Boss OD-1X Overdrive Pedal Reviews

Just got this pedal yesterday and tried it out last night. I was hoping that it would be as nice as my Boss DA-2 Adaptive Distortion pedal,
which is no longer made and I was NOT disappointed. These pedals seem to have sustain for days even with a single coil pickup style
guitar. Keep in mind that it is an Overdrive pedal so for me, I run the gain all the way up. It is surprisingly quiet even when the gain control
is cranked all the way up and has incredible note articulation no matter what register that you are playing in on the guitar.

I guess I'm getting hooked on the Boss pedals that have the MDP (Multi Dimensional Processing) system in them. That is another reason
why I have used and kept my DA-2 pedal for so long. Most Overdrive/Distortion pedals can become overly noisy especially any time that you
want to crank up the gain but not to my ears with this OD-1X.

If you are tired of the noise coming out of your older 3 knob Boss pedals, give this one a try. I think you will be surprised. I tried it with both
a single coil guitar and a humbucker equipped guitar and was happy with how it sounds with both.

Hope this helps for those searching for their particular sound.

Kenny H

After trying quite a few different OverDrive and Distortion pedals to add to my pedalboard, I finally settled on two- Fulltone's OCD and this one. I primarily use a Gibson Les Paul and Marshall half-stack, but this pedal sounds good with a Strat. and Fender amp as well.

This pedal is remarkable and I knew within a few minutes of trying it that this was a keeper. The tones it produces are rich, pure, and simply sound glorious. I'm not quite sure how to adequately describe it, but it just has a unique tone. I especially love playing heavy/chunky chords with this pedal.

Although this pedal generally gets good reviews, I am surprised how few reviews it gets. Some people may dismiss it as just another Boss OD-1, but it is not like it's predecessor. It's impressive!

Incidentally, I also tried the Boss DS-1X thinking it would be similarly as impressive. Nope- unfortunately it was not- how disappointing. Nevertheless, the OD-1X is a keeper!

I have compared with same guitar, same amp, same pickup tone knob levels etc an Ibanez Tube Screamer (not the mini but the good one holy grail) with a lot of overdrive pedals like the dunlop Rhino (mxr boutique OD), and others. I clearly declared the Ibanez a winner, I did not even considered a Boss OD for the battle but a friend of mine said to me that the best one was the OD-1X, I thought it was a Joke but when I heard it and play it it really was a huge difference, first of all, the OD-1X compared to the Ibanez Screamer is more warmth, also the dynamics where as good as the Ibanez, the analog feel and sound is as "true" and "real" as the Ibanez, but what really is by far different and better is that the range in overdrive is amazing, is much more versatile than the Ibanez Screamer, the top overdrive setting in the OD-1X has a distortion that works and emulates perfectly the very difficult tone David Gilmour has and can only be achieved with much more expensive boxes. Also the "off" "bypass" setting which is not true on the Boss OD-1X is super clear and "True" so it is the best choice when having a chain of "true bypass" pedals after it, why? because This pedal is buffered so it enhances the signal for the rest of your pedals setup, so don't waste ane more minute and try it at sweetwater or just trust sweetwater recommendation and all of us, you won't regret it at all.

I've been recording and playing guitar for 19 years. I have a Peavey JSX and Carvin 4x12 cab loaded with rocket 50s. I recently bought the OD1-X at a local music store to add another dimension to my recorded guitar tones.
This pedal blows me away! I put it in front of the clean channel on my JSX and wow, best distortion sound I've ever recorded. It is smooth and articulate, every note punches through even with the gain cranked. I wouldn't compare it to any other pedal, including the Ts9. No words describe the difference between this pedal and other OD pedals, it is pure tone and dynamics.

Hooked this thing up to my Marshall tube amp and Gibson! I was blown away!! My first OD pedal, I never knew the great sound you could get and this pedal nailed it!!

I just unpacked and played through this pedal for the first time and all I can say is WOW. This will effectively replace both my TS9 Tube Screamer and my MXR Custom Badass '78 Distortion on my pedalboard. I don't know what witchery Boss has crammed under the hood, but this thing sounds great at any setting and can handle chords more complex than I-V power chords. I've never met a distortion/overdrive that likes major/minor thirds, sevenths, even ninths, until now. Tone controls are super responsive, allowing silky smooth singing leads or ice-pick screams if you want 'em.

I'm running various humbucker equipped guitars through this into a tube amp set for a slightly dirty clean tone. My Les Paul with Duncan '59s is absolute heaven with this pedal.

I'm a staunch owner of Boss and Roland products, mostly processors, I'm really impressed with the wide range of tones the OD-1X is capable of. Notes don't get muddy even when playing chords. Not the older OD-1 but rather a whole new dimension of tones ranging from smooth blues to on the edge metal. Can't go wrong with this bad boy, it's the BOSS!

Wow what a great OD pedal. I got this pedal to push a 1985 Marshall JCM800. Holy smokes it just puts it over the edge. Great tones all around hard to pick just one setting. I tried a few other pedal but this one has found a home. As we all chase the perfect tone this will put you on the money or at least real close.

I purchased this to replace a Boss SD-1 super overdrive pedal in a Boss pedalboard. The SD-1 is one of Boss's least expensive pedals, and while it has a juicy tone, it has a poor-to-signal ratio. Had my first gig last night with the OD-1X, and I am very impressed. I run Strats w/single coils through a Mesa Express, so noise can be a problem at times. The OD-1X has a wonderfully smooth, focused tone, and is very sensitive to dynamics. Very little noise, even with the drive at 75%! Pretty much everything the Sweetwater ad (and the Boss website) says is spot-on. I highly recommend this new Boss product!

I have played overdrive pedals before that were squishy, and did not have the depth of tone that this overdrive has. I was amazed as how rich the drive was and how well is sustained without any break up at all. This will definitely be in my arsenal for years to come!

I picked up this pedal offer seeing the demo with Pete thorn , it has a nice full sound and the knobs have a large sweep make it e-z to find a good tone , built like a tank, I also like the the boss design for on and off instead of a push button , I can't miss it even in the dark!! The blues setting I like more them the lead, it loses some of its dynamics in its lead settings , I have to add, this pedal can tamp a bright amp do to the the low and high frequency knobs , I would give this pedal a 5 but I think it's over priced , 99$ would be a deal ,

I bought this after watching Steve Vai review it in a Boss pedal video. I copied the pedal settings and matched the amp sounds he used and it sounds nothing like it. I'm not naive enough to think that I'm going to nail the Vai lead tone with a pedal but it's not even close. To be fair, I thought that I was going to love this thing and those expectations were failed miserably. Boss is an amazing company but this is a bluesy, gritty overdrive and not designed for the fluid lead sound that I hoped for.

I hooked this pedal up to my guitar and basically it takes the Dynamics out of the guitar when I pluck the low E string it doesn't have the punch to it also this unit adds distortion Like a distortion box and all of bosses Distortion that I checked out I don't like.