Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive
 

Just wondering with this pedal is like. Does it work well boosting a JCM 800 to get a heavy mid range Metal sound? Is it different to a Tube Screamer?

Thanks

It is a tube screamer circuit with asymmetrical clipping, making it a little grittier sounding to most. Its a little bit different sounding then like a TS9, but the mid hump is there for sure.

Great hit the drive channel of your amp with and tighten things up. IMO the SD-1 is one of the best bang for the buck OD's out there.

^ +1, pretty much

it's broadly similar to a TS (in the way he said- i think it's also missing a capacitor around the op-amp's feedback loop which makes the tubescreamer smoother... there are probably/possibly other small differences but those are the two main ones), but sounds sufficiently different that you may prefer it. it's a bit edgier, which can sometimes work better with already-mid-heavy marshalls.

quick question/hijack - seeing as I have one, will it tighten up low end like a TS-9? I've never really used it.

I use one to boost my Rebel 30 and it certainly works well.
Tightens it up, gives it more punch and helps driving the preamp a good bit harder.

It's a very cost-efficient solution for a solid TS-type pedal for boosting at least.
That's all I need it for actually.

Sounds decent, do you guys think it will get a good HEAVY thrash metal sound? This is for my guitarist and he's currently boosting his JCM 800 and surprisingly it's not not doing exactly what we want. It's not crunchy and heavy enough or something.

what flavor of 800 is it? 2203/4/5/10?

2203. He's also had it modded with extra gain, but that just gives off bad feedback when he switches it on so he has to get a noise suppressor pedal too. I think he may need another amp personally, but that's not really an option as he only bought this one a few months ago. Has to be a way we can get the sound we want with various pedals.

i'd say just get a TS-9 and a noisegate. everyone should have both to begin with.

to a certain extent- probably.

as much as a ts? maybe not. i'm only going by my daphon sd1 clone, i haven't got to try it head to head with my joyo ts clone yet, but i fancy it doesn't have just as much of a bass boost. could be completely wrong, though :haha



yeah. i mean if you were trying to do the tgp robben ford type thing then maybe look elsewhere (though i thought its standalone od tone was actually pretty good), but for boosting an overdriven amp, it's pretty good.

He's currently using a ts9 and it's not quite getting the sound we're after, so he's gonna try the SD-1.

sounds good

if it's nearly there but not quite then the sd1 might do it, yeah.

if the ts9 is miles off, though, then i'd maybe look at something more different.

This scares me. Are you talking about the amp, or the pedal? Either way, whoever modded it could have put a lot of shit in it... a la JCM900 or something.



Anyway, the SD-1 has more grit/dirt to it than the TS. I prefer it over my TS-7 for this reason.

Another thing to mention is that if he doesn't have an EQ pedal, he needs one. I like the Boss GE-7, if you don't mind having a separate power supply, the MXR 10 Band is sort of the standard.

And of course, a noise gate is always good. I love the Boss NS-2.

I've always found - TS for rhythm, SD1 for lead.

He got the amp modded and there's a bit of noise now. He's got the GE-7 EQ pedal and it helps a bit, but still not quite there. Hopefully the SD-1 gives it more balls/crunch like we're after.

Stick a JJ ECC803 tube in V1, that should help a bit with the noise.

really? i'd have said the opposite (but i've only given the daphon a quick run through as i've had other gear-related problems i've had to deal with first :haha )

up till now, though, i've been using my timmy clone for rhythm (as it's nicely transparent) and my ts clone for leads.

I played one for about a year and I agree with this. Its definitely more grittier sounding than the other ones I've had since then. Thats why I got rid of it. Also, I honestly did find it to affect my sound, even when it was turned off. I attribute that to the buffered bypass, but I really didn't like that about it. But for the price, you cant beat it! Lots of artists use it too.

Wise words.

Always preferred the SD1 on Mesa's and anything of similar tonal variety. The TS seems to like those Brit-voiced amps that little bit more, same as the 5150 and similar.

I've always found the SD-1 creates a more fluid tone for lead and tubescreamer creates a better crunch.
I'll be making some Timmy clones in the coming days, waiting on some enclosures. I don't have an SD-1 any more (apart from in the GP-8) because it was in the box that I lost which also contained several mikes and numerous other pedals. I'm intending to use the Timmy where I would normally have used the SD-1. This is just on my pedalboard that I use for harp and just screwing around on my Marshalls and Fender. So I'll have two overdives on it, a TS808 clone and a Timmy clone.