Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive

Ugh, easy I guess. See below...

What a boner. My rig is as follows:

- custom Warmoth Strat with EMGs (81 & SA)
- Traynor Custom Blue 50 w/ extension cab (Celestions) and JJ's
- Boss TU-1
- Boss CH-1
- Rocktronics Short Timer
- Boss DD-6
- MXR Stereo Chorus
- MXR Flanger

This chain is the tone bomb, so I was nuts to think I could improve it. But I had 40 extra beans laying around. The pedal made the amp sound like someone clipped it's figs. Could not get even a passable sound out of it. Turning it off brought relief...

Who knows? It's going back...

Nuh.

I know Boss pedals, and this thing is a total washout. It must be intended as a cheap boost for transistor amps. Maybe it works for that... Although anyone will tell you, tone = valves.

Three knobs: Level, Tone and Drive... pretty much easy to get a great sound of it. There is no "sample" configuration given in the manual, but you don't really need those on this model.

I am using this unit in my pedal board: TU-2 -- Visual Sound's Route 66 (compression and OD, in one pedal) -- SD-1 -- Carl Martin's Red Repeat (Delay) -- MOJO germanium transistor booster... plugged into a Fender Blues Junior. I used many telecasters, a DeArmond Starfire, a Mosrite "The Ventures" '64, a KAY N-2 1958 through my gear.

In this setup, this pedal sounds very much like I wanted it to sound... vintage, classic rock! I can play punk with it too, and with the drive set to maximum, I get that singing solos used for many styles of music.

In my setup, this unit isn't noisy at all, but I guess it could easily get very noisy in some setups, just like any Boss pedal.

It is a Boss pedal, never had any problems with any model through many years.

Never needed... and this unit in particular is brand new.

I play many styles from Rock to Funk, Grunge to Rockabilly, Jazz to Disco. I just never play Metal or some heavy rock from the 80's. I have been playing for 12 years, and I'm now a session guitarist in Montreal, and make a lot of gigs too.

I would buy this pedal again, and again... In fact, I'm gonna buy a second one to leave at the studio. This pedal suits my needs and for the price, it is a joke.

I recently picked up an old Japanese-made SD-1 and thought it might be interesting to compare it to the older Boss OD-1. I only have experience with the later JRC4558 OD-1s, not the earlier versions with the bigger IC chip people seem to pay US$200 for.

Tonally the two pedals sound very similar. Both shave of a lot of the bass and treble out of the signal, leaving a very middy generic 'classic rock' drive. In my opinion it's a very tired sound, but it still seems to have mass appeal. The SD-1 however has the advantage of having a tone control, which lets you reintroduce some of the lost high end detail that you're stuck with with the OD-1. There is nothing you can do about the bass loss.

Where the two pedals significantly differ is in the amount of gain on tap. The SD-1 is misleadingly labelled the Super Overdrive, yet it actually has less gain than it's "regular" predecessor. At max gain I'd estimate that the SD-1 has about 70% of the gain of the OD-1. This also means the SD-1 can be set cleaner than the OD-1, great for those players looking for a volume boost with only the barest hint of pedal drive. The SD-1 is thus the more versatile pedal.

Overall I think the Japanese SD-1 is a close enough substitute for the later OD-1 for anyone not having success finding one of the latter units (or paying the price they now command). I didn't have an OD-1 to directly compare, but from memory the tone's are pretty much exactly alike. In my opinion the SD-1 is the better pedal, as it's tone knob let you better tailor it to your amp and it can do a semi-clean boost. Comparatively I gave the OD-1 a 5/10 for sound quality - I don't see what the fuss is about, although admittedly I was using it was a clean fender, not an overdriven Marshall.

Pretty easy to get a good sound
manual...who needs it
i dont think it has been upgraded

-I can get a nice vintage rock sound or a screaming, ear piercing, face melting drive thats good for every kind of hard core solos.
-I use a Fender 70's Reissue Strat into a fender amplifier with this pedal.
-Is it noisy? IT IS VERY NOISY!!! and as i mentioned befor you can even get that vintage barking sound if you amp is on a clean channel.
-Effects always sound great
Amp: Fender

-Depend?: the battery under the pedal itself WILL WEAR OUT QUICK if you leave your cables in it while not using it even if the light is off.
-I would use it on a gig without a backup because it can be powered with an AC adaptor so...rock as long as you'd like.

-Never dealt with the company
-No upgrades

-Style: Classic rock
-How long have I been playing: Actually only a year or two
-If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?: I would not mind getting another one but I think I would be able to find a nicer pedal.
-what do you love about it? What do you hate? What is your favorite feature?: I like the sound, I hate the battery, my favorite feature is the sound.
-Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?: I didnt compare it. My uncle got me this one for Christmas...he is awesome.
-Anything you wish it had?: nope!
-Does it help you make music, or does it get in the way?: It helps a lot!
-Anything else you'd like to share?: go ahead and grab one...you'll like it

very easy to use. plug it in and play with the 3 knobs until you get the sound you want

If you have a tube amp that just won't distort enough, even with preamp all the way up, this will do the job every time. Sometimes it will even give better distortion to solid state amps. If you don't have distortion or preamp/master volume on your amp, this will be a lifesaver. Don't give up if you get screeching feedback. Keep adjusting at about half levels on all knobs.

no problems at all

I can't believe a guitarist without this pedal, unless you've got an extrordinary effects pedal you like better.

Easy as pie: Three knobs, one footswitch. I lost the manual, but seriously, no one should need one for this pedal. I can dial in a good sound in a matter of seconds.

This pedal will sound great in any genre of music, provided you use it with the right guitar and amp. Run this between a Strat and a clean tube amp, and you'll sizzling blues sounds; use it with a Les Paul and a Marshall, and you'll get hard rock crunch and harmonics. What this pedal absolutely will not do is cover up cheap equipment that is lacking in tone; look to MT-2 Metal Zone to do that. I currently use this pedal with a Gibson V and a 15W Crate V-series amp. It helps me get a good overdrive sound without having to crank the amp too high. I have two-channel 5150 head and a SPF Red Threat, but I always keep coming back to the SD-1 for my dirty sound.

Durable is an understatement.

N/A

I've heard die-hard Tubescreamer users snub the SD-1 because it colors the tone too much. True, this pedal does not offer thae same clean boost that the green machines can pump out. However, the Super Overdrive imparts serious midrange bite and harmonic presence that stands out while maintaning clarity. It's like the Tubescreamer's evil twin. If it were stolen, I'd replace it in a heartbeat (plus, they're pretty inexpensive). The only thing I don't like is that, like all Boss pedals, it's extraordinarily boring to look at, but that's why I have a TV.

The basic TS format

I have a vintage ts 808, and a vintage 909, and my SD-1 is Japanese from the 80's.
The difference with this pedal is that it has more hair, It is more aggro and less mellow than the Tube Screamers. Harmonics come from nowhere, (Zack W. used this pedal right?) and it bites more. Yeah it's mid rangey, and sucks a little low end, yes this is true, but that is the character of this unit. (maybe you shouldn't use it on a song that needs a lot of bass from your guitar, it does have an off switch.). Think of it like it's silicon and a TS is germanium. I give it a 10 for being an original in clone category.

20+ years and never a problem

I think the fact that they started making these things in taiwan is a shame.
The samurai at Roland who created this great pedal should all commit seppuku ( i will gladly volunteer to be their kaishaku.)

LA Session Guitarist, playing for 35 years, lots of guitars, old amps, new amps, mainly analog effects.
I love the harmonics man.
Like a TS 909-not as smooth, which can be a good thing sometimes.
Works great at gigs.

This pedal is very easy - just level, tone and gain.

Sounds very very good but you must have a tube amp to use it with. I have a Laney VC30 2*12 (cheap Vox AC30). Not so hot with a tranny amp, but then unless you are Jonny Greenwood, nothing is. This sounds great with delay as well.

Boss

n/a

Really good gentle gain pedal, which you can use for lighter rock and indie and other stuff. I have to say they guy "swede" who gave this a 4 due to lack of bottom end probably plays with no mid and uses Line 6 to emulate his favourite metal amps, idiot.

New Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive pedal. Easy to use. It will boost your signal a lot. But, the boost adds (subtracts) tone and is noisy.

Poor. It literally sucks all of the low end out of my amps no matter where the tone control is set. I was looking for a clean boost to my '75 Marshall for leads. The SD-1 tone sounds processed and thin like similar op-amp or clipping diode pedals. It's also very noisy at high gain settings. I wanted something more transparent.

Had it one day and returned it.

I was looking for a backup clean boost pedal, and the Boss SD-1 ain't it. It really is a tone-sucker. I will probably get a simple MXR Micro-Amp pedal or continue to use my Seymour Duncan pickup booster. I don't use any pedals other than a clean boost and a Maxon AD-9 analog delay.

three knobs, no frills. if you need a manual for this, you probably took the short bus to school.

it's a classic. if you are going for that fat overdrive, neil young/drive-by truckers (all three guitarists in the dbt's use one of these) kind of sound, here it is. my signal chain is:

gretsch 6120sslvo or 5129 -> tu2 ->sd1 ->mxr wylde od ->big muff ->tr2 ->small clone ->line 6 dl4 -> fender blues deluxe all wired with planet waves cable station cable.

i love my tone, and swap between the sd1 and the wylde pedal (basically the same thing, just not as much mid bump and a little more bass response) for my rhythm and lead sounds. i get lots of "hey man, your rig sounds great, what are you using for distortion?" if you play a gretsch and need something to dirty it up, get an sd1!

come on, it's a boss pedal. they may not be true bypass, but by god they ALWAYS work. and i do gig without a backup.

never had to deal with them. once again, it's a boss pedal, so i probably never will.

great stuff. if it was stolen i would buy another. it and the wylde pedal complement each other very well. just wish boss would make their stuff true bypass. i hate to pay $80 to get a keely mod, boss should just offer and upgraded version with those mods already. otherwise, great stuff and one of the keys to my sound.