Musicians Roadhouse

I am the lucky owner of a Vintage Modern 2466 and boost it with an Ibanez TS-9. I am considering using a Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive for the same purpose because this pedal would be more suitable for classic rock than a tube screamer (that’s what they state). I tested the SD-1 in a shop but of course that doesn’t say much about the combination 2466 / SD-1.
I thought it sounded OK through a small Marshall valve combo. The volume level was of course not very high and there was no band around…
What is your experience with this combination (2466/SD-1)? How would you compare it to the TS-9 or tube screamers in general?

I don't really use drive pedals I tend to drive the amp hard, however the common consensus is to use ODs over distortion pedals with the VM, the TS should be prefect for adding extra grit, with the gain that is already on tap with the VM, I wouldn't see as anymore needed but a tube screamer or TC spark would be as far as I would go, I actually like using my mxr line driver to give a little extra saturation and a treble boost if its needed

Sully807 wrote:I don't really use drive pedals I tend to drive the amp hard, however the common consensus is to use ODs over distortion pedals with the VM, the TS should be prefect for adding extra grit, with the gain that is already on tap with the VM, I wouldn't see as anymore needed but a tube screamer or TC spark would be as far as I would go, I actually like using my mxr line driver to give a little extra saturation and a treble boost if its needed

I use the TS-9 to switch between a cleanish channel and a dirty channel. I only use the HDR with the two gains around halfway, this works best for me. The TS-9 delivers a very creamy tone, I was wondering how the 2466 would sound with an SD-1.

I've actually got both pedals. I usually run my 2266 in HDR with the Detail on 7.5 and Body on 5.5, for leads I use my TS9 to give a bit more grit and it does so almost perfectly for my purposes. The SD-1 has a very similar character to the TS9 (mid hump, tames the lows a bit) but it's got way more headroom and treble. I find, the way I run my setup that the SD-1 a bit too hot for me (I use it with other, darker amps). But if you're running it with less gain it may work for you. Like I said, hotter and with more treble makes it a bit more prone to feedback then my TS9. Not sure where you're considering buying it from but if they have a 30 days money back policy I say give it a try.

Do you have any “buffer bleed” issues with the SD-1? I’ve read this a couple of times. Users state they hear a significant tonal colouration when the gain is on max and the SD-1 is off. My TS9 doesn’t seem to have this issue.

I've never noticed that with mine, but I never run the gain that high on it as it's an already extremely hot pedal. I'll get my VM out tomorrow and test that though, I'm curious. I can't imagine that's true though, I've never had any noise issues with any Boss pedal I've ever owned.

Yep, the bleed is true. I don't use SD-1 right now, but I have one and I notice the bleeding overdrive in the backround. Especially when the gain is high. Maybe that's the reason I don't use it because after I heard the noise it annoyed me a lot. It can be modded out though... I should probably do that.

So my curiosity got me and I went and tested this. I used my Blackstar HT-5, ran my guitar through my SD-1 plugged in with a wall wart straight into the amp, nothing else in the chain. Through both the clean and dirty channels with the volume and gain on full I adjusted the bypassed pedals controls of the SD-1 to all possible combinations and found absolutely no bleed through even with all controls on full.

I have been able to find bleed through in other pedals in the past (ie. my Radial True Bypass Looper which I discovered was not True Bypass) using this setup. So my take is some SD-1's likely have bleed through (like Juzo95's) but some do not. Mine is fairly new (2008, I just checked the serial number) so it may be something they fixed recently. Either way, get a money back guarantee if you buy one and test it yourself

surlybastard wrote:So my curiosity got me and I went and tested this. I used my Blackstar HT-5, ran my guitar through my SD-1 plugged in with a wall wart straight into the amp, nothing else in the chain. Through both the clean and dirty channels with the volume and gain on full I adjusted the bypassed pedals controls of the SD-1 to all possible combinations and found absolutely no bleed through even with all controls on full.

I have been able to find bleed through in other pedals in the past (ie. my Radial True Bypass Looper which I discovered was not True Bypass) using this setup. So my take is some SD-1's likely have bleed through (like Juzo95's) but some do not. Mine is fairly new (2008, I just checked the serial number) so it may be something they fixed recently. Either way, get a money back guarantee if you buy one and test it yourself

Thanks for the test, that was very kind of you!
Is the SD-1 dynamic... I mean, when you roll down the guitar volume, does it clean up nicely or does it get muddy?

Surly, is your SD-1 all stock? If so I recommend you to clip C6 out of the circuit. Just take it off without replacing with a jumper. You'll be surprised. Opens up the pedal like removing blanket over speakers.

Juzo95 wrote:Surly, is your SD-1 all stock? If so I recommend you to clip C6 out of the circuit. Just take it off without replacing with a jumper. You'll be surprised. Opens up the pedal like removing blanket over speakers.

Thanks for the tip Juzo95. I don't have an SD-1 yet, I'm gassing about it for the some time, despite of its low cost. Right now I use a TS-9. I play mainly classic rock, from what I understand the SD-1 should be more suited than the TS-9 for this kind of music. They both share the same design, I've been told.

Vintage Rocker wrote:

Juzo95 wrote:Surly, is your SD-1 all stock? If so I recommend you to clip C6 out of the circuit. Just take it off without replacing with a jumper. You'll be surprised. Opens up the pedal like removing blanket over speakers.

Thanks for the tip Juzo95. I don't have an SD-1 yet, I'm gassing about it for the some time, despite of its low cost. Right now I use a TS-9. I play mainly classic rock, from what I understand the SD-1 should be more suited than the TS-9 for this kind of music. They both share the same design, I've been told.

If you have time and skills in soldering I suggest modding that sd-1. As a stock I think its crap compared to a modded one. Monte Allums has a bunch of nice modifications for sd-1, for example sd-808 mod plus. Basically that fixes almost everything thats wrong with that pedal like noise issues by changing crappy components.

Allthough if somebody likes the stock version its okay. Im not argueing against that.

The SD-1 is pretty dynamic with the volume knob, obviously though when you stack gain on top of gain it's less clean than without but it still cleans up.

I actually have no problem with it stock, I actually use it with my Epiphone Valve Jr, which is a very dark amp and it really makes it scream.

I was also wondering if someone has had some experience with a Marshall gain pedal, for instance the Bluesbreaker II and/or Guv'nor Plus. Some say they sound better then Boss gain pedals in general.

Vintage Rocker wrote:I was also wondering if someone has had some experience with a Marshall gain pedal, for instance the Bluesbreaker II and/or Guv'nor Plus. Some say they sound better then Boss gain pedals in general.

I've been using a guvnor plus in the loop for a couple of months now. Sounds weird but it works. Initial idea was to add some gain by pushing the power amp with pedals volume and also add some gain from the pedal itself. What I discovered at the same time was that the pedals eq makes it possible to dial off the brittle top end from the sound. Earlier I had tried gv plus in front of the amp but couldn't get a satisfactory sound.