$40....which one? DS-1, SD-1 or Rocktron Austin Gold?

[powerplayj]

I already have a modded TS-9 and a BSIAB2 with a Peavey Classic amp.  For $40, which one of these would fill a niche between the aforementioned pedals?

DS-1 - has many mods available. Hopefully, some would be quite different from the BSIAB2.

SD-1 - Is the clipping different than from a TS-9?  Many mods around for this one too.  Brian's Fulldrive mod sounds interesting.

Rocktron Austin Gold - supposedly a poor man's Klon but yet again, a tubescreamer variant.  Rumor has that it is true-bypass too

[z-zero]

I'd say DS-1 just because the other 2 are tube screamer based.

z-zero

[jimbob]

I really like the sd-1. Ive owned the others and there ok. The Rocktron in kinda kool. Rocktron would be my second choice. No matter how extensively i mod mu ds-1 its only mediocre( you might be able to mask the smell of a turd, but its still a turd)

[wampcat1]

I'll go against the flow here and recommend a digitech bad monkey.

Take care,
Brian

[Arn C.]

I'll second the DS-1.  I modified one for a friend of mine who plays nearly every weekend and he uses it in his setup always

Peace!
Arn C.

[Xavier]

I'll go against the flow here and recommend a digitech bad monkey.

Take care,
Brian

Really?,

I have tested this pedal twice , in a music store and in the rehearsal room , and both times I thought it is a really bad quality TS type of pedal, totally fake sounding.

This, unless you have some magic mods for it

[powerplayj]

I'll go against the flow here and recommend a digitech bad monkey.

Take care,
Brian

Where does it fit amongst a tubescreamer and a BSIAB2?

[Ge_Whiz]

I'd spend the $40 on something else entirely. You've got enough distortion.

[Melanhead]

I'd spend the $40 on something else entirely. You've got enough distortion.

I second that ... ... Although I do own 2 DS-1s and 3 SD-1s all modded differently ...

[MartyMart]

I'd go with the Rocktron, not so much "crunch" but its a very high quality sound
and ..... well it's not what everyone else has

Marty.

[wampcat1]

I'll go against the flow here and recommend a digitech bad monkey.

Take care,
Brian

Really?,

I have tested this pedal twice , in a music store and in the rehearsal room , and both times I thought it is a really bad quality TS type of pedal, totally fake sounding.

This, unless you have some magic mods for it

I do have a simple mod for it, nothing drastic by any means. Just changing the eq a bit. I'm playing a telecaster through a peavey classic 50 with it, and it reminds me of a boss od-3 in a way, only with a bass and treble control. The thing I can't stand is the smd components. Such a pain really. Also, I don't use much gain from it, more of a light grit, so that could be why it works ok for a cheaper pedal for me.

Take care,
Brian

[GVC]

DS-1 is probably going to give you something different.  

What about DOD- 250, YJM308

Or the Distortion Plus.

Cheap builds, or buys, and something different. (if you build go True bypass)

What kind of sounds are you looking for?

[powerplayj]

What kind of sounds are you looking for?

Nothing particular just some tones I don't have.  Some of my thoughts were.....

- thicker distortion than BSIAB2 (like a Bogner amp)

- creamy/sustaining OD for Eric Johnson legato tone

- OD/Distortion that can be modded for versatility

or

....I also have a PCB made for an Axis Fuzz that I need to assemble at some point or I could possibly upgrade the pot on my wah. 

[CS Jones]

The Austin Gold is far from a Klon but it's a good little pedal for the price. I got mine for something like $21 USD.
If you want to mess with SMD that's a good place to start. It's a small simple circuit with a big board and all the leads are easy to get to. It's got a conditioning chip to keep the noise down and then it's gated through a switch chip so you have to TB it, if that really matters to you.
I'd go with this one simpy because it isn't one of the other two.

Another good cheapy is the Peavey HFD (hot foot distortion). Same pedal series as their dual stereo chorus. Sleeper pedals. You can get these cheap.

FWIW. I had a Bad Monkey. Called for an RA # the day I got it. I never got that whole thing with the BM.

edit...I think those new dano mini pedals are a lot of fun too 

[powerplayj]

I'd spend the $40 on something else entirely. You've got enough distortion.

Enough distortion??  NEVER!!!    That's like telling some of these guys that one fuzz is all you need.  Yeah, you are probably right, but another distortion is a compromise every time I gas for a new amp.

[Ge_Whiz]

Well, okay. But if you've posted 160 times here, you should be building your own distortion pedals. 

[jimbob]

For the cash you should buy a black russian big muff. You might like it stock- or modd it a little.