All user reviews of 4/5 for the Boss SD-1 SUPER OverDrive

This is the 3 knob, yellow Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive pedal. My goal was to turn it into a more bass friendly overdrive pedal.

I bought this pedal through AMS American Musical Supply for $40. I ordered it and it shipped the next day. Great service as always from AMS! I bought it as an introduction to pedal modding.

I like the pedal because it is built so darn tough. It was easy to take apart and work on. I removed the C6 capacitor, upgraded the C3 capacitor to a .01uf metal cap and jumped the R10 slot with a bare wire.

What that did was make the tone knob sweepable and allowed more bass through the circuit.

Not much I didn't like about the pedal. I mean stock it isn't too great. It's very treblely, but hey for 20 minutes of work and $2 in parts you can have the pedal sounding as good as one two to three times in price.

Beyond tough. If you broke a Boss pedal, you're doing something terribly wrong!

With a little bit of work this can be a great overdrive pedal. If you're looking for a first pedal to mod, this is the pedal. You can turn it into a Tubescreamer easily. $40 brand new, you aren't going to find a better deal.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I found the SD-1 on the Flying Pig website. A stonkingly good price at £33.01. I wanted an overdrive pedal to add to my marshall MGDFX 50.

It has some nice sounds on the clean channel, more of a light distortion, its certainly not for the Nu-Metallers. It gives the overdrive a kick up the ass. The controls are simple for a beginner, but for those who want some different overdrive sounds, you can twiddle the tone knob. Finally, a stompbox which doesnt make a clicking noise when witching on and off.

For me, it doesnt give as strong a drive sound on the clean channel as i would have hoped. Apart from that its a really nice stompbox.

BOSS quality design, nice metal casing. Ive dropped quite a few times and its not even made a dent. This will certainly last for an eternity.

If your a classic rocker, use light amp overdrive, and then for the solo stomp and feel the power. Jazz players will get a nice light fuzz on the clean channel. This is not a pedal to be used on its own. It complements any effect it is paired to. The only way to see if you like it is to try it out in a shop.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

About £50 from some shop somewhere in the middle of the UK.

It produces a wide range of usable sounds right from SRV blues tones right through to rock. In front of a valve amp, it is just great. Inside, it is identical to an Ibanez TS-9 except that Boss has asymetrical clipping and the TS is symetrical (I think that is the right way round). Have a look at the schematics. Having said that, it seems to me that the Boss develops a bit more bass than a TS. I like the simplicity of the three control knobs - I attached a bung to the volume control so that it can be altered by my toe when I'm playing - very useful!

I hate the colour (or color for you US people). What a nasty yellow colour. Still, it is the sound we are interested in. I have meantioned the TS a couple of time previously and to be honest, I prefer the sound that the TS gives me.

It's one of those Boss metal cased things. Virtually indestructable. A good thing for all you gigging musos. It seems to have held up well.

At virtually half the price of a TS, you can't really go wrong. A great overdrive for the price!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Analog Overdrive pedal. Boss standard format, an inlet, an outlet.
Knob to "level": the general level of effect, its volume in its clear, its rate of mixing the sound with distortion.
"Tone": general tone: more or less acute, according to race the knob!
"Drive": general saturation, the gain in sum.
Powered by 9v battery or standard Boss type power supply industry standard.

(My opinion is based on known current model, made in Taiwan. I am a big fan of Boss Japan (pre-1989) but I have not been able to compare the two models SD-1!)

UTILIZATION

Simple arch-general configuration, as often with Boss. Indestructible box, Boss makes reliable products to possible.
I have not needed the manual, useless: you turn the knobs and you learn!
The sound editing is very simple, instinctive.

SOUND QUALITY

Ok, this pedal bass food. Ok, mediums are not the most sparkling of the market. Ok, the highs are sometimes a bit too sharp and aggressive. And yes, the pedal is not super accurate.
But we must see

1) that for some users (metalheads) the quality of the crunch does not really matter, and then adds the gain pedal that gives pleasure to the other passages or solos and harmonics must fuser. For others (reggaemans, Pop rockers), the crunch will be good enough quality to smear a bit of a rhythm or flow to give a solo.

2) how much you pay this pedal: little in nine, really not much in opportunity. A Fulltone Ocd it's great, but it is expensive for many people, and unnecessary for others.

Once all of that said, this Sd-1 remains a good pedal, including the face of other more expensive Drives and prestigious.
It is also much more attractive on a sound basic Tube Screamer clear that if you play more Rock than Blues.

OVERALL OPINION

A friend lends me right now. My DS-1 and Od-1 Japan are fine for me, but I was curious, having seen the scratch sound very well with that little yellow box.
The value for money is certainly no joke in the top 10 guitar gear market.
If I wanted to pay my first overdrive, barreling I buy it.

The Boss SD 1 is great for 40 bucks, what more could you ask for. Give it a try and you will see how great it sounds for a very cheap price. This pedal is great for blues music, I generally set my settings at around (Level 50% Tone: 60% and drive 90%) That’s what works best for me. But you will have to play with it, because if you have all the knobs turned up its really noisy. Only complaint is the distortion bleed-through, but I don't use it on settings that high . It comes in a yellow and black color which is a good combination that you will never forget to use because it sticks out.

UTILIZATION


The circuit is very similar to that of a vintage Tube Screamer, except for the addition an additional diode in the clipping section. The resulting asymmetrical wave pattern produced a deeper, richer bass response than the Tube Screamer’s symmetrical clipping section. The SD-1’s sound is also less focused in the midrange frequencies than the Tube Screamer.

SOUND QUALITY

There is a negative to this pedal...with some guitar and amp combinations, when you max out the SD-1’s Drive and Level controls, you can hear some distortion filtering into your clean sound even when the SD-1 is turned off. This phenomenon is inconsistent; i.e., I have heard it at times…other times I have not! To remedy the problem, back off a bit on both the Drive and Level controls or perform a simple circuit modification improves the bypass circuit and eliminates the bleed-through.


OVERALL OPINION

Overall, Alone the tone is not so great , but behind a good distortion or fuzz pedal this thing sounds amazing. Sounds best coming through a tube amp, looses a little of its bite coming through solid state. Bump it in on a tube amp with a little fuzz and you'll love the tone.
Give this pedal a shot, you cant beat it for 40 bucks!

CHARACTERISTICS

A tone
A drive
One Volume
Switch
An alim '9 volts
Between a guitar
Output to the amp

The overdrive clear sound from a big OD hot.
Use

UTILIZATION

Very easy. 2 minutes and it's good.
The range of tonal trs effective, not have to put back the treble for the prsence for once.

SOUND QUALITY

Two possible uses of the pedals I think:
- On a clear
It's part of a trs trs close its bypass the drive 0, the pedals really respect the original sound, going up 1 / 4, it was a lightweight overdrive, always in spirit of that of the receiver (here Laney LC30), but less fat, more sec. Many of attack and prsence.
A 1 / 2, we dj in the big crunch with humbuckers, color, sound does not change, always dry and trs Dfine, full of attack.
Pass 1 / 2, the gain does not change too much, a bit more sustain, feedback was more easily and lose a little in my opinion DEFINITIONS. Prfre I leave in half. Tone is the half for me, there are plenty of stroke of acute Reserved.

- On Crunch
The amp is crunch dj (Laney LC 30, gain 4 / 10 with a Burstbucker LP # 2) the pedals RULES at half the volume gain 1 / 4 or a little more, and Tone in the middle of the attack and adds a little gain, prsence in the treble. Trs cool, gives the impression of a back attack and prsence of the amp when playing high volume, efficient apartment, has added a "plus" trs flattering.
By means against the best bread ...
[edit] In fact the gain is probably prsence of a lightweight hollow in the bass. The pedals and a little food, in fact, I feel the pedals compresses the spectrum.
Trs is good on the clear sound of the amp, a bass eats a little on the crunch but is still a good boost for solos, if not the low priori.

OVERALL OPINION

I used a lot of pedals for distortion of MODEL and OD, that I used to boost up the now silent Marshall BB-2, trs good too, but I think that it suits me better after all!
The only food she BMOL is a little low, not a big problem for me but should be reported.
I use a boost in their crunch mainly plutt home to add more attack and prsence for now, I will test a high volume to see if I really useful later.
Trs good pedals, it rated not much opportunity, why pay more?

This is the classic yellow overdrive pedal with a level, tone and drive controls. Classic asymmetric overdrive. What I would consider the opposite of the the classic tube screamer.

UTILIZATION

You don't really need a manual for this, 3 knobs and you're ready to go.

Level controls the overall output.
Drive controls how much gain you want.
Tone shapes the sound from dark to bright.

Obviously for electric guitar, there are 2 or 3 main uses for the pedal.

1. As a clean boost

2. As a mild bluesy overdrive

3. As a high-gain metal boost

Simple ain't it?


SOUND QUALITY

1. As a clean boost:

Ok so though this is an overdrive, it's strength does not lie as a clean boost, though it CAN be used as one. It can do so but it will generally add some compression along with a bit of dirt even with the drive knob down. It is not transparent like some other pedals, it sucks up quite a bit of the original signal, whether this is good or not of course is subjective to the user. Most players say it is a tone sucker.

2. As a mild bluesy overdrive:

Decent. Though the tone is generally thin with the tone knob at noon. Picking attack is also enhanced and the ice-picky sounds are accentuated. It's a very mild gain which is fine for the blues idea, rolling the tone knob to the left will darken the sound if though the tone knob is not completely sensitive, it will muddy up quick if rolled too much.

3. As a high-gain metal boost:

This is what made he sd-1 famous! The classic JCM 800 setup for medium gain boosted with the sd-1 makes it the classical high-gain/metal setup! There are plenty of debates out there which suits what amp. In my opinion, for any amp with a vintage-like tone, the boss sd-1 suits them very well. Yes noise is an issue in this aspect, but again it depends on the user. I would have to get a noise gate. This is what I would call normal however. Since every boost I know, adds noise and feedback. It's asymmetric clipping gives it that edginess that vintage amps do not have, offering a well balanced tone. While, tubescreamers would suit better for modern amps.


OVERALL OPINION

What I like most about it is the uses for boosting amps to get that high gain saturated sound from vintage marshall-esque amps.

It's dirt cheap as well nowadays. Nowadays there are many mods available, the sd-1 is kind of like the honda civic of overdrives. Everybody has a different mod to put into it. And though it can be modded to be more versatile, I think the core sound will always be inherent in the sd-1.

I do not need to talk about reliability with boss pedals. Everybody knows how sturdy they are!

I currently don't own one. Though if I did ever need one again, I would get a standard, un-modded version. I like things simple and don't like to over analyze when it comes to tone and I hate tweaking. I've worked with the original sd-1s and a variety of modded ones and have come back full circle to realizing that although the modded ones are amazing. I'll always be happy and suffice with a stock sd-1. It's like always seeing an old friend that's always and will always treat you well!

In essence, this pedal is simply designed to do what it says... it's an overdrive pedal that gives a bit more kick than just your average tube amplifer's overdrive tone. It has level (volume), tone, and drive (amount of gain) controls.

The pedal is basically your standard Boss enclosure, with a durable metal casing (painted in a really cool bright yellow), 1/4" input and output jacks, and an adapter jack for a Boss PSA adapter. It isn't designed to be anything more than a basic stompbox, so there aren't any MIDI or computer editing based parameters.

As they say, simple is the way with things like this.

UTILIZATION

It's a very simple pedal. I received it as a present from my parents when I was 8 years old and even at that time I had no problems dialing it in. Because it only has three controls, it's quite easy to dial in. It was my main source of overdrive tones (in conjunction with a clean or mildly overdriven amp) for about 4 years straight.

There really isn't too much more I can say about the setup. It's not a very high gain pedal, so I often used it in conjunction with a mildly overdriven tube amp in my younger days for sonic satori. Definitely a very easy to use pedal, and when you integrate it into your rig, it sounds killer!

SOUND QUALITY

When I first got this pedal, I was using a G&L Tribute S-500 and various Yamaha and Tokai guitars into various and sundry Peavey, Yamaha, and Laney amplifiers. I used this pedal for a few years as a standalone drive unit in various jazz and blues projects until I started getting into more high gain tones around age 10 or 11 (ca. 2004-05). At this point I begun using the pedal more as a booster when running into a high gain amplifer to add more distortion and tighten up the sound.

Circa 2007-08, I wasn't using the pedal as much, and I had my guitar teacher at the time modify it for more gain and a midrange boost. When I got it back, I was blown away by the tone and proceeded to have him build me a few more pedals that were to compliment it. When all was said and done I was running three different gain boxes built/modified by him into a mildly overdriven amp. It was noisy... but it worked VERY well for the neoclassical shred I was playing at the time.

I haven't used the pedal very much since I started getting into more high dollar tube heads, but writing this review has inspired me to perhaps dust it off sometime soon.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all this pedal is great. It has served me very well for almost ten years and I've used it in every style imaginable at this point and it's held up great. Whether running it into a clean amp for a bit of dirt, into a mildly overdriven one to push it over the top, or as a high gain booster to give amps a serious headrush, the Boss Super Overdrive always worked great, and sounded, well, super.