Tubescreamer or SD1 or Bad Monkey

[rogeryu_ph]

Guys,
Does anyone of you had tried these effect? Which overdrive do you prepare 

Roger

[MartyMart]

Not a lot between 'em other than the Boss/Ibanez assymetrical/symetrical diode "clipping" thing.
Bad Monkey sounds great AND has a "speaker sim" output for direct to mac/PC recording - BUT
it's mostly SMD components ( very tiny ) so will be almost impossible to modify - sounds good "stock" though
So, Summing up :
TS-9 / SD-1 = almost the same apart from a few parts, so one can become the other AND moddable
Bad Monkey = Great "as-is" includes speaker sim out BUT not very DIY moddable.
My choice would be SD-1, as they are the cheapest ( £31 UK) and easy as hell to change/sound great.

MM.

[Toney]

Same/same  you....very good price, you buy.

SD-1... Taiwan stock. It's a winner. Had it since the 80s.

There's a stripboard layout, if you want to build, but at $39 or less off the bay, cheaper to buy.
You can turn it into a Zak or just play with the caps and diodes.


http://www.indyguitarist.com/torchy/Distortion_Overdrive/Boss%20Overdrive%20SD-1/SD-1.gif

[grolschie]

The Bad Monkey is a great pedal. It goes from low and smooth to hot and thick. Better tone controls than the other two. Kinda dark pedal though. I have the high knob up alot. The bass knob has enough grunt to bottom out your speakers.

Not a lot between 'em other than the Boss/Ibanez assymetrical/symetrical diode "clipping" thing.
Bad Monkey sounds great AND has a "speaker sim" output for direct to mac/PC recording - BUT
it's mostly SMD components ( very tiny ) so will be almost impossible to modify - sounds good "stock" though
So, Summing up :
TS-9 / SD-1 = almost the same apart from a few parts, so one can become the other AND moddable
Bad Monkey = Great "as-is" includes speaker sim out BUT not very DIY moddable.
My choice would be SD-1, as they are the cheapest ( £31 UK) and easy as hell to change/sound great.

MM.

Bajaman helped me convert my Bad Monkey to TS-808 specs. I posted the details yesterday, no response. You can remove SMD resistors and replace with normal ones bent straight upwards. The caps on the BM are very good, so don't need replacing - but easy if you need to. It has a dual 1N4148 diode SMD component, which can be replaced with the clippers of your choice. Because the gaps where SMD components were are much smaller, you have to be innovative with your positioning. Goo helps. The IC is pretty good one already and would be a pain to replace.

[moro]

I just modded an SD-1 a couple of days ago. It sounds great after the changes.

I really like this pedal--it's a $40 tube screamer. Boss pedals are packed pretty tightly, though. If you're going to be modding it, it's a bit of a pain to take apart and put back together. And this particular pedal has some of the components glued down for some reason. The glue is a bit tough to remove, though it helps if you heat it up a bit.

What are you looking to do? They're very similar pedals.

[Plinky]

Boss SD-1: the poor man's Tube Screamer. For the money, you can't beat it. The play along track (Flubs and All) on my MySpace page was through an SD-1 into a Marshall TSL60 head. The one difference I can think of is it's not as warm as a Tube Screamer.

[shredgd]

I don't know the Bad Monkey, but I know and own both an SD-1 and a Tubescreamer.
The SD-1 is an overall good overdrive, but my diy TS-9 with asymmetrical clipping (1N916 one side, 1N4001 + germanium diode the other side) and 0.1u input cap is THE overdrive. I love it.

Hope this helps.

Giulio

[moro]

I don't know the Bad Monkey, but I know and own both an SD-1 and a Tubescreamer.
The SD-1 is an overall good overdrive, but my diy TS-9 with asymmetrical clipping (1N916 one side, 1N4001 + germanium diode the other side) and 0.1u input cap is THE overdrive. I love it.

I thought the SD-1 and Tube Screamer were practically identical? Whatever you can do to a TS, you can do to an SD-1.

I have a TS-10 (one of the less popular TSes  ) that I've sort of messed up. I need to bring it back to life one of these days, but when it's working, it's pretty hard to tell apart from my SD-1.

[Plinky]

Personally, I prefer the GGG tubescreamer. I hear the Tonepad one is also nice. There moddable just like every other overdrive.

[grolschie]

I thought the SD-1 and Tube Screamer were practically identical? Whatever you can do to a TS, you can do to an SD-1.

SD-1 has asymetric clipping. The TS is symetric. Some say symetric is smoother sounding, others say asymetric is. Why not demo both pedals.

I tried a similar asymetric mod to my BM like shredgd did, but I found it was too fuzzy and increased the distortion too much. Mine was a 1N4148 on one side and a 1N4148 + germanium on the other. I wanted it cleaner and smoother. It gave it some warmth and raunchiness though which was cool, but I already have a pedal for that. 

The stock BM is more versatile than either of those others.

[brett]

SD-1 has asymetric clipping. The TS is symetric. Some say symetric is smoother sounding, others say asymetric is.

Yep, SD-1 is asymetric.  This gives an "octave up" effect, and when used in an environment where this recombines with the fundamental frequencies (ie where intermodulation occurs), there is potential for extra harmonic richness.  This is similar to the way which distorting tubes add harmonic richness when they clip a signal. 

Also, unless the volume is turned down a bit, an asymetric sd-1 3 diode setup will also sound a "touch" louder than the equivalent 2 diode setup.
cheers

[MartyMart]

Not a lot between 'em other than the Boss/Ibanez assymetrical/symetrical diode "clipping" thing.

MM.

* reply 2

I'm a fan of assym, every commercial box with 2 x diodes ( symetrical ) gets another added in one direction, or a
1N4148/1N4001 combo - which is just about my perfect combo

[Dragonfly]

Personally, I like the Boss OD-3 WAY better than ANY of the ones you listed. FAR better low end response, and sounds much more like a cranked amp than the others, to my ears.

YMMV

[rogeryu_ph]

Wonder why SRV uses Tubescreamer..... Don't you think if SRV is still alive he'll use BAD MONKEY right now

Roger

[jonathan perez]

Wonder why SRV uses Tubescreamer..... Don't you think if SRV is still alive he'll use BAD MONKEY right now

Roger

no, hed be playing through a $700 boutique overdrive....

haha!

just kidding. you know good and well hed still be tearing through with a $70 stock tube screamer...

[MartyMart]

Went to see Tommy Allen play the other night - WOW he's a great player and he uses
a TS9-DX / Wah / SD-1 / Boss delay / Boss octave.
Sounded FAB - it's all in the fingers and a VERY loud Fender amp !!
MM.

[wampcat1]

don't forget the arion tubulator... $15 tubescreamer clone and moddable.

[Ben N]

Personally, I like the Boss OD-3 WAY better than ANY of the ones you listed. FAR better low end response, and sounds much more like a cranked amp than the others, to my ears.

YMMV

Agreed, it is one of my indispensable pedals--and you don't need to use .013s for your rig to have some bottom  . But I think a ><flat response OD like the OD-3 and midrangers like TS and derivatives are apples and oranges, not interchangeable at all. To my ear, the SD-1 or TS (I have had an SD-1, a TS-9-RI, a TS-5 and a Barber Direct Drive in this family) sound great when they are boosting the input of a tube amp at volume, preferably an amp that is light on the mids. As standalone, unity-gain overdrives they are thin and unloveable. The OD-3 is pretty much self-contained and sounds great at any volume, but you may miss that mid-boost when boosting for a solo.

Ben

[HOTGUIT]

Try this mod for SD1 and you'll have a creamy, warm/tubish sound from your pedal.
I modded even a TS9 but this modded Sd1 sounds pretty good.
Try it.
C2 0.047 m
C3 0.1 m
C10 1 m N.P.
CLIPPING
1 switch on/on
D4 1n4001 + 47 pico-D5 1n914-D6 1n914// D4 yellow 3 mm.led, D5 germ diode (1n34a or other), D6 1n100 ger.
R2 619 K
R6 switch on/on 3.3 K/4.7 K (or 2.4 K to double gain)
C8 0.1 m
C7 1 m N.P.
R17 10 K carbon composition
R 16 100 Ohm carbon composition
IC JRC4558 DD or JRC4558D
It sounds good to my taste
bye

[Melanhead]

I'm a big SD-1 fan as well .. Very moddable and they can be made to sound great.