Any SD-1 love?

K

Kane17

New member
I've owned one for years before I actually discovered it and started using it. Its kind of a plain overdrive..but maybe thats why i like it. It can be rock, artsy or 'emotional'.

When I place my blues driver in front and boost the sd I get great singing leads.

Not the best shredder and the bass is cut off, but I think the simply great tone is worth it.

The only pedal I have that I haven't modded. I like it pretty much just as it is.

Never thought I'd say this but I think I like it better than my tubulator (which still is great but..)
 
Re: Any SD-1 love?

i like mine when i use it in front of my mxr classic distortion and boss ge-7 set for slight scoop, with both overdrives set for a good amount of output and low drive. i get alot of crunch and sustain out of it that way, and a nice mid-rangey lead when i turn the ge-7 off. great pedal for sure, but like you said, it's very transparent. it's great in my case though, as i like the character of my mxr classic alot, it just need that extra crunch sometimes:D
 
Re: Any SD-1 love?

I love it - I wish I had a closet full of them for the day when Boss stupidly decides to push it out the dorr in favorite of some super-COSM, 4-knob-with-concentrics, digital wonder uber-driver-box.

I like the stock SD-1. I like the Monte Allums GT Mod, and several close-by variations. I love my current SD-1 with the Lovepedal Eternity mod.
 
Re: Any SD-1 love?

I've used one for years. Modded the heck out of a few of them too. Sure, there are better sounding overdrives out there but I love the sound of the SD-1 and what I can get from it.

One simple mod I do like to do is remove C6. That really opens it up, makes it a little more clear.

Increasing C3 to 0.1uf allows more bass through without it being overkill and getting muddy.

Just a desoldering braid and get in and out when desoldering.
 
Re: Any SD-1 love?

is there somewhere you can get hold of a list of mods for this pedal (or any pedals?)
 
Re: Any SD-1 love?

I think it sounds horrible on it's own personally. Sounds like a pocket radio lol.
In front of an already over driven roaring amp, different story, it's a beast of a pedal.
 
Re: Any SD-1 love?

Petrovsk Mizinski said:
I think it sounds horrible on it's own personally. Sounds like a pocket radio lol.
In front of an already over driven roaring amp, different story, it's a beast of a pedal.
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Word. A friend of mine gave me his, because he thought it sounded horrible in front of his fender blues deluxe.

In front of my mesa crunch channel though, it's awesome.
 
Re: Any SD-1 love?

The whole point of the thing, and any overdrive designed when that was, is to be used in front of an already overdriven amp, even a lightly overdriven amp. Take a Fender Deluxe Reverb and get it breaking up and then toss the SD-1 in front and it sounds great. Same with old Marshalls and such before the uber gain amps came along.

If you want an amp-like sounding overdrive pedal to use through a clean amp, look elsewhere.
 
Re: Any SD-1 love?

I love mine, and have used it consistently as the go-to "solo" boost overdrive in front of tube crunch for years. I have the Tubulator, and other TS/OD/DS variants, but the old Japanese SD-1 is always there. If I had to bring only one boost/drive pedal it would be that one.

I didn't like the Taiwanese versions I tried as much, but for anyone looking for a good Japanese SD-1 tone, I found it in the MXR Zakk Wylde Overdrive I had for awhile. I ended up selling it after a long A/B against my SD-1 (and I got good money for it) but I was really wondering for awhile there.

My advice is find a Japanese one, or get the Zakk Wylde, or if you get the Taiwanese one then start looking for mods.
 
Re: Any SD-1 love?

How does the DOD YJM OD pedal compare to it?

I wanna get a good overdrive and I'm torn between those two. Prices are close.
 
Re: Any SD-1 love?

Diego said:
How does the DOD YJM OD pedal compare to it?

I wanna get a good overdrive and I'm torn between those two. Prices are close.
Click to expand...

Different birds, the YJM is closer to the MXR Distortion +. What kind of sound are you looking for and what kind of guitar/amp are you using?

I love old SD-1s, I have a MIJ one that I stupidly modded alot a few years ago. Sounds great modded, but the MIJ ones sounded great stock too. I haven't tried a MIT one, but I may pick one up to mod as a backup.

For the price, it's hard to go wrong with the SD-1 or the DS-1 to push an already overdriven amp. Not sure I would use one as my sole source of distortion though.

-R
 
Re: Any SD-1 love?

I'm looking for a push for leads that will smooth out and compress the sound a bit, make it sweeter.

I'll use it mostly with my Strat, going into my Roland Cube 60. I usually use the Marshall mode, and my tones usually get into the Ritchie Blackmore ballpark, sometimes heavier and more distorted than that. But I'd like to make the solos warmer, mellower. My GE-7 doesn't do that, it shaves some highs and pushes the mids a bit but it's a bit cold sounding overall. I'd like a warmer feel to the sound. Can the SD1 do that?

I have a soldering iron and will mod the heck out of it if required. :D

Cheers!
 
Re: Any SD-1 love?

Diego said:
I'm looking for a push for leads that will smooth out and compress the sound a bit, make it sweeter.

I'll use it mostly with my Strat, going into my Roland Cube 60. I usually use the Marshall mode, and my tones usually get into the Ritchie Blackmore ballpark, sometimes heavier and more distorted than that. But I'd like to make the solos warmer, mellower. My GE-7 doesn't do that, it shaves some highs and pushes the mids a bit but it's a bit cold sounding overall. I'd like a warmer feel to the sound. Can the SD1 do that?

I have a soldering iron and will mod the heck out of it if required. :D

Cheers!
Click to expand...

SD-1 and TS9 are two of the best production "everyday" pedals at doing what you just described imo.
 
Re: Any SD-1 love?

I heard a Keeley modded one once - pure awesome! Way cooler than the TS9 IMO. Not nearly the mid hump/boost. Really musical, very transparent.
 
Re: Any SD-1 love?

Just picked one up today actually in a trade. It's pretty cool, I'm digging it a lot. Kinda in the same arena as a TS, but different enough.
 
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