Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive

3 pots. Set the level to match/boost your amp, set the level of distortion and set the tonality to complement your rig via a midrange boost.

EASY.

I bought this to replace a Digitech Bad Monkey. I liked the bad monkey pedal however for me it doesn't have quite enough gain. I never felt that any of the sounds bar 'everything at noon' sounded that good anyway. I use the SD-1 through a Fender silverface Pro Reverb w. master volume with either a strat or PRS custom 22 - therefore the pedal is my main source of overdrive.
It sounds good! Quite a coarse overdriven sound. Max the gain and it borders into distortion. You and I both know there are much better, classier overdrive pedals out there but for the price this is good. At high volumes you don't loose impact or disappear into the mix, which was a problem with the bad monkey.

**** off.

A simplistic, good sounding, ballsy overdrive with Boss reliability at an excellent price. This is exactly what I was looking for. I love Boss pedals for their sound, reliability and looks. However, everyone knows overdrive/distortion is not Boss's forte. All I can say is go and try one, see what what you think. I think its good and it will be staying on my pedalboard until I find something better.

Very straightforward, this pedal has an almost Zen-like simplicity. Volume, Tom and Gain aren't much to write about but on a crowded dimly lit stage it's great to know at a glance what this little yellow box is doing.

This is where it gets a bit user-variable. I'm using this pedal on a board with a Gibson Explorer and Fender Strat on one side and an AC30 set just below breakup on the other.

The SD-1 is based on a tubescreamer type circuit - if you want it to be a standalone distortion it'll do "rough round the edges" and because it distorts asymetrically - clipping one side of the waveform more than the other - it gets a bit more raspy in the top end whereas the tubescreamer tends to be smoother. There's quite a hefty bass cut/ mid-boost, and people often complain about that but that's the whole point of this pedal - it sounds best when it's boosting something else that's already distorting, and in that situation the bass cut makes it tight, and the mid boost makes it cut.

When I gig my pedals are set and forget, and the SD-1 is set with the volume on full, tone at 12:30, and distortion completely off. Because I use it mainly to boost my amp into its own distortion or tighten up my big muff for a solo boost, I don't need the SD-1 to add any more distortion than I'm already getting.

I'd have to knock some marks off for the distortion "bleed through". Even with the pedal turned off, some of the distorted tone comes through with the clean sound. It's very quiet but it's there.

Yeah, it's solid as anything and I gig without a backup all the time. That said I've got other boost/distortion pedals so if something did go awry i could get through.

I've not dealt with Boss, never had a need to.

I play rock ranging from crunchy, through to classic distorted tones and fuzzy lead playing. The SD-1 on its own probably wouldn't be thick/ distorted enough for the range of tones I use, but it's a great overdrive boost for other pedals and amps.

I've been playing for about 8 years now, at the moment my most oft used rig is Explorer (with alnico II pickups) and AC30 turned up loud but cleanish, with various pedals depending on the song.

If this pedal was stolen I'd buy another right away. It's not smooth, thick or massively heavy, but that's not what it's for.

It's easy as can be, just plug it in and see if you like it. I did.

I'm playing on a Yamaki Les Paul (1975) standard with the original elements through a Roland Bolt 60 and a Mesa Boogie .50 Caliber. It is stock a good pedal, but not just my sound. It cuts the bass a lot (just as the TS does), but has sort of a mid-boost when you dial the tone knob >12h. It also sounded like my amp had a blanked on it. So I've found a data sheet on the web about the pedal, now knowing what cap and resistor are responsable for the sound.

So I've modded and changed until I liked it. I had a more bassy sound and I've pulled the blanked off. I even installed a switch for more and less bass.

Rating:

Stock: 8
Custom Modded: 10

It's a Boss. Even after modding it I'm sure it'll last forever.

Never dealt with them, and after modding it, I'm pretty sure I never will.

It's a good and cheap pedal. You'll have to be a real solder noob to not be modding this pedal, as all the info is on the internet. You can mod it to your very own specs.

I'm the only one in the world with a SD-1 sounding like this! :D

I got this as an early christmass present 3 years ago (2006). I didn't know what oeverdrive meant since I was kind of still new to guitar, so I thought it was going to be like a MT-2 (which I USED to love back then). I was a little disapointed back then because I was more into metal. But then within the past year or so I started getting more into Bon Jovi, and that got me into BB King and Hendrix and so on. So I started to appreciated clean and overdrive sounds a lot more than just hi-gain (which I still love). I started using this pedal a lot, and I mean A LOT. Let's get to the basics now. The level control of course controls the level. The tone controls the treble, more tone = more treble. Drive is self-explained. Pretty much exactly like a Tube Screamer

WIth Level at 10, tone at around 3, then drive at 8 or 9 you get a very nasty sounding overdrive, I used to run 2 SD-1's, and one of them has this setting, but I only use one now. If you have level at 10, tone at 3, then drive at 0 or 1, you get an amazing booster. I only use one now, and it's for boosting, but I still have not found another overdrive pedal quite as good as this one (except a Klon of course)

I was looking at this pedal and there was a whole bunch of chips that I'm not sure how got there, since I bought it new. But. it doesn't change the sound, it will last forever.

I love this pedal. My favorite pedal in the world. People hate me for saying this, but I like this better than tube screamers. This pedal will not let you down. Anything from a clean booster, to sweet, smooth, creamy overdrive, this pedal can do it.

easy as any overdrive pedal...stick it into your amp input and crank to taste.

with a clean amp it sounds a bit dull with the tone down and a bit harsh with it up imo depending where the level and drive are set.sounds ok with a bit of crunch on the amp but only ok.
i think it lacks the mid detail and bite of a decent tube screamer (808 , 9).it dosnt sound awful just a bit uninteresting and generic.the eq curve is much flatter than a TS which some will love but i love the mid hump on the TS so im a bit biased!!!
.however it sounds very similar to a ts10.
These are cheap though so any beginner can get an ok od pedal for a third the price of a TS.

BOSS

ok sound,cheap price...if you have the cash get a ts808,ts9 or something similar.

It's a typical 3 knob distortion.

Unlike almost all the other Boss distortion pedals, setting the tone knob toward the treble side doesn't make it sound terrible. It's got more distortion than a Tube Screamer and less than a Rat, and its tone control is different from both. It rolls off more treble than a Tube Screamer can, but it can't get as dark and bassy as a Rat. It emphasizes the midrange. For comparison, a Tube Screamer emphasizes treble and a Rat emphasizes low midrange and bass.

It has enough gain to get a boost at lower distortion settings. It doesn't really clean up in a usable way if you pick lighter or turn down your guitar's volume. Good luck finding a $40 distortion that does that, though.

I just got this one. I've never had a problem with any other Boss pedal, you just have to make sure you're holding the pedal slightly closed when you put the screw back in after changing the battery. That helps keep the screw from eating away the rubber gasket around the hole.

I've had Boss pedals for a while but never had to deal with them.

It's not just a lower-gain DS1. It doesn't sound like a Tube Screamer even though the difference in the circuits is small. It's worth checking out -- not in the rack that as every pedal Boss makes. Try it out with gear similar to what you'll be using it with.

It's not true bypass. Then again, most players don't need true bypass. Don't just buy things that say true bypass on them because someone told you it's better.

I play black and doom metal, as well as experimental, indie and space rock. This pedal can get just enough distortion for black metal if you have high gain guitar pickups (Super Distortions in my case), and has exactly the right EQ for it. It won't do 1970s Tony Iommi, but if you set it to less distortion and bassier tone, with the output all the way up you can push a JCM800 into some very nasty territory. The extra midrange helps cut through a mix, and I imagine it would work well if you have to compete with an idiot drummer who won't lay off the cymbals.

3 buttons: level, tone, drive.. simple as hell

I'm using a squire tele with fender noiseless pickups and a epiphone les paul with gibson 496R and 500T pickups through a vox pathfinder
sounds great.. it adds some notable distortion for the les paul but that just makes you use both the guitars if you dont bother to change the controls :)

you could use a boss after a hurricane so thats one thing edge's "music rising" program doesn't have to pay for hah

never dealt with boss

sounds good.. looks decent hah.. I've been playing for 2 years and play mostly heavy rock, classic rock and blues (rock) so its great for me..

my first overdrive pedal of some that I tried.. got this in exchange of an older boss flanger that had pile of dust covering it so I just got this and said **** you to the overdrive in my multieffect..

though I would not replace if lost or stolen but get a tubescreamer or somthing more fancy.. but for the money its great!

easy as. Its a slut of a pedal.

I USE it with a tube. Dont think its essential to make a good sound. it can be noisy maxed out but who would use it like that? then u go bak to clean and no1 can hear anything. using it with a roland bolt 60 and a ts-808 in front of it. Sounds great. MIJ of course Taiwan haha Taiwan is crap.

Yep Boss nuff said

Its not a distortion its an overdrive. Not a fuzz. Deffinately an early 80's hard rock sounding pedal. It might work for metal if you used another pedal like distortion after it mite give you more bite but not alone.

3 knobs. Very easy!!!

I'm using it without a tube amp, and it still sounds GREAT!!!!

Totally SOLID!!!

Had no trouble

AWESOME AWESOME PEDAL!!!!!!!!!!!!

very cut and dry

I play strats, teles, and an epi lp custom through a blues deluxe, and this pedal gives me the warm overdrive that my amp gives(but without making my ears bleed). My style would be 60's/70's rock, perfect for slight dirty clean tones. Tone nob can get pretty bright so I keep it dialed back. This did not suck off my clean tube tone

It's a boss- never had an issue with any of my boss pedals

Love this pedal, does what I needed it to do(rock out in my basement and piss off my kids

Simple not much more to say

A nice tuby and also quite rich overdrive sound, it's quite good for producing a large proportion of david guilmour's sound

Seems pretty solid to me

As someone who generally plays lead id say its a goood one to have for those richer solos

your standard overdrive control parameters.. level, tone, drive

I have two.. I'm using them with a Gibson SG standard, a VP, a few delays and a chorus into a Fender RI Deluxe Reverb

I'm comparing the older SD-1, which I bought today, and the newer one, which I also own. In my opinion, while they do indeed sound different, they are both equally useful. The older one is cleaner sounding to my ears, with less gain and overall level, while the newer one has more volume boost and crunch. Both retain the same characteristic mid-hump and both do a good job of boosting my amp for soloing and providing overdrive for rhythm work. I think the older one is better for picking and arpeggio type stuff, while the newer one is better for chording.

These will not break... the older one is from 1986 according to its serial number (thanks bossarea.com) and the only thing's worn in is the spring underneath the footswitch; it detaches but functions perfectly. anyone know how to fix 'er?
i'm not going to give it a 10 because everything has its breaking point.

meh.. i've heard horror stories, but the 5 year warranty isn't too bad either

I play rock, experimental, acoustic, space, electronic.. this pedal shows up everywhere, both in my music and in my rigs

the one thing i don't like about the older sd-1 is the old-style adapter jack, which runs on 12 volts instead of 9. if you plug a wall wart into it, it's underpowered and the LED doesn't even light up.. but if you feed it through a daisy chain connected to a modern pedal before it, it works.. hm..

Has three knobs so it's pretty bonehead easy to use.

I was originally given one of these pedals by someone when I had a Fender solid state amp. I thought it was a piece of crap, but that would change one day when I got my first tube amp. This pedal is designed for TUBE amps. This is very important to know. It has never sounded good through a solid state amp as far as I'm concerned. I experimented with this pedal with my Mesa Boogie Rectifier and then later my Marshal DSL. It sounds wonderful with every tube amp I've tried. I find it really useful for two situations. First, it can act as a good rock distortion pedal if you have your tube amp on light "crunch" mode. This can actually make this pedal sound like a hard rock/metal pedal if done just right. Secondly, it can sound terrific as a subtle "boost" to a tube amps high gain channel. It works well to tighten up the sound of guitars with muddy pickups. The first thing I thought of when I tried this was "wow, I sound like Zakk Wylde's tone." A few months later I found to my surprise that he uses this exact same pedal. It's a cheap pedal that is worth well more than it's price. However, I've only owned one of the older ones from Japan which has that special chip they stopped putting in the new ones. I haven't tried the new ones yet. To my ears, this overdrive sounds just as good as a TS9, though it is slightly harsher (which I like) than the smoother TS9. This is one great pedal that is often overlooked.

The pedals last forever, but the knobs don't. I had to buy a replacement one (only 40$). The knobs fall off over time, but other than that, it's fine.

Never dealt with them.

Like I said, this is a great value for the money, but I've only used the older Japan versions. I found one of these for 30$.... few things have been such a great value. Not the smoothest overdrive pedal, but certainly a good one for raw tones.

Fairly easy to use. Level, drive, and tone knobs. Only so many sounds to choose from.

Through all my amps (marshal, fender, epiphone, even an off-brand guitar research amp) it sounds bad. It just sounds too digital, it's very obvious that it is a pedal and not real overdrive. Definitely not crunchy enough for metal. I don't play metal though. It just sounds so fake and digital. It is VERY noisy when you crank the drive past 12 o'clock. You definitely would need a noise gate while using this thing live.

Boss pedals last forever. Built like tanks.

I play alternative and punk rock. On a bright note, this pedal offers a smooth transition between clean and dirty if you set it right, so it might come in handy if you switch a lot during songs, but it just lacks any good tone.

Three knobs, easy to use. Suggest you start with the buffered signal first, then dial in the pedal to a tone you can live with.

This pedal gives a pretty okay tone. Nice, creamy overdrive, but it doesn't quite sparkle like some other pedals will, and certainly nothing whatsoever like a nice overdriven amp sounds like, which is what these pedals are supposed to emulate, really. Like any boosted signal, your single coils will get noisier.

Here's the warning part:

Tone afficianado's do NOT want to add this to their rig. It will suck tone like no tomorrow. Anyone using this with a tube amp is truly missing out on some of the nicest sounds that their equipment can produce. I discovered this when I added a Diamond Phase to my chain (downstream), but the effect sounded weak and pale compared to the videos on YouTube, when the overdrive was turned off. I removed the SD-1 from the chain and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I had made the mistake of NEVER actually listening to my rig WITHOUT the SD-1, and had no idea what I really had, since I had the pedal before I had the amp. I've since replaced the SD-1 with a BBE Green Screamer, which is true bypass.

Like others have said here, this pedal does not like other pedals. Nor does it like tube amps, as it makes them sound dull.

I gigged with it for 2 years, and it's over 10 years old. Never broke.

Dunno.

I needed an overdrive for my rig, and this pedal came along through a friend. As cash flow was low, I didn't argue. However, given the opportunity to upgrade, this pedal will sit around waiting for everything else to break before it goes back into the chain. Sounds pretty good when it's turned on, but when it's not, it makes everything else sound like crud. And it's too much trouble to keep plugging and unplugging pedals from song to song.

In short: good for beginners, but upgrade to go pro, or for anyone looking for sweetness of tone.

3Knobs, so it's self explanatory.

If your sound is punk or hardcore metalheald, this pedal might not be dirty enough for you. For the rest of us, you owe it to yourself to try this. Mild to high-moderate driven distortion without appreciable tone loss. Lot's of headroom. Very quiet! I'm using this in a chain with Humphrey's modded compressor & delay, a Keeley-modded Blues Driver and a Korg tuner...this thing is very quiet AND true bypass.

No worries...the shell is still Boss so it's built like a tank. Plus, Humphrey Audio Mods stands behind it with a lifetime warranty. While I haven't had it a long time, I expect reliability will not be an issue.

Excellent. Mark is great to work with, prompt email replies. I emailed him one day with a question, left my telephone # and said please call me to discuss. He called me that day. Try getting that kind of service from the "big guys"!

If blues or rock is your style, I highly recommend this pedal mod. This is the 3rd pedal Humphrey Audio has done for me and I cannot say enough good things about the quality and service. If this pedal were stolen (I have to chuckle at the "...or lost,.."; gee, just can't remember where I put my gear) I would replace it the next day.

If you're looking for a great sounding pedal, extremely quiet that "plays well with others", try this one. I seriously doubt you'll be disappointed.
Bruce

The same Level, Tone, and Drive controls as nearly all overdrive pedals out there. The battery is easy to get to.

I classify the sound of overdrive/distortion pedals into basically 4 categories; creamy, gritty, fizzy, and raspy. The SD-1 is mostly in the creamy quadrant, with some fizzyness. I also run a TS-10 on my board. The SD-1 sounds EXACTLY like the TS-10. Not similar... exactly. I did A/B comparisons across all settings and I honestly can't tell the difference. They both use the 4558 JRC op amp, and there are mods available to bring it to TS808 specs. I have on set as mostly a volume boost with just a touch of grind and the other at about 12 o'clock, so I can have three levels of overdrive. It has a nice creamy drive that is quite compressed. Adds lots of midrange and sustain. The controls provide an adequate range of sounds. This is not the best overdrive out there but I haven't found one in the same price range that is better.

It's built solid as a brick like all Boss pedals. I would have no worries about reliability.

I play classic rock, blues, and I'm in a praise/worship band. I've been playing for 30 years and owned tons of gear. This pedal gives me the sound I was looking for. If I had to build my pedal board from scratch, the SD-1 would definately be on it. If I were rating it compared to other similar priced pedals I'd give it a 10. But since there are lots of high-end pedals out there that do sound better I'll give it a solid 8.

It's an OD pedal. It has knobs, two plugs, and you step on it sometimes. Obviously, quite easy.

I run either my Parker or my LP Studio into a handful of pedals and then into a rack consisting of a Mesa Quad Pre, G-Major, and Peavey Classic 50/50. I picked this pedal up on a whim, to give me a bit more versatility. I also have to remember that I *love* this box, so I have to be a bit careful to try and be objective.

I've experimented with the pedal a good deal, and some things seem to work significantly better than others. I know some people have had great results with using this as a boost, either for solos or for slamming the front of an amp, and it works fine that way, but it doesn't seem to be where this thing excels.

My main use for this box, and what I love about it, is for warm, singing overdriven leads. I keep it set with the level fairly high, the drive pretty low (about 25%) and the tone rolled back, and when I engage it on the clean channel on my Quad (which is set to be right on the edge of breaking up normally) it pushes it into a beautifully warm, smooth drive tone perfect for single note lead lines. I do want to experiment with a few of the common mods, but the overall stock tone characteristics in this context are absolutely awesome.

It's pretty easy to get a nasty tone or nasty noise out of this thing though, that's for sure. Higher tone settings, at least with my rig, sound like an icepick stabbing through your eardrums.

I don't know, I've been rockin' it a month or two, but only really put it through the road-warrior paces for a week or two now, having recently joined up with full-time touring band After the Crash (www.myspace.com/afterthecrash so you can see the general style I'm playing in. No bluesy stuff here, so if that's your intended use you'd be best served looking through different reviews. This is modern-rock with something of an emphasis on mood/ambience stuff)

So far so good, but I might have to revise this after a few more months of throwing it around.

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing for about 12 years, very seriously (and currently making a living on tour) and this thing is a great value. It's not the end-all-be-all drive/boost pedal, but it's pretty sweet. I was actually shocked: I bought this pedal on a whim, intending to get it modded right away, and as soon as I plugged in and fired it up a bit, I was scared that getting it modded might lose the tonal characteristics I love! For my purposes, using over a clean channel to push it and get a smooth sounding overdrive for leads, it's quite solid. Seemed smoother than the TS series ODs.

I bought this pedal several weeks ago at a very nice price from my local Boss dealer and so far, so good. It's very easy to use. I played around with a sample unit in the store for a good hour before buying it, so I had plenty of time to get acquainted.

I really liked the fact that this pedal does not compress my tone at all. It was easily the most "open" and transparent of all the Boss overdrives I tried. I really dislike effects that constrict tone, and this one does nothing of the sort, contrary to what the previous poster said. He must have problems with his hearing or something. It works fine in conjunction with my JangleBox compressor and other pedals. It replaced a Danelectro Daddy-O overdrive that I had grown to dislike. Anybody want a good deal on it? It's going up on Ebay. I may, at some point, try other boutique overdrives, but for now, this is a big improvement on the Daddy-O.

Boss stuff is usually built to withstand a nuclear war. I don't think this one will be any different.

I have dealt with Boss C/S before concerning another pedal I had that was defective. They were great to deal with.

All in all, I like the Super Overdrive just fine so far. Ask me in six months. I usually stay away from Boss pedals and prefer boutique stuff, but heck, it sounded fine, the price was right and it kicks the crap outta' the Daddy-O. One day, I might go for an expensive boutique replacement, but for now, the Boss is doing what I need it to do.

Fairly easy to tweak around to get different sounds but it takes a while to get the tone I like.

The tone knob is very useful. Helps you to get warm and smooth creamy drive to brittle overdrive.

Well, here's the thing. I got this pedal ever since I was a beginner. This pedal gives a very average effect. Good to use it alone but I like to stack overdrive pedals for creamier and fuller sound. This thing doesn't like other pedals. Besides its a super duper big tone sucker! I bought some boutique pedals recently with true bypass such as Fulltone Fulldrive 2 MOSFET and Diamond Pedals J-Drive MK3 and they sound sweet and warm when I plug my guitar straight to the these 2 pedals and to the amp. But when I put them into my whole effects chain with the SD-1 in it, they just sound crap cos the SD-1 has a super low quality buffer in it that sucks out all the liveliness of the guitar tone.

Do not get this pedal cos it will mess up your tone! I'm glad I've sold this on eBay and now my guitar sounds so much sweeter!

I've been using it for 3 or 4 years. First the switch died on me. Replaced it and it works normally. Then the battery connectors failed. The pedal just can't stay on constantly. I've to use an adapter to solve this prob.

Boss really has lousy parts in them. It's better to have a backup when gigging with this. But the quality and the everything of it make this pedal a backup pedal rather than a gigging pedal.

Didn't care dealing with them. Lousy pedal.

I've been playing for 9 years now and I play a wide range of music. This pedal is just a tone sucker with average or even below average sound with overrated claims by Boss on how good it is. Just think of Behringer. They are in the same range.

I'm glad this sucker has gone out of my chain.

I like the way my stock SD-1 sounded, no need for modification in my behalf, I easily get the sound I want from it.

level= 10 o'clock
tone = 1 o'clock
gain = 3-4 o'clock

out of the box it's very nice sounding already, i believe you do not need all the bunch of documents that goes along with it.

I am an overdrive fan- I had the DOD 250, Bad Monkey, TS5 tubescreamer, behringer OD pedal and so far I believe this is the topnotcher of all the OD pedals i've own. No wonder they labeled it "SUPER". Very bright sounding unlike the BadMonkey and TS5 which is dark. It's like seeing thru a very clear eyeglass, crisp sounding OD, and good volume boost. Almost natural sounding, not much coloration. The gain is very adequate enough to sound very gritty for the OD zone. I am not a distortion or metal user, this SUPER OVERDRIVE is definitely satisfiable for me

metal, haven't changed their patent over the decades, surely is reknowed to be that reliable

I would rate it 10 for the mediocore pedal- considering other boutique pedal is a different story though

Well, its a 3 knob pedal. Mine is modded to have an additional 3-way toggle switch.

1st: Germanium
2nd: Clean Boost
3rd: LED

Mine is also modded to have the mid-hump removed.

My setup are as follows; guitar ??? volume pedal ??? wah ??? comp ??? SD1- Line6 MM4 ??? Hughes & Kettner Triamp MK I. DD20 & RV5 is in the loop. This pedal rocks the house. I set it to volume full, gain min, tone min & set the toggle to clean boost. What can I say!!! The tone is just amazing. I would rather get another 1 if spoilt than to get a boutique overdrive pedal for $400-$500.

its built like a diamond. No worries evne without backup.

no comment.

I play anything from blues, rock, metal & it suits well.

I have had this pedal for 23 years and it's still the BEST sounding overdrive to my ears. I recently started using pedals again after a longtime plugging straight into my heads. A Peavey 5150 and a new EVH 5150III. I added the SD-1 pedal to my board so that I could use it for a boost instead of channel switching. MY GOD! this thing roars! and sounds amazing. Gives me an extra mid-range bite that was lacking without it. I set the tone control at 1pm, the level at 10 and the drive at zero.. It adds a really nice tone to the already great sounding amps.

Amazing! Nothing more to be said.

23 years and counting. No problems.

Never talked with them, never had to.

I would freak out if I lost this pedal and have to get another one. Not sure what the newer ones sound like.

It only have 3 knobs, level, tone and drive. An input and output jack and a 9v battery compartment and a power supply. It sure easy to get a great sound thru it and i dont even bother to use the manual cos this is very easy for me to tweak out of the box. So i never rely on it yet till now ( dont know about the future) The unit i owned is stock and made in taiwan.

Right now at home i'm using this with a solid state Marshall MG15DFX but live i am using it with any amp the organizer provide and it sure hell to tweak an unknown amp or the one that u never use to so i need something that i can bring anywhere i go. Basicly my setup is Ibanez RG350, Fender and Squier Stratocaster (all my guitar are stock right now) and a Peavey Wolfgang (on loan so i dont know if it is modified or not) to my effect chain to amp, in amp effect loop delay pedal (for live purpose only)

My effect chain start with a volume pedal>>>wah>>>Boss SD-1>>>Boss SD-1>>>eq>>>flanger>>>noise gate>>>eq>>>chorus>>>chorus and then to the amp (live or at home it the same setup except at home i use the delay before amp)

The first SD-1 was set as a boost (for lead )with level,tone and drive around 9 to 12 o'clock, the second SD-1 set for dirty crunch with the level on 9 to 3 o'clock, tone on 12 to 3 o'clock and drive around 12 to 3 o'clock. It sure noisy when i stop playing with either only one or both of them on together (of cos hahahaha) but the noise gate sure help with the noise. And the Marshall combo set on overdrive channel with the volume around 9 to 10 o'clock (sometimes higher when my parent not around :p), and the gain around 9 o'clock and the bass and treble around 3 o'clock and the mid full blast (i sure like tons of mid) and live it depends on what amp i using so it could be different sometimes (usually all the time hahaha), This allow me to achieve sort of Paul Gilbert type of sound and heavier sounding Yngwie Malmsteen but at the same time allow me to just use the amp as a slightly gritty overdriven for bluesy rhythm works and on just the booster for lead works and with the guitar volume and tone knob i can achieve a lot of color for my lead in this domain except scooped mid which i have the eq set to sort of smiley curve or "V" shape for that kind of rhythm. I also use it with clean channel on amp before it sure work too and nice for the situation before but i just prefer this way and it give me tons of color and especially gain to work with.

With just one SD-1 on a moderate overdrive to an amp clean channel, i can get sort of from SRV, Hendrix and sort of bluesy artists with higher drive i can go to up to AC/DC and Thin Lizzy sort of style and with my neck pickup on either guitar i can get a nice Santana and Eric Johnson sort of tone (with my RG volume roll down i can get EJ tone nice and with the Strat it surely noisy without the gate to achieve the fat sound of Santana). But i still prefer using the amp on slightly overdrive and get my clean sound by switching off both the SD-1 and roll down my volume or using the second eq after the gate for another treblish clean sound and just change my pickup option using the selector to get more color.

Before i own this pedal i have own the Boss MT-2 and i use two of them for different setting over amp clean channel and i like them and after that i want more clarity and more dynamic in my sound and influenced by Satriani and Vai i go for the DS-1 still i wasnt satisfied till i get this pedals. And i like them for they suit my style of playing.

I have try this pedals combo using Marshall JCM800, JCM900 and the DSL2000. The Peavey 6505 and 6505 Plus, Roland JC-120 combo and Hughes and Kettner (i dont remember the brand name sorry about that and some other amplifier i forgot the brand name and it sure get the sound i am going for.

Yes of cos i depend on it all the time for live performance and practise except at night where i need to practise silently i use a headphone with the Korg AX1500g :p thru a mixer or sort.

Right now i have priority for other things (i need another RG hahahaha) and i dont have the backup but it a product by Boss and i still have the pair of CH-1 that i bought when i started to play 7 years ago and they still work. But with care and better way of handling it they sure will last longer.

i have try their dealer in my country and they sucks big time, of course that mean they are not helpful with no idea about gear snobby businessman and salesman hahahahaha. I have no idea about the Roland or the Boss company cos i basicly get more infos and repairs if i need them (havent need to repair them yet hahahaha) from a friend of mine.

I sort of play as many style as possible becos i do some recording session work and live for some people in my country (with the Fender Strat and Peavey sometime the Ibanez RG, and used differents pedals combo for different need (wish i can afford to get a rack hahahaha), basicly with this setup and i can cover tons of style unless i need a phaser, pitch shifter and etc i just borrow from a good friends of mine (thanks dude, u guys are cool). But mostly for my band i do play in the range of hard rock to metal and sometimes some pop song (i am a big fan of van halen and mr big lately hahahaha). And have been playing for nearly 9 years right now start around 16 or 17 i thinks it is 17. Other pedals that i own now is the Boss BF-3,CH-1 (X2),DS-1 (X2), DD-3 (X2),DD-20 (need to get one more of this),FV-50H and FV-50L, GE-7 (X4 recently bought 2 more), NS-2 and also a VOX V848 Wah-wah. Before this i owned the MT-2 (X2), some Digitech distortion and modulation pedals, and Ibanez delays which i sold off cos i dont like em. And for just in case a quick setup i have the Korg AX1500g. For the price i pay i think t is really worth it and the only thing lacking i dont know it sure nice for me so i dont think it gonna suit everyone but it sure fit for my need.

I havent try the Tubescreamer yet but i intend to try them out soon if i have more cash hahahaha, but this pedals is cheaper and it have all the dynamics and clarity i need and it pick my picking well (becos i know there are more overdrive pedals that i need to try out but for the time being i like em a lot). With the eq pedal it sure help to give me the scooped mid heavy crunch sound like metallica and i am trying out to figure more eq setting with the latest acquisition of the GE-7 so maybe next time my effects chain could be volume>>>wah>>>eq>>>SD-1>>>eq(for mid scooped)>>>eq(for mid boost or other sort of things that i need)>>>flanger>>>noise gate>>>chorus(X2)>>>eq and i intend to try out other pedals too cos i might find out a new favourite pedals hahahaha and i just like to tweak my effects to achieve new fresh sound. Anyway i think it is much better to try out for yourself to get to know the sound that u can get. i'm a bit lucky cos some of friends have tons of pedals and racks but i make use of what i have.

Already been covered....

I have a nice collection of boutique ODs as well as some "classics", but I've never had an SD-1 until recently. I picked this one up used just to add to my collection and it managed to beat out every other OD I have. I use it as a boost into the front of my Marshall (JCM 800 2204) to push it into high-gain Metal mode. For years I used a Tube Screamer and more recently a Maxon OD 9 (my favorite TS) but the "cheap" Boss SD-1 just did a better job pushing my Marshall. It's more open, sounds more aggressive and has a more even midrange response. It also seems to have more grit/gain than the TS pedals. I considered the available mods and while interesting, if it's not broken don't fix it. Since theses pedals are so affordable I might buy another one specifically for modding it. In the meantime I'm perfectly happy with my stock SD-1.

I play "Metal" (Iron Maiden, OLD Slayer, Morbid Angel) and this will definitely be my main "crunch" pedal from now on. It sounds like it was made to work with my Marshall. It feels very natural in the application that I'm using it for and it's a hard pedal to beat for the price, new or used.

Like any OD stomp box, it doesn't have a myriad of useable settings, but I can get my sound out of this one without having to twiddle around too much. I treat overdrive pedals as a necessary evil, so functionality is paramount.

This is a Japanese model from the early 80s, that may or may not have been modded at some point. I don't know how the newer Taiwanese SD-1s compare. However, I have directly compared it to the "legendary" OD-1 and I like this pedal a lot better. Punches through the mix just as well but holds onto a bit more bass (only a bit, mind). It's also smoother and less "jagged" sounding than the spikey OD-1. Very tube-like on recordings. Not a one-size-fits-all Overdrive (try the OD-3), but as a token mid-humped "TS-style" pedal, this is the best I've come across.

25 years old, works perfectly.

Can I just say how much sick I am of reading all these liars who say they would "hunt down" and eviscerate/beat-down/kill/sodomise the thief if the prized product being reviewed were stolen? If your thing is stolen, chances are the thief will get away free as the air you breathe with not a damn thing you can do about it. Such is life. In the highly unlikely event of being confronted with the thief, I'm sure 95% of you would plain chicken out of doing anything.
(The other 5% would maybe squeak some puny threats in a shrill, frightened, girly voice.)
Yadda-yadda, tough-guys.
Disclaimer: I'm not a gear-thief and I hate them as much as anyone.

Very easy to use, never opened the manual until I needed to check on the warranty status of the pedal (see below). Three knobs (Level, Tone, Drive). Pretty easy to dial in whatever sound you're after.

Ran my Epi Les Paul copy (with upgraded 496R and 500T pickups--would recommend this upgrade to everyone for a cheap alternative to a real Gibson), a Gibson Blueshawk, and one of the newer Electromatic Gretsch Pro Jets through my late 90s 100w Fender Twin. Used the SD-1 mainly for light overdrive and for a boost for solos/choruses on top of the amp's overdrive. Sounds somewhat similar to Tubescreamer type overdrive, won't blow the roof off the joint, but its not designed to do that. Good for hard rock, 70s/80s style rock 'n roll, early 60s stuff would sound good with this pedal... if you put it in front of a decent amp it'll sound good, I can't see it making a solid state amp scream, but I wouldn't expect it to. For 50 bucks this pedal is a great value, doesn't color your sound too much... basically I'd say it's a one of the best entry-level OD pedals on the market.

A couple weeks ago I would've gigged without a backup, but it unexpectedly died on me for no reason a week ago, so I'd have to think twice before using it in a live situation without a backup. I got almost 1 year out of this pedal before it stopped working... well it didn't totally stop working, the pedal works in bypass mode (as in, I can play clean through it, but the effect doesn't work). It's not an input/output jack issue, something's shorted out in the pedal--I get no sound out of it half the time, and the rest of the time it sounds like I'm playing through a pair of headphones when I step on the pedal.

Boss won't return my emails, and frankly I don't blame them, it is after all a 50 dollar product. I've grown tired of reading reviews that say "Hey, it's a Boss, what could go wrong?" This is the second Boss pedal that I've taken good care of that's simply died. The other was a DS-1 that sat on my pedal board just like the SD-1 did, with a clean power supply, in a dry environment... these things just don't live up to the hype. I didn't throw them down the stairs, or throw them out of a hotel window into the pool, or back my car over them, or any other ridiculous claim that I've read over the years. I've had 4 boss pedals and 2 have died, so I've got a 50% success rate. Boss pedals are cheap for the most part, so I wouldn't expect much more than I've gotten.

My band currently plays Replacements-esque rock 'n roll, mostly originals. Been playing about 10 years on and off depending on what's happening in the local music scene. If this pedal were lost or stolen I really wouldn't care at this point because it's not worth fixing. I'm trying to decide if I should buy three of these in hopes that one will last or if I should just bite the bullet and get a Maxon OD-9 or a Fulldrive OCD for the same amount of money. It was a good pedal while it lasted, but it really didn't last that long. 5 year warranties don't really matter if your local Boss dealer will charge you to open the pedal up and Boss won't talk to you.

A loud pup is a must - otherwise its easy as falling off a stage.

Jeff (12/17/2007) nailed it - the older the amp, the better.....
Bazza (12/24/2007) nailed it - not too good into a clean transistor amp.....
CrackMonkey (01/01/2008) has to be having way too much fun for his own good.....
mike (01/07/2008) mike does it a disservice.....
The box says Overdrive - NOT distorton, and the pedal needs a good level in to get the grit at all. That DOES mean that if you ease back on the volume control or lighten up your picking, the grit goes away - but THAT kind of control is very usable.
Contrary to my previous review (11/14/2007), after playing through it for a month I went and modded it. Took out the silicon 1/2-diodes and put in 4/6 germanium. Well, now it is so subtle you wouldn't believe it, chords still dirty up and the wrong notes produce some intermodulation, same as with the silicon set-up - you have to think about the notes and keep to "power" chords. But on lead/solo lines and single or paired note riffs, it is sweet as a honey covered rip-saw. So - there IS mileage in modding these babies.....

After the nuclear holocaust, there will be nothing left but BOSS pedals and politicians.....

Boss/Roland probably won't talk to me now I've been inside with a smouldering-iron.....

Blues - into a tube/valve amp it does it a treat. Its an overdrive pedal, NOT a distortion unit. If you are DI'ing or using solid-state, look elsewhere.
45 Years, a Fender Bassman and some string-driven things.
Stolen? hell, I'd get straight on to fleabay for another one.
I love the sound, I hate the colour, my favourite feature is the sound.
Compared it to loads, too many to mention, chose it because it sounded good and didn't need a mortgage.
Wish it had a built in drinks-chiller. Or maybe an Econoline van.
Yup - it helps make music, and doesn't get in the way.
Yes - I'd like to share the answers to all your strange questions with potential buyers of this unit.

Baisically this pedal is really just a boost that adds a little bit of dirt, the controls don't really very responsive and don't lend themselves to tweaking, so in terms of ease of use you may as well just turn the dials to 12 and leave them there.

Like i said it's a boost with a bit of dirt, as someone else has said prob works best infront of a tube amp thats already cranked up, as i don't have a tube amp i tend to play at lowish levels, so this pedal is next to useless for me so i got rid of it, as it seemed to give a flattish sound with no sparkle at low levels. I used it with a 100w solid state marshall, and even with a good les paul copy (i.e. not a epiphone!)found it hard to get a grinding overdrive, however the pedal sounded ok in a chain, as a stand alone pedal i REALLY diddnt like the sound plus there was no gain in the pedal, and as moneys tight i rate versatility quite highly, and this diddnt do much for me...so my personal rating is a muddy 7.

I don't own one no more.

nope.

I kinda felt it wasnt for me, just buy it if you want to tip a amp over the edge, remember it's NOT a distortion pedal in it's self... i was looking for a cleanish sound with a bit of dirt AND gain and sparkle, this wasnt it i'm afraid, if i decide that i REALLY need a cleanish overdriven sound with a bit of dirt then i'll try the digitech bad monkey as i like some of their other pedals and it seems like you can get a bit more gain from it if you want...

Three knobs, easy use

Sounds good to me, I'm using it as a boost for high to medium distortion. I found it best for what I'm using to turn the drive all the way off and the volume all the way up and putting the tone at 12 o clock. Then I use the distortion on my amp. Even with the gain all the way off it still adds a little grit on the clean channel which gets gritter with hard picking. So this pedal adds some "sag" with hard picking set up like this. I bought this pedal because thats what Jason Becker used. Sounds awesome for leads. You can have the gain on your amp at 5 and have insane sustain, great for clean neoclassical shred solo's. With your gain on your amp on 10 you can get some brutal deathmetal tones. If you get some feedback just turn some knobs down till it stops. This is the first overdrive pedal I've owned so I don't know how other pedals are. I'm using it with fender m-80 amps which are quite brutal by them selves. I'm giving it a 9 cause I'm sure there is something better out there. This pedals works good for me.

I don't see it breaking down. It's a boss.

This pedal actually inspires me but I would guess any new piece of quality equip would.

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!

?????????????

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.

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.

No brainer. The controls are level, tone, drive.
Who cares about the manual.

You can get that classic American Overdriven guitar tone with this pedal. No question. There are other effects that suck!!. Yes you heard me they suck. The Boss Ds1 suck, which I also have. I say this because I know. Ok the DS1 is really a decent pedal it is abit more "hairy" than other overdrives because it uses Assymetrical clipping which in my opinion sounds more like a tube amp than Symetrical clipping. One thing that this pedal has is that it can be noisy when the volume is rolled up and you are not playing anythng, though everything else is fine. You can get that break up sound with a little distortion and boosting the volume up.

It is a Boss. need I say more?

NOPE

If you play rock or blues This pedal will get you there. I have been playing for 6 years now and going strong. If my DS1 was stolen I wouln't get it BUT if this pedal was stolen I would hunt the S@#$ that stole it from me. This is a pedal believe it or not is better than most out there. You can get some good tone out of this pedal but you will have to use the tone control, and once you find that sweet spot SET IT AND FORGET IT.

This pedal can also be used for modifications which it only needs a few, you know? to take out the noise and to make it less treblely. Everything else is FINE.

This is my setting. Fat strat. DS1---SD1---CH1---DODFX20C---IbanezDL5---Fender Hot rod Deluxe.

Only 3 knobs, Level Tone and Drive.
Easy to turn on and off, I was actually expecting some kinda clicking switch like in wah's, but these are just smooth and easy to engage, which is good.
Its pretty straight forward to use when it comes to setting a sound. Level is the volume or power of it, I like to use it as a volume boost for solos mostly.
Tone kinda works like an EQ, low it sounds muddy, high is screechy. I actually like to set it just under half way, for a really smooth sound.
And Drive, This is the actual overdrive or distortion of the sound. You can crank it so it is more of a distortion pedal, I like to leave it really low and use it as a soft drive mostly.

It did take a while to figure out where it is handy to use.

I use an Onyx Custom guitar (HSS superstrat 24 frets) - Vox V847 - Boss SD-1 - Crate Chorus - Zoom 505 - Ashton 50w Tube amp.

As I said I use this mostly as a boost and light drive on my clean channels. Sounds really nice with the single coil pickups, and then really has grunt with the bridge pickup. It doesnt take away the sound of your playing, like you can still play soft and it comes out the other end the same as if the pedal wasnt there.
I have a footswitch for my amp which changes between clean, crunch, mean and filth channels. I use this pedal to fine tune the tones in the clean sections. On clean I can be playing totally clean, click the pedal and have a sweet blues tone with single coil pickups, then throw it into the humbucker and have a growly ACDC style. Or I can set the pedal to go basically into a distortion - think Guns N Roses.
In the crunch channel, it usually has a bit too much bite for my liking, but with the pedal tone control I can shape it to sound nice.

It does seem to be lacking something sometimes, it can sound pretty thin until you find that sweet spot. Then you crank it up and it sounds great.

Overall it is a sweet pedal, cheap, effective. I may look at doing some slight mods to it, either that or placing an EQ after it in the chain to clean it up a little. Sometimes it can be a bit chimey.

Its a Boss.

I will be using it in live situations and I trust it.

I play in a band where we have a pretty broad taste in Rock.
From Creedence Clearwater Revival, to Hendrix, Pink Floyd, aswell as newer bands aswell. We play blues, jazzy stuff, rock, heavy rock, and I play metal. It does do very well indeed, I am happy with it. Obviously one stomp isnt going to grant you your dream tone, but it is a very helpful tool, especially with playing in a live situation or jamming.

I've been playing probably about 2 and a half years, maybe less. I stated my gear in the first section. Next I think I will be getting an EQ pedal and the Boss CS-3 Comp/Sus pedals - That will really round up my setups sound I believe.

If it were stolen or lost, I would probaly check out the OD-3 and the Blues Driver, though I was told this is a much smoother version.

The only downfall I can find for this pedal is that it does sometimes have a bit of a thin tone. But unless you are buying a customised pedal you are going to get that with any mass-produced unit.

Basically when it comes down to it -
If you play a lot of softer smoother music, and you want a boost for leads, but also have the potential there to switch your tone to a singing drive - and do it smoothly.
But then if you crank the settings, you can use this as a distortion pedal - im talking rock/blues distortion here.

Very happy with this purchase - but cant give it a 10 because I havent played everything else.

you know it!

First, i m writing this for those who drive their non-master tube amp loud to have more gain but who still need more drive. I use a Ginson classic 1960 usa, a telecaster usa with a stack on the bridge and a Strat usa with a SH-4 on the bridge and 2 texas special. My amp is a Marshall head 50 watts 1987x rissue plexi. That amp sound terrible,,wow. Its perfect for blues, rock and hard rock. But im in a new-rock alternativ band and need more gain. So i have try manny stomp box,,ts-9,,,,guv-nor,,,,mxr distortion+,,,Gt-3,,,POD,,,and nothing was perfect. They all change the tone or make to much noise..So i read a reviews here from a guy who said that with this amp and the SD-1 you ll get the zakk wylde tone...So i ordered one..Wow,,,im happy to find a cheap pedal that sound so good. I can hear my plexi sound perfectly behind this one on. But..you ll have to low down the treble and presence of your amp because that one sound really clear. So i use it that way: Marshall presence and treble at 9 oclock, bass and mid at 12,,,high volume at 4 and second channel at 3. For the sd-1,,,level at 3,,tone at 0 (close) drive at 9 oclock. Try it and enjoy!!!!Ill give a 8 because its so clear.

boss,,dont worry

Im playing guitar for 27 years,,,,i begin to know what im looking for for my tone,,,lol,,,,There is manny guitar player that use this one in front of their tube amp,,,Zakk wylde for a while,,Steve hill and manny more....Thats great to use as a booster..Didnt try it in a clein amp as overdrive,,,and i wont do!!!lol

Very simple - three knobs

After trying out, and liking the Blues Driver, and also reading wonderful things about the OD-3, I decided to find out for myself. Unfortunately the place that I went had no OD-3's for sale - only on display. They were offering the SD-1 for about half the price and, after a quick try out in the store, I took the chance, got it home, and then discovered that it just eats up all of your low end when engaged - much like a Tubescreamer (which I don't care for). Also, it has this bump in the upper mids, causing a weird nasal tone (also much like a Tubescreamer). If you like Tubescreamers, you'd probably like this, except it seems to have a bit more gain.

It's a Taiwanese made Boss. It seems pretty sturdy.

Never dealt with them

I'm playing lots of roots-rock, blues, oldies, some older classic country, and classic rock. The pedal is OK for classic rock, but it's lacking tonally for the other styles that I'd mentioned. Not really a blues tone. Overall, I think it's a well made, decent sounding pedal for someone that want's that type of sound. I'll be checking on some of the mods that are available for this pedal.

3 knobs - tone, volume and distortion. Doesn't get any easier.

First off, my setup:
Peavey Horizon II or Fender Double Fat Strat > boss TU-2> crybaby wah > Boss DS-1 > Digitech RP80 > Boss GE-7 > Peavey Vintage.

Well first off, fi youa re looking for a distortion, this is definately not what you want. This is an overdrive. A great sounding overdrive, but still an overdrive. Fortunately, thats what I was looking for when I got this pedal. I prefer the sound of this to the Ibanez tubescreamers (ts-9/ts-909) and any other overdrive pedal (basically all of them, I went to my local music store for 6 hours and tried out everything they had before choosing this.)
This pedal IS noisy. Fortunately thats not really an issue for me because I just turn it off when I'm not using it and when I am using it you don't notice it through the sweet, sweet tone on this thing. If this is an issue for you, simple - use a noise gate. Amazing sounds out of this thing, its creamy and rich sounding with great definition. Just how I like it.

Its a Boss. 'Nuff said.

Never dealt with them

Fantastic pedal. If it were stolen I would hunt whoever stole it down and club them to death with it. This is absolutely fantastic and an integral part of my setup. This is here to stay.

There are 3 knobs, the style i like most with these products, easy as mentioned! tone knob isn't that productive as it could be.

use an Ibanez SZ320 into various boxes into an Engl Thunder Combo. No difficulties with noise. Very nice overdriven sound, could have more input and it as strong trebles, that's why I like the OD-3 more, but this unit is very recommendable if you don't need as much output as I do. I play alternative rock.

boss...

Very versatile little overdrive, one of the better ones of Boss. I play in two bands, alternative rock and vintage rock/stoner rock. Try this and you will be satisfied as long as you don't want to use it as a shred master...

Easy to use. Level, Tone and Drive knobs. Don't need a manual to figure it out.

I use Gibson guitars (all with P-90's) into a Maxon Compressor, Boss SD-1, HomeBrew Electronics Power Screamer, Homebrew Electronics Germacide into either a Dr Z Maz 38 SR 2x12 amp or a Vox AC15 (for smaller venues). Okay, so here's where I wanted to weigh in on the SD-1 based on several reviews already posted. Remember though: tone is subjective. What sounds good to some might not sound good to others and vice versa. Don't let anyone tell you what "sounds good". Here's my humble opinion:

I think the SD-1 sounds best used as a booster to push a tube amp that's just breaking up or already overdriven. If you're using a clean amp (Roland JC-120 or Fender Twin) and using the SD-1 to simulate overdrive, I don't think it sounds that great as it's not very transparent. It has a pronounced mid-boost that not everyone likes. Personally, I like the mid-boost for solos as it helps cut through the mix. However, if i'm using one of my pedals on a song that has overdrive all the way through it, I'll use the Homebrew Powerscreamer. The Powerscreamer is simply a more natural sounding, transparent overdrive in my opinion. However, it does NOT have the mid-hump that I like to have for solos. Again, I use the SD-1 for solos only and the settings are as follows. Level: 2 o'clock, Tone: 12 o'clock, Drive 9 o'clock. I like how it thickens up the lead sound on my already overdriven amp. It's a little noisy, but most overdrive pedals are...

I've also owned an early TS-9 reissue (with JRC4558 chip) and an Analogman modded TS-9 converted to 808 specs. They all sound great in their own right. There's definitely a difference between the Ibanez Tubescreamers and the Boss SD-1. The Boss uses asymmetrical clipping while the Ibanez pedals use symmetrical clipping. But, BOTH the Ibanez and SD-1 use the JRC4558 op-amp chip.

For the value, I think the SD-1 is a great buy and, for the price, sounds excellent. In practice, I think it's best to decide how much you'd like to spend and then try out those pedals next to each other on the same guitar and amp that you use (if possible). Ideally, if you can play the pedal with your band, it's even better... There's been countless times when I've played a pedal at the store and thought it sounded great. Then, when I use it in a live band context, it just doesn't cut it.... Good luck. So my "9" rating is based on the SD-1's sound based on price. I think you'd be very hard-pressed to find an overdrive that sounds better for under $50...

I've had lots of Boss pedals and never had problems with them. I never gig without a backup but, to this day, I've never had to use the backup.

I've never had to deal with them...

This pedal suits my playing style which is early to modern Brit-Pop/Rock (Stones, Who, Kinks to Charlatans, Undertones, Supergrass, etc). I've been playing for over 15 years and have tons of gear (from cheap to boutique amps, pedals and guitars). If I lost the pedal, I'd buy another as you can get them on ebay for about $30 nowadays. Alhtough my pedal line-up changes constantly, the SD-1 seems to always find a place in there. It's just a great workhorse pedal at a reasonable price.

Level, Tone and Drive ... about as simple as it gets.

Extremely transparent ... it did not seem to alter the tonal character of my Telecaster at all. For some reason this thing reminds me of the Clash and The Police, but it can certainly get those SRV bluesy tones in the right situation.

With the gain all the way up, there is an edge to it. It's not so rounded as some other OD units -- I think that makes it more interesting. Sometimes those botique models are so smooth as to sound kind of dull. This one has character, and doesn't mess with your highs -- trebles are clear and sparkly, unlike with a Tubescreamer, which tends to accentuate the mids and cut the highs a bit (though the SD-1 has the same JRC4558D chip as the 808 Tube Screamers).

There are a ton of mods available for this thing as well -- including some cheap 808 mods. So, I suppose if you didn't like this thing as it is, it would be at least be a cheap avenue to getting a real 808 ciruit pedal, once it's modded. I may get a second one someday for that purpose.

I like this one as it is though. It's edgy, but mild. Sounds very good with the gain all the way down and just a bit of volume boost. It adds a very desireable "scratch" to the pick attack, while still remaining clean. Works very well with my modded Electric Mistress. Great for new wave/early 80's art rock, and blues of course. Great as a boost for heavier stuff as well, but won't do heavy distortion on its own. A little noisy with the gain cranked.

Solid

Very nice overdrive. It's inexpensive and has some lovely sounds. Very clear sounding, and does not color your tone. Definitely worth a try.

Its designed this way so drummers can understand it.

OK, here is the deal. This is not for amateurs.

Boss pedals are designed for a professional sound, so professional equipment is expected to be used along this box or you will get the crappy sound all the previous loosers are complaining about.

Mine is a japanese(way better components and fidelity)and I use with a Les Paul Custom and a Peavey Classic 30. That is pro sound.

I run it after my CS-3 Compressor Sustainer and before a DS-1 Distortion. I use this pedal as a volume/treble/drive booster. Run it before distortion and he will make your sound thicker, louder and more compressed. If you use as a stand alone distortion pedal, you will get a nice bluesy drive, also very used in my set up.

If you want the meat and potatoes, you'll need a driven tube amp and a nice guitar (i.e Strat, Tele, Les Paul).

Mine is like 20 years old and still sounds great.

This pedal has 2 different uses:

As a stand alone overdrive: It will make a clean amp sound like a driven tube amp. Think SVR.

As a Booster: If you put it before a distortion pedal or a distorted amp, he will increase gain and your sound will become thick, middy and mean. Think Zakk Wylde.

I use it for both situations and this pedal is the best I've tried.
I have had lots (I mean LOTS) of pedals (fuzzfaces, ts-9's, modded ts-9's, RATS, etc.) and the SD-1 is the one I keeped.

Is 3 knobs hard?????

The pedal played stock didn't hit me well. So I did a little mod by myself. I take the "good things" of a TS9 and keep the "good things" from the SD1. I get rid the bad stuffs of a TS9 and also get rid of the bad stuffs from the SD1. Basically improving the pedal A LOT BETTER!!! And the circuit of the SD1 is very similar to a TS9. The mod I did overall it's like 50% TS9 and 50% SD1 and the tone is HOLYYY SHITTT!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's the mod (since I hate secrets, I love to share it to all of you who's reading this review):

1. I pull out the clipping diode at D6 and do a jumper on it with a wire.

2. Then I place a 51pF capacitor at D5 (parallel together with the clipping diode at D5). Note: Do this carefully and make sure the clipping diode doesn't go the wrong way upside down.

3. Also I replace the 1K resistor at R16 with a 470 Ohm resistor.

4. I also replace the 470K resistor at R2 with a 510K resistor.

5. Then I pull out the 0.01uF capacitor at C6 and just leave it alone blank.

6. I replace the 1uF capacitor at C10 with a 10uF capacitor. Note: Make sure with the polarity, don't go wrong with this one.

7. And finally the last one I replace the .018uF capacitor at C2 with a 1uF Non Polar capacitor. DONE!

I play blues/rock and I use a vintage strat through a Fender Super Reverb amp, and then to a Marshall 100 watt Super Lead Plexi head running two Marshall cabinets, and then to a 1X15" Fender Vibrasonic.

Strat - Custom Wah - Roger Mayer Octavia - Dallas Arbiter Silicon Fuzz Face - Jim Dunlop Univibe - Boss SD1 (use for boost) - an old Marshall Blues Breaker pedal BB1 (not BB2) (stays ON all the time) - Boss TU-12 Tuner - Amps

It sounds undescribeable!

Set all 3 knobs to taste. It sounds FANTASTIC at all settings.

STRONG!!!!! Even KING KONG cannot BREAK this one!

Never

Simply a 10!

Easy to use! Three knobs! Level, Tone, Drive.

Ok..The Boss SD-1 was tested with my Mesa Boogie Single Rectifier Rectoverb 1x12 combo and my Carvin Belair 2x12 combo, both are tube amps spanning from a vintage sound to a modern "Marshall-esque" sound. One big advantage the SD-1 has over the Ibanez TS-9 is that the SD-1 has a sustantial volume boost compared to that of the TS-9. Very useful when playing live. That's due to the asymetrical vs. the symetrical chip patent that Boss uses. With that said...In my opinion the SD-1 is more flexible and has a better overall tone compared to the TS-9. I've used a TS-9 pretty much exclusive until now. I don't know why I never tried the SD-1 sooner. It has a wide range of subtle bluesy tones to a kick-ass nice crunch to it with a lot of sustain. No brutal ice-picking sound tested with either pedal though. The SD- has a nice creamy sound to it. Play with the knobs and explore, it's fun! A nice pedal addition to any descent tube amp. Check it out...it will suprise you. However, I did notice a tiny bit of low-end drop to the EQ when the pedal is engaged. Nothing you can't fix with proper amp settings. Think Robin Ford using the Carvin and 38 Special with the Mesa Boogie. A great pedal!

Typical Boss "bullet-proof" construction.

I hate to admit it...the SD-1 better suited to my tastes compared to the TS-9. I went into this with a bit of sckepticism but gave it a fair shake and now I'm selling my TS-9 (later 90's reissue model) or will mothball it. Go for it, you won't be disappointed!

Three knobs easy.

Good quality in stock form. Get the capacitors upgraded and the tone goes to excellent. Modify the clipping diodes and the gain resistor and the tone jumps to awesome. At the price the SD-1 goes for, I could not resist and bought one to modify. After a few changes I would say this is my #1 overdrive and can get any tone from slight breakup to howling full on overdrive. These are not true bypass, so it will dull your sound a bit when used in an effects chain with more than a couple of pedals. I use an enhancer at the end of my chain to clean this up.

Very reliable with reasonable use. The only ones I see that have failed are usually victims of botched modification jobs or crazy abuse.

I fix my own effects so I rarely deal with Boss support. Ordering parts from them, however, is another story. They can be very difficult whenever I have tried to get some specific pedal parts (espeically for discontinued pedals).

Stock, its a good yet mild overdrive. With a few inexpensive modifications, these can sound very very good and may even rival botique overdrives. This has been the biggest surprise of any pedal that I own. A best buy as far as overdrives go. If you know someone who has some skill at electronics, I highly recommend getting one of these and making a few changes (most of the info you will need is already on the 'net). You will not be disappointed.

Three knobs and two ears

In stock form these are not a bad pedal. It will produce a nice overdrive, but lacks pro quality in stock form. It's probably more reasonable to buy a modded one that will give you extra boost when you need it. Remember, most of the mod pedals are set up to sell to the general public. When modding you must think in terms of Professional musicians in order to get a pro sound. Pro musicians play through systems that are anywhere around a million watts to waaay over that, so anything they play would sound good..you could fart and it would sound good....ok maybe that's not a good analogy, but you get the picture. So I say do the mod with the pro idea in mind as far as tone and sustain and power...sounds like a logical approach to me..

It is a Boss...unbreakable

I've dealt with them...just some questions...absolutely the best.

I'd give it an 8.5...but 11 is better.

Easy as it gets..just fiddle with the knobs and you'll figure it out.

I use a '68 twin reverb, a '71 strat, OLP MM-1 (axis copy), LP junior with EMG-81 pickup and an Epiphone Sheraton. I combine this pedal with Equalizer or a line selector to boost the input about 15-20db.

The particular model i have is a japanese SD-1 from the early 80's. Much better than the newer ones in my opinion. The sound is great...works for a little blues overdrive with the strat or sheraton, or works for a zakk wylde style overdrive with the extra 20db of boost...with the OLP MM-1 it gets the Eddie Van Halen nicely. I highly reccomend using a tube amp with this pedal...it helps the overdrive sound get a little more gritty.

Its a boss...over 20 years old and still works.

Don't need it

Wonderful! Find a japanese one if you can....they are on ebay but show up in music stores used sometimes. I have over 20 boss pedals (most japanese) and this is my favorite and most used. I'm a boss collector so if you ever wonder what a pedal sounds like and if its worth it, i can tell you cause i have used damn near all of them.

Yes~~This Pedal Control is Very Simple.

BOSS OverDrive's Best~~~
Boost..Crunch..etc..zzz
No More BOSS OverDrive

Three Knobs, easy enough

Anyone using this product as a stand alone distortion is using it incorrectly, as a stand alone distortion its awful, as a boost on an already overdriven amp its great. I bought it cause my Carvin is a two channel and I just use it for lead boosts, great for that application, just a little noisy. It really seems to love a SD-59

I've never had a Boss product fail.

Their stuff never breaks hence never had to deal with em.

10. oh yeah I mean 3 switches it doesnt get any better

My setup is simple. Strat with Lace Red- bridge Silver- middle and Blue- neck-> Boss SD-1-> Big Muff when I feel the need-> Mig 50 hooked through a Peavey Classic 410E. I find if I kick the middle pickup tone down to about 2 I get a nice fat sound. That's my frakinf opinion.

The years have seen the passing of 6 Big Muffs. The SD-1 just keeps laughing.

They give you a cool poster with their whole product line in every box. How generous is that. Other than their bribary with shiny pieces of paper I have never dealt directly with Boss. Never had to.

I did'nt test any other overdrive pedals. I played this one and it was exactlt what I was looking for. Hey for 50 bucks what does everyone else expect

Three knobs. It's very easy to use. Is not necessary a manual to got a good sound.

Fender Strat > JD Cry'Baby > MG Monovibe > SD-1 > Big Muff > Phase90 > Danelectro Tremolo > Boss Volume > Boss DD-3. The SD-1 with a adapter make noises. In strat 'cause the single-coil pickups, the humm is high. But, the sound of this pedal is great. This pedal give to me a hot overdrive, the sound like I want...like I like.!

I have a band and we have our songs. Our style is between of rock 'n' roll and progressive rock. This pedal is part of the sound of my band.

No comments, easier than killing a bee.

First I wan't to kill that stupid opinion - "I want to say that this pedal is FOR TUBE AMPS." I have 65W of solid state Hughes & Kettner Club Reverb and I think that sound of it is also warm, makes notes cleared, easier to recognise also riffs. Everything is nice it's for everybody (but if you don't like your amp you woudn't be happy with SD-1). Great pedal, tons of thing to do with it, for valves and solid states (with good sound/good valves emulation). Btw. I'm not playing in bedroom volume settings...

hahahahahahaha, stupid question, T-34 Tank vs heavy duty schoes - no chance to destroy.

I have few BOSS pedals but I never have problems with any of them.

I'm playing mostly metal/rock (Black Sabbath, Ozzy, Metallica, Wylde style etc...) It's great for everything, even my blues impressions :) Just play with knobs. BTW add nice sound for your amp, If you can't buy valve beauty, and you have good solid state - buy it, you will improve and warm your tone. You will love it. If you already plaing on valves - you will also love it. :P For the price I'm giving 10.

Sorry for my poor english, never need it. I'm not a singer :D

3 knobs not exactly hard!!

Let me just say, to get this pedal sounding best it needs to be used with a tube amp. I 1st used my mates one on his fender and thought it was crap. I then got my Marshall DSL and thought i would give it a go with that and holy crap does it work well. So i bought it off him.
You get the sound you would get if you really cranked your tube amp. Most people think its the gain knob that really gets you distorted, if you want mega distortion you need to really crank it and this pedal does it at lower volumes which is perfect because not being an international rockstar or anything i hardly get it past 4 on my master volume so this baby helps. Just select the distortion channel and then press this baby and your off.

only snag is that there is a lack of low end in it but thats not really a problem for me as i just press the deep switch on my amp and wayhey sorted.

well it's a boss probabily survive longer than i will.

dont know never delt with them

This pedal does the job for me with my lead tones. I never use it with my clean channel. When i used it with my crunch chanell and stepped on it i was amazed. So if you have a tube amp, (preferably a marshall or such like) then you might want to consider this pedal at what.....#35 new, not exactly expensive.

3 knobs

it can't get simpler than that

very smooth OD tones are inside. there is a noticable loss of low end when engaging the pedal but you can EQ the amp so this is not a problem. it makes things complicated for stage use so i can understand needing a mod for low end, but for recording just set the amp while the pedal is on, find the missing low-end and record.

this pedal really shines adding nice crunch to semi-dirty amp tones, especially marshall and the like, but ive found it great with other heavy amps by keeping the amps drive just a nice crunch (no heavy riffage palm mutes) then add the SD1 and all the crunch you need is there

level maxed but drive knob all the way low, its the best way to go with this pedal. keep the tone between 10:00 and 2:00 for best results but experiment

this is probably the 6th SD1 ive owned since i started playing and i dont think these newer ones are as bad compared to the old ones as people say. i think they have to have a certain name/model/recognition to thier gear to fill satisfied, and i can achieve that with a simply screw and stock gear

its a boss

try and bang it against your nuts if you feel its not sturdy

bass loss is only problem but there are mods you can seek. i dont need them because i only use this pedal at home when recording or practicing, i use a TS808 when gigging through fender amps

A Franklin mod SD-1. Easy to get an OK sound out of.

Here's where it gets a little touchy. A stock SD-1 has No low-end & I would never use it in any situation. So I bought a modded one from Franklin Modz. At first I liked it & it really performed for me, until I tried to record with. YUK, YUK, Poop in the studio. I like the old Japanese Boss pedals, but the new ones where ever the hell they're made just don't cut it at all. There's nothing transparent about any of them. I know the pedals last, but Roland/Boss should use better parts & charge a few more bucks for their pedals - Their "Wal-Mart" mass produce to the world is cutting into their quality bigtime. I will never buy another new Boss pedal unless it's a tuner or something like that.

The only thing that ever goes out is the switch.
They are Built well, very well

Ok to deal with.
They do try to help.

Spend a few extra bucks & try a Barber, Toadworks, Fulltone etc.
Stock New Boss Overdrives & Distortion pedals SUCK!!!! I can not say it loud enough. Their noisy, fizzy, tone lacking piles of yuk!

Also, don't buy a modded one! If you start out with a pedal that has tone problems the mod will never remove them all & the new additions/mods will not do it for you either. The old saying - a turd's still turd. Most of the Mod dudes make their own great pedals anyway, buy one of their creations, don't have them mod your old hunk of crap pedal.

Or find an old Japan made Boss or USA made MXR.

I've been looking of a good Overdrive pedal for years. If you think pedal is going to do the job "Keep Looking". I can't tell you how
unhappy I am with this pedal & the mod, for that matter ALL MODS!

Its pretty easy to understand and to use. It did not come with a manual that I can remember but you could always look it up online and figure out some good presets. Other than that its just best to fiddle with the knobs untill you find a good sound.

I use a Drive S101 with a Samick 30w. It has a little bit of extra noise but I think this has a lot to do with my single coil pickups in my strat. Lots of tone will make it squeak. The drive is very noticable, from 5-10 you will notice a huge differnce. This helps a bit in emulating people like jimi hendrix with lots of fuzz.

It has broken once on me already but was fixed (explained later). I would use it at a gig, it just went through some bad treatment at my house.

The customer support was awsome, it has a 3 year warranty I believe and It got pretty banged up. I tried to fix the problem but all the wires were soldered correctly and a new battery was installed. So I sent it in and in 2 weeks they sent it back free of charge all new.

Its pretty good for what its supposed to do, It may just have been mine with the problem, I would recommend getting this as an overdrive pedal, Boss makes some pretty reliable pedals.

Very simple to use.Three knobs Level,Tone and Drive.It doesnt get more easy then that!

The pedal has a great sound.I also own a Boss OD-3 which has a little more balls to it but this pedal has its own vibe also.I am using it with a Gibson ES-335 along with a 1965 Fender Deluxe Reverb amp.I alternate between playing the SD-1 and OD-3 at gigs.It depends on what tone mood I am in.They both sound good to me.The SD-1 seems a little brighter sounding the the OD-3 but the SD-1 still sounds very smooth with the ES-335.You can compare the SD-1 to an Ibanez TS-808 or TS-9 or any other brand of pedal that you may like but thats like comparing an apple to an orange.For the few bucks I paid for this unit it is a great deal and it sounds good.

I bought two SD-1 pedals although all Boss pedals are built like tanks.They are just simply a great deal.Most music stores are selling them for around $40.I have never had a Boss pedal go down on me yet.They are simply the best built pedals around.I know people that are still playing pedals from Boss that they bought back in the 1970s'.That says enough for me.They also make in my opinion the best sounding pedals you can buy.Boss has made a few bad overdrive/distortion pedals in the past but not many.There are a lot of plastic pedals out there these day that dont sound as good for the same price you can buy a Boss for.

Never had to call them.All my pedals including some over 20 years old are still working fine.

I play everything from rock to blues to country and even jazz.I am happy with this pedal.I have other overdrive pedals that I love also but this one does the trick at most gigs for me.I have been playing pro gigs for 30 years.I own about a dozen Gibson and Fender guitars and several tube amps both Mesa Boogie and Fender.I own several of Boss pedals of different variations both old and new.I pull them out depending on the mood I am in or gig I am playing at the time.I also own the Boss GT-8 but I always seem to go back to the guitar to an overdrive pedal and then to the amp setup.Its just simple for me to use.The GT-8 is a fun little toy but I dont need that much stuff to play with.Like I said earlier I bought two SD-1 pedals because they are so cheap to buy and I like the sound.I doubt if one will ever go down but if it does I have a backup.I cant say enough about Boss.I have been using Boss pedals since the late 70's.Before that it was MXR.Boss pedals are simply the best sound and value out there in my opinion.

3 knobs. How simple could it be?

My setup used to be Tele '62 reissue (or Epi Les Paul)->Digitech Wh-1->Jimi Hendrix Wah->SD-1->Line 6 MM4 + Boss DD3 on the loop->Engl Fireball->Marshall AVT412A 4x12 cab.

This is a very noisy pedal. Gets a lot of mids in your overall tone. Some may like it, some may not. It's really a matter of taste, so you should go and hear it with some attention.

Does help you cut through a mix, though after the tone hits under 9 o'clock, the sound is not convincing.
Most people use this as a booster of something else, for the cut throughs I mentioned, but as a sole overdrive over a clean/very slightly overdriven amp, it's not too phat.

Got myself a Vox Big Ben Overdrive, and it's far far superior. But it's more expensive too!

Boss stompboxes "oblige"...

I play alternative music, am into a franz ferdinand meets muse meets massive attack meets jimi kind of sound.
Did the role for 2 years, until I got to get my hands on that vox. What a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge difference folks! The tube is a major change, nothing else gives you THAT tone.
But I'll have to admit it's a matter of taste. I bet there are people who adore this pedal. I don't.

Crank the drive wide open,tone to match the amp,level as you like it.

Set your old non master volume tube amp to the point where it just starts to come alive with the sharpness of cracking ice and the response of a steel girder and then stomp on this.A total reaffirmation of why you chose to play the electric guitar.From Allman to Zappa,it`s all here.

It can double as a jumbo wheel chock.

I can`t speak highly enough of this pedal.If you love your amp this will push it to a higher level.Steroids for valves.I`ve just got to add that if you can`t get metal out of this then the problem could be any of the following.
1.Your brain has suffered digital modelling damage.
2.Your amp sounds best through headphones.
3.You think because it`s called an overdrive it just does cheezy blues and Paul Kossof impressions.
4.You confuse the sound of a lawnmower with a 747 jumbo.
If you love music you`ll love this pedal.But you need to have a super responsive amp first.At 39 quid brand new I`ve got to give it a ten.

Come on!

I love this pedal. I play a Shellac/Fugazi/Oxes and love the fact that you can still hear my picking dynamics through this overdrive. Sounds great when I palm mute my SG. Especial sounds good when my amp is cranked. Quietest overdrive/distortion pedal I own.(don't know if that says much) I play this with a Dist +, Big Muff PI, and a DL-4. My favorite pedal. For a while this is all i used plugged into my Fender hybrid. Does exactly what it says on the boss website.

Never had any problems and I had if for 3 years and used it everyday.

Good pedal. very surpriced for the price. I would suggest anyone on a buget to buy this pedal if you're looking for an overdrive. Guitar Central has them for 39 bucks for Christ sake. I've been playing for 16 years and I but have a nack for like odd guitar tone. (ie. Shellac) the pedal is a little on the harsher side compaired to more expensive brands but thats what I was looking for. If it was stolen I would buy another one, maybe two.

This review is for a Franklin Modz SD-1.
Very easy to use.
5 minutes to dial it in.

This mod to the SD-1 makes it the best solo/boost stomp box I've ever used. The stock SD-1 has good tone, but is far to thin & trebly.
The mod allows the bottom end to be more full, yet not get the low end
fart that most every overdrive/distortion pedal gets.

Again, the modded pedal you can buy off Ebay. Called a Franklin Modz.

It's new.
Boss pedals always last.

With the mod I don't think Boss will honor any waranty.
I've dealt with them before. OK customer service

If you're looking for a great Overdrive pedal to use in a live setting this is the best pedal I've ever come across. I play a 335 & LP thru a Peavey Butcher (the greatest JCM 800 ever made) & a 2x12 cab. With AC/DC - Thin Lizzy type tone. I have gone thru 12 to 16 pedals in the past couple years looking for a killer live setting solo/boost. This is it. I really don't want to share my tone secret, but this pedal sounds too good to not share the info. I don't know much about the guy making the pedals. I've heard many mods to Boss, DOD, Ibanez etc & owned many boutique pedals & this one hands downs kicks their ass.
If he has anymore check one out on Ebay.

Really easy. Took mere seconds.

I'd say it's mediumly noisy. I had read about this pedal here & there. Never considered Boss because I had the Heavy Metal and hated it, and tried my friends DS-1 and hated that. I kept reading how people would push Marshall's with the SD-1 for more lead gain. I guess Zakk Wylde does this. I have been searching, to no avail, for something to push my Marshall Artist 3203. So my friend had one laying around. It works so good with my Marshall. The "Boost" channel, the heavy gain channel on my Marshall, is scooped sounding with a flubby low end. It only as a "Tone" control for sound shaping. The SD-1 tightens the low end, adds mids and a bit more gain. I have the Level on full, Tone just past noon, and Drive around 9:00. This really is the pedal I've been looking for, for this amp. On the "Normal" channel of my Marshall (cleaner channel) the SD-1 creates a good 70's hard rock crunch.

If you have a tube Marshall I would suggest giving this pedal a shot before moving on to the higher priced pedals.

Three knobs, easy to dial in sounds

Very grainy sounding, compressed/muffled. This does not sound like a tube amp being pushed hard. It has a sound all its own-which may or may not be of use to you. Alot of guys use it slam an already driven amp but I used it as an overdrive effect. Not nearly as good sounding as the Boss OD-3. Nowhere near a TS.

It's a Boss

Not a very good sounding overdrive-not even close to a tube amp sound. If you want a Boss product get the OD-3 or the BD-2. This pedal just isn't the sound you thought it would be.

It's super easy to get a good sound in 1 to 5 min.
Three knops for adjustment of drive,tone and volume...
Manual???? I never had read anyone of these manuals... :)
I had bought 3 new SD 1 devices in the last 14 years but never used the manuals cause it's to easy...

I use 2 Marshall JCM 800 heads(50/100 W RMS)
and one Marshall 1959 JMP-1 (B.1971 - 100 W RMS)
and two Marshall JCM 800 Lead 4x12 1960 A/B
and one Marshall RED HOT LIMITED 1995 4x12 1960 B
I use the Boss as sustainpedal( Volume= 3/4 to max,Drive= 1/8 to 1/4 )
For rock sound I use it with clean Marshalls, and for Leadgitar and Rhythm like Pantera I use it with the drive of my Marshalls.
I feed the JMP-1 Top(inputs doubled with wire) with the DI-Output of the 50 W Top (2205). In this config I needn't a overdrive thats bigger and more fat as anything in space ! But the 100 W Top is used with the Boss.
Only Gibson is good enough - I play two Gibson Explorer ('86w.Trem & '90)

I can...
Yes,it's for the last kick of my gitarplay, and I only bought 3 of these one pedal because it was stolen or I lent it to someone and never get back...thanx dad... :)
I think if you have a reseve battery there is no problem comming on you by the boss...
The housing is metal and I belive in matal....

I never needed any help...

I play everything...
Shadows,Stones,Joe Satriani,Pantera,Metallica( up to Master of puppets(1985) not the new shit)
Testament,Accept,Helloween etc...
This unit pushes the Marshallsound but only pushing not killing the fine tones of my gitarplay...(cause my settings of the Boss?)
I often checked other devices but there is only one who can take my feelings in that case I wish...

Totally a no brainer as for ease of use, just a basic 3 knob pedal. I had a great usefull "pushed" Fender tweed sound in less then a minute.

I'm running a Epi Les Paul w/ a JB in the bridge, the sd-1, then into a Crate V3112. It's noisy when used w/ the OD channel of my amp, but just fine when used through the clean channel. I mainly use it as a solo boost when already running distortion, and as that in-between "gritty" setting when I need something less crunchy then distortion when running through the clean channel. I have the knobs set at volume-2:00, tone-1:00, & drive-2:00 ( those are clock times btw ). This pedal sounds great for what I use it for, power pop/rock. With the tone knob set where it is it's bright but not annoyingly so. It does lose some low end when ran w/ distortion, but that does help cut through a mix, and when I have the amp's internal boost on in clean mode, it does a pretty good Vox impersonation as well.

Very reliable, but haven't gigged w/ it yet, just band practice, but going to use it when recording ( SOON! )and it should hold up just fine.

Wy upgrade? just get a different pedal if ya don't like the one ya have. Screw the upgrade chips! LOL just kidding on that last part there.

I playpower pop/rock (Foo Fighters, QOTSA, The Who,& Bob Mould/Sugar/Husker Du are some prime influances ). It works great, as stated before, as that in-between pushed Fender/Vox sound, which is for me it's main use. I've been playing guitar about 6 years now, and played bass I guess for 15-20 years before that. I've had a few other pedals, both OD's and proper distortion and this one nails it where the others didn't, w/ the exception of the Digitech Screamin' Blues, but that was still a lil too crunchy for what I wanted ( great pedal tho ). I'd buy another if lost or stolen. Remember this is a proper Overdrive pedal, and that's what it does, it's NOT a distortion pedal, so use it as such and you'll be happy as am I.

Very easy to use and very easy to dial in the tones you want. The range of tones from just three knobs is incredible.

This pedal is a classic for good reason. It gives you great overdrive sounds in a wide range of settings. Sounds great on its own through a clean amp or to push an already overdriven amp even harder. Much greater range of tones than Ibanez overdrives.

Boss pedals are the industry standard for good reason.

A great overdrive pedal at a great price. I have compared this with the Ibanez reissues, Boogie V Twin, Sparkle Drive, Distortion+ and this pedal always wins. For the price you get a sound that is equal to if not better than the higher priced versions.

It's very easy to use it, it has 3 knobs: level, tone and drive. As sson as you turn the knobs you just feel some difference on the sound, and that's really good I guess.

I use a Yamaha Pacifica 012, a Meteoro Thor Plus amp, a Marshall Jackhammer and a Boss Ce-3. The pedal delivers a tube-like sound, maing it perfect to play blues, classic blues, fusion and other kinds of musical styles. It's very versatile, the tone knob makes a great different when you move it. It has a good tone, not too trebley ou bassy, very balanced.

I do not depend on it 'cause my Marshall Jackhammer has an Overdrive Mode, so that's not a problem to me.

I play many styles of music, and this pedal is giving the sounds I need, only if you need some hi gain distortion, but this is not the porpose of this pedal, it sounds like and old Fender amp cranked to the max, maybe that's a good definition for the sound I get with it.

Its really easy to get a great sound out of.
the drive can either be at half-way to add gain to make a nice clean overdrive and higher drive is also really nice.
like everything, i never read the manual.
this was the first pedal i ever got, out of pure luck.
i got a blues driver after, and i really prefer this as part of my future sound, but not the blues driver. i love the colour of this thing too

well so far i have an epiphone sheraton ii going into a vox wah, then this sd-1, then my mxr micro amp. I can get the basic sound along with my mxr micro amp of the artists i like, from modern indie bands to old rock n roll. this thing is terific and will always stay in my rig. this makes perfect rhythm playing; and with the mxr micro amp, lead playing.

i can depend on it, sadly batteries run out quite quickly for me. i think i might get a dc brick. i always have loads of 9v batteries on me, but before i would do 2-4 gigs, id put in a fresh battery.

never had to deal with them, i love my pedal!!!

Okay, if it were stolen id get another one straight away, since its so cheap!!! :D
Its just perfect for anything except heavy metal

How easy is it to get a good sound out of it?

After a few minutes you get to find your own sound out of it. Very simple and easy

What setup (i.e. what guitars and amps) are you using this with?

I'm using an Ibanez SZ320, Washburn 7 string and a Jackson RR3. Marshall Jcm 900 and Roland vga-3.

Is it noisy? On what settings?

It can get very noisy if you turn the gain up to high, but i don't have the gain that high so i can have much problem with it

Can you get the sound of your favorite artists? Who are they?

My sound is very similar to the guys in Shadows Falls tone, lots of mids with just enough bass and treble. Sounds very tight and punchy and really tightens up the low end.

Can you depend on it?

I sure can

Would you use it on a gig without a backup?

Certainly would

What style of music do you play? Is this a good match?

I play in a metal band that draws its influences from Shadows Fall, Children of Bodom, BLS, Arch Enemy and Black Dahlia Murder. The sound i can from the pedal and my equipment is awesome, i'm really really pleased with it.

How long have you been playing?

8 years


If any guys aren't totally satisfied with their tone, look into this little baby. It's perfect for really heavy s*it.

This pedal is the easiest thing to use. Very straight forward.

I'm using an Epi Les Paul and a Marshall Artist 3203 and sometimes a little Fender Combo. When you use this pedal on clean, you8 can get a crunchy, almost AC/DCish sound if you dial the knobs in right, and if you use it on lead, you get a very touch-sensitive overdrive with good harmonics. i think that the tone knob should be left at about halfway, depending on your style. I find it lacks some versitility.

Its a tank, I've never had any probems with it.

I play zeppelin, pick floyd, the who, black sabbath, and some other hard rock bands. This pedal can't really get that hard rock tone, but you can play blues stuff with it on rythym. Overall it's a pretty good pedal.

not even gonna comment

Agile V - a million other effects - Kustom II Lead

im into metal mostly, the only reason i got it was to get a nice bluesy tone when i wanted to, plus have a bit of sound variety for solos.

when the tone knob is set low, you can barely hear anything...it kinda acts like a volume in that way.however, when the tone is set high, it gets very high end, and harsh in a way. i think it sounds best a hair over half.

the drive knob just adds gain really. personally i found it impossible to get a "metal tone" from this pedal alone, but its definately due to my setup...ive seen people get very metal tones with just an sd1

i tried it with my Seymour Duncan JB Bridge position, and i found it sounded too trebly and thin...
I then tried it in the stock neck bucker, and it sounded wonderful...very full, very fat, with that creamy yet screamy bluesy tone, especially on the mid to higher notes.

overall for sound quality i give it an 7...i mean i REALLY love it for its blues tone with the bassier pickup, but ive tried everything to make it sound good with the bridge, and......no cigar.

boss, need i say more?

Like i said i use it for kinda bluesy stuff, some metal, if it is a slow melodic type solo...if i wanna shred,or play heavy mutes, ill just turn on the metal zone.

ive never tried any other od pedals, but i know that this one is considered to be standard...newer ods have a lot more features, but i like this the way it is.

but very acceptable tone, easy to use, good price,

this baby gets a 9. good job BOSS

I paid ?39 for this and it is very easy to use. but you really need to sit down for a long time and try every single amp eq combination possible to get the best out of this pedal. just 3 knobs. level- tone- drive. seems simple enough, oh and the standard red on/off LED. note that this is very bright and doesn't light up at all when the pedal is switched off like on the DOD pedals.

I use a fender lite ash stratocaster and squier telecaster into the following setup: jim dunlop crybaby wah- DOD FX40B seven band eq pedal- SD 1-Electro harmonix big muff into a fender princeton.
I mainly play blues and country and this little pedal has an amazing gritty overdrive which sounds amazing even with my crap amp.set the tone at 1 o'clock and drive at 3 o'clock for a biting blues sound, not dissimilar to that of a vintage vale amp. I have heard that you need a valve amp to get the best of stompboxes, but this little yellow one holds out pretty well on its own. it sound almost identical to the Ibanez ts-9 tubescreamer, only with more bite. less than half the price, too. I have tried the blues driver and od-3 and this completely destroys them.

another interesting point is that this serves as a great booster as well. the distortion on my amp is pretty shite but using the sd-1 to drive the front end a little bit more gives a singing lead voice with power and crunch, even with the amp eq turned down

also- nails the SRV sound in one. especially when I use the DOD eq as a mid booster.

reliable. isnt going to break down on me any time soon. although the socket at the back for a 9v power supply is very loose and wobbly, doesn't fill me with confidence when gigging.

never dealt with them

great sound, great value. considering buying another (SRV style)
better footswitch than ibanez ts-9 better sound than BD-2 and OD-3 put together. great buy.

It's pretty easy to get a nice sound out of this pedal =D gotta love good ol' boss stomp boxes

Overall I think this pedal kicks ass! From what I heard the circutry is the exact same as the famed ibanez tube screamer so that explains why this pedal sounds so nice =D like I've mentioned in my mt-2 review, the sound quality you get using these pedals is directly correlated to the quality of the gear you use with them... of course if you have a high gain valve amp like the 5150, having one of these things is pretty useless, but if you use it in combination with a nice non-crazy-make-my-ass-fall-off-high-gain tube amp like the mesa 50 caliber to add a little more cruch to the gain channel, the sound you get will be really nice: warm, full and tubey ,(the 50 caliber is a tube amp)especially if you have a half decent guitar. Me, I have a squire strat (which sounds surprisingly good for a cheapo guitar... guess I got lucky with mine) and a fender princeton 65 dsp solid state amp.... Not my idea of a dream rig but as it is my dream of having a 59' les paul and a silver jubilee is not going to be fulfilled for a looooooooooooooooooooooooooong ass time. Yet I get a pretty decent tone out of this little yellow box... the sd-1 is great for classic rock sounds, blues and even for funk and ska kind of stuff. Not only does this thing sound bad ass on it's own, but it acts a s booster for my mt-2; it tightens up the bottom end of the distortion and gives it an extra punch and just make my budget rig sound relatively good... my gf bought me a nice yamaha aes 620 (great guit btw... tried it out a couple of times at the guitar store) and I can't wait to try it out with my gear... it'll be be a major improvement over my squire so I'm excited. I've said this before and I'll say it again... these stomp boxes will not replace a $ 2000 dual rectifier but if you give them a try you'll be surprized at how good the tone is, especially if you use it with decent gear.

Apparently the analogman mod to the sd-1 is awesome... I might consider upgrading my sd-1... one last thing: the od-3 is a little bit warmer than the sd-1 but I bought this one cuz it was half the price and still awesome.

dudes you cuold drop a boss pedal in a mine field and it would fire up without a problem. I've gigged with it a few times and it's never given my a problem

haven't dealt with the nice boss people but I"ve been told that they're pretty good

Great little pedal =D I've been playing for about 5 years now and this is the second pedal that I bought.... I didn't really compare it to other pedals because when I bought it I didn't really know what was out there but nonetheless I'm happy with it... I'm sure that there are other pedals out there that are better but for the money I spent on this thing I get some pretty decent tones. This one is a keeper! If I lost it I might consider gettin an od-3 which is almost the same except it sounds a little warmer. awesome pedal people!

3 knobs. Level, Tone, Drive. Easy to get a good sound out of if you know what you're doing.

Epiphone Les Paul Standard - Vox V848 - Pro Co. Rat II - Ibanez TS9 - Boss BD2 - Boss DD5 - MXR Micro Amp.

A little noisy, but knowone hears noise like this when a full band is playing anyways. Don't use this pedal on your clean channel of the amp. It sounds very trebly and weak. I was very disappointed when I first bought this and used it on my clean channel. I immediately wanted to sell it. However, I kicked on the overdrive channel, and it was very powerful with smooth, crunchy distortion. I now see why this pedal is popular for lots of artists such as Zakk Wylde. Great for a good rock tone. Wish the bypass was a little better.

The pedal needs to have a warning not to use the pedal on the clean channel of your amp. If you're looking for a soft overdrive that you can attain with a blues driver or tube screamer, this isn't for you. This pedal has 2 uses, crunchy distortion or screaming leads. I like to use this pedal for chunky overdrive or as a booster for leads. Mixes very well with a Boss DS-1 Distortion to get feedback when you want it.

Very reliable. Boss 5 year warranty.

Great for rock. Been playing 4 years. I'm selling this because I the Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer drives my overdrive channel like the Boss SD-1 does except it makes it a little smoother. For leads, I now use a MXR Micro Amp, which gives you the exact same sound, but louder, which is what I want. I love the crunchy overdrive and sustaining leads. Don't like the bypass. The rock overdrive compares to the Ibanez Tube Screamer. As a booster, it compares to many overdrive units, don't like how it changes my sound though. Wish it had true bypass. If you want a sound for classic rock, this is it. Great value for $50 new if you don't want to spend $100 for an Ibanez Tube Screamer.

simple. hard to go wrong with it unless you just have a crappy rig to begin with

I disagree that this is an extremely versatile pedal. But it definately has some very useful sounds. I use it as a booster. The tone is very nice. I have the 80's japanese version, i've not tried any of the newer ones. My rig is Gibson SG - Sunn Beta Lead/Marshall 4x12, Digitech WH-1 Whammy, Boss DF2 Feedback Distortion, Boss SD-1, Fulltone Fulldrive, Zvex Fuzz Factory. I'm happy with it.

very reliable

I play experimental. It's quite good for that, and is an excellent pedal for rounding out tones. As I said, it's not versatile, but that's not really what one buys an OD pedal for. If you want distortion tone versatility in the same price range, and you are only going to use one pedal, get a DS-1. If you are a gear head and like tons of gadgets on your board, this is a solid addition.

Well...it's rather easy. Of course, it depends on how you're using it.

I'm using this unit as a drive/lead boost in the following chain: Hamer Special/Fender HRR Stratocaster=>SD-1=>Mesa V-Twin preamp=>Marshall JCM 800 Model 1987 50 watt non-master head=>either 2x12 or 4x12 JCM 800 Marshall cab.

The Marshall has two channels (High input, Low input), two non-master volumes, and two levels: Off and loud. As a result, I keep the volumes set somewhat low and use this as my clean tone. Yes, I use a non-master Marshall for a clean tone! I use the "Blues" channel on the V-Twin as my basic overdrive and I kick in the SD-1 for extra gain and for leads.

IMO, this is exactly how these units were intended to be used. Of course, it adds a little noise to the mix, since it has no true bypass (the V-Twin does however). What I like is that it tightens and clarifies the V-Twin/Marshall tone, while adding a small amount of extra drive and sustain. This creates a much better combination for me than just using the "Solo" channel on the V-Twin, which provides too much useless fuzz. My SD-1 settings are: Level @ 90%; Tone @ 40%; and Drive at 5-to-10%. A standard recipe, and it works for me.

As a stand alone unit for use as distortion unit, it's not bad. Lots of clarity and cleans up nice using the volume knob on your guitar. Not as good, however, as a slightly overdriven tube amp or tube preamp. Probably sounds awful through a crappy transistor amp, but then, what does sound good through solid-state?

Bought it used at the same marine base pawn shop where I got the Marshall. The Marshall's occassionaly tempermental; the SD-1 has never blinked, not even once. It is the MIJ version.

Never needed it. Roland does have a nice web site, with cool sound bites, and manuals to download.

I play classic rock and 80's hard rock. The SD-1, as one part of my signal chain, fits my tonal style very well. I have an old Ibanez TS-9...It's OK as is the midrange-heavy TS808, but I like the SD-1 better than both of these. If it were stolen, I'd likely buy the first DS-1 or SD-1 I could find in a pawn shop. Can't beat the price. My backup to the V-Twin is an original Chandler Tube Driver rackmount unit. I haven't tried the SD-1 with it, since it already has a boost circuit built-in. If I do try it, I'll update the review.

3 knobs. Very easy to use with suprising variation.

Very happy with the sound quality and results I'm getting with the unit. Use it with a whole heap of different effects old/new/true bypass/buffered etc. My live rig at the moment is very simple, being Tele, Boss TU-2, Dunlop 535Q, Ibanez TS-9DX, Boss SD1 to SF Super Reverb. Just tuner, wah and a couple of drivers. Sometimes add Ehx Pulsar (tremolo) and Small Stone. Use the amp's reverb if needed. Non-true bypass is no issue for me because it keeps my guitar signal juiced up especially after passing through the wah. The cornish article below hammers this point home. The pedal really has 3 uses, as a booster, then as a moderate driver then a more saturated driver. The TS9 is my basically "clean" booster at the moment so the SD1 has assumed the role of mod/saturated driver for smoother solos and by itself for crunchier rhythm work. Has a very pronounced midrange hump which I thoroughly enjoy. The gain tends to become a little boxed in at higher settings, like it's falling over onto itself, but by the time my Super Reverb gets cooking there's not much need to push the SD1s settings too high, so this phenomenon can be avoided. I've also used it as a booster out front of a Mesa Nomad 100 and Framus Cobra. Just dial the volume up and no or just a hint of gain is all you need. Reacted beautifully with the Nomad (REALLY well actually - pumped up the attitude and compressed the sound in a pleasing way by adding HEAPS of sustain) but not so well with the Cobra simply because that amp is such a gain weilding beast there's really no point boosting it! Highly recommended for use with cooking tube amps - you want at least a bit of edge to the "clean" tone before you use an overdrive I find. Overall a very versatile pedal with a distinct tonal signature at about as low a price as you will get. Rating of 8 means "excellent sound quality".

Have no concerns with this solid Boss pedal.

Never dealt with BOSS.

I play pop/rock original music and sometimes get the call to arms for the odd cover band stint. Been playing around 7 years. This is a very pleasing overdrive pedal which delivers, let alone at the price these units go for. The only reason I can think of for you to not really like it is if its inherent tonality is not up your alley. I don't recommend playing this pedal on the shop floor and making your mind up there. Take it home for two days and make sure you've got a jam/gig to hear it in a band mix. For use as a dry booster it excells and also for what I use it for which is to smooth and sustain solos. It tends to be darker and "chewier" than the TS9 DX but the tone knob gives plenty of variation and they compliment each other very nicely. Very happy with what it does and for me it's great! Rating of 8 means "earned a place on a minimalist pedal board"!

3 knobs. Very easy to use with suprising variation.

Very happy with the sound quality and results I'm getting with the unit. Use it with a whole heap of different effects old/new/true bypass/buffered etc. My live rig at the moment is very simple, being Tele, Boss TU-2, Dunlop 535Q, Ibanez TS-9DX, Boss SD1 to SF Super Reverb. Just tuner, wah and a couple of drivers. Sometimes add Ehx Pulsar (tremolo) and Small Stone. Use the amp's reverb if needed. Non-true bypass is no issue for me because it keeps my guitar signal juiced up especially after passing through the wah. The cornish article below hammers this point home. The pedal really has 3 uses, as a booster, then as a moderate driver then a more saturated driver. The TS9 is my basically "clean" booster at the moment so the SD1 has assumed the role of mod/saturated driver for smoother solos and by itself for crunchier rhythm work. Has a very pronounced midrange hump which I thoroughly enjoy. The gain tends to become a little boxed in at higher settings, like it's falling over onto itself, but by the time my Super Reverb gets cooking there's not much need to push the SD1s settings too high, so this phenomenon can be avoided. I've also used it as a booster out front of a Mesa Nomad 100 and Framus Cobra. Just dial the volume up and no or just a hint of gain is all you need. Reacted beautifully with the Nomad (REALLY well actually - pumped up the attitude and compressed the sound in a pleasing way by adding HEAPS of sustain) but not so well with the Cobra simply because that amp is such a gain weilding beast there's really no point boosting it! Highly recommended for use with cooking tube amps - you want at least a bit of edge to the "clean" tone before you use an overdrive I find. Overall a very versatile pedal with a distinct tonal signature at about as low a price as you will get. Rating of 8 means "excellent sound quality".

Have no concerns with this solid Boss pedal.

Never dealt with BOSS.

I play pop/rock original music and sometimes get the call to arms for the odd cover band stint. Been playing around 7 years. This is a very pleasing overdrive pedal which delivers, let alone at the price these units go for. The only reason I can think of for you to not really like it is if its inherent tonality is not up your alley. I don't recommend playing this pedal on the shop floor and making your mind up there. Take it home for two days and make sure you've got a jam/gig to hear it in a band mix. For use as a dry booster it excells and also for what I use it for which is to smooth and sustain solos. It tends to be darker and "chewier" than the TS9 DX but the tone knob gives plenty of variation and they compliment each other very nicely. Very happy with what it does and for me it's great! Rating of 8 means "earned a place on a minimalist pedal board"!

Simple pedal to use - three knobs which all do exactly what they say. It's good for sticking in front of an already overdriven amp.

I like the sound of this pedal. I use it between a home-made Tele with humbuckers and then go into a 40W Marshall. I dial up a decent crunch tone on the Marshall and then use the SD1 for a lead boost. The settings I use are volume on full, tone halfway and gain between a fifth and a quarter of the way up.

It gives me a nice brash lead sound, with plenty of harmonics, and in truth it ends up sounding a little like John Sykes. I can live with that! I think it works best with a bridge humbucker - sometimes my neck humbucker is a bit overpowering, although I think that part of this is due to the amp and the PU. It adds a decent amount of sustain as well.

I guess since my sound is sometimes a little muddy in the lower range with the neck PU I'll mark it down a little.

I'm considering trying one of the online mods available to see if that changes the sound much.

Not had any problems with it yet. I have a few other BOSS pedals and they all still work.

Never had to deal with BOSS/Roland before.

I play a lot of different styles of music - blues, rock, shred (well I try to!) and metal. This pedal works well in all styles. If it went missing I would probably buy another one, although I would be tempted to check out other pedals before purchasing one. Why not? It makes sense.

volume, tone and, level knobs
no explanation nessessary

a great overdrive for the money, I like the fact that it can go louder than my ts9. I like the boss style clipping even though it can by harsh and "boxy" at times. 8 sound quality with my carvin xv112 tube amp, 6 with my line 6 SS practice amp. I play this with an ibanez semi hollow LP model, and a ts9 for two stages of gain. The mixed clipping when both pedals are on is somewhat cluttered, but way huge sustain is the result. I will review this again after I send it to Analogman for the frog mod with a push-pull clipping pot.

Rugged...nothing bad to say about boss stomp boxes.

my warranty will be void as soon as it's modded

a great inexpense overdrive, housed very well. A perfect candidate for mods.

If you dont know how to use this, you should not be playing guitar.
Enough Said.

Ah the objective sound opinions, I think this is a very good pedal and sounds great. My rig is thhe following:
Amps: Mesa Dual Rec 1/2 stack or Mesa F-30 combo.
Guitars: (2)Les Pauls, Deluxe Strat, Ibanez AS-120
Effects: Budda Wah, Boss TU-2, SD-1, FZ-3, PH-3, TR-2
Effects Loop: Boss CE-20, DD-20, RV-2
in that order.
I think that it is important to let you all know that i only use this for a booster - not as an stand alone unit. I get my drive from my amps. Most people never really state what they use it for. Its job is for soloing & Boosting when needed. I set the level at 10, tone at 3-5, and drive at 1-3.
For the money there is no better booster, and at full level it is very quiet. As a stand alone overdrive it is fine, but as mentioned that is not what i use it for. And for all yo idiots who complain about true bypass read this:

http://www.petecornish.co.uk/case_against_true_bypass.html

and if you dont know who he is, quit guitar and go sell cars.

The only Boss pedal i have known to break, is when my buddy smashed one with a hammer.

never delt with them

The boutique pedal market is so huge right now its hard to know what to buy these days. I went though all of them. I am no "tone snob" and really do not care for names anymore. I have been playing for over a decade and everytime i see footage or go to shows of my favorite players & bands. they all have these little colored boxes from Tawain. Boss is still the standard for effects - period.

Easy to use.

Had a bit of a problem with these pedals. I just tried two new SD-1s at Guitar Center and on both of them the distortion comes through slightly even when the distortion is off. I didn't try out every SD-1 in the store, but I think it's safe to assume they'll all do this.
I am really disappointed. I love the sound of this overdrive pedal, but when I turn it off I need it clean.
Now, before somebody out there writes that I'm crazy, do this: Plug your guitar into your SD-1 and into your amp. Have the overdrive switched off (LED not lit), but turn the DIST knob all the way up (full clockwise) (this will help you hear the noise easier. Once you've zeroed in on the noise you'll be able to hear it when you turn the distortion lower). Play one note at a time starting at the low E string, volume all the way up on the guitar. Kind of a "fizzz" on top of your notes.

Sad, ain't it? I don't know if this happens in the older versions of this pedal, but the new version does it for sure. Very bad for somebody like me who loves their clean guitar licks.
I'm not writing this to dis Boss: I have several other new model Boss pedals that do not do this and am usually impressed with Boss quality. I'm writing this because I don't want Boss to think that nobody notices these things and because I hope I can go back to GC in a month or two and find the problem has been fixed so I can buy a new SD-1 that doesn't add fizz to my clean sound when the pedal is off.
The sound of the overdrive is excellent for that rich, throaty OD growl we love, so I have to give the pedal a 7 despite the problem when it's off.

I'll check back after Boss fixes this problem.

1 level, 1 drive and 1 tone. Easy.

I use a solid state amp, and mainly use the pedal with no gain and vol full with the distortion channel as I find it focuses the sound it better. There is more top end with a boost in gain. The SD-1's character is a slight midrange hump and a grit, but still keeps the original sound coming through. This is the mainly how I use it. I find the sound a bit harsh when the gain and tone are turned up though
On the clean channel, the sound becomes quite boxy. When turned up, it is quite harsh unless the tone is turned down, and a smooth lead sound can be achieved. There is a noticalbe volume incerase on the clean channel, but not on the drive channel. With single-coils, more body is given and it therefore sounds stronger.

Boss stuff is reliable and tough.

Not only is the price very good, it is one of Boss's smoother pedals, hence it sounds good. It sounds good with both types of pickups. Maybe too top ended at time, but turn the tone down and it is better. Recommended.