Boss SD-1 appreciation

[jeremy]

i like the sd1 much more than the ds1 but for $20...

[devastone]

I know I have mentioned this before. Evrery guitar player at Berkleee tries at some point to cop Steve Vai's tone seeing he is the most famous guitar alum. The music store across the street has piles of used DS1s. The last time I was in there, they were going for as low as $19 each. I am going to be down the street from there today if I have time, I just might grab one.

This is about SD1s, not DS1s, although they are cool too. Vai has used both FWIW. A SD-1 is listed in the gear list for P&W in the tab book. I know he used a Keeley modded DS-1 a lot in the early 2000s, more as a boost than a main drive IIRC. George Lynch used a DS-1 too back in the Mob days for recording (again, IIRC). If they have any MIJ DS-1s definitely grab them, they are awesome, but not for modding, they are too good as is. The newer ones are great for modding.

[Rex_Rocker]

I've never gotten into the DS-1 myself. I used to have one. Didn't get along with. Into a clean channel, the output volume was just too low, even cranked. Into a distorted amp, I thought it was too scoopy. But then again, I've never gotten into tones that use one. I know they were big in the 80's, but I don't know how people used them. Was it into cranked Marshalls? Or was it into clean amps?

I love my original ZW-44 which I’m pretty sure is derived from the SD-1.

Not sure circuit-wise how it derives, but sonically, I'd say they're *almost* a 1:1. With maybe the Wylde being slightly grindier and tigher.

I own two ZWOD's. One with the switch, and one without the switch. The one with the switch is nice because it can go from straight up SD-1 in ZW mode to a sort of in-between SD-1 and TS808 in the GT-OD mode.

[ErikH]

The ZW-44 is a SD-1 with a little more bottom end and some more gain. It is the same circuit. Great pedal too.

I've had many SD-1's but these days, I'm using either my OD-1 Clone from BYOC or Boss OD-3.

[Rex_Rocker]

The ZW-44 is a SD-1 with a little more bottom end and some more gain. It is the same circuit. Great pedal too.

I actually find mine has less bottom-end. Or maybe not less bottom-end, but certainly less low mids. So it's tighter. But it's also slightly thinner.

And the gain... I don't really know. I never venture outside 0 on mine, LOL. But at those settings, they're more or less the same. Neither is clean. But cleaner than a TS808 with the gain on 0, yeah.

That is in ZW mode. It changes a bit in GT-OD mode. GT-OD mode is fatter. I don't know if the gain level changes at all, but the feel of the gain kinda does. AFAIK, the GT-OD only changes one resistor.

[Securb]

This is about SD1s, not DS1s, although they are cool too.

.

[GuitarStv]

The DS-1 sounds great, but it's got a very narrow range of settings where it does. You want to hit a slightly middy and reasonably dirty amp with it and you want to be using low to middle output pickups. Level up at least 9:00, tone down low (nearly off), distortion under 12:00.

Into clean amp - yuck
Tone up - yuck
Distortion past 12:00 - yuck
High output pickups - yuck

She's a picky one.

[Aceman]

I believe the appropriate approach to Vai-tone with a DS-1 is to put a TS9 in front of it....but I suppose and SD-1 would also work.

[Chistopher]

How does the tone control on an SD-1 work? One of the things that makes a DS-1 so much fun to mod is that the tone control is always coloring the sound AND easy to mod.

[Sirion]

The SD-1 is my go-to pedal for use with my SC20C. It is the basic Reb Beach recipe: set the amp to a decent level of distortion, add the SD-1, and you have a basic Marshall rock tone that is basically perfect.

[Rex_Rocker]

How does the tone control on an SD-1 work? One of the things that makes a DS-1 so much fun to mod is that the tone control is always coloring the sound AND easy to mod.

The same way a Tube Screamer's does, just with a bit more range. Fully off, it cuts highs and a bit of mids, thus moving the mid focus of the pedal lower down the spectrum. Fully on, it boosts highs and mids a little, moving the mid peak higher up.

[Chistopher]

Hmm... I may get one just to see how it responds to a big muff style tone control

[Rex_Rocker]

Well, that would work I guess if you wanted a scooped sound out of an SD-1. But at least when using it as a boost to tighten things up, I don't see why you would, LOL.

Because even if you use it as an OD in front of a clean amp, there's still the issue that much like a Tube Screamer, you hear the clean signal being blended in with the distorted signal, which just sounds super weird, fake, and pedal-like.

But then again, some people do use Tube Screamer in front of clean amps. I don't get the appeal, then. I'd much rather use something like a Blues Driver or an OCD in that scneario.

[GuitarStv]

Tubescreamer -> Bluesdriver -> clean amp sounds great. :P

[Mononoaware]

I know I have mentioned this before. Evrery guitar player at Berkleee tries at some point to cop Steve Vai's tone seeing he is the most famous guitar alum. The music store across the street has piles of used DS1s. The last time I was in there, they were going for as low as $19 each. I am going to be down the street from there today if I have time, I just might grab one.

I've found the SD-1 works in a lot of different situations, depending how you set it. Swiss army overdrive.

The DS-1 is a more specific use case in my mind--adding a certain metallic harmonic something to an already cooking preamp. On its own, not so musical unless you just want that "F-it, I'm going to get full nasty" tone. Unfortunately, I think a lot of people buy it, think it'll sound good raw, then give up.