Boss SD-1 and unity gain

[Rex_Rocker]

I love the tone of the SD-1. It's more raunchy and edgy than a TS808 (which I also love). It's a cool tone that gets along better with some amps than the Ibanez.

However, am I the only with this issue? I like to set my overdrive pedals to unity gain when "boosting" high gain amps for the usual tightening effect. With hot loud pickups, my TS808 just barely accomplishes this with the gain set to 0, tone around 10:30, and the level cranked. However, with the gain set low, and the tone set mid-low (which I feel the SD-1 needs because it's so edgy), even with the output volume cranked, there seems to be a noticeable drop in level.

Does this happen to anyone else? Can the SD-1 be easily modded for a little extra output without changing the core tone?

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Boss SD-1 and unity gain

The circuit is probably not designed to be used that way.


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[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Boss SD-1 and unity gain

The circuit is probably not designed to be used that way.


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With the tone and gain low? I thought those were common settings for an OD pedal in this vein. I'm not setting them to 0 either.

 

[Blille]

Boss SD-1 and unity gain

Can the SD-1 be easily modded for a little extra output without changing the core tone?

This is the Wampler (?) mod I have for that:

For more volume change the volume pot to 500k audio taper. For even more raise R9 to 47k - 100k.

 

[Diego]

Re: Boss SD-1 and unity gain

Or you can try a Blues Driver, which is crazy good as a tight boost and has a huge volume increase on it's own regardless of tone and gain settings.

It's less mid heavy than the SD1 and definitely has that edgy character you like. I think it's very underrated and should be always considered as a TS9/808/SD1 alternative.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Boss SD-1 and unity gain

depends on the output of your pups too, a strong pup needs a pedal that has more output on tap. id start with the volume full up, and adjust the tone and gain together to see if you can get what you are looking for. i tend to end up with the gain closer to 10 oclock

 

[devastone]

Re: Boss SD-1 and unity gain

Part of the coolness of the SD-1 over the TS is the asymmetrical clipping circuit, it adds more 2nd order harmonics, kind of a subtle octave effect. I love the SD-1 but I usually had the gain set about 1/3 of the way up to add a little grit. Regardless of how people use it, these weren't made to run the gain at zero. I would try turning it up to about 9 o' clock when using it as a boost. The Wampler mods suggested earlier would probably help a lot too.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Boss SD-1 and unity gain

Thanks for the replies, dudes!

I don't run the gain at 0. I run the gain at 0 on my TS808, but the SD-1 has more range than the TS. At 0, it has less gain than the TS808 at 0, and on 10, it has more gain than the TS on 10. So I try to dial in about as much gain as the TS, which ends up being around 9 o'clock-ish on the SD-1.

The Wampler volume mod looks interesting. I'll look into it.

The Blues Driver... I don't know. I have tried, and I did like (especially boosted with a TS808, lol), but I wouldn't say it works as well as the SD-1 and the TS808 for boosting. For starters, there's barely any bass rolloff, if any, which is what tightens up the bass going into a high-gain amp. Then, it doesn't blend the clean signal with the distorted signal the same way a TS or an SD-1 does. Third, there's no juicy mid hump. It's a killer overdrive in front of a clean channel, but I'm not a fan of it for boosting high-gain amps.

 

[Diego]

Re: Boss SD-1 and unity gain

I actually liked my old BD2 for boosting things into high gain, but then my amp is really middy so the last thing it needs is more of that. That crisp high-end makes things sound more open and dynamic. I found mine to have a slight bass roll-off, just not as much as a TS9.

A friend of mine gave me a much maligned Boss OS2 for a while and I actually thought it kicked ass in the OD side. I'm not sure what it's based on, but I loved it.

I'll eventually buy another BD2. I miss it!