint, I must have got a good one? Its very quiet :dunno:
 
I had one but sold it, I wish I hadn't! It was pretty damn good. Mine was not noisy at all. I got mine on Black Friday years ago for $25 from Musicians Friend! I think I sold it for twice that.....
 
I just picked up a GT-OD for cheap a week or 2 ago.
So far, I'm thinking it's a pretty damn good OD.
The circuit board in mine has the switch, and the board is actually labeled "ZW-44" and "CSP-021" with boxes for the assembler to initial depending on where the switch was set when they boxed it up at the factory.
When I got it, I took it out of the case and monkey'd around with the switch. One position def has more bass than the other, but they are both cool. The less bass position is VERY similar to an SD-1. That's probably the ZW position.
The thing that got me about the pedal though, was the tone control. VERY wide usable range, and it seems a lot different from what other pedal's "tone" knob does.
It's not just a high cut. Very cool!

Edit: just googled "CSP-021", and it's the MXR product # for the GT-OD
 
lespaul6":3szkbgpf said:
Man, I forgot how good this pedal sounds.. I think I may prefer it to my SD1. Its close. Some say its noisy but I'm not hearing it. anyone still rocking one of these? does it have a secret switch located inside lol

I like mine. :yes:

No noise here... sounds great with a Marshall or a close derivative. ;) :thumbsup:
 
Yeah, should have also mentioned no noise here either.
I think it's gonna end up bumping my SD-1 Waza off my board.
I've seen these GT-OD's and the Zakk OD pedals around for years and never tried one before :doh: :doh: :doh:
 
^^
agree... they did a really nice job voicing this pedal using the sd1 as a foundation and improving on it. The compression of the sd1 can make a big full open chord sound too uniform and the zw seems to let individual notes ring out louder and softer based on your strings natural vibration
 
I bought an old first gen white one about 6 months ago based on it's rave reviews when paired with Marshalls.
It doesn't disappoint that's for sure.
The tone dial is nice because it doesn't just add treble or bass. It almost opens up the EQ, and then narrows it when turned the other way.
Glow in the dark indicaters too!
Noise free operation here as well.
 
Yeah, my Classic Overdrive is not particularly noisy either.

ZW mode has less mids, less output, and it's more compressed. GT-OD mode is fatter, louder, and more open. Both are very useable.

I find both are kinda grainy in a good way. More raunchy than a Tube Screamer, but fatter and less chirpy than an SD-1.

On a related note, I really like the voicing of the SD-1, but I can never get unity gain out of it. Even if I crank the output volume, whenever I engage the pedal, I actually lose some volume, especially if I keep the tone knob below 12 o'clock, which is kind of a necessity with the SD-1. The Wylde OD doesn't have that issue.
 
Rex Rocker":2n392msr said:
Yeah, my Classic Overdrive is not particularly noisy either.

ZW mode has less mids, less output, and it's more compressed. GT-OD mode is fatter, louder, and more open. Both are very useable.

I find both are kinda grainy in a good way. More raunchy than a Tube Screamer, but fatter and less chirpy than an SD-1.

On a related note, I really like the voicing of the SD-1, but I can never get unity gain out of it. Even if I crank the output volume, whenever I engage the pedal, I actually lose some volume, especially if I keep the knob below 12 o'clock, which is kind of a necessity with the SD-1. The Wylde OD doesn't have that issue.


:thumbsup:
 
lespaul6":1lgapvbk said:
Man, I forgot how good this pedal sounds.. I think I may prefer it to my SD1. Its close. Some say its noisy but I'm not hearing it. anyone still rocking one of these? does it have a secret switch located inside lol

Ive had mine 12 years. Never getting rid of it. In front of a Marshall, it kills the SD-1.
 
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