Boss SD-1 -- opinions?

[birv2]

I just bought one of these today from a local non-GC music store. I've read about it and thought it might be a nice alternative to my TS9-DX.

Anybody have one? Or have a mod you recommend?

Bob

ps -- one of the reasons I made the purchase is that the guy who helped me actually knew something about guitars, tone, pedals, amps, etc., and was extremely helpful. Figured the least I could do was send some $$ their way.

 

[markb]

They're great, aren't they. To my ears the mid-hump is a bit lower than the Tube Screamer's and the asymmetrical clipping makes it sound slightly coarser. More of a growl than the snarl of a TS-9. A real musical bargain IMO. The only mod I'd recommend is something to fix the slight effect bleed you get with the gain up high. Try stacking it with a Blues Driver or an OD-3 to cover a lot of OD/boost bases for very little money.

 

[R.B. Huckleberry]

SD1 is great for pushing an amp on the edge. I like mine more than the Ibanez TS-9 (blasphemy!!!). Only my Reverend Drivetrains provide a better TubeScreamer experience.

 

[birv2]

I like it so far. Might have Mark Humphries mod it, but let's see how it does at the jam first.

I think I like it more than the TS, too. Sorry for the blasphemy.

Bob

 

[markb]

So, after writing such a paean above to the SD-1, and needing a pedal for the gig bag, I went OD shopping today and A/Bed an SD-1 against a Bad Monkey. Short story is, I bought the SD-1.

 

[F_BSurfer]

I have had the SD-1 for better part of 10 years the circuit is very similar to the TS-9 and can be easily modded to 808 or 9 specs
After modding mine with Monte's GT mod and the bleed off mod from Matthew's it replaced my TS-808 on my pedal board
2 very simple mods I would recommend would be the bleed off mod and putting op-amp socket in
Bleed off mod makes for better bypass when pedal not in use
Adding the op-amp socket you can make subtle changes to tone.. DVM has a really nice post covering some differences in op-amps

http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php?t=2469

 

[birv2]

What I like about the SD-1 is that it's NOT a tube screamer. It's got a more aggressive tone, and is more "colored" than the TS, and I actually like that. So if I'm going to get it modded, it won't be in that direction.

I used it at a jam last night and, despite my amp crapping out (complete train wreck), I liked the stock sound a lot and got some nice comments on the tone. I'll keep playing with it, but I guess there's no need to mod it just yet. I did buy it based on the sound.

That bleedoff mod might be useful, though.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[tunghaichuan]

I got an SD-1 at GC a while back when it was on sale. I like mine quite a bit. Another pedal to keep an eye out for is the Boss OD-2 and OD-2R Turbo Overdrive. It has the SD-1 mode, but it also has a boosted mode. The OD-2R has a remote jack that switches the boost on and off with a footswitch.

tung

 

[markb]

I got an SD-1 at GC a while back when it was on sale. I like mine quite a bit. Another pedal to keep an eye out for is the Boss OD-2 and OD-2R Turbo Overdrive. It has the SD-1 mode, but it also has a boosted mode. The OD-2R has a remote jack that switches the boost on and off with a footswitch.

tung

I had an OD2R for a while. The jump in volume when you kick in the turbo mode is enormous. A Fulldrive does it better and with the collector prices of discontinued Boss pedals is not that expensive. Incidentally the Fulldrive uses Boss-style asymmetrical clipping and thus could be said to be based on the SD-1 rather than the TS.

 

[tunghaichuan]

I had an OD2R for a while. The jump in volume when you kick in the turbo mode is enormous.

Interesting. I have the OD2, and I don't get a volume jump when switching modes, but then again it may have something to do with the footswitch(?). My OD2 just gets gainier and more distorted.

tung

 

[markb]

I should say I was using it into a clean amp, maybe mine was faulty. Or maybe there's an internal trim pot to adjust the turbo.