So which is the best Boss overdrive?

timmysoft

Has the forum decided on a champion?

SD-1
SD-1w
OD-3
BD-2

I'm putting together an all Boss board, so I'd love to hear opinions. Primarily being used as a boost for an already driven, modern voiced amp. I'm not looking for vintage or retro tones!

monquixote

I love the od3 but for what you want an sd1 is the best bet

fretmeister

OD1x sounds nice to me

John_P

OD1  but an SD1 is cheap and would sound great. 

mike_l

SD-1's sound great with all (ok most) amp's and guitars.

For heavier stuff, the DS-1 into a dirty Marshall is great. Better still is a modded DS-1 into a dirty Marshall.

stonevibe

SD-1 for me. 

 But then it was my first ever pedal as a kid. 

 So I learnt 'how to sound like a real guitar' using that and a JCM800 100 watt head, it pretty much was my only pedal for about two years till I bought a wah.

Lez325

SD 1 for me too- I push mine through a Marshall 15w Dual Lead amp with 2 x 1 x 12" cabs, does what it says on the tin, an awesome pedal for a mere outlay of around £39

Les

Sporky

FDR-1 or BD-2, I'd say.

xSkarloey

As a boost? SD1 all the way.

I use it as a standalone too, natch.

DefaultM

Why are you doing an all Boss board?
I used to have the OD20 with all the different models in. Is that any good for you?

d8m

SD-1 for boost.

OD-3 for standalone gain.

timmysoft

DefaultM said:

Why are you doing an all Boss board?
I used to have the OD20 with all the different models in. Is that any good for you?

The reason behind the boss board, is a bit of ocd, a bit of budget and a genuine love of what they make! I'm thinking the board will be sd1w, dm2w, tu3 and tr2.

JD50

I didn't get on with the sd1 myself, I found it too rawk, I like the od3 the best.

John_P

I'd add the od2 turbo overdrive to the list as well.   If I didn't already have an od1 and ds1 on my vintage boss board I'd grab another od2, one of my favourite boss pedals and they go very cheap.

Sassafras

Agreed on the OD-2. It's almost become my core tone and it's the only pedal for which I bought a spare even though they're built like tanks.

Sassafras

Oh, and between 20 to 30 quid on ebay.

normula1

Had my OD2 for the best part of 30 years now. Still use it all the time, mostly on the non-turbo mode.

JezWynd

My fave Boss drive pedal is the SD-2. Two modes, with separate drive and tone controls for each.

mark_jwedge

d8m;937818" said:

SD-1 for boost.



OD-3 for standalone gain.

This!

Cabicular

Don't discount the BD-2
Ramp up the gain and it's a pretty Rock pedal

Jaded

+1 for both the OD-2 and SD-2 from me. Both pretty different sounding for boss, I've found nothing that sounds like the SD-2's crunch mode and I quite regret selling mine, I found the lead mode to be a bit too scooped to be of much use for me. 

The OD-2 in non-turbo mode could definitely work well as a boost (though the OD-2r would be better) without quite as much of a low cut as you get with the SD-1... at least to my ears anyway. Turbo mode works great as a stand alone drive too if you ever needed that as an option.