REVIEW: Monte Allums Boss SD-1 Mod

There are several mods for this brand of guitar pedal, but the one I got in the mail was the SD-808 MOD Plus without the gain upgrade.
From start to finish, the upgrade didn’t take a lot of time at all. You get a simple bag of electronic components and some instructions any certified idiot could understand. However, your skills with a soldering iron may vary!

I had no problem before the mod, and like the sound. The Boss SD-1 doesn’t suck, but at the same time don’t delude yourself either…it is not boutique no matter what BOSS fanboys tell you. That having been said, I plugged in the guitar and…

…HOLY #@!$…this thing sounds GREAT!

Some describe the effect as removing a blanket from your sound. Yeah, I’ll go with that. Also, I found the pedal became much more versatile, allowing me to venture into the tail end of distortion. It is now smooth, clear and in no way similar to the stock pedal.
Want to have some real fun? Combine this with a compressor and you will possess a plethora of possible tones that can run from a bluesy overdrive to heavy rock distortion. I ran a Monte Allums modified Boss CS-3 in front of this, and things just went from fantastic to sheer unadulterated tonal goodness.

I give this a 4.5 out of 5. Where did Monte loose the half feather? Well, the SD-1 has an infamous bypass noise problem, and this mod does not address that. There are fixes available on the net, and from all accounts it doesn’t look all that complex. Yet Monte charges $25? Hmmm.

Nonetheless, if you own a BOSS SD-1, do NOT deprive yourself of this mod. You’ll never look at your overdrive pedal the same way again.

4.5 Feathers out of 5

SEE REVIEW OF MONTE ALLUMS CS-3 MOD