Nimbus Overdrive

Maxon OD-820 Overdrive Pro

Overview Nimbus Project Link

The Nimbus Overdrive project is a straight clone of the

Maxon OD-820 Overdrive Pro, also released as the
VOP-9 Vintage Overdrive Pro. This pedal was intended
to be an update to the legendary Tube Screamer, but it
never really caught on. However, those who have the
opportunity to play it are invariably impressed. It’s the
favored overdrive of Nigel Hendroff of Hillsong.

The OD-820 has drawn both technical and tonal

comparisons to the Klon Centaur Professional Overdrive,
which it was undoubtedly inspired by. Both of them use a
charge pump to run at 18v (technically the OD-820 is +/-
9v bipolar), and both of them use a dual potentiometer for
the Drive control to simultaneously increase the drive and
blend it with the clean signal. The similarities end there,
but it’s a little too close to be a coincidence.

Controls & Usage

The controls of the OD-820 are identical to that of a Tube Screamer as well as most other overdrive pedals.

• Drive controls the overall amount of drive, but with this pedal it also controls the balance between clean
and overdriven. This produces a very unique tonal shift as you turn up the Drive control.
• Tone controls the treble response in the circuit. The tone control is taken directly from a Tube Screamer
and has the same function: it cuts treble for the first half of the rotation, it’s flat in the middle, and it boosts
treble for the second half.
• Volume controls the overall output.

Build Notes
The original circuit calls for a great deal of power filtering, far more than any other overdrive pedal out there.
I’ve included space for all the original filtering capacitors, but you can probably do without some of them
(particularly one of the parallel 220uFs) and you won’t notice any difference.
The circuit calls for a dual 250k linear pot for the Drive control. The circuit was designed to use right-angle
PCB mount pots, and Steve at Small Bear Electronics was kind enough to stock these at my request. As far
as I know, he is the only one who carries them.
You can find straight-pin versions elsewhere, such as at Tayda Electronics, but these will require a little
patience and manual dexterity to get them to fit. See page 3 for more information on how to accomplish this.

OD-820 OVERDRIVE PRO / NIMBUS OVERDRIVE 1

Parts
Resistors Capacitors Semiconductors
R1 10k C1 100n Q1 2SK246
R2 1M C2 1uF film IC1 - IC2 JRC4558D
R3 10k C3 100pF 1 IC3 TC1044S
R4 560R C4 100n D1 - D2 1N914 3
R5 62k C5 220n D3 - D5 1N4001
R6 2k2 C6 10n LED 5MM
R7 1k C7 220n
R8 56k C8 10pF 1 Potentiometers
R9 100k C9 220n
Tone 20kW
R10 7k5 C10 10uF 2
Drive 250kB dual 4
R11 20k C11 20pF 1
Volume 100kA
R12 56k C12 1uF film
R13 1k C13 100uF 25v
R14 1k C14 10uF
R15 220R C15 100uF 25v
R16 47k C16 10uF
R17 100k C17 10uF
R18 100k C18 220uF 16v
R19 1k C19 220uF 16v
R20 10k
R21 10k
RPD 1M to 2M2
LEDR 4k7

1
Can be ceramic or film. I prefer to use multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) for these small values.
2
Can be electrolytic or tantalum. C10 is in the signal path.
3
Extra pads have been provided in case you want to stack diodes (e.g. 2x 1N914s in either direction).
4
Get these from Small Bear Electronics if you can. Non-right-angle versions can be found at places such
as Tayda Electronics. If using one of these, see page 3 for more details on how to make these fit the PCB.

Additional Part Notes

• Capacitors are shown in nanofarads (n or nF) where appropriate. 1000n = 1uF. Many online suppliers do
not use nanofarads, so you’ll often have to look for 0.047uF instead of 47n, 0.0056uF instead of 5n6, etc.
• The PCB layout assumes the use of film capacitors with 5mm lead spacing for all values 1nF through
470nF. I prefer EPCOS box film or Panasonic ECQ-B/V-series.
• Potentiometers are Alpha 16mm right-angle PCB mount.
• I recommend using these dust covers / insulators from Small Bear to insulate the back of the pots from
the board and prevent shorts. If you don’t use these, use some electrical tape or cardboard to act as
insulation. The right-angle pots will make direct contact with the solder pads otherwise.

OD-820 OVERDRIVE PRO / NIMBUS OVERDRIVE 2

Wiring the 250k Drive pot
The original circuit calls for a dual 250k linear pot for the Drive control. Steve at Small Bear Electronics began
stocking right-angle versions of these in early 2014, which is what I built this circuit around. However, non-right-
angle versions are also available from places such as Tayda Electronics. Here are instructions on how to craft
a right-angle pot from straight-pin if you are not able to source them from Small Bear.

To make these work for the OD-820, you’ll first want to bend each of the pins back toward the pot to make
a sort of eyelet (small needle-nose pliers work well for this). I recommend bending the pins of both rows inward
toward each other.

From here, note that you do not have to follow the method below. You can just use these eyelets like normal
solder lugs and run wires to the PCB pads. The PCB will still be held securely by the other two pots. But since I
have a deep hatred for pot wiring, I prefer the method outlined here, although it may take a little longer.

Using thick wire (such as solid-core home electrical wiring, like from a hardware store), loop the wire through
the eyelets you made and bend it so each wire sticks straight out. (You’ll want to make the bottom row
significantly longer so you have enough length to bend them upwards.)

Squeeze the eyelets down to better hold the wire in place. Then, once they’re all in position, solder them.

Bend the wires upward. The top row should go as nearly straight upward as possible. The bottom row should
go out about a quarter inch and then up. The bottom row doesn’t need to be terribly accurate since there’s
room to bend the wires outward or inward slightly to match the PCB pads.

Follow the build order in General Build Instructions below for wiring up the PCB, but read and take note of
the following before you start:

• When fitting the PCB onto the pots, you’ll probably have to bend the wires around a bit more in order to
get it to fit.
• The PCB will not lay perfectly flat since the top of a dual pot is slightly taller than the top of a standard
pot. However, once it’s soldered into place it’ll be just fine.
• My recommended Alpha 16mm dust covers will not work with dual pots, so you’ll need to insulate the
backs in some other way. I use cardboard or pieces of a manila folder. Make it a little wider than it needs
to be and bend it down the sides to help keep it in place. You don’t want it shifting slightly and putting any
of the tabs or rivets in contact with the solder joints on the PCB.

Here are some pictures of a Tayda pot that has been “retrofitted” to be right-angle PCB mount:

OD-820 OVERDRIVE PRO / NIMBUS OVERDRIVE 3

 Schematic

DRIVEB
R6 250kBx2

2k2 1 3
100n 2
R17
C4 100k
D2

D1 1N914 R12 R14 C11 20pF

GND

3
VR 1N914 56k 1k
C3 100pF 2 IC1A C12 OUT
+9V C8 10pF 1
R19

2
3

TONE
20kW
C10 3
IC1B IC2A 10uF 1k
6 2 JRC4558D 1uF

R2
1M
7
R7 R8 6 IC2B 1
R16
2

OD-820 OVERDRIVE PRO / NIMBUS OVERDRIVE

R4 R13
100kA
VOLUME

5 7 3
R18
100k

1k 56k 47k GND

Q1 220n 5
1

R1 560R JRC4558D 1k JRC4558D

3
2SK246 JRC4558D
10k C5
IN C1

2
R5
62k
R15
220R
GND GND
100n GND

250kBx2
DRIVEA
C2

RPD
2M2
1
1uF GND GND 220n
C7

R3
10k
220n C9
R10 R11
GND
7k5 20k
10n GND
GND
C6

R9
100k
+9V
GND GND

+9V
8
8

D4 IC3
1 8
2 7
+9V C13 1N4001 3 6
4
4

C16 1N4001
4 5

D3
1N4001
-9V

100uF C15

LEDR
4k7
R20
10k
TC1044S D5
10uF 10uF 220uF 220uF
100uF GND

VR
GND GND C17 C18 C19
-9V

LED
C14
GND

R21
10k
10uF GND GND GND

SW
GND GND

4
General Build Instructions
These are general guidelines and explanations for all Aion Electronics DIY projects, so be aware that not
everything described below may apply to this particular project.

Build Order
When putting together the PCB, it’s recommended that you do not yet solder any of the enclosure-mounted
control components (pots and switches) to the board. Instead, follow this build order:

1. Attach the audio jacks, DC jack and footswitch to the enclosure.

2. Firmly attach the pots and switches to the enclosure, taking care that they are aligned and straight.
3. Push the LED1 into the hole in the enclosure with the leads sticking straight up, ensuring that the flat side
is oriented according to the silkscreen on the PCB.
4. Fit the PCB onto all the control components, including the leads of the LED. If it doesn’t fit, or if you need
to bend things more than you think you should, double-check the alignment of the pots and switches.
5. Once you feel good about everything, solder them from the top2 as the last step before wiring. This way
there is no stress on the solder joints from slight misalignments that do not fit the drilled holes. You can
still take it out easily if the build needs to be debugged, but now the PCB is “custom-fit” to that particular
enclosure.
6. Wire everything according to the wiring diagram on the last page.
1
For the LED: You can use a bezel if you’d like, but generally it’s easier just to drill the proper size of hole
and push the LED through so it fits snugly. If you solder it directly to the PCB, it’ll stay put even if the hole is
slightly too big. Make absolutely sure the LED is oriented correctly (the flat side matches the silk screen) before
soldering, as it’ll be a pain to fix later! After it’s soldered, clip off the excess length of the leads.
2
Note on soldering the toggle switch(es): It will require a good amount of solder to fill the pads. Try to be as
quick as possible to avoid melting the lugs, and be prepared to feed a lot of solder as soon as the solder starts
to melt. I recommend waiting 20-30 seconds between soldering each lug to give it time to cool down.

“RPD” and “LEDR” resistors

The resistors marked “RPD” and “LEDR” are generally not original to the circuit and can be adjusted to
preference. “RPD” is the pulldown resistor to help tame true-bypass popping, while “LEDR” controls the
brightness of the LED. I generally use 2.2M for the pulldown resistor and 4.7k for the LED resistor.

Sockets
Since double-sided boards can be very frustrating to desolder, especially components with more than 2 leads,
it is recommended to use sockets for all transistors and ICs. It may save you a lot of headaches later on.

OD-820 OVERDRIVE PRO / NIMBUS OVERDRIVE 5

Drilling & Placement
Print this page and have an adult cut out the drilling template below for you. Tape it to the enclosure to secure
it while drilling. Note that the holes are shown slightly smaller than they need to be, so drill out the holes as
shown and then step up until they are the correct size for the components.

Hammond 1590B
(bottom/inside view)

Parts Used
• Switchcraft #111 enclosed jacks
• Kobiconn-style DC jack with internal nut

OD-820 OVERDRIVE PRO / NIMBUS OVERDRIVE 6

Standard Wiring Diagram
This diagram shows standard true-bypass wiring
with a 3PDT switch. When the switch is off, the
input of the circuit is grounded and the input jack
is connected directly to the output jack.

The SW pad is the cathode connection for the

LED. This will connect to ground to turn it on
when the switch is on. Usage of the on-board +9V
LED connection is not required if you have
specific placement needs for your enclosure,
but’s incredibly convenient.

The wiring diagram also makes use of star

grounding principles where all of the grounds
connect to a single ground point (in this case the
sleeve of the input jack). This is best practice
to avoid added noise caused by improper
grounding. The sleeve of the output jack is IN GND OUT SW
unconnected.

If using a painted or powdercoated enclosure,

make sure both jacks have solid contact with SLEEVE
bare aluminum for grounding purposes. You may
need to sand off some of the paint or powdercoat TIP
on the inside in order to make this happen.
TIP
Make sure to double-check the markings of the
pads on the PCB for your particular project – they
are not always in the order shown here!

License / Usage
No direct support is offered for these PCBs beyond the provided documentation. It is assumed that you
have at least some experience building pedals before starting one of these. Replacements and refunds will not
be offered unless it can be shown that the circuit or documentation are in error. I have in good faith tested all of
these circuits. However, I have not necessarily tested every listed modification or variation. These are offered
only as suggestions based on the experience and opinions of others.

Projects may be used for commercial endeavors in any quantity unless specifically noted. No bulk
pricing or discounting is offered. No attribution is necessary, though a link back is always greatly appreciated.
The only usage restrictions are that (1) you cannot resell the PCB as part of a kit, and (2) you cannot
“goop” the circuit, scratch off the screenprint, or otherwise obfuscate the circuit to disguise its source.
(In other words: you don’t have to go out of your way to advertise the fact that you use these PCBs, but please
don’t go out of your way to hide it. The guitar effects pedal industry needs more transparency, not less!)

OD-820 OVERDRIVE PRO / NIMBUS OVERDRIVE 7