Strymon’s first-ever pedal, the OB.1, has been discontinued

Strymon has announced that it has discontinued its OB.1 pedal, the optical compressor and clean boost.

The OB.1 was the now-ubiquitous brand’s first-ever pedal, with a compressor paired with a transparent clean boost designed to ‘supercharge’ an amplifier. It also had the option for a treble-focused, mid-focused or full-range boost.

Writing on Instagram, Strymon explained the decision: “Recently, production of OB.1 has become increasingly difficult, as we have been unable to maintain a consistent supply of Light Dependent Resistors, the optical element within OB.1. Due to these supply issues, we have not been able to build OB.1 pedals in regular quantities. After much consideration, we have made the decision to discontinue the production of OB.1. We’re quite sad to see builds of our first ever pedal come to an end.”

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Goodbye OB.1 OB.1 Compressor & Clean Boost was the first effects pedal that we ever released under the Strymon banner, way back in July 2009. The beautifully transparent analog optical compression and clean boost, designed to super-charge your favorite amp, has been embraced by our customers and made its way onto pedalboards around the world. Some of the very first Strymon customers were musicians that purchased OB.1. Recently, production of OB.1 has become increasingly difficult, as we have been unable to maintain a consistent supply of Light Dependent Resistors, the optical element within OB.1. Due to these supply issues, we have not been able to build OB.1 pedals in regular quantities. After much consideration, we have made the decision to discontinue the production of OB.1. We’re quite sad to see builds of our first ever pedal come to an end.  However, we’re very appreciative of all OB.1 customers, and all the incredible music that has been made with this pedal throughout the years. We no longer have any quantity of OB.1 available in our online store. If you’re interested in purchasing an OB.1, you may reach out to your local authorized Strymon dealer to see if they have any left in stock. Thanks again to all our OB.1 customers and fans out there for helping make our first ever pedal a success, and helping put Strymon on the map

A post shared by Strymon (@strymonengineering) on Mar 13, 2020 at 6:52pm PDT

Strymon did suggest players looking to pick one up (before they’re relegated to the occasional Reverb.com post) should head to authorised Strymon retailers, writing: “We no longer have any quantity of OB.1 available in our online store. If you’re interested in purchasing an OB.1, you may reach out to your local authorised Strymon dealer to see if they have any left in stock.”

Find out more about the OB.1 here. For more gear news, click here.