Boss SD-1W Super Overdrive Waza Craft

The Boss SD-1W Super Overdrive is the Waza Craft version of the Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive, an overdrive pedal Boss has built since 1981. Released in 2014, it hot rods the famous overdrive with all-discrete analog circuitry and adds a switchable Custom mode, while keeping the same three-knob layout and bright yellow compact enclosure players recognize from the original¹².

Where the standard SD-1 uses an op-amp chip, the SD-1W's circuit consists entirely of discrete components, and its two modes give it a second voicing the original never had. Premier Guitar's 2014 announcement described it as hot rodding "this players' favorite with a revised circuit design" built from "all-discrete analog components, and switchable Standard and Custom sound modes"².

The controls: Level, Tone, Drive and the mode switch

The SD-1W keeps the same triangular arrangement of level, tone and drive controls as the standard SD-1, with mono input and output jacks and a 9V adapter input³⁴. The knobs do the familiar jobs: Drive sets the amount of overdrive, Tone sets the brightness, and Level sets the output volume. The footswitch doubles as the battery cover, held by a screw at the front that releases with a squeeze on the spring-loaded switch³.

The mode switch is the new control relative to the original. In Pete Thorn's demo video for the pedal, he explained what it adds: "what the custom switch does it allows you to switch into mode that gives you more base and more gain"⁵.

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Standard and Custom modes

The two modes are the heart of what separates the SD-1W from the standard pedal¹²⁶.

• Standard mode captures the classic SD-1 sound. Boss's own history of the pedal says Standard mode redesigns the original's pioneering amp-like asymmetric clipping with all-analog discrete circuitry, achieving enhanced clarity and a lower noise floor. Compared to an SD-1, Boss says the SD-1W's tone control is significantly sweeter and more balanced, diminishing much of the gritty high end of the original⁷⁸.
• Custom mode produces more warmth and less snarl, with a bounty of low end added to the signal, a slight boost in volume level, more low-end creamy crunch and sustain, and more sedate boosted mids, according to Boss's history of the pedal⁸.

Boss's Waza Craft overview sums up the split: Standard mode captures the classic SD-1 sound, while Custom mode offers a different variation that tone sculptors love⁹¹.

Guitar.com's reviewer characterized the pedal's overall voice as "a mids-focused overdrive, designed to cut through a mix and leave the lower frequencies to the bassist," calling it "a pretty traditional rock sound, throaty but not too harsh"³.

History: from the SD-1 to the Waza Craft version

The SD-1 Super Overdrive was introduced in 1981 and has been in production from 1981 to the present¹⁰¹¹. Boss describes it as beloved by guitarists across genres⁷, and Premier Guitar called it "one of the best-loved stomps ever created"².

The SD-1W arrived in 2014 as a Waza Craft version of the SD-1, an upgraded take on the overdrive Boss has built since 1981⁸¹²¹³. Boss positions Waza Craft as its premium line, and the SD-1W fits that idea: a revised circuit design built on the legendary SD-1 Super Overdrive, with all-discrete analog components and switchable Standard and Custom sound modes².

How it differs from the standard SD-1

The circuit is the main difference. The standard SD-1 uses a version of the JRC4558 op-amp chip at the heart of its circuit, but the Waza circuit removes it. Guitar.com's reviewer put it plainly: the SD-1W is "revised for 'premium sound' using 100 per cent discrete circuitry rather than op amps," that is, separate components instead of a chip³. Guitar World's review likewise noted that the SD-1W's circuitry consists entirely of discrete components, with no op amps⁴.

The second difference is the mode switch, which the original SD-1 does not have. Gearnews highlighted this when recommending the pedal, writing: "Our choice would be the recent Waza Craft version of the SD-1W which offers a new, switchable, 'custom' voicing"⁶.

What reviewers and players said

Guitar World's review of the Waza Craft trio found the SD-1W doubles as a boost: "Both pedals provide outstanding clean boost functions with the level control cranked up and the gain/drive control turned all the way down"⁴.

On That Pedal Show, the presenters reached for the SD-1W by mistake while expecting a Tube Screamer and found it "not at all" like one¹⁰. The pedal has also appeared in the gear list for That Pedal Show's overdrive episode, with Dan playing a Fender Custom Shop '63 Telecaster through a Victory Sheriff 44 and Victory V212VH cabinet¹⁴.

!That Pedal Show on guitar overdrive pedals¹⁴

Boss's own buying guide names a documented user: John 5 of Rob Zombie uses an SD-1 and an SD-1W for country and bluegrass and with Rob Zombie¹⁵. Pedal of the Day's reviewer also found the SD-1W pairs well with its sibling, noting of the SD-1W and DS-1W that "not surprisingly, they sound great together"¹.

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