The good news is we are here to put an end to all your queries and questions once and for all. In this article, you will finally find the information you need when considering buying any of these two guitar overdrives. Therefore, you will notice that most overdrives produce a ‘pushed’ sound that is well in tune, clean, and capable of being stretched to the crunch.

Despite its controls being kept simple with just level, tone and drive knobs, the Boss OD-3 OverDrive pedal is extremely versatile. The overdrive amp will enhance your amplifier’s delivery or mimic a particular sound, whereas distortion will lead to an entirely altered sound unpleasant to the ears.The Boss OD-3 worked out excellently for the guitarists, as even the conservative players who would not switch their BD-2 Blues Driver found the Boss OD-3 as a good alternative. I've been messing with the Tone control circuit on my breadboard, and at some point I'll have to decide if my mods made it better, worse or just different.

The Boss OD-3 pedal allows guitarists to significantly expand their range of overdrive tones with an improved response but still similar to the originals. The Boss SD-1 Overdrive is another top-notch overdrive that was released in the mid-1980s. It was considered a replacement for the older OD-1 model and was often confused with the similarly named DS-1. What’s more, as testament to how confident they are in this pedal’s build quality, Boss offer a five-year warranty. For the born again tone junkie, this might get you out of some of the many online support groups in your chase for a dynamic, natural sounding overdrive that has more transparency than it does color. The tone achievable with the three simple knobs, sans diode switches or vintage/modern modes is fantastic and rivals many of the independent offerings we have all spent hard earned money on for that Holy Grail end all pedal, only to still be left asking…"did I get a lemon?" The discrete opamp circuit (Q2-Q4 and associated parts) has bandwidth up into the hundreds of KHz. That's fine if you're building a radio, not so good with a guitar pedal. I added C17 to roll-off the highs above the audio range. I reduced R11, below, to 1K so I could dial-in lower gains.In my ongoing PedalQuest I now have all but 3 of Boss’s compact gain pedals - I believe the ones that I’ve still to acquire are the OD-1 (RC3403D 14-Leg Chip), OD-1X, and DN-2. Which means that 28 out of 31 are fully accounted for - where I own multiple different versions of many of those - anniversary and modded editions mainly but also the occasional duplicate. Nice to see 1MegaOhm input and great quality buffer at this price point, also nice that it only draws 10mA, so a 9V battery lasts at least 80+ hours in continuous use, as long as you don't forget to unplug the input when not using. Suprisingly quiet unit, up there with the boutique manufacters such as Wampler, Earthquaker, etc. Before getting into the details, it is essential to know what a guitar overdrive is. It is a machinal device that adds grit to the signal sent to the guitar, bringing about a sound similar to an amplifier at the breakup of an edge.

This is why it works better with full-voiced cords than purely high frequencies. Most open chords are not played with overdrives since the overtones and higher notes have a considerably low energy concentration. AC adaptor (PSA series: sold separately) Current Draw 15 mA Expected battery life under continuous use Carbon: Approx. 34.5 hours This is the MOST UNDERRATED BOSS PEDAL! And this is coming from a tube amp snob! I have two of these cause I have two pedalboards all loaded with Boss pedals. The OD-3 is my main overdrive/distortion sound both for rhythm and leads sometimes I push the input stage with Boss SD-1 for serious solos.One other comment re: the difference between the OD-3 & the BD-2. I consider the BD-2 to be more of a clean boost because it only sounds good (to me) when it's running clean. The OD-3 is definitely an overdive in my book because it sounds good running dirty.

This means the fundamental characteristics of the Boss SD-1 Overdrive are slightly different than the typical overdrive pedals. The original pedal has two input buffers to support the buffered bypass soft switching. One is enough with true-bypass, so I ditched one of the buffers and configured the remaining one to have the correct freq response and input impedance. The OD-3 aims to build upon its predecessors by having better response times, a wider range of tones, and a smoother sound. This analogue effects unit not only has an impressively dynamic range but, thanks to its two-stage overdrive circuit, it delivers a sound that is rich, powerful, and incredibly versatile. It also comes complete with a five-year warranty, which is always nice for your peace of mind. Which Genres Can it Play?There’s so many cool Modded Boss pedals out there - maybe it’s time for a Boss Custom Shop - to roll out these sorts of more specialist pedals. Reliability really can be affordable to all.Boss are so suretheir compact pedals last the test of time,they cover them with a full five year warranty. Key Features After 40 years of live playing and studio experience, in the final analysis, my pedalboards OD/DIST fx requirements have boiled down to the AnalogMan King of Tone followed by two OD-3's, one set to Drive=0 for boost and the other Drive set between 10 and 3 depending upon the venue and amp system I'm using. I will occasionally add to that for special OD/DIST fx, but KOT/OD-3 is a constant in my rig. Here's a peek at how it's wired right now. I renumbered all of the ref des. Some of my mods are about using fewer parts to accomplish the same thing. I also used different transistors throughout because I don't have any 2SK184s or 2SC1048s. As described by Analogman, the pedal wizard, the asymmetrical clipping gives out a pure, richer sound.