Aaaarrrggghhhhhh Boss Ds-1 Problems

[fenderiarhs]

I got today a boss ds-1......i do not have experience with distortion pedals so tell me please if this is normal......when i use it in front of my amp (mesa dc5 or marshall tsl601) on the distorted chanell no matter how low i keep the level control(even at 7-8 o clock) on the ds-1 i get a quite loud buzz that goes away when i am playing.......same thing on the clean channel(but not as much as on the lead channel). Is my ds-1 faulty or i should have bought an overdrive rather than a distortion pedal?

 

[krankguitarist]

Re: Aaaarrrggghhhhhh Boss Ds-1 Problems

the DS-1 is a notoriously noisy pedal. Somthing that'll cut down on the noise a bit is to get it modded, stratdeluxer97 might be able to help ya out with that. People on the forum say he does damn nice work.

The SD-1 is a much quieter pedal, and has a much smoother character than the DS-1. That's another option.

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: Aaaarrrggghhhhhh Boss Ds-1 Problems

If your putting it in front of the amps gain channel I would start with turning the gain on the pedal down to around 30-40%. More than that is a waste and just adds noise.

 

[fenderiarhs]

Re: Aaaarrrggghhhhhh Boss Ds-1 Problems

It is even lower than 40% and still makes noise.
I just noticed one more strange thing.........when the pedal is depressed(effect off) you can still see the red led slightly(in the dark only) .....this does not happen with my boss cs3.....when the CS3 is on the led is red and when it's off the led doesn't light at all....
I'm strarting to think that the pedal is faulty..................

 

[ErikH]

Re: Aaaarrrggghhhhhh Boss Ds-1 Problems

It is even lower than 40% and still makes noise.
I just noticed one more strange thing.........when the pedal is depressed(effect off) you can still see the red led slightly(in the dark only) .....this does not happen with my boss cs3.....when the CS3 is on the led is red and when it's off the led doesn't light at all....
I'm strarting to think that the pedal is faulty..................

Sounds like the FET switching is not completely turning off. A pretty common problem. What kind of power supply are you using? Battery? Regulated or unregulated adapter? You should be using a regulated 9V adapter such as the BOSS PSA-120. It actually supplies about 9.6V. That additional .6V is for the reverse polarity protection diode at the power supply that sucks up about .6V. Either way, a proper power supply should take care of the problem.

I agree with the others. It is noisy by nature. Before I knew about mods, I got rid of mine but kept my SD-1. Also, more gain = more noise. It's as simple as that.

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: Aaaarrrggghhhhhh Boss Ds-1 Problems

Sounds like the FET switching is not completely turning off. A pretty common problem. What kind of power supply are you using? Battery? Regulated or unregulated adapter? You should be using a regulated 9V adapter such as the BOSS PSA-120. It actually supplies about 9.6V. That additional .6V is for the reverse polarity protection diode at the power supply that sucks up about .6V. Either way, a proper power supply should take care of the problem.

I agree with the others. It is noisy by nature. Before I knew about mods, I got rid of mine but kept my SD-1. Also, more gain = more noise. It's as simple as that.

Actually it sounds like a nearly dead battery. Ifthats the case that can be contributing as well but generally speaking thatmuch gain is going to generate some noise.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Aaaarrrggghhhhhh Boss Ds-1 Problems

Actually it sounds like a nearly dead battery. Ifthats the case that can be contributing as well but generally speaking thatmuch gain is going to generate some noise.

True. The LED will light up dimly when the battery is below sufficient voltage so that could be it too. If that doesn't do it and using a PSA adapter doesn't do it, then I suspect a faulty FET switch circuit.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Aaaarrrggghhhhhh Boss Ds-1 Problems

Sounds to me like you have a bad DS1 though...These pedals generate some hiss,but I wouldn't call it obnoxious noise either....

 

[Boleslaw Gers 666]

Re: Aaaarrrggghhhhhh Boss Ds-1 Problems

Sounds to me like you have a bad DS1 though...These pedals generate some hiss,but I wouldn't call it obnoxious noise either....

I've always experienced a whole lot of feedback from running a distortion pedal with the overdrive channel of my amp.... maybe that's it. But yeah, out of the box even a good DS-1 is not a good pedal. Send it down to New Port Richey for John to work on it, it's worth the money and worth the money you paid for the crapbox anyhow.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Aaaarrrggghhhhhh Boss Ds-1 Problems

I only run my own modded DS1 through a clean channel....

 

[geetard]

Re: Aaaarrrggghhhhhh Boss Ds-1 Problems

Sorry to Lazarus this thread, but it's better than making a new one on the same subject...

My brother has had a DS1 in storage for a long time, and I dug it out and put it on my board (at the time I had an MXR smartgate which I've since sold as the Zoom MS50g takes care of noise gating) and got some pleasant tones out of it. I since built my brother a board of 6 pedals including the DS1 and a Behringer noise gate (which usually performs decently) and I have a constant noise problem caused by the DS1! At first I thought it was the cheap PSU - but I A/Bed it with other PSUs and took it off daisy chain and put it on it's own, and even with either the Behringer or the Zoom as a noise gate (or both, either side) it gets this horrible noise when it's got more than a certain amount of tone or gain, that I can't block out. Different plugs (some cheap, some high end) give different variations of noise, from hum to hiss to screech... Is there any known fix?

Cheers.