New Boss SD-1w Waza Craft!

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severinsteel

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Ok, so I decided to review something NEW for a change! Here is the Boss SD-1w Super OverDrive Waza Craft pedal. That's a mouthful. Basically, I think this is Boss's answer to the Keeley and Analog Man modded SD-1 pedals. Apparently this is, or was, hard to find. I got the opportunity to snag one used, so I took it.

I have done several reviews on the Boss SD-1. We all know what that pedal does. It's a mild overdrive on its own, but it can be used to goose a driven tube amp. The SD-1w is no different, maybe a little more refined. In front of my cleanish Marshall 2203, it sounds nice and 'chewy'. It's a bit dark actually, so I recommend you set the tone between 1 and 3 o'clock. The Standard/ Custom toggle switch allows you to go between the Standard SD-1 mode and the 'Custom' mode, which adds a little more gain and mids. It's actually pretty subtle, so either mode works well.

Where this pedal shines, is in front of my driven 2203's High Input. I can get into very high gain territory with the Drive knob at 12. In fact, I prefer the Drive control at 9 o'clock. It's a little too gainly for me at 12:00.

Overall, this is a great Overdrive pedal, if you like Boss overdrive pedals. The SD-1 does one thing, but does it well. I'll have to do a shootout between this and the regular SD-1, but I definitely enjoyed this pedal in front of my Marshall.

-Cameron Johnson


 
Very interested to try an SD-1w. I've owned 6 of the original SD-1's in the past 15 years. The first I bought as a "tide me over" until I could afford a Fulltone FD II, and I ended up selling the FD II because the SD-1 sounded better with my old Vibrolux and teles.

I keep an SD-1 in my gigbag now as a "just in case" jam pedal/emergency/tone shaper, even though I don't have one on my board anymore. IMHO, the SD-1 and OD-3 are two BOSS pedals that every guitarist should have around, because they're cheap, versatile, and sound great.
 
Have you tried the OD1X? I think its great...I used to double boost my Marshall..with this I don't need to. And quiet with a decimator...like whisper quiet. Still heard some hiss with my previous double boosting...not with this.
 
I have been curious about this as well. I have had several SD-1's in the past as well. I modded several of them with better parts, and all kinds of stuff. In the end I usually found I liked the stock one better. The upgrades usually made it sound too clear and defined. That sounds funny, but the non-perfect sound is part of the charm of the SD-1.
 
Shask":3etv800r said:
I have been curious about this as well. I have had several SD-1's in the past as well. I modded several of them with better parts, and all kinds of stuff. In the end I usually found I liked the stock one better. The upgrades usually made it sound too clear and defined. That sounds funny, but the non-perfect sound is part of the charm of the SD-1.
Click to expand...

Exactly! I have owned the Keeley modded SD-1 at least 5 times as well as the Keeley modded TS-9 over and over. Apparently, I'm a slow learner because I kept getting caught up in the hype and thinking I must have missed something the 1st, 2nd, 3rd time.

I didn't. What I want is an SD-1 and/or a TS9, not an "improved" version of it that makes it not sound like one of those pedals anymore. It's like cooking and reaching for a spice and someone saying, "yeah, I upgraded your cinnamon" and now your cinnamon no longer tastes like cinnamon.
 
You know what sent my sd-1 and ts pedals packing? Boss GE-7...good ol fashioned a bit noisy GE-7 STOCK. Pumps the mids with the frown but yet sounds so full. I'm obsessed with it right now for all my 80's tones. Love it! Koko boost on top for leads. I love stock gear. It's old school tone !
 
Danelectro Cool Cat Transparent OD V1 (Timmy clone) sent my TS9 and SD1 (Keeley) packing. Love this pedal. Not as clippy as the SD1 and doesn't have the mids change of the TS9.
 
Picked one up today. Compared it to my old workhorse OD-3 and SD-1. It's a keeper. In the "Stock" mode, it is more open and "hi-fi" than my old SD-1, and in the "Custom" mode it's got a pretty cool higher gain thing going on that really worked with my tele. Glad I picked this one up, it will likely knock my old standby SD-1 out of the gigbag!
 
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