Guitar World Verdict
All in all, the DOD 250-X is a big improvement over the stock 250. However, it is a fifty-year-old pedal, and this shows. It's less versatile than the pedals which followed, but it remains a useful pedal for stacking with other drives and fuzzes.
Pros
- +
Authentic replication of the original.
- +
Additional modes add some versatility.
- +
Stacks very well with other pedals and tube amps.
Cons
- -
Expensive.
- -
Lots of strong competition.
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What is it?
The original DOD 250 Overdrive Preamp came out in 1974, shortly after the MXR Distortion+. A near-clone, the key differences were component value changes and a switch to silicon diodes for the distortion block of the circuit.
The 250-X - the 10th version of the 250 - is a mass-produced release, including the three-position switch and with the asymmetric clipping mode changed from germanium to silicon diodes.
Specs
- Price: $109/£109/€109
- Type: Overdrive pedal
- Controls: Gain, Level, Mode
- Features: 3 clipping diode settings
- Connectivity: Input, Output, 9V DC in
- Bypass: True bypass
- Power: 9V center-negative or 9V Battery, 7mA
- Dimensions: 67 x 57 x 119 mm
- Weight: 255g
- Contact DigiTech
Build quality
Build quality rating: ★★★★½
Like all DOD pedals released since the 2010s reboot of the brand, the 250 is sturdy and well-made. Unfortunately, unlike the more expensive pedals in the DOD line, it doesn't have a reversible back-plate with built-in loop and hook fastening, but that's a minor thing.
Usability
Usability rating: ★★★★☆
With only two knobs (Gain for preamp drive and Level for your output volume) plus a three-way switch, it's hard to go far wrong with this pedal.
The jacks are side-mounted, and there's plenty of space and clear labelling to ensure that this pedal is easy to use.
To address the only possible point of confusion, there's a picture in the manual that suggests placing the pedal at the start of your chain.
Sounds
Sounds rating: ★★★½☆
The MXR Distortion+, DOD 250 and ROSS Tan distortions are only subtly different from one another. They bear the stamp of approval from aficionados - the MXR was used by Randy Rhodes, and the DOD was used by Yngwie Malmsteen.
Elsewhere, Billy Corgan's lead tone for a time was created by using a Distortion+ to saturate an op-amp Big Muff into even heavier sustain. In every case, the pedals are highly interactive with whatever pedals and amp follow.
The DOD 250-X has a three-way switch, for three voices. The first (in the 'up' position) is the original silicon diode hard clipping. The second (middle) removes the clipping diodes. The third (down) is an asymmetric clip, closer in voicing to the ROSS Tan distortion.
Although it has its adherents, I found the stock tone underwhelming until I pushed the level up, at which point the amp starts doing the heavy lifting, doubly so if it's a lower wattage unit. Of the modes, I found the ROSS-like asymmetric clip to be the most satisfying. As the gain of the unit is increased, the tone is partly the hard-clip of the diodes, and partly the op-amp.
Unfortunately, unlike say, the ProCo RAT, the op-amp's character as it clips is a bit muddy and unmusical. Depending on your taste, this limits the usefulness of the clean boost mode
Unfortunately, unlike say, the ProCo RAT, the op-amp's character as it clips is a bit muddy and unmusical. Depending on your taste, this limits the usefulness of the clean boost mode. I'm set in my ways with a preference for the Timmy or Roland Space Echo preamp as dirty boosts, and the 250 doesn't quite do it for me.
As a result, I found myself mainly using the pedal to stack with, regardless of mode. Here it is excellent, getting tight lead and saturated chord sounds out of the new DOD Badder Monkey (set up in the 'Bad', or Tube Screamer, mode), as well as several fuzzes.
Speaking of which, since it's mandatory as a Smashing Pumpkins and Sonic Youth fan, I crack out the crate of Big Muffs and get stacking. Across the board, the asymmetric clip sounds best to my ear, and it works best into a high-headroom Marshall amp.
Guitar or bass with a Russian Big Muff is pure 100% by Sonic Youth, thick and aggressive. Switching over to an op-amp Muff, a Les Paul neck pickup delivers a thick rhythm tone that James Iha would be proud of.
Back on the neck pickup of a Strat, the effect of the 250 is even more marked. It evens out the sustain of the Muff for lead work, giving it something like the true 'violin-like' smooth sustain of a transistor Muff, albeit with the voicing and EQ profile of the punchier op-amp Muff. It's addictive, if that's your jam.
Verdict
I found myself mainly using the pedal to stack with, regardless of mode.
While no doubt the 250 has its place, it is a very simple circuit, and there are many more flexible pedals available. Its strength is as simple as the pedal itself - it has a predictable voice and lots of gain on tap.
As a result, in front of a decent tube amp or stacked into other pedals, it's best used to drive additional saturation from the units that follow.
Guitar World verdict: All in all, the DOD 250-X is a big improvement over the stock 250. However, it is a 50-year-old pedal, and this shows. It's less versatile than the pedals which followed, but it remains a useful pedal for stacking with other drives and fuzzes.
Test | Results | Score |
|---|---|---|
Build quality | Lacks the built-in mounting feature of the premium range but it's a typically robust DOD stompbox | ★★★★½ |
Usability | Very simple controls, one toggle, two knobs. | ★★★★☆ |
Sounds | It stacks brilliantly and the additional modes are super useful – but it's a bit muddy as a clean boost. | ★★★½☆ |
Overall | A big-time team player on the pedalboard but there are more versatile options out there. | ★★★★☆ |
Also try
Hands-on videos
DigiTech
Elmo Karjalainen
Cameron Cooper
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