Boss SD-1 Mods

I bought a second hand Boss SD-1 from eBay for about $30 for the sole purpose of fcuking around with. I though it would be cool to try out a few mods, as the circuit is pretty basic and very similar to the ubiquitous TS-9.

The first thing I did was The C6 Mod. This mod consists entirely of removing C6. This is supposed to give it more clarity and people say it’s like lifting a blanket off the speakers, but to be honest, I didn’t notice heaps of difference – maybe a touch more clarity in the top end. You can see where I have removed one of the legs of the C6 capacitor in the picture below.

I installed a switch by drilling a hole to the right of the Drive knob. I originally set the switch up to toggle between asymmetrical clipping (stock) and symmetrical clipping, but after a while I changed my mind and decided to try something else with the switch.

So now, the switch changes the value of C3. It toggles between the stock value of 0.047uF and the new value of 0.1uF. You can see the green and blue wires going to the switch in the photo above. The capacitors are soldered to the back of the switch. Here’s how it looks:

The result is a lot more bottom end, so the pedal sounds fuller. This mod goes well with the subtle C6 Mod, and now this pedal has a fuller and warmer overdrive.

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.
It even used it on my band‘s second EP, which comes out later this year.

The Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive is a great pedal with heaps of potential for mods.

What I’ve done is barely scratching the surface, if you have an old SD-1 laying around and you’d like to try a few things, check out this page over at Premier Guitar:
http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/print/5_DIY_Mods_to_Perfect_Your_Ibanez_TS9_and_Boss_SD-1

I’m on the look-out for another cheap SD-1, TS-9 or even DS-1 to try a few more mods on!