Boss DS-1 vs SD-1, what's the difference?

For the longest time I ignored these pedals, just because they're "the mainstream option". But recently I acquired these pedals to give them a try and they turned out to really impress me.
Both the Boss DS-1 and Boss SD-1 are really cool pedals. They make totally different types of distortion through their different methods of clipping the signal. In this video I demo each pedal through an orange OR15 head and Orange PPC112 with a 12" Celestion Vintage 30 speaker.
I recorded audio with an sm57 on the cab, and a rode video mic pro on the camera. When playing the guitar, I reduced the camera mic audio level -18 dB to give a clearer impression of what the sm57 picked up.
This is just a simple tone test, keep in mind that ultimately your guitar will be heard in a mix with drums, bass guitar, vocals, and other instruments, so real life jam & performance applications will differ. This video is not meant to give an exhaustive list of every parameter setting, just a quick run down of the pedals.
I hope some of you find this video helpful!
Your friendly neighbourhood guitar teacher
Levi Bulloch
Some questions this video addresses and attempts to answer:
What's the difference between the Boss SD-1 and Boss DS-1?
what is distortion?
what is overdrive?
what overdrive pedal should I get?
is the ds-1 good?
Some other ways this video might be described:
Boss DS-1 vs SD-1
Distortion vs Overdrive
Guitar Pedal Demo
Guitar Pedals
Boss DS-1 tutorial
Boss SD-1 tutorial

[@howardp.lovecraft4499]

I love stacking those two. They just work perfectly together. SD-1 gives that warm tube amp-like midrange, while DS-1 delivers the balls.
DS-1 cuts through the mix like a knife, while SD-1 makes the sound fuller.

[@ricklesshorse8159]

Very good demonstration. Thanks

[@SuperSpecialWorld]

If it were me, i'd stereotrack the ds1 on the left with the distortion all the way down and the tone all the way left. I'd use the sd1 for the right side of my mix with the tone all the way right and the gain all the way up. Then I'd layer both sides with my hm-2, i think that would be huge.

[@StorieTime365]

thanks man just ordered the overdrive great vid

[@Levisrad]

Thanks, hope you enjoy it! I’m actually plugged into the SD-1 as I type this, haha. It’s a good one!

[@StorieTime365]

@@Levisrad thanks man its arriving on monday

[@rmedzoyan]

Critical Correction. The DS-1 is indeed usable and was widely used for 80s “Metal,” or what was called “metal” prior to “Master of Puppets.” We’re talking about an era when Heavy Metal was Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Dio era Black Sabbath, RR era Ozzy, Saxon, Def Leppard, Dokken, early Queensryche, Scorpions etc. The heavier, faster, metal of Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth, were still considered extreme, and not always welcomed by many metal fans. Read Metallica’s Damaged Justice Tour ‘88-‘89 program. The written narrative by Mick Wall very eloquently describes the initial reaction of early 80s metalheads to the then new more primitive, less melodic, punk-influenced form of metal. Many metal fans of the early 80s outright rejected punk rock as an unskilled noisy genre. Metal fans were particular about the musical chops of their heroes, and the hardcore punk bands just couldn’t cut it. Ultimately Metallica and peers proved everybody wrong, they developed as musicians and songwriters, while mainstream metal devolved into formulaic hair/pop/metal.

[@Levisrad]

Totally makes sense. I suppose what I had in mind when I referred to metal is the modern metal sound from the 2000s and newer. But for that classic era of metal, it totally makes sense that they'd be using the DS-1s for that. I'll have to learn some more songs by the bands you've mentioned! Thanks for checking the video out and sharing your knowledge here!

[@boris10shock]

@@Levisrad if u want a more mordrn metal try the mega distortion pedal or metal core pedal by Boss those are pro wrestling adrenaline junkie types of sounds