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Ds-1 thinking about replacing it

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  • Ds-1 thinking about replacing it

    It's the weak link on my tiny board. It's a Taiwan ver.

    Right now I'm playing a strat and a tele into clean fender amps. They have low output single coils.
    Chain:
    Guitar
    Tuner
    Ds-1 (I like it first cuz it seems very easy to clip the input with other pedals)
    Ehx East River
    Bd-2 blues driver (stock)
    Amp

    The ds-1 I don't typically use by itself unless I can play really loud, in which case it sounds pretty good actually.
    But for low to medium volume I stack it with the bd-2 and get a little gain from each

    But no matter what I seem to try, I don't like the compressed bass of the ds-1. It seems to rob the definition from my low strings.

    I like that the ds-1 is not too mids emphasized. I like the amount of gain I can get. It's good when it's level up volume down, but I want something with that general character but also sounds good with unity-ish level and more gain, and just a little more Dynamics and definition. I have my TS style pedal for when I need mids.

    Long ago I had a dano cool cat drive so I feel like OCD is a no brainier. I believe the cool cat was most like HP mode but it could not switch.
    I also had an mi audio crunch box which I feel could work.

    What else is out there.

    Sent from my SM-G930U using Tapatalk

  • #2
    Re: Ds-1 thinking about replacing it

    Have you tried modding it? I'll PM you Brian Wamplers mods for it if you want, there are 7 or 8 sets of mods if you want them.
    You will never understand How it feels to live your life With no meaning or control And with nowhere left to go You are amazed that they exist And they burn so bright
    Whilst you can only wonder why

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    • #3
      Re: Ds-1 thinking about replacing it

      Well, there is the Forza, which has a more even EQ than most TS pedals, and a Dirty Deed, which is a true distortion pedal in a Marshall kind of way.
      Administrator of the SDUGF

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      • #4
        Re: Ds-1 thinking about replacing it

        Originally posted by Chistopher View Post
        Have you tried modding it? I'll PM you Brian Wamplers mods for it if you want, there are 7 or 8 sets of mods if you want them.
        Haven't modded a pedal before, may as well try it at some point regardless of whether I get some replacement for it.
        I got this thing for like $30 bucks it's not worth the effort of selling! So may as well use it to learn something

        Sent from my SM-G930U using Tapatalk

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        • #5
          Re: Ds-1 thinking about replacing it

          The Forza looks really interesting. Seems versatile!
          I like the idea of flatter eq but with some controls.
          To be honest the new price is too high for me but used is doable.

          Edit: demos of the Forza sound really good. The slight fuzzy quality is what gets me going
          Sent from my SM-G930U using Tapatalk
          Last edited by FuseG4; 12-26-2018, 10:20 AM.

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          • #6
            Re: Ds-1 thinking about replacing it

            Ok, I'll get them to you. The two I've tried (JCM and Acid Blues) have worked out well for me.
            You will never understand How it feels to live your life With no meaning or control And with nowhere left to go You are amazed that they exist And they burn so bright
            Whilst you can only wonder why

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            • #7
              Re: Ds-1 thinking about replacing it

              Originally posted by Chistopher View Post
              Ok, I'll get them to you. The two I've tried (JCM and Acid Blues) have worked out well for me.
              Thanks!

              Sent from my SM-G930U using Tapatalk

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              • #8
                Re: Ds-1 thinking about replacing it

                So I couldn't find a way to attach the image in the PM, but he did post the four most popular mods here.
                You will never understand How it feels to live your life With no meaning or control And with nowhere left to go You are amazed that they exist And they burn so bright
                Whilst you can only wonder why

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Ds-1 thinking about replacing it

                  Nice so do you think the 800 mod would be a good one to try first?

                  Sent from my SM-G930U using Tapatalk

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                  • #10
                    Re: Ds-1 thinking about replacing it

                    Yes, the 800 mod is a good place to start. I forget exactly what it does electrically, but it really gives the pedal a less "splatty" bass response. When I first tried the mod I found it did thin the tone out a bit too much, so a friend of mine recommended doing another mod in tandem with it as well. Theres some fancy name for it, but it's essentially just changing R6 to 150k & R9 to 1k. This decreases the available gain, which shouldn't be a problem unless you frequently keep your DS-1 in the top 3/4 of its gain range, but also increases the dynamic range of the pedal and decreases compression. Finally it adds back just enough fatness to really make for a thick and versatile tone.
                    You will never understand How it feels to live your life With no meaning or control And with nowhere left to go You are amazed that they exist And they burn so bright
                    Whilst you can only wonder why

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Ds-1 thinking about replacing it

                      Thought of a couple of things when I read this thread.
                      1) Agree with Mincer about the Dirty Deed pedal. I currently have that on my main pedalboard with an 805 overdrive. The dirty deed gives a great Rawk distortion tone. You can wind it down for British blues or wind it up for hard rock and metal. Works great into a clean amp.

                      2) Before you replace the DS1 see if it can be modded by Analogman. I have one of his modded DS1 pedals and it really improves the stock tone and has less noise. Enhances the good aspects of the DS1 and warms and clears things up and to my ears has a Marshall ish thing going on. Currently my go to pedal for quick grab and go jams with friends. This through a simple fender pro junior sounds awesome.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Ds-1 thinking about replacing it

                        I agree with modding the DS-1. I had two of them I went to town on back in the day, one of which I'd love to have back. I replaced almost every component on that thing, and when it was done, it made anything I plugged into it sound better.
                        “I can play the hell out of a riff. The rest of it’s all bulls**t anyway,” Gary Holt

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                        • #13
                          Re: Ds-1 thinking about replacing it

                          I like the Mod idea. Something nice about keeping the company (Boss) on your board that preserved, improved or invented almost every type of pedal when the rest of the pedal market mostly completely disappeared for 2 decades
                          “For me, when everything goes wrong – that’s when adventure starts.” Yvonne Chouinard

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                          • #14
                            Re: Ds-1 thinking about replacing it

                            Now I want to mod my ds-1 and will almost surely send it to Mike. I love my East River which he designed. I'm no tube screamer expert but through reading about different types, I'm very confident that he knows his stuff and picked good components and layout!

                            The Forza is still giving me gas though!!

                            I love Roland/boss, my ds-1 and bd-2 are both 20 years old and stomp like they were new. You sort of get used to the Boss Sound and it becomes a comfort zone.
                            Duncan has been good to me. I haven't liked every pickup but I've never strongly disliked anything from them either. I have yet to try a Duncan pedal.
                            I just realize I have no Duncan products right now. I keep looking for an opportunity to get back into Duncan products and get that WOW factor that made me join the forum to begin with.

                            Sent from my SM-G930U using Tapatalk

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                            • #15
                              Re: Ds-1 thinking about replacing it

                              Just an FYI, if you own a newer DS-1, most of the components are Surface-Mount (SMT) and cannot be modded by ordinary means. That being said, I have an older DS-1 and the mods were pretty easy to do, really improved the tonal quality of the pedal.

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