Classic Overdrive / Preamp Pedal

On Sunday the 29th of June, 2025, I went to purchase the notorious Digitech Crossroads Eric Clapton pedal for $30 and while talking with the seller (craigslist), it turned out he had an additional pedal for sale and since he was preparing to relocated out of town, he offered it to me for $40.

It was the original 250 pedal which is clearly noted by the use of the O versus 0 on the 25O (as opposed to 250 which may have been a purposeful design decision). There are a few additional indicators such as the justification of the model directly below the brand title and smaller knobs.

The 250 has a decent and classic sound, housed in a sturdy metal enclosure. Mine is in great condition though the LEVEL knob has been replaced though it does roughly match the original which is the GAIN knob.

Though I do have this sound with other pedals and the Digitech multi-fx units, it is cool to have the original in my ever growing collection and the studio.

One Great Sound

It's hard to complain about a classic pedal that inspired some of the earliest pedal-driven tones. Putting this in front of a clean amp sounds surprisingly good. It can be a bit brittle sometimes, but sometimes that's good. With the Gain knob around 1:30 or more, it sounds great. The trouble is that the Gain knob changes the tone, and the tone only opens up after 12:00, making lower gain settings unusable. This pedal doesn't work well as a boost, but it does work well into a fuzz (for metal tones) or after a fuzz (for incredible, rich sonic destruction). I wouldn't be pleased to pay the recent aftermarket prices I've seen and get one sound, an 1/8" power supply socket, and no indicator light, but I won't be getting rid of mine.

Preferred Settings + Usage:

BEST FRICKIN DRIVE PEDAL THAT I USED

This pedal is the best drive pedal that I used it sounds awesome in low, mid and high gain. I wasn't expecting that much when buying this pedal but ITS AWESOME.

Great Vintage-vibe pedal

Great pedal for booting a guitars signal for more bite. Gives a little more than a TS9/808 would but can add grit. Mine is an early 1990s RI that had the circuit matched to a 1978 Grey and the JRC4558 was replaced with the MC1458S chip. Softer curve to clipping, much lower end and bass, still has the hard diode clipping without the bright and brittle distortion the 250 normally has.

I prefer this to a Distortion+

dual op amp, back to back silicon diodes to ground... classic formula. More output and more of a rusty/raspy, grating metalicness to the clipping versus an MXR which is the same circuit subbing a pair of germanium diodes for earlier clipping, elss output and a skmoother sound.... castly prefer the OD250 for guitar. Synths? the mxr has the edge usually. this epdal is voiced very brightly. It seems like it could take your head off until you get on stage with it. Great for cutting the mix. Pure rockin'

Very crunchy and well priced.

This is easily one of the best overdrive pedals you can buy today. At only a mere $50 for a used one, which can last you years to come, it's worth every penny. Using the level knob is a super great way to get some extra loudness out of a small amp or even a more grittier tone out of a large amp. The gain effect is always really touchy and doesn't need very much for a good punch and crunch sound, which I love. Leaving your knobs both at the 12 o' clock position is the sweet spot for not too much and not too little. It's super, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Good for bass

The Less I Know The Better. After got some inputs, I go to music store and try almost every overdrive pedals (on my budget) there. But, this yellow one really got me. I play with my Sire V7 (I bring it there) and no problemo. The seller even amazed with me using DOD 250 for bass and said no one before me bought that pedal for four strings. The seller and a bassist (who want to buy G&L 2000) said it a little bit sounds like Dark Glass Microtube. The other bassist said he'll buy DOD 250 too if looking for overdrive.

Solid OD with a unique sound

It has a surprising amount of versatility, going from boost to slightly fizzy to fuzz to full on distortion. The sound is strikes me as "electric", certainly not your run of the mill wannabe-tube OD. My one gripe with it is that it can sound really dry, as if no matter how much you're playing your heart out, it feels like the 250 kind of sounds the same.

modern classic reissue

Modern re-issue of the classic. solves a few issues with true by pass and an LED on. different sound to the classic pedal. a little bit thin as drives go. but this pedal works very well with others. stacks with other drives really well. it the secret behind the 32 tens guitar sound mixed with a ZVEX super hard on.

Best for boosting

I have a clone of the gray DOD 250, with added options: Germanium diode clipping (MXR Distortion+) and no clipping (MXR Micro amp). Sounds good on lower gain, gets a bit fizzy on higher settings. Not that great as a standalone-unit, but very good into another saturated gain stage.