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Hatsubai « Great boost at a great price »
Published on 03/21/11 at 11:49The Boss SD-1 is one of the two most popular overdrive pedals out there. The SD-1 is really an evolution of the original OD-1 but with a tone knob added. This pedal was featured by many guitar players in the 80s in conjunction with Marshall amplifiers. Zakk Wylde was probably the most well known user of this pedal.
UTILIZATION
Boss pedals will take any abuse you throw at them. Their rugged housings could withstand a nuclear bomb. Everything is clearly labeled and easy to use on this pedal. On top of that, it's very easy to get a good sound with very little time. A lot of people use this as mostly a level booster, but I recommend at least running a touch of gain to help get some of that asymmetrical clipping flavor going on.
SOUND QUALITY
The sound of this pedal is pretty good, even to this day. Some argue about the tonal differences between the MIJ and MIT versions, and there is some truth to that, but it's nothing to really get worked up over. One real cool thing about this pedal is that it's crazy easy to modify. Anybody looking to customize his or her own boost pedal could easily do it with the SD-1. The most common mods are taking out the mid hump and adding some bass. If you're going to mod it, I recommend fixing the bypass. The biggest issue with these pedals is that they leak signal, even when turned off. If you search Google, you can find various ways to fix this.
OVERALL OPINION
If you're looking for a boost pedal to try out, I recommend trying this, especially if you have a Marshall amplifier. These pedals work awesome with Marshall based amps for whatever reason. They're also very easy to mod if you aren't 100% satisfied with the tone. Don't forget that a lot of the TS808 mods also translate to this pedal, so don't be afraid to experiment.
UTILIZATION
Boss pedals will take any abuse you throw at them. Their rugged housings could withstand a nuclear bomb. Everything is clearly labeled and easy to use on this pedal. On top of that, it's very easy to get a good sound with very little time. A lot of people use this as mostly a level booster, but I recommend at least running a touch of gain to help get some of that asymmetrical clipping flavor going on.
SOUND QUALITY
The sound of this pedal is pretty good, even to this day. Some argue about the tonal differences between the MIJ and MIT versions, and there is some truth to that, but it's nothing to really get worked up over. One real cool thing about this pedal is that it's crazy easy to modify. Anybody looking to customize his or her own boost pedal could easily do it with the SD-1. The most common mods are taking out the mid hump and adding some bass. If you're going to mod it, I recommend fixing the bypass. The biggest issue with these pedals is that they leak signal, even when turned off. If you search Google, you can find various ways to fix this.
OVERALL OPINION
If you're looking for a boost pedal to try out, I recommend trying this, especially if you have a Marshall amplifier. These pedals work awesome with Marshall based amps for whatever reason. They're also very easy to mod if you aren't 100% satisfied with the tone. Don't forget that a lot of the TS808 mods also translate to this pedal, so don't be afraid to experiment.