Never mind the DOD 250; NPD: Boss SD-2

[warwick.hoy]

I've got a lead on a DOD 250 for 50 bucks. I'm hesitant cause on first look it appears to be a more modern reissue (the lettering is what I'm going off of here).



At 50 bucks, I'd a player if it were one of the older 1980's 1st version yellow units. If it's one of the more modern ones,...I see them for sale new (I think, still in production?) for like $40. If that's the case and it turns out to be a newer model,...I can really only offer $25 or $30 for a used pedal.

Here is what I can glean from some research; any clarification of facts is useful and appreciated.

Grey 250s have the 741 chip in them. Yellow ones transitioned from the 741 to a 117 LF 351N (sourced from the Gearmandude video). Also see the Texas Instruments TL 081 IC thrown around on the D*A*M forum. I'm not sure what they newer reissues use for an IC.

Also would appear that newer models are on Green Printed circuit boards where as the older models are on Grey.

What I'm not able to glean is if they are still being produced. The country of manufacture of the 1st version yellow ones. Also the history of the production run beyond the Grey Version came out in the late 70's and the 1st version Yellow ones came out in early 1980.

I'm not opposed to swapping the chips out; I'm going to ask the seller for gut shots; if he is willing. If not I'll walk away.

[D.o.S.]

AFAIK they're still being made in China. I think the 1st gens were made in the US.

The new yellow guys do have a green circuit board. I'm positive that's a reissue ( like you spotted, the sans serif font is a dead giveaway).

You could also ask for the chip code, but there's no telling how long the chips sit in a bit before they're used. I'd email Analogman and ask about the production timeline.

[warwick.hoy]

Thanks MS D.o.S.

I emailed the seller asking for a gut shot with a detail on the IC; we'll see what comes of it. Likely some fool will give him $50 without forcing him to jump through hoops,...but I'm not really willing to overpay for the thing; especially if I can get a new one for the same price.

I could use an OD as the only dirt I have on my board is fuzz. Would be for guitar but of course; I'd try it with bass just to see how well it works.

I've got the proper cables to power the thing with the 1/8 DC input.

Do we know if these things are reverse polarity or any such whackiness?

[warwick.hoy]

It's a reissue and the decided he'd rather keep it.

The seller is also off loading a Boss SD-2, a pedal I've owned in the past and loved,...but traded away for some other things. Now that I have some skills I can build a latching switch to change between the two channels. So I put in an offer on that.

[warwick.hoy]

Well; this SD-2 looks familiar. It's the exact same unit I had when I was first getting into pedals. I can tell cause of the velcro, the paint chips and the back story of where the seller got it (from the same person I traded a pile of pedals for a bass cab).

Yeah I know; boss pedal, big deal,...but the story is cool and the pedal is underrated.

[D.o.S.]

It's a small world, after all. Sweet score on the boss, will probably work better on bass than a stock 250.

[warwick.hoy]

Yup; I liked it on bass way back when and now that I have a clearer picture of my tonal goals I'm liking it right now; both on Guitar and Bass.

Helps give my Supercollider some added fullness along to go along with all that depth.