IndyGuitarist SD-1 Mod

If you can play guitar, you can use this.

I traded some pedals with a friend of a friend I met at a show one night. I thought I got a good deal, I traded a boss dd-5 for a ehx small clone and an indyguitarist sd-1. I figured since the sd-1 was modded I was making out great. However, later that night when I got home and plugged it in I was in shock! The best way to describe the sound is to think of a standard sd-1 then boost the bass a ridiculous amount! Now, on paper this may sound good. But when playing live and all you hear is bass, you will never cut through the mix! I tried turning the tone all the up to counter act the bass, but all it did was give me a scooped metal sound! The mod took a decent pedal and made it useless. No wonder the guy was so willing to give it up for the trade.

I'm not sure since it was modded.

Okay, I never contacted indyguitarist. However, if you look at some of the negative reviews here, the indyguitarist replys with same copy and paste response claiming he has no record of the sale. Which I think is a little hard to swallow.

I think I'll stay away from modded pedals from now on.

Esta revision es para el mod Tube Screamer on Steroids.

Realizada por mi mismo siguiendo las instrucciones de su libro, comprado directamente a su web: extremadamente sencillo y con un resultado sorprendente como comentare mas adelante.

En cuanto al uso del pedal, poco hay que a?adir.

Sonido ENORME: gran incremento de la salida, con muchisimo mas cuerpo que en el pedal original.

Tanto con mi Strato como con mi Les Paul, la guitarra suena cargada de energia y nada artificial como con otros pedales.

Por otra parte, e un pedal muy versatil, que se adapta muy bien tanto a mi Mesa Boogie DC5 como a mi cabezal Soldano Hot Rod 50.
A diferencia del pedal original, se ha eliminado ese brillo molesto sin perder transparencia, y por el incremento en su salida (muchisima mas que en el Keeley 5 stars mod o el Analogman Ts808 mod) puede ser utilizado perfectamente como booster.

Al haber realizado el mod yo mismo, tendre que fiarme de mi habilidad
:-) De cualquier manera, cualquier reapracion al igual que la modificacion en si, resulta extremadamente sencilla.

Brian es una persona afable , preocupada y eficiente:cualquier mail que le he enviado me lo ha respondido prontamente (salvando la diferencai horaria, ya que vivo en Espa?a) y siempre se ha mostrado dispuesto a ayudarme.

El pedal tiene un sonido con personalidad propia y con una calidad a la altura de otros pedales de Boutique muchisimo mas caros que tengo o he tenido la oportunida de probar (Barber, Pedalworx, Fulltone etc)

Para mi es una autentica ganga y una alegria comprobar que por poco dinero, puedes conseguir un gran sonido.

Recientemente he realizado su modificacion para el Jeckyll& Hyde gray box y ha resultado tan sorprendentemente buena como esta, por lo cual tengo que concluir que no ha sido una casualidad: Brian sabe realmente lo que hace.

Easier than Mary Jane Rottencrotch. I think the hardest part was opening the box, as Indyguitarist is a dilligent packer.

Setup - 1979 Gibson LP Custom with 70s Dimarzio Super Distortion p.u.
Also 1999 Fernandes Decade Elite. Myriad effects. 1973 Fender Dual Showman 85W, Avatar 4x12 cab.

Easy to get great sounds. Lowering the gain sucks the highs out a little bit, compensate for this by turning up the tone, and give yourself a little more bass, as necessary. This pedal sounds a little better with the LP which has a tighter and chunkier sound than the looser and rounder Fernandes. The fernandes on neck single coil also sounds really nice.

Volume control has a pretty nice sway over the gain, which is great for Pink Floyd-esque switches between a slightly distorted rhythm and a blazing lead.

The gain goes from about SRV to EVH. I'm not a terribly big fan of either of those guys, but that's a good approximation. From some subtle bite (mind you, this pedal won't get clean, no matter how low you set the dial) to some JCM800 full-bore crunch, this pedal's got good range. Due to its responsiveness, the amount of notes you play at once changes the gain a bit. Full chords will sound really huge and clear, single notes will be a little less distorted, which means you may want to boost in the front with an eq or wah to get a more distorted lead sound.

This nearly sounds like slapping a 50w Marshall MkII onto my Fender. Close, but not perfect. Still, the best for this price.

Haven't gigged this thing yet. Looks sturdy as any other Boss pedal.

Brian Wampler is a great guy, who will really go to great lenghts to make sure you're pleased with the product. Haven't needed to get this repaired, he'd probably do it for less than a normal tech.

This pedal's great for everything from crip Velvet Underground AC15 sounds to Zeppelin crunch to Iggy and the Stooges WHOMP (Not quite Raw Power, but more Fun House). I'd buy another one in a heartbeat - it's the best middle-gain pedal I've heard yet, and I only use pedals for distortion. If you're looking for space-rock or death metal outrage, look elsewhere. Otherwise, this thing rocks.

using this pedal is easier than clubbing a baby seal !

the sound quality is superb. really. i am pretty darn picky about my tones, and really i was amazed at the improvement over a boss stock unit, so bajaam ! a 10 !
i play a mexican tele (graphite nut & hardware,sounds better than most U.S.A. models i've played) through my board into my amp, a sovtek mig 60 tube lead head and a 4X12" cab.
my board:

morley lil' alligator volume pedal
boss tu-2 pedal tuner
INDYGUITARIST-modded SD-1
catalinbread Super Chile Picoso clean boost
Ibanez AD-9 analog delay
BOSS DD-20 giga delay
Boss rv-3 reverb/delay
with possibly a true-bypass small stone on the way.

here's the thing:

i had a keeley ts9-808 mod, and it was quite nice, but after a while i simply couldn't deal with the annoying compressed sound and too little drive (even though there should be MUCH MORE in a modded unit).
i post on the guitargeek.com stompbox forum quite regularly, and so does indyguitarist- i had heard that the sd-1 is much more transparent and 'raw' sounding than a ts9, so i had to try one.
i set up a trade with brian (indyguitarist) and we swapped, one keeley ts9-808 mod w/blue LED for one indyguitarist sd-1 mod w/green LED. i got it last night about an hour before i headed out to band practice.
this thing sounds 100X better through my pedalboard, i love how it keeps your sound intact but has the ability to add so much more OOMPH and drive, grit and spit. absolutely lovely, and more volume !!
thats a wonderful thing.
no nasty stock-sounding nasal metallic sound here, all i get pure unadulterated sweetness oozing from my speakers.

its still in its boss housing, so you know i can trust it.
on top of that, brian did his magic to the guts of the pedal, so hell yes i can trust it.

brian is mega-responsive, ultra-nice, and is willing to help in any situation-

his website is great and very informative (indyguitarist.com) and he pulls out all the stops to let you know he's got your back.
he knows he's good, but doesn't talk any trash when confronted with message board posts like "WHO DOES THE BETTER MOD ?" etc.
his patience goes a long way when i'm e-mailing him asking him every question under the sun, many of which could be answered by looking around on his site... i do this on purpose to smaller pedal makers so i can get an idea of who i'm dealing with. i wasn't disappointed !


he asked me what kind of sound i was shooting for !!
i mean, it really was a custom mod-
the great thing is, i got exactly what i needed.
how often does that happen with music gear ?
my drive section on my board is set.

i'm into basically all things indie-rock, from cursive, at the drive-in and the pixies to godspeed you black emperor!, mogwai,don caballero, and do.make.say.think. i have a side project that is largely influenced by the magnetic fields and the microphones, so basically any music that is honest, smart, and good will capture my attention.

i use LOTS of reverb & delay for atmosphere, and lots of math-y riffs that coincide with my other guitarist's playing. i don't believe in sucking, so theres no way i could back this pedal i'm reviewing if it hindered my sound or playing in any way whatsoever.

i know theres a lot of soundclips on websites with the old retarded blues guys playing their stupid boring riffs through truckloads of effects, but don't let other reviews & soundclips fool you, this modded sd-1 is VERY VERSATILE.
i can dial in a huge amount of gain for MONO-esque walls of sound with my band, or just enough to boost my already cranked amp head (my band plays LOUD) to get a sweet boost.

indyguitarist's prices for mods are nowhere near as high as analogman & keeley's. he doesn't slather his name all over your pedal, and his work is neat and clean. very few drive pedals excite me, b/c i'm picky about nailing that perfect sound, and i think that last night i achieved my personal perfect sound.
bravo.

The Boss sd-1 has three knobs for level, tone and drive, and they deliver what promised, so it's simple as that.

This unit, modified by Brian Wampler (www.Indyguitarist.com), has a gorgeous sound. I usually don't buy what the sellers claim about their products ("Stevie Ray Vaughan sound - yeah, give me a break!), but this is the classic exception. Warm, full, rich, creamy tones can be dialed even with the drive knob fully open. There's no harshness whatsoever. The tone knob is the real boss here, though, because even a small increment can change the sound spectrum dramatically. Really responsive.

I plan to use it live, it's shell is made out of metal and I think it can stand it.

I bought this one on eBay. All I can say is that Brian Wampler is a seriuos seller and he stands behind his creations. I'm unfortunately not a techhead, thus I don't know what kind of magic he does to the circuitry of the stock pedals. Mine sounds amazing after he put his hands on it. I'm sure he will be "discovered" and prices will skyrocket, but now I consider the price paid more than fair. Give him a try now that his prices are still low! http://www.indyguitarist.com/

I play in a rock-blues trio, and I've been playin' guitar for the last 21 years. I was decided not to buy the overpriced stock tubescreamer, and I choose between the many modified overdrive pedals you find on eBay. All I can say is I choose right!