Much to my surprise, it ain't bad. I recall an old thread where Mike explained how elegant and clever the circuit is, and the end result is pretty usable. Neither of the two modes are anything out of the ordinary, but the range of tweakability makes up for that.
I'm not sure why the idea hasn't been tried more often. It must be quite a delicate balancing act to get the volume and eq of two very different circuits to work alongside each other though, so I'm a little reluctant to do any mods in case it upsets the balance. The distortion side is similar to a DS-1, but not identical. The general character is the same, but it's a little smoother and bassy. I don't own an SD-1 to compare the overdrive sound, but it fits the descriptions and sound clips so I'd say it's certainly a DS/SD-1 mashup with a tone stack that works equally well for both.
Conceptually, it's very cool. Sounds-wise, it's merely decent but makes me wish I had one when I was just starting out. A good budget "beginner's pedal" for sure.
I always loved the idea of being able to blend between 2 dist sounds on one pedal, will have to try one of these out some day. Although, separate gain controls would truly make this bae. If that Chase Bliss Brothers pedal wasn't fucking pricey, I might have picked one up.
There's a lot of useable sounds on it and whilst you probably can dial in SD1 and DS1 sounds I think it's a pedal in its own right.
I like the settings in between the two effects, which gives more saturation than the SD1 and more clarity than the DS1.
I believe Joey Santiago used one for a while in the Pixies and I can't knock his tone on any recording.
It's like most Boss stuff isn't it, at one time it was good enough for most artists from Dave Gilmour to Kevin Shields, but now they're just for n00bs.
It's like most Boss stuff isn't it, at one time it was good enough for most artists from Dave Gilmour to Kevin Shields, but now they're just for n00bs.
If you can't get a good sound from most Boss pedal you need to give up... can't be arsed with all this boutique shite
Also pretty sure William Reid had one if these in stage when I seen the Marychain a few years back.
gusman2x wrote:Seriously considering going for an all boss board.
The last several pedals I've bought have all been Boss--BF-2, DF-2, and BD-2. Already had an OD-3, RV-6, CE-2w, and NS-2. I could easily go all Boss...except for including a Rat. Love my madebymike Rat.
gusman2x wrote:Seriously considering going for an all boss board.
I used one in the last band, just the small BCB-30.
Tidy, convenient, did the job, a bit limited with three pedals but I made that conscious decision so I'd think more about my playing and guitar controls rather than tap dancing around a huge pedalboard.
Have you ever had any strange noise with it? The OS2 was my first ever pedal and I was in love with it but, unlucky, I was forced to sell it because it produced an horrible sort of "ground noise" (is it correct to call it so?) if I turned up the gain knob over 12. I never understood what the reason was and I replaced it with a Boss BD2 and a Rat. I would buy it again but I'm afraid of having the same issue again, I don't know if it was just mine or a general problem with this type of pedal.
-Guitar: Squier VM Mustang, Squier CV '50 Duo Sonic;
-Amplifier: Hughes&Kettner Blue Edition 60;
-FXs: Dunlop Cry Baby GCB-95 Wah, Boss BD-2 Blues Drive, Proco RAT, Danelectro Cool Cat Tremolo, EH Small Clone, MUZA FD900, Bespeco Volume pedal.
I guarantee it'd be to do with your own setup, or your pedal was faulty, rather than any inherent problem with the pedal- they've probably sold millions of these things.
paul_ wrote:
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Diamond Blaze It 420
Last edited by Doog on Mon Sep 24, 2018 9:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
