Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive

This is the most easy to operate pedal around. 3 knobs, tone , drive, level. The manual need not exist, it is almost self explanitory.

Now this is where it gets interesting, this is designed to be a "classic tube sound" overdrive pedal so knowing me I used it to get different sounds than the original specified and it really worked.

I am playing a 1981 England made Marshall Jcm800, one of the master volume models where it is a single channeled amp. I love the dynamics and sounds however I needed more sustain and drive as I play anthrax/metallica/slayer style thrash metal. The guy at the store reccomened I try this pedal and it was a great match. It boosted the original amp sounds without killing it and gave more muscular sustain and punch while still maintaing original charactersics of the amp. It was fine with EMG active picks ups on my LTD, however it was non stop feedback from my ibanez...as in to the point were there was no notes it was just squealing so I don't what happened there...

On a whole with a good quality guitar it sounds great with an amp thats already partially driven, big low end, beautifully toned solos.

Boss is the boss!! It is a solid stompbox that will go through hell and back and still be with you for years and years.

Never dealt with them. I doubt very much so I ever will.

Overall as a gain boost, a sustain boost or a touch of coulour to your sound this pedal is reccomendable however if you a running it on a clean channel or a transistor amp I would go for something else. I love the sustain and boost this pedal offers however it is not the most full bodided pedal sound in the world.

It is as simple as a guitar pedal can get. I mean volume, tone,and drive how had is that. To get a decent tone out of it is easy as well, just mess with it. Mine is stock, and works perfect.

In all honesty, it sounds really good. I have an Ibanez Tube Screamer TS9 that I just got today, and I did a comparison with the 2 pedals. Well, the TS9 sounds great, warm and all that, the Boss is not that far behind. It actually has a smoother drive and a touch more bite to it. It also seems to have a little bit more gain then the TS9. I am currently running both pedals through a 1964 Silvertone 1484 Twin Twelve (all tube, RCA tubes to boot) and I find the older the amp the better it takes to overdrive (not distortion) pedals. The only real problem with this pedal is that I don't think it is a true bypass, so it kind of messes with my amps clean tone when the pedal is off. But, it does'nt affect the clean tone enough to be a huge factor, but I will take off one mark for it. It can do a really nice blues tone and it can also do an awesome hard rock tone. It wont do metal but I have used it as a boost for solos when I am playing heavier stuff on my Marshall JCM2000 DSL50, and it works like a charm. With the Silvertone, I run a 2004 Mexican Strat Standard and the 2 pedals. I found that I used the Tube Screamer a little more, but I did'nt exactly neglect the Boss either. Its weird, I thought the Tube Screamer would be the pedal that made me get rud of the Voss, but it seems that they both dowhat the other does'nt. The Tube Screamer might be warmer, but the Boss has the brightness that you are sometimes after. The Boss drive might be smoother but the TS9's drive sounds alot more like a nice and gritty, cranked up tube amp. Also, with my Strat, I find this pedal to be a touch noisier then the TS9, but that does'nt bother me. All in all, this pedal seems to have the same principles in mind as the Tube Screamer series, but it does what the Tube Screamer does'nt do and vice versa. It's a keeper, and I normally hate Boss pedals with a passion. They normally sound to fake to me, if that makes any sense.

Hey, it's a Boss! They are the strongest pedals on earth and their switches have never failed me ever!

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I play in a hard rock band so I don't really use it too much for that but I jam the blues and classic rock alot and that is what I use it for. Don't get me wrong, I use it for the hard rock stuff sometimes too but my Marshall amp is versatile enough that I don't really require overdrive or distortion pedals, but I do find myself going back to it quite a bit. It past all my tests with flying colors, and I tried a lot of different amps, settings and guitars with this pedal. It is a great value, it is great quality and if you just don't have the cash for the Tube Screamer's then just take your cash and get a used Boss SD1 Super Overdrive. You will be happy with your purchase, I promise.

Plug-n-play, twiddle the knobs, easy. Manual, I don't think so!
Its a Taiwanese unit and the chip is a JRC. Faffed about, socketed it and subbed a Texas Instruments RC4558P - not worth the bother. Toyed with changing diodes or capping them - then decided playing was more fun - and hey - it has a tone control, and it seems to work too.

If you wanted to sound like somebody else, and their sound was kinda overdive/distortion, this could help you along the way. But you need the fingers and the amp and practice. But not being in a tribute band, I am happy as a pig in doodoos with this pedal feeding a Brownface Fender Bassman into a 4x12. Everything from just cracking around the edges to full-blown wailing. I have played some tube units that do it a smidgin better (hence the 9), but they needed a mortgage and a spring-mounted flight-case.....

You could run a car over it, and short of sticking a mains supply into one of the orifices, its gotta be hard to bust it electically, so I am guessing (like most Boss stuff) it is going to be pretty good, but time will tell. I guess "very dependable" at 10/10 covers it.

Never dealt with Boss or Roland myself. Some say large and faceless, others say real nice and friendly - depends who you talk to.

The blooz end of rock, the funky side of experimental - does the job when you need grit but not too much loudness.
Playing now for, ooh, 45 years - now into a '62 Bassman Brownface feeding a 4x12 with two Fanes and two Celestions. Occasionally a modded Dunlop Wah, occasionally a to die for Ibanez DM1100 delay.
If it was stolen, I would go for another, sure.
I love the simplicity and the sound. The bat compartment design is neat too. I hate the colour, but not enough to do anything about it - so it can't be THAT bad.
Did I compare it to other products, hell yes. Too many to name, came down to the Ibanez ToobSqueemer or this. Assymetry did it for me, that and price.
You wanna get technical?
I was so impressed with the sound, I stuck it on a spectrum analyser, just to see what was going on.
Set at the most oft used settings (Level 2o'clock, Tone 11 o'clock, Drive 10 o'clock).
With a high output humbucker this produces no change in measured level between in and out - it SOUND shed loads louder, but the meters say it is the same level. The peaks stay the same, but the AVERAGE level climbs about 5dB or more, depending on what you're playing - chords sound very loud, but those old peaks hold whether in or out.
So - the tonal changes:-
Subtle boost to the lows below bottom E.
Fairly neutral through the open strings and past top E, 12th fret.
Lifts things from 1kHz to 2kHz (way above played guitar notes, 2 above middle C to 3 above).
Brings in much more harmonic content above about 3kHz.
Where the guitar is inaudible above about 4.5kHz to 5kHz, the SD-1 is churning out audible harmonics to 11kHz to 15kHz. Put that into measured ammounts..... when the guitar was doing 8.8kHz at -80db - the SD-1 was up at 22kHz - too quiet/high to hear directly, but you know its there.
In the rabge where your ears are working, the guitar was doing 3.9kHz at -60dB, the SD-1 was at 10.4kHz.
So - it is punching up notes to top C on a piano (4,186.01Hz) and well above. That explains why it can cut through the mix so well if that's what you want.
Plenty of compression too - I roughly measured 13dB to 15dB of usable compression - or a 3.5 second fade extended to over 8 seconds.
Looking real close at various waveforms, the other notable thing is their smoothness - they wibble about like spaghetti in a hurricane, but with NO SHARP EDGES. Thats why it sound so nice - that and the harmonics it squeezes out, somewhat more even than odd.

Easy

The sound is pretty good and somewhat similar to a tubescreamer. However, there is a very obvious issue with mine and that is that is an on or off effect. What I mean by this is that there is no change in tone or drive amount when sweeping the drive knob between the 12 o'clock and full on maximum positions. I tried three different guitars, al kinds of amp settings, and all kinds of notes and chords while my wife swept teh drive between half and full and could not hear any changes except about an infinitesmal 2% increase in volume..............is my knob defective or are they all like this?

Should be bulletproof as my other boss pedals are.

Have not dealt with them yet. Will probably call about the drive knob being totally insensitive over most of its range.

I was looking for a cleaner type OD. My TS808 reissue is nice but a little murky. This pedal is a step up for a bit more transparency and biting tone. I was able to get some good settings in 30 seconds.

You can get great classic rock tones, modern crunch, punk..stuff like that. I use a Blackstone OD, and a Boss DS-1 and the SD-1 will make a great addition. I really like the smooth drive it dishes up. It is not noisy at all. I use it with a Fender 65 Reverb amp. My chain is Blackstone / MXR Volume WAH / Boss DS-1 / Boss Super Chorus / Ibanez CH9 / MXR Phase 90 / Boss DD-3. It works good right before the DS-1. I switch between a Tele and a Les with minmal tweaking..

Seems built like the usual Boss tank. If had only one pedal to use for OD this would be it.

Boss is great

I play everything which is why I need a few different type of OD's. I have been playing for 30 years. If it was stolen I'd replace it. There is nothing about it that I don't like. If you have a TS808 and want something close but with more bit the SD-1 is it.

very easy to use - knobs do exactly what they say

this is an all-time classic OD. it is great for the border region that overlaps overdrive and distortion. it has some teeth, but you can still hear the original sound, plus it accentuates harmonics. the circuit of the SD-1 is similar to a TS808, but in stock for its character is very different because of several component differences. i like mine stock. usually i mod off-the-shelf pedals to fix problems i hear with them - e.g. recap a DS-1 to make it less fizzy and open it up - but nothing comes to mind with this pedal. sounds good with anything from a tele to a jazz box, into anything from a champ to a jcm800

good experience with boss longevity. components will get old and drift before it breaks down mechanically. battery clip is bad design by today's standards, but that's how everything with a 9v was made in the 1970's

roland/boss is the ultimate in support. one thing i like is that they will sell unusual parts to anyone - almost no companies do that. hold times are short and the tech people know what they are talking about. must cost a fortune to run their support operation. i've never called on a guitar pedal, but they have been more than helpful on amps and synths

pro player. i play jazz, blues, classic rock, alt rock, country, p&w - pretty much anything that is fun and/or pays.
i got another one when i noticed the price went up recently - went on ebay and grabbed on at the old price of $39, where they had been forever. maybe people are starting to catch on that this is a killer pedal.

Good sound comes right away if other conditions are provided. Just 3 knobs. Do not want more or less. classic proportions.

Hello, I am a gear snob. And that doesn't mean I'm a sound snob. Still searching for perfect tone....(that's not a snob thing - it;s a state of a soul).

If the stomp box is cheap that means it will be crap. (you know this feeling, don't you?). I fell into trap of my own ignorance and boutique effects syndrom. I have some quality stuff (high-end semi hollow Yamaha and G&L strat through custom tube amp - 9 quality tubes) but pedals seemed to be my weak point. Own od/dist from Fulltone, VL Sparkle Drive, TS9 Keeley Moded, Tech21 overdrives, Carl Martin boxes (list goes on). The more expensive the better.
Few weeks a go I just felt tired of my obession and spending more and more money for that 'holy grail'. Is spendin' 300$ for overdrive justifed by its quality? Not after I've heard/played Boss SD-1 for 50$.
In my sense Boss was the one for poor kids; every one had/have bosses. So I should get better! No ................ In my opinion this yellow box is on pair with very good and expensive units like fulltones.
Simple, affordable, sturdy, metal.
Tone? tight, pronounced midrange, sometimes too thin, with enought sparkle to let the sun through.
So wha't the sense of buying boutique overdrive pedals? For the touch of exclusivness? Maybe....
Tone is in your 1. head, 2. hands. You could have best rig and used wrong..... you know what'll happen.
Just use your ears and find right aplication for sd-1. It's great for classic rock, spikey delta blues, country, psychodelic chaos etc.
This box suits me well. It's just there but you could hate it for lack of smoothness TS9 provide.
With my equipment Keeley TS9 sounded dull, muddy, with blured articulation. Not so with SD-1. Tight, little sharp. Not so accentuated mids.
Sorry for that expressivness but I am really surprised how this $50 pedal stands up to more expensive boxes.
It's just plays right, not muddy ts9, not blanked pro co rat.
Well Boss, sorry for discrimination. Considering the price it's 10.
But no OD box had menaged to beat my amp's overdrive......

Boss, should work forever.

I've recorded some tracks through BOSS Dr 880 with 1st preset of guitar. Didn't know what was the amp simulation (digital crap) but loved the sound (though it was too tight for my liking). Bought SD-1 and voila: got that sound. From bluesy raspy highs to fat middy agressive lows (yeah, it takes some bass). Would buy it again.
I am happy but how long? Don't let the overdrive snob awakes in you ;-)

it's pretty easy to get a good sound

I only use it as a boost for my tube-amp. I keep the gain on my amp very low and push the amp with > guitar (seymour duncan tb-6) > boss ge-7 > boss sd-1 > noise gate > tube-amp.
I play in a death metal band and I need a lot of gain. I am very very happy with my sound. Check my band on www.myspace.com/tormentengraved
The sound you hear on our recordings there are not from my amp. It was another set up for the demo-cd.
I never use the sd-1 as an overdrive, but it sounds ok to me.

never ever will brake down. I take it on the road with my band and after many gigs I think it will never brake

never had to deal with them

I would buy again asap. I need it for my sound because it tightens up my bottom end perfectly.

Most rational settings sound good, and if it doesn't, I'll just mess with my EQ or amp. There wasn't much of a manual, but if you need a manual for an overdrive unit, then I pity you (overdrive units are easier to set up than a VCR.) Like said before, three controls: Level, tone, drive, LED indicator, battery compartment, and other typical boss features.

I can get many different overdrive tones from this, from fuzzy/cloudy to sharp/clear and bell-like. I can fiddle with the gain controls of other pedals, or my amp that I use with it, and get great tones. Messing with EQ/tone knobs also yields great sculpting. Responds well with my other effects and my amp. I use an Ibanez SZ320 or a Hamer Vector and a Peavey Rockmaster amp head. It is noisy when I use it in high gain settings with other devices, but it's a pretty controllable feedback. I use this with either a Rocktron: Metal Planet, Rampage, Silver Dragon, or Boss DS-1 distortion. This gets such a high rating (10), because it does exactly what it's purpose was, and for 40 bucks, it was a great deal.

Dependability? Gigging without a backup? It's a boss, so unless you throw your pedals around like rocks or something, it should last longer than most other pedals. Yet again, a high score because I've never had a problem with boss, but I do think that they are like a bag of chips; they go stale after awhile. Kinda odd. If you have played many bosses, you know what I mean. Maybe it's a matter of them being thrown around, or just that they age, but whatever it is, I've noticed some kinda get old and flat.

Never dealt with Boss US.

I play metal, and this is a good overdrive for anyone. I've been playing 5 years. If the product were stolen/lost, I would buy another since it's the best forty bucks I've spent for a mid-boost overdrive. If my tone ever gets a little too muddy, I just put this infront of it. I compared it with other OD devices of the same general price range and this was the best. It helps me make music, and is really good for legato work.

Level, tone, drive; just what an overdrive pedal should have.

This is the only Boss overdrive (or distortion) pedal I've ever bought (it was on sale at GC for $30). I was in the middle of modifying my TS9 and TS9DX and had been reading about these online and thought I'd buy it. This pedal comes stock with a JRC 4558D op-amp chip (the new version of the magic chip found in some original TS808's) which I found to be a big plus. The pedal sounds similar in a sense to a TS9 808 mod but has a little more hair and a bit more bark. Not quite as transparent as the TS9, thus it doesn't quite make as clean of a boost as the TS9. This could be due to the clipping circuit, which can be modified. For bass application, it makes for a good overdrive; doesn't kill the lows and has a good bark rather then being muddy and sterile. On guitar I'd prefer the TS9, but this pedal does have a good sound (kinda reminds me of an MXR Distortion+). The downside is that it is rather noisy, especially with '57 Classics.

Construction wise all Boss pedals are built well. I'm curious about the noise and want to see if there's a way to clean it up.

This pedal was a steal at $30 (I've seen them go for more then that used). I don't really know much about the Japan vs Taiwan construction, but with electronics the principles and componants shouldn't be too different. Other Boss pedals I've tried have been a bit too plain or fuzzy. This one seems like the red headed stepchild of the Boss family.