Apparently Boss’s parent company, Roland, has a patent on asymmetrical clipping, making Boss’s overdrive series the only mass produced overdrives currently on the market that feature this unique voicing. This is one of the reasons that it is easier to get away with playing full-voiced chords with overdrive than it is with distortion. Boss developed the SD-1 as an improved version of the OD-1 Overdrive by adding a tone control and making a few tweaks to the circuit.

What’s more, as testament to how confident they are in this pedal’s build quality, Boss offer a five-year warranty.The very core of the SD-1 is already been passed down to multiple generations of guitar players, spanning a wide variety of genres. You can then use the gain knob to subtly add a little more “break-up” and sustain - this is a hidden secret of the SD-1! BOSS Build Quality - These stompboxes are famous for their tank-like construction, and the SD-1-B50A is no different. All there was left for me in Minneapolis was to work for Prince, and I had no desire to – I’d heard too many stories.

Tip: Josh has used the SD-1 with a vintage Ampeg amp with a distinctive midrange peak along with a Boss GE-7 graphic EQ to further boost 400Hz.Set drive to 0 and level to max, and it pushes your amp into a nice and tight, cutting saturated tone.