Boss OD-1 Overdrive Demo

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severinsteel

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Boss Pedal Review 14: OD-1 Overdrive

I've had an interesting relationship with the Boss OD-1. I have literally owned this pedal 3 or 4 times, but I think I'll be keeping this one. In the past, it just didn't do it for me, but now I think I get the hype.

One thing I've noticed about the OD-1 is that it is a warmer type of overdrive. I should add that my particular pedal is probably the last revision of the pedal, made with the JRC4558 chip (famously used in the Ibanez Tube Screamer). So, this version does have that kind of smooth overdrive associated with the Tube Screamer.

I thought I would miss the tone knob, but I actually don't. It is a darker, warmer type of tone, but that's a good thing in my book! It works pretty well in front of a clean amp, as well as goosing a driven amp.

Overal, I do recommend the OD-1. It's a classic for sure, but some may not like its darker tone and lack of a tone knob.

 
The first true overdrive pedal, before the tubescreamers and all the others
Hopefully I get to find one soon
 
There are two different versions of the earliest Boss OD 1.
The very first ones used a quad op amp chip and This RC3403D chip has 14 pins and the slightly later version is the JRC4558 chip which has 8 pins and the two different versions of the OD 1 pedals sound quite different
The JRC4558 chip version when used with a Marshall seems to have a well balanced tone at low volume but gets progressively brighter as the amp gets louder to the point it becomes obnoxious and unusable to my ears and the brightness cannot be dialled out.
The 14 pin RC34OD chip version is an altogether different beast its starts out sounding great at any volume and gets much better sounding as the amp gets louder and the 14 pin chip type is more valuable to collectors and seems to command significantly higher prices.

The 14 pin chip type OD 1 is a killer pedal and one of my favourites. its great for a clean boost or for tightening up the playing feel of an amp or as a overdrive into an already gained out amp to send it right over the top.
 
BYOC offers a Yellow Overdrive Kit that is based off the RC3404 chip, it even includes a Raytheon chip like the originals.

That's about as close as I will probably get to an OD-1 and I like it a lot. There are other compatible chips that get close to the original but they sound slightly different.

ThunderTomate makes or made a Taxi Driver that's based off the 14 pin chip too, very nice pedal. http://www.thundertomate.com/english/products.html

I thought both my pedals seemed brighter than the SD-1.
 
OD1 is still my favourite Boss pedal, I have 2 of them, they have fallen off my live board in favour of a MI Tubezone, but sound great for recording. Just got a Mesa DC10 and am keen to try the OD1 with that but havent gotten around to it yet.
The prices on ebay are pretty stupid for them, got mine in NZ and think they both were under $100US
 
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