| Author |
 Topic  |
|
lazzrath
Bronze Member
Canada
103 Posts |
 Posted - 02/27/2006 : 20:15:09
|
| That is definitely a lock-washer underneath the screw - it is not part of the chassis. Also, I never noticed that big hole before (!). I'm beginning to think that this is a non-original. I picked this pedal up from my co-worker, who is a local 'guitarist for hire' , and apparently he acquired it used in the mid eighties. |
 |
|
|
bossarea
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
3652 Posts |
Posted - 02/27/2006 : 21:55:41
|
The hole is original. It's on many of the early pedals.
Looks like they stopped making it somewhere around 81-82. |
|
|
|
pawnshop_trash
Gold Member
USA
603 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2006 : 01:16:54
|
wow, Lazzrath's SD-1 has me green with collector nerd envy!  that's the oldest SD-1 I've ever seen....
back to Dingus' original question, I can't comment on the black-label MIT pedals, but can comment otherwise. my MIJ SD-1 (with JRC 4558DD op amp) was my favorite pedal -- I almost always kept it on -- until I bought a newer silver-label MIT SD-1 and had Analog Man modify it (JRC 4558 chip, and kept the Boss asymmetrical clipping). my Analog Man SD-1 sounds a little bit better than my MIJ SD-1, and has enabled me to retire my battered MIJ SD-1.
anyway, both of those pedals sound much better than the MIT silver label SD-1 -- to my ears, those newer SD-1s are too harsh with very little usable high end. alas, I didn't peek under the hood of my MIT silver label SD-1 before sending it to Analog Man, so I do not know what chip was stock at that time. maybe the quality of the JRC 4558DD chip itself has changed over the years, or maybe (very likely) various other parts were swapped out for cheaper ones.... |
|
|
|
lazzrath
Bronze Member
Canada
103 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2006 : 09:08:31
|
Phew! It's good to know that it's looking like an original (even better knowing how old it is now). Is there any way to tell what year this is? That would be super cool to have one of the first SD-1's. Even cooler is the fact that it was practically given to me ($40CDN).
...Now all I need is an airtight glass container... 
Thanks for all the great info! This pedal was a very lovely surprise! |
|
|
|
bossarea
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
3652 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2006 : 11:30:42
|
I think we can narrow down the production date quite a bit without being absolutely sure.
The official word from Boss is that they started selling SD-1s from February 1981. Production probably started shortly before that. The first version schematic is dated 1st March 1981. This schematic says that the first versions has ink stamped serial numbers but later ones uses the 6 digit sticker. This must mean that the 6 digit sticker was in use already when they released the schematic March 81.
It has been speculated that the first digit of the serial denotes the production year. This can't be right as it now looks like they didn't start using 6 digits until 1981. I'm not sure whether the first batch of pedals using the 6 digit code started on 000000. I can't recall ever having seen any pedals with a serial lower than 05xxxx. Maybe that's where they started the new numbering scheme?
If they started on 000000, 053800 would have been the 538th batch of pedals being made. We don't know how many pedals there are in a batch and if batch numbers are shared among different pedals like they are when they used the 4 digit numbering system. We do however know that it took them about 8-9 years to run out of numbers and thus being forced to adopt a new system. This means that the first number probably ticked over about once a year.
Based on the above I'd guestimate that your SD-1 was made around mid 1981 but I've made a few guesses so there's some +/- in the estimate.
|
|
|
|
lazzrath
Bronze Member
Canada
103 Posts |
Posted - 02/28/2006 : 20:52:53
|
Thanks again for all the help!
 (My spoon is too big!) |
|
|
|
visserman
Platinum Member
1072 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2006 : 01:10:10
|
Lazzrath, you SD-1 looks like mine, but mine does have two holes and the serialnumber starts with a 06, the scew is black, asked about this pedal before here as it looked quite unusual to me, but I believe people must have overlooked my post..............
Here is the link to that older post
http://www.bossarea.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=632&whichpage=2
Will check later about the number on the PCB board and the opamp.
The case is very very heavey, is must be the heaviest bosspedal I have come across so far. The TW-1 is the second heaviest pedal.
Soundwise this SD-1 sounds similar to the recent SD-1's but this has been mentioned often before by many of you |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
A History of the SD-1 Super Overdrive
