Guitar Sound Effects

Boss SD 1 Super Overdrive

Value for Money
Sound Quality
Features
Ease of Use

Apr 22, 2010 Distorsion and Overdrives, Pedals and Stompboxes, Recommended Guitar Equipment
Posted by Fila

Well, it is a classic. A sound of an old tube amp on the verge of breakup. It is a successor of a Boss OD 1, the first overdrive in a compact pedal that Boss ever released in 1977. Since SD1 was introduced it has been used on countless stages by countless guitar players due to its beautiful sound. Not many guitar sound effects were used that extensively as SD 1.

Very pleasant, very transparent tubey sounding. It sounds very good with solid state amps as it gives them a tube feel. But it is with tube amps that it really shines.

The downside, if there is any is the lack of gain. This is not a stompbox that will cover numerous sounds and gain stages with endless sustains, not a “one size fits all” type of a pedal. It is a slight overdrive, transparent and very responsive, but in various combination with the other gear the posibilities of this pedal seem endless.

Back off the drive at around 9 oclock, cranck the level and you get a nice booster. Use it with a tube amp that is on the verge of a breakup to help push the tubes a little, set the drive around noon  and it becomes your “Pride and Joy”  (if you pair it with a Marshall type tube amp and use it this way, the sound is unbelievably close to the mentioned song ). Or you can put it in front of the another dirt box (distorsion or an overdrive) if you want more gain but still retain the nice character of the SD 1. Countless ways to use a single pedal.

The only downside in my opinion is the tone knob. Turning it counterclockwise (around 10 o clock and less) a lot you get a lot of bass in your tone that is not clearly defined but tend to become muddy and cut the trebble too much, while turning it clockwise  (3 o clock and more) you lose too much bass and some midrange. The sound depends on your amp type and amp settings a lot (which is a good thing) but the pedal doesnt offer a large palette of tonal colours, so once you find the sweet spot (which is usually between 10 and 2 o clock regarding the tone knob) you better leave it there and adjust the drive according to your needs. This pedal is not heavy in midrange, so a separate EQ that would allow to fine tune the mids would (as always) come handy. But then again, simplicity is often an advantage and not the weakness.

If you need a lot of gain and long sustains, this pedal will not meet all your requirements and is not the pedal you can solely depend on. But you can use it with another distorsion or an amp with gain crancked to shape the sound. If you need subtile blues overdrive, a unique booster and a transparent sound, you might go with it.

Incoming search terms for the article:

• boss over drive
• super overdrive boss
• boss sd-1
• boss super overdrive
• BOSS SD1
• boss sd1 diy -mod
• boss overdrive pedal
• david gilmour boss sd1
• edge u2 sd1 settings
• SD1 marshall

Tags: Boss SD1, Marshall, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tube Amp