Opinions Needed - BOSS SD-1 vs. OD-3

Butch Snyder

Butch Snyder

ObsoleteChickenPickingologist
I am in need of a decent, yet inexpensive overdrive pedal. My rig consists of a Line 6 Flextone III Plus amplifier. I use a Marshall ED-1 compressor direct from guitar to amp. The tones are good from the amp. I especially like the AC-30TB tones and the Plexi tones. No, they don't sound like the real thing; but they do sound good and help me get "my" sound. The thing is that the gain stage from those models is a little on the weak side. I believe that, with a little help from a decent OD pedal, I could remedy the weakness.

I saw a BOSS SD-1 (Super Overdrive) for $40 new. The OD-3 is over 2x the price. Everyone raves about the OD-3; especially in Tele circles. Can I get a decent drive from the SD-1, and will it have some decent tone?
 
Re: Opinions Needed - BOSS SD-1 vs. OD-3

The SD-1 sounds splatty and un-natural in stock form, to my ears at least. Theres a weirdness in the high end content, that I've never liked. But theres tons of mods out there, that supposedly make it a great pedal (I've never played a modded one though, so I can't say much about that). The one time I tried an OD-3 (admittedly not a long tryout) it seemed to have some of the same weirdness in the high end, though much less noticeable. Definitely a way better sounding pedal, but still not great.

I dunno how much $$ you're looking to spend...But if you can swing $100 I'd recommend the BBE Green Screamer. Its basically a TS-808 clone, with a bunch of the common mods already done, so it sounds great right outta the box. The Green Screamer is the only OD pedal I've found (for under $200 at least) that I actually liked enough to use. You can find them used for just a bit more than a New SD-1, so if you look around you might be able to score one cheap.
 
Re: Opinions Needed - BOSS SD-1 vs. OD-3

I'm a fan of the SD-1. It does have a really bold High/Mid spike in the gain, but depending on what kind of amp you're using it should sound great. My amp is a little muddy and dark, so that High/Mid spike really brings out the best in the amp. Check out youtube to see if anyone (like the Gearmandude) has posted a shootout.

Musician's Friend is also running a sale on the Rocktron Sonic Glory OD, I couldn't pass it up. It usually goes for $70-80 but they're selling it for $39. I believe it's just like another tubescreamer clone. But that's a pretty good price. I just ordered it so it'll be here in the next two days. I may post something after I get it and test drive it.
 
Re: Opinions Needed - BOSS SD-1 vs. OD-3

Have an old SD-1...stock and I like it!
Got an OD-3....
Modded, was alittle stiff before, and lowered the mids even more on it...
As usual it depends how the amp sounds.
 
Re: Opinions Needed - BOSS SD-1 vs. OD-3

Thanks guys, I appreciate the comments. I'm hearing a lot of "depends on your amp" comments. Again, I run a solid state modeling amp. We can go from there.
 
Re: Opinions Needed - BOSS SD-1 vs. OD-3

I like the SD-1..but I run the gain at 9 o'clock, and the level on 10 (dimed), so it's not fizzy or splatty. It is a bit low fi compared to some pedals, but I find it works with my Tele to make it a bit smoother.
 
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Re: Opinions Needed - BOSS SD-1 vs. OD-3

Vasshu the humanoid typhoon said:
Have an old SD-1...stock and I like it!
Got an OD-3....
Modded, was alittle stiff before, and lowered the mids even more on it...
As usual it depends how the amp sounds.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming by "Old SD-1" you mean MIJ? If so, have you ever compared it to a current production SD-1? I've heard great things about the MIJ SD-1's, but never had a chance to actually play one myself.
 
Re: Opinions Needed - BOSS SD-1 vs. OD-3

guitfiddle said:
I like the SD-1..but I run the gain at 9 o'clock, and the level on 10, so it's not fizzy or splatty. It is a bit low fi compared to some pedals, but I find it works with my Tele to make it a bit smoother.
Click to expand...

Ya know, I was just thinking the other day that I can't get a better sound out of that thing (with my amp) than with all knobs set at noon. I find the gain knob really isn't very responsive and the volume knob is only slightly more so. I don't hear much going on with those knobs between the settings of Zero to Five to Ten. I do her a lot of response from the tone knob. But all that doesn't bother me too much because, as I stated, I really dig the sound of all the knobs at noon. :beerchug:
 
Re: Opinions Needed - BOSS SD-1 vs. OD-3

I have both. I prefer the SD-1.
It's smoother and more "tube-like" while the OD-3 has more gain and sounds more solid state.
If I had to say band sounds I would say the SD-1 is more like Tesla while the OD-3 is more like Megadeth.
The OD-3 also has more output but I found anything over 3/4's up on the level was unusable.

Hope this helps.
 
Re: Opinions Needed - BOSS SD-1 vs. OD-3

Running an o/d into the front end of a Plexi or a Vox is one thing, doing the same with a modelled version of those amps I would imagine is something completely different. I have an OD3 and they have a lot of output which will drive a non MV valve amp into saturation without using any of the gain. Trying the same thing into a solid state amp is usually a disaster. Do modelling amps react to OD pedals anything like the amps they are simulating ?
 
Re: Opinions Needed - BOSS SD-1 vs. OD-3

I was running my SD-1 as a clean boost (gain 0, level full) last night, and got some great pushed clean tones. I agree 100% with Low_fidelity2100, though. This mod is what is necessary.

All that being said, though, I can't guarantee the sound into a solid-state amp. I tried it with my old Randall RG100G3, which had a solid-state preamp, and my Blackstar HT-5, and it didn't work nearly as well as it does with my Jet City. I set it for symmetrical clipping and more gain and presence.

In stock form, I'm not a big fan at all.
 
Re: Opinions Needed - BOSS SD-1 vs. OD-3

I have an old black label SD1 which I've owned forever... its cool. Sort of tube screamer-ish but with a little more gain & a little less of the "clean undertone" blend thing going on. I used to use it to push an already distorting amp harder and almost never on its own.

Truthfully it hasn't been touched since I got the zvex back in January... the distortron covers all my overdrive/boost needs in a stellar way. Well worth the extra money, but again... I have no idea what these will do in front of a solid state L6 amp. Pretty much the main reason I bought the vex is because its one of the few pedals I found that can be placed in front of just about any backline amp and has enough flexibility to get a sound happening...
 
Re: Opinions Needed - BOSS SD-1 vs. OD-3

The SD-1 I have that STRATDELUXER modded for me is the best, most natural sounding od pedal I have owned. I tried the Duncan Twin Tube and a bunch of others....this one stuck. It's currently packed away in a box somewhere that I can't find (I think, I don't recall selling it, but not 100% sure).

My suggestion is to spend $40 and a couple more to either mod it yourself of have someone do it for you. Great pedal.

Also, FWIW, I used to run it through my Marshall, but I would also start the chain out with the SD-1, into the Boss GT-6 into the effects loop of the amp as well. Using one of the Marshall models and kicking in the SD-1 yielded some very decent tones. No, not true tube tones, but that's not what you have or are really after. Just wanted you to know that it worked well with a modeling pre-amp as well.
 
Re: Opinions Needed - BOSS SD-1 vs. OD-3

Od pedals are great with tube amps because they blend in the sound of the amp, with a ss or digital amp they won't. They kind of add a layer on top/underneath. Might work for you but I didn't like it at all.
I'm not sure about the flextone but I had no trouble dialing in good tones on the Spider IV. I'd say that Line 6 always put more than enough gain in their models, the taper on them is just not that smooth.

Can't go wrong with a SD though, they are so cheap 2nd hand and with a few very simple mods you can turn it into a great pedal. It's not that bad stock actually, but a few mods to make it more quiet are more than welcome on this pedal. Don't know about the od-3, it's probably just another flavor of the same thing.
 
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Re: Opinions Needed - BOSS SD-1 vs. OD-3

i like the sd1...which i have modded all sorts of ways and now find that the stock form with the addition of a burrbrown chip is a pretty good pedal. Im a bit addicted to overdrive pedals (having 9 currently) and the boss is in the top couple. Im not sure how it will go with modelling technology cos i use ods to drive the tube amps a bit harder and to blend with the natural overdrive (whereas modellers dont work that way)....but on its own into a clean amp an sd1 is pretty nice.
IMPO if you want more gain with a modeller then perhaps you are better of juts using a different model rather than the amp models you described....the beauty of the all digital rig of course is that you can always switch between your fave sounds.
now while im at it.....if you want to keep the tone of whatever amp model you are using and just add a bit of grit, edge and sustain then you should also look at a boss blues driver. Obviously a totally different beast than an sd1 but more transparent in terms of eq curve and will let you keep your basic vox or plexi sounds and just add some gain into your tonality..definitely worth a try cos its also cheap and pretty good.
 
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Re: Opinions Needed - BOSS SD-1 vs. OD-3

Nightburst said:
Od pedals are great with tube amps because they blend in the sound of the amp, with a ss or digital amp they won't. They kind of add a layer on top/underneath. Might work for you but I didn't like it at all.
I'm not sure about the flextone but I had no trouble dialing in good tones on the Spider IV. I'd say that Line 6 always put more than enough gain in their models, the taper on them is just not that smooth.

Can't go wrong with a SD though, they are so cheap 2nd hand and with a few very simple mods you can turn it into a great pedal. It's not that bad stock actually, but a few mods to make it more quiet are more than welcome on this pedal. Don't know about the od-3, it's probably just another flavor of the same thing.
Click to expand...

That's just it. Line 6 does add more than enough gain to their models except the Marshall and Vox models. I use a good clean tone with a little hair on it. I'm looking for the OD pedal to just add a little more with going into death metal land. I'm going to pick up an SD-1 today and will use it tonight, in a band rehearsal setting, and not just my bedroom. I'll let you guys know my findings.
 
Re: Opinions Needed - BOSS SD-1 vs. OD-3

I had an older SD-1 that was a very decent pedal unmodded. Used it mostly as a boost than straight up distortion though. . .
 
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