Whats your favorite of the 2 Tube screamer Boss sd1

[Nogoodnamesleft]

SD-1 - I've never been terribly fond of the TS. I bought my first one in the 80s. And as someone mentioned, the SD-1 into a clean amp sounds quite good. I think it's one of the most underrated pedals out there - maybe because it doesn't cost a lot.

 

[schenkadere]

SD-1 - I've never been terribly fond of the TS. I bought my first one in the 80s. And as someone mentioned, the SD-1 into a clean amp sounds quite good. I think it's one of the most underrated pedals out there - maybe because it doesn't cost a lot.

I agree...I like to use it as a boost, but as dirt into a clean amp it's quite nice...and much better than the TS in that regard to my ear.

 

[jrblue]

FWIW, I run a Klon-type Mythical Overdrive, a TS808HW, a Keeley-modded SD-1, and a Tonebender, and as you can see they run from low level OD to borderline distortion. If I pared it down to 1 pedal, the Boss SD-1 would cover most of this range itself, beautifully. The Keeley mods really elevate the pedal from great but generic to more articulate and responsive. I never worry about using the same pedals as someone else. I don't rely on pedal tones to distinguish my playing. If my touch and note choice, phrasing, etc. don't stand out, well, that's on me.

 

[chris m.]

I definitely prefer the SD1.

But a lot has to do with the application and situation. I use these pedals live, in gigs, at gig volume. I think Boss overall has done a great job of creating pedals that work well with a wide variety of guitars and amps, especially at gig volume. The boutique-y stuff will mod a resistor or cap or do other things to produce a sound more refined and better for certain applications (such as playing alone in the bedroom), but IMO the stock Boss pedals by intention are a compromise that optimizes performance across a wide variety of rigs, at least at higher, gig volume. Jack of all trades, master of none, basically. While boutique pedals are often master of one trade only....or they have a ton of knobs on them in order to be fully versatile but that ends up being a lot more complicated to dial in.

Another example of this trade-off vs. compromise is I think the Boss overdrives and distortions work pretty well with both single coil guitars and humbucker guitars, while other pedals seem to work better with single coils, or with humbuckers, but then not work so well with the other.

My experience with the Klon clones is they are really good at one thing-- fairly transparently improving the lead tone you get out of a Marshall-y rig-- a la Jeff Beck, if you will. Extremely good at that, but less versatile.

The TS808 or TS9 is super good at giving you that SRV sound by goosing a big clean Fender tube amp that is already cooking. Master of that trade. Also as mentioned, guys who play with heavy gain find that the TS9's big mid-hump can really work to tighten up sounds such as djent chugging tones.

But my own empirically based experience is that an OD-3 makes a great "always on" pedal if you want to have a crunch sound come out of a clean amp. I.e., it can basically turn your single channel amp into an amp with a clean and crunch channel. But I wouldn't use a TS9 nor an SD1 for this function. For me, their main purpose is to step on them to goose my tone when I want to play a lead passage. The mid hump, compression, and gain are just the spices needed to have my lead cut through the band and sound great. So if you use an SD1 for that, it will do the job. If you try to use it as an "always on" substitute for a crunch channel you will likely be disappointed. I agree with others where to my ears the TS9 mid hump is just a bit too much: it kind of sounds like someone put a blanket over the speaker to my ears where the SD1 doesn't do that quite as much. YMMV.

The one boutique pedal that definitely kicked my OD3 off the board is an MI Audio Crunch Box. If you want a pedal that gives you a "crunch channel" on your Fender amp that really, really sounds like a Marshall it is hard to beat a very purposefully designed MIAB (Marshall in a box) pedal. By contrast, the pseudo crunch channel I get from an OD3 is excellent, but is a bit more generic, not exactly Marshall sounding. The OD3 is possibly more versatile and able to work with a wider variety of rigs (jack of all trades), but a good MIAB pedal is a master of one trade-- great at sounding just like a Marshall in that specific application, IMO.

 

[scottser]

this thread makes me want to put all of my overdrives and distortions onto one board and see how they stack together, all 7 of them.

 

[chris m.]

this thread makes me want to put all of my overdrives and distortions onto one board and see how they stack together, all 7 of them.

I played in a blues band with a guy whose pedal board was all dirt pedals-- about 8 of them, all of them swanky, boutique pedals. He would mix and match them to dial in a gazillion nuances of dirt from just a little grit to singing violin tones. He also never touched the controls on his guitar. His dirt pedals always went through clean vintage Fenders and he did coax a lot of great sounds out of them. Not my approach but it worked for him.

 

[dougstrum]

I got a ts10 when they first came out and used it till a few years ago. I replaced it with an sd1 about about 3 years ago. Didn't take long to get used to it and I probably like the sd1 best.

 

[Phrygian77]

Question: why are so many people commenting on the Blues Driver BD-2? The post asked about SD1 vs TS9.

Probably because of my post. I was just stating that I used an SD-1 to boost a BD-2 for a number of years in my rig. The BD-2 at low gain settings gets you into edge of breakup Fender territory. An SD-1 or a TS stacks nicely into it, and it gets you a solid boosted mid drive tone into a clean amp.

 

[Arfage]

I'm not a TS guy, but the one that I liked enough to buy was the Way Huge Green Rhino Mk VI. Anybody who like a TS needs this pedal!

 

[Phrygian77]

The one boutique pedal that definitely kicked my OD3 off the board is an MI Audio Crunch Box. If you want a pedal that gives you a "crunch channel" on your Fender amp that really, really sounds like a Marshall it is hard to beat a very purposefully designed MIAB (Marshall in a box) pedal. By contrast, the pseudo crunch channel I get from an OD3 is excellent, but is a bit more generic, not exactly Marshall sounding. The OD3 is possibly more versatile and able to work with a wider variety of rigs (jack of all trades), but a good MIAB pedal is a master of one trade-- great at sounding just like a Marshall in that specific application, IMO.

I wouldn't call MI Audio boutique. That was however one of the first really good kind of JCM800 in a box pedals. I used one for a long time, but ultimately I thought is was just a bit too muddy. Mine was a V3 and I probably should have tried playing with the internal presence setting. I replaced mine with a JRAD HRM and haven't looked back. I get my '80s gain tones by stacking a Sugar Drive with the HRM. Couldn't be happier.

 

[chris m.]

I wouldn't call MI Audio boutique. That was however one of the first really good kind of JCM800 in a box pedals. I used one for a long time, but ultimately I thought is was just a bit too muddy. Mine was a V3 and I probably should have tried playing with the internal presence setting. I replaced mine with a JRAD HRM and haven't looked back. I get my '80s gain tones by stacking a Sugar Drive with the HRM. Couldn't be happier.

Let's see-- Crunch Box: hand built in Australia for a smaller target customer, $170, produced in limited quantities, often sold out:

vs. OD3: factory built in large quantities for a broad target customer, $110, obtainable anywhere all the time.

I guess my definition of boutique is different than yours.

 

[Phrygian77]

Let's see-- Crunch Box: hand built in Australia for a smaller target customer, $170, produced in limited quantities, often sold out:

View attachment 1079599

vs. OD3: factory built in large quantities for a broad target customer, $110, obtainable anywhere all the time.

I guess my definition of boutique is different than yours.

View attachment 1079600

In the States, it was affordable at the time, and everyone thought it was the ultimate MIB. I'm talking about the original not the Super Crunch Box. I didn't have an problem getting one. I directly compared it to an OCD, and sent the OCD back.

 

[Jim622]

I have the EHX East River Drive and the SD1, but have never used them together. Now I have plans for tonight.

 

[chris m.]

In the States, it was affordable at the time, and everyone thought it was the ultimate MIB. I'm talking about the original not the Super Crunch Box. I didn't have an problem getting one. I directly compared it to an OCD, and sent the OCD back.

I have the Super and love it....though there's certainly a good chance I'd love something else even more. But I'm happy enough to have zero desire to try to find something marginally "better"....

But in fact lately I've been using a Boss GX-100 so for all my dirt tones and effects both at home and at gigs, so maybe my tone-sniffing skills are degrading rapidly. It sounds great to my ears going through my BluGuitar Amp 1's effects return into a 2x12 cab, and is so convenient, that now my all-analog pedal board and various loose dirt pedals are currently living a lonely life in my gear closet. Not selling them because I know for certain situations such as the studio there's a good chance I'll go all analog again, at least for dirt.

 

[1stpitch]

I have a TS808 and an OD808. The OD808 is almost always on, set low, and the TS808 is nearly wide open for when I need what that gives me. Don't own a Boss.

 

[4pickupguy]

Caught my FuzzFace mid GRB (Gamma Ray Burst). For recording a TS puts a FF in the perfect spot. Through the live rig it rolls all the muddy FF low end (of which there is way too much) and turns it into punch. Leaves room for that kick and bass. A TS through loud clean Fender amps has all the low end you would ever want. In fact, it simply sounds normal again. SD-1s have always sounded more aggressive than a TS through clean Fenders, but Rats are far better at clean Fenders and aggressiveness.

 

[tlsmack]

I never liked tube screamers. But then I am mostly an at home player. TS help you fit in the mix, but give me a tone bender style pedal when I am the whole mix.

 

[Brent Hutto]

...give me a tone bender style pedal when I am the whole mix.

I'm going to steal that thought. My new motto is IATDM, it means I Am The Damn Mix

 

[Maguchi]

I was a big Tube Screamer fan for most of my tears if playing but picked up a Biss SD1 super overdrive about 5 years ago on a whim because it was on sale. I've been a fan every since. To my ears it just sounds more harmonically alive, possibly due to it having asymmetrical clipping and the TS9 is symmetrical. It also sounds good ran into a clean amp where the screamer really only likes dirty amps.

What's your favorite of the 2 and why?

I swapped my Tube Screamers in for an SD-1 for the exact same reasons, plus I also have mostly amps with plenty of mids already making such pedals less useful.

I also prefer the EQ curve of the SD-1 over the TS (it’s less nasal sounding to my ears). Realizing that I could actually tell a difference between symmetrical and asymmetrical clipping (and preferred the later) really helped me find the

^^^Yeah same here, tried a TS9 for awhile, then a bandmate bought a SD-1 to rehearsal and I liked that better. So been using a SD-1 ever since. The SD-1 is not as mid heavy as a TS and to my ear notes seem clearer and more defined. Plus there are so many guitarists using the TS sound these days, that I wanted to separate from the herd a little.

 

[codamedia]

I agree...I like to use it as a boost, but as dirt into a clean amp it's quite nice...and much better than the TS in that regard to my ear.

This is where the misunderstanding of a Tube Screamer is....

It wasn't designed to be used as dirt into a clean amp - IMO, it sounds terrible as a "primary" dirt pedal. It was designed to put in front of a dirty amp... to hit that amp harder for leads. When doing so it emphasized the mids (by rolling off highs and lows) and leads would jump out and sound thick.

Don't use a Tube Screamer as part of you core dirt tone, use a Tube Screamer to Boost/Goose that core dirt tone. IE: Put it in front of a dirty amp or another (already on) dirt pedal. That's when the magic happens.