I equate overdrives like wasabi or cayenne pepper...its got no real flavor of its own until added on top of something. Although, id say the sd 1 adds a nice high mid to your tone. Lots of extra grit on tap too..im sure out there would be curious to know that. Just remember..its overdrive, not distotion. Overdrives are transparent and sit on top of a sound, thus if you play clean channels with an od on, youll still hear the clean signal clucking under it. a distortion is for masking or creating a channel. If you play a clean channel then kick on a distortion, you basically just created a dirty channel.

Just perfect actually

a caveman can do it

Its a boss...their stuff has always seen the worst and managed to keep working.

Considering how many idiots will spend 200 and up for something as simple and plain as an od, this is an absolute steal. It does exactly what an overdrive is meant to do. Od pedals have no business in the boutique world.its like people trying to make a gourmet french fry and charging a premium for it. at the end of the day, its still a classless french fry. An od is still an od.

Never needed it

Lets say this again...its just an overdrive. It has no character on its own. Its sole purpose is simply pushing an amp

Active musician

all types of rock

Casual player

Blues, classic rock, metal, prog

I would give this a 10, but if you crank the drive you can sometimes get a little hum. Other than that this pedal is INSANE! You can get a clean, boosted sound with this or you can get a really dirty grunge sound. (Oh yeah, and everything in between!) Minus the minor hum, you almost always get an incredibly crisp sound. It's fantastic!

It's got a LEVEL, TONE, and DRIVE knob. That's really all you need for this. Adjust the DRIVE to crank the intensity and the TONE to decide whether you want to play the highs or the lows.

It's really easy to use. You can read the manual, which is helpful. But I really just enjoyed opening it, sitting down with it, and messing with all the knobs. Turning them this way and that, I was able to get the sounds that I desired with little or no trouble at all.

This is a BOSS pedal. These things wouldn't break if we had a nuclear war. You don't have to worry about it breaking, IT WON'T. Just be sure to only the right type of power supply (9V battery or BOSS AC jack). Mine came with the AC power supply free.

$50 bucks for an overdrive pedal isn't bad at all. You really get what you paid for.

Haven't had to deal with them and I don't anticipate I will have to.

I don't really care what it looks like, but I wanted it pretty badly. I had listened to demos of it and knew it was what I was looking for.

Hobbyist/Recording

Rock (U2, Coldplay), Alternative (Green Day, Sum 41), Blues (SRV)

36 years lead guitar

Hard rock and metal,thrash

I liked the overall sound a lot. The only real con is that, depending on the level, there is a high amount of feedback from the amp, though this could be worked on.

The knobs are relatively easy to understand. High quality metal framework and no-slip rubber.

Small, fits on most pedalboards (I have a PB1000) and, as aforementioned, the knobs are simple enough.

You could throw this thing out of a moving car and it will probably still work.

Besides on zZounds, I have never seen this pedal under $45-50. I think it is better to get this than to give in to a cheap pedal or maybe to even wait for a more expensive pedal.

zZounds.com was accurate in the shipping progress, and Boss was right to boast about its quality and features.

It is very good-looking, unlike the EHX Big Muffs that you basically have to dedicate space to -- the rubber is no-peel, and the metal frame and construction are great.

Hobbyist

Rock, Blues

I've played for over 20 years, in and out of bands. Currently playing in a metal band

Metal, rock, industrial, whatever I get inspired to play

Very pleased with the sound. I lean more towards rock sounds - so my tone and drive are always at 3 o'clock - works well with my strat and hollowbody - especially with the humbuckers on a hollow and single-coils. Great sound.

The most useful feature - ONE single tone knob! No fiddling with any High/Low knobs - one tone knob is already plenty

Very user-friendly

Solid. Although the paint kinda chips off easily in some places.

Affordable. Nicely priced.

No problems so far - don't expect any anytime soon.

Based on the sound, I'd say this is one great overdrive pedal - would like a Blues Driver to pair with this, though.

Active Musician, Hobbyist

Worship, rock

The SD-1 is a controversial pedal in the sense that most people buy it for the wrong reasons. I myself fell into that catagory once upon a time. I would read in my favorite guitar mags about my heroes using it in their setup. You know, guys like Zakk Wylde and Eddie Van Halen who are world renown for great tone have this same yellow box on their pedalboards, so I thought this is the key to achieving great tone. This wasn't the case. The SD-1 on its own, with all the controls maxed, is not a high gain affair. So in that aspect I shelved the thing for years. As time went by though I changed my musical tastes a bit, now I lean more towards the classic country sounds of the late 60's, guitarists like Don Rich and Roy Nichols and modern day guys like Pete Anderson and Marty Stuart. Now suddenly I find this pedal to be the cream of the crop. With the drive set at around 9 o clock or less it adds the right amount of grit to a clean Fender Tube amp. Low end licks stand out in the mix much better and it adds a good amount of sustain and clarity for pedal steel licks as well. If rockabilly and roadhouse blues are your thing or if you are looking for a touch of natural sounding overdrive this is the pedal for you. Barn burners need to pass this on by though. No high gain here.

I give it a nine because it is simple, not a lot of features, just the right ones.

I have owned it 10 years without any worries, can't say that about the rest of my equipment.

Great tone at half the price of Ibanez TS9. Why shell out the dough? Save it for strings.

Never had to deal with the company but I have heard good things.

The all metal case is the most appealing. I have owned plastic pedals that have basically been destroyed by use or accidents. Never let the drummer help you load your equipment!

active musician

country and rock

pro/semi pro

most styles but mainly blues

Excellent sound. Very useful like smooth overdrive or light distortion. Gives an increase in the medium frequencies. The only drawback of this pedal is that it sucks part of the low end response. Good if you want to increase the guitar volume for solos.

Everything you need is there.

Only 3 knobs...

BOSS: Best pedal construction.

Excelent sound for the money.

Never had to contact BOSS.

Perfect.

16 years playing hobbyst and profesional

Rock

20 + years of playing guitar

Rock, etc

20+ years playing guitar

Blues, Rock, Metal, Classical

I originally came into my local music store two/three weeks agolooking for the SD1 - after buying Digitech's Bad Monkey, returning it and finding the SD1 newly in stock, I quickly returned the bad monkey and scooped it up - and how glad was I! The tone is miles ahead of the shrilly digital sound of the Digi overdrive - whereas three simple knobs can make such a difference. It took a few days of tweaking and experimentation, but just recently I dialed in the perfect tone on my Crate Flexwave 120FW - and the sound I get when I stomp the boss is so pleasing I'm scared to touch the solo knobs! Overall, with a little tweaking, this pedal has enough.

This pedal lacks features for one reason: it doesn't need alot of features to do its job. I didn't find this as a displeasing at all, but rather better. I gave it a 7 as it's not a completely flashy pedal. I don't wish it had anything more.

With three knobs, how could you go wrong? My justification for buying this pedal was I didn't really want to be swooned to spend $100 dollars on a Tubescreamer when that in itself could buy a new pickup if need be. For $50 and less in some places (in my case, as it was $45), and with Boss, I knew I had to atleast check it out. All in all, you don't have to be a good guitarist to get any type of moderate distortion you want.

I love Boss pedals after I first bought the MD2 - which later turned out to be not so amazing after I discovered palm muting sounded awful on it - but after my slight experience with the way it was built like a tank, I expected no less, and no less were my expectations correct. It feels rock solid, the dials have a very unique quality to them, the finish & color is very recognizable (and that's a Boss thing; and I love it), and the sound, last but certainly not least, is better than my amp's overdrive channel in that is sounds very deep, resonant and natural. Suffice to say, it's very pleasing to have the SD1 in my loop.

I find it extremely - amazingly - worth the price at any retailer. The price I paid was modest and still kept close to the retail value, and I would pay just about anything close if I had to buy it again.

I have never dealt with Boss at all, but the stamp of approval on its' 5 year warranty on the box practically speaks for itself in matters of support.

If I didn't have this pedal I would be working myself to death trying to get money for pickups, then I might decide they don't make my guitar sound any better and I go out in search of a pedal, but I can't because I'm broke as I just bought new pickups. Needless to say, I now thrive on this pedal simply because it gave me an amazing shortcut in my tone, altogether with the price I paid for it, I feel like I got my money's worth, and plenty more than that.

Hobbyist

Progressive Metal

This pedal sounds amazing. I'm using a crappy little 15w Fender Frontman 15G amp, but I can adjust my SD-1 pedal to get as decent sound as I can from the amp. I have heard this pedal on larger amps, and speaker cabs, and its simply phenomenal!

When I bought the pedal it was just the pedal, I had to buy the jumper cables and what not. It came with a 9v battery in it, but the battery didnt have much charge. Once I got the PSA adaptor I didnt have to worry about batteries just yet. The pedal is stomp-proof. When I'm shredding, or rocking a rhythm, this box handles my weight at about 200lbs. I would advice standing on the thing, but me stomping on it is quite enough.

Quite simple. 3 knobs, and a pedal. I whack a chord or a note, and adjust the knobs to get the sound I want. darken the tone and up the drive, or about 50/50 on drive and level and get me a warm sound. The pedal came with a very simple instruction manual, and leaves room for exploration. I also forgot to say, since each pedal is color coded, it makes recognizing pedals all the easier. when your in the dark on the stage, or in broad daylight, its simple.

As I said above, the quality is good, in both sound, and design. The only thing you really have to worry about are the conenctions sticking out of it that you might break.

Being priced at a price below 50 US dollars, it was a steal. good sound, for a good price. one of the better pedals for a low price.

I havent had to deal with the support yet. Hopefully i wont have to. So far so good.

Yellow, stands out, first pedal to stomp, and with the right kind of music, anything can be sexy. its small, and looks like a brick. no gawdy stomp knobs sticking out, and the sound knobs on it already are almost lower than the stomp pedal, so you dont have to worry about steping on one.

Learning musician

Rock, techno rock.

A lot of control over the Overdrive... Tone level and drive what more do you need? and the most important part of the sound... its made by BOSS

Simple and to the point... twist the nob and your set

Come on? You hit it with yoour Foot and it turns on...

Its BOSS... Well built, perfect for stage and im in a Punk Band!!!

I picked it up for 38 Pounds stg and thats a steal $50? thats 25-30 Pounds

Never Had To Deal Wiith Them...

Im a fan of BOSS pedals for cosmetics durability reputation and most of all sound...

Composer, Recorder, Engineer, All Amateur and getting a few small gigs in the local sceene

Punk, Rock, Ska, Alternative anything interesting ... Little bit a jazz/blues and a touch of lite and regular Metal

Sounds very cool, but has a little bit to much high frequency

No support needed. If broken, I'll buy a new one. Cost only $50.00

Hobbyist, / Active Musician

rock / funk / jazz and gospel

Great Sound. It can however suck a bit of the lower end. This pedal has a smooth classic sound.

Volume Tone Drive. would be nice if you could boost some of the frequencies (namely the bass.)

3 knobs, but a lot of combinations for sound. Quite easy to use.

I got this pedal used. And then I beat the crap out of it. This pedal might be indestructible.

Great Value

I haven't dealt with them about this pedal, but I did have ask Roland (Who owns boss) a couple questions about my 20+ year old JC-120 amp. They got back to me right away.

Looks like a Boss pedal. Which if you know boss pedals, you would assume that it's a decent well built pedal. It's like buying a hammer. You know it's going to get the job done.

10+ year Hobbyist

excellent, the idle humming is barley noticebale

none needed...its a pedal

3 knobs, could it get easier? pedal goes down easy

sturdy, everything is great

cheappppp

good deal

everyone should have this, its a good base sound

This is the best pedal you could ever own. It sounds so good! Put it into a high-powered amp and just let go! I have all the settings on the pedal to about 2 o'clock

IT doesn't have a lot of features but it doesn't need many its an OVerdrive pedal and it is the best there is.

It is a boss, it will still be around long after i'm gone.

Wasn't very expensive at all. The technology isn't cutting edge but it doesn't need to be. This is a brilliant overdrive pedal. It lets you rock HUGE while given a lot of transparency so all the little details of your playing, what makes you, you, is still there. It isn't muddled up by the overdrive.

never had to deal with them don't know.

BUY IT! YOU WON"T REGRET IT.

I have used this overdrive pedal for more than twenty years. This pedal allows you to take the original tone with on/off pedal pedal comparisons and increase the gain to the point that your amp will naturally follow.

3 knobs, that is all. Each one is truly usable.

Over twenty years of use without a single problem or "scratchy" pot...'nuff said!

Value!!! I paid more for this pedal ($60 US) in the early 1980's. The industry has certainly changed!

This pedal has a lot of good settings. If someone does not like this pedal, it is likely that they do not like their original tone. This pedal adds layers of great overdrive. If you have a weak solid-state "bedroom amp", you may not like this pedal. If you want a distortion pedal that sustains tones for days, this pedal is not for you. I got lucky over twenty years ago to find a pedal that does not "clamp"(compress) and merely "fuzz" like Electro Harmonix Big Muff, and not add notchy/cheap/feedback riddled tones like other offerings by Boss/MXR/DOD(Digitech).