Nah, I don't smoke pot, it's the chip. From what I can find, the 78 does look to be a single opamp circuit, so it is probably more similar to the original with a different chip and Keeley type mods, but hard to find good info on it, nobody wants to figure out SMT circuits.
I don't know why you have trouble believing that the original design sounds different, Rats with LM308 chips sound different than the OP07 chips, it's subtle, but there. The DS-1 versions are very different circuits, not sure why you would expect them to sound the same, but this has gone way OT, my bad.
I have trouble with people saying they hear things with their eyes and their brains, instead of their ears. Example:
Gibson Chambering and short Tenons. Until somebody actually X-rayed them there was absolutely no discussion of any merit that there was anything different. Meaning...the EARS couldn't tell. After that eyes and brains got involved and everything was stupid. I have heard and own a LOT of distortion pedals and overdrives. I am very familiar with the "Alleged" differences. But I was also around in 78-87. I didn't hear a damned thing about "OMG - they changed the DS1!!!!! You need to go find an original one."
So the DS-1 thing, to me, is just another Internet myth, until someone REALLY shows me that it is reliably different or that someone who doesn't have 4 legs and tail can tell the difference. One DS-1 vs a 78 DS-1 does not a reliable difference make. I can find two TS-9's that sound different, an 808 and TS-9 where one sounds bright and dark, or Vice-Versa.
Go get me 3-5 78 DS-1's, and 3-5 new DS-1's. Play them in a blind test, in random orders, on the same settings, 5 different times. If you can can tell me the 78's form the New ones better than 50%....fine. Until then....An interesting and often repeated internet legend, that may or may not be true. But just because the chips or construction is different, doesn't mean they actually sound any different.
Rat is a great example: Really smart Engineers, and really good guitar players, and people with really good ears all get in a room and say "Hey - let's build a NEW Rat pedal. The new one won't sound as good as the old one - but people will buy it anyway!!!" Or they get in a room and do what I said. Then they go "Sounds just like the older one. Different chip didn't make a damn bit of difference when no one knew the chip being used. The Engineer said that would be the case...." It costs a $1.57 to try 7 different chips to pick a new one that sounds the same. But sure, they went with one that sounded different enough to make guitar players want the original instead, because, you know, it isn't about sales....I have had a bunch of Rat's on my board the past few years. I could set any of them up so that you would walk in the door and say "That Rat sounds awesome!" Could have been a 1981 Original, Could have been a Solo, a Rat 2, or my Mooer.
But since no one is going to really put the effort in to put the BS to rest - you believe what you want. I will remain skeptical until I am shown differently. Maybe Santa Claus will bring you a real 78 DS-1 for Christmas...
