Talk to me about the Boss DS1 in stock form.

[Diego]

I've never owned one and I think I wanna buy one for my 34th.

I'd be using it to boost my already crunchy Tweaker with my Les Paul.
I think it would be cool since it's a vintage style amp and guitar combination, so why not add a classic cheap box in front and see what happens?

I used to love a Blues Driver in front of this amp so gritty sounding boxes are my thing apparently.

Don't want to mod it, I know there's a million mods for it, but if it doesn't work in stock, then I'd rather pass.

Anything I could be missing here? Sounds like PB&J to me.

 

[NecroPolo]

Re: Talk to me about the Boss DS1 in stock form.

I'm not a scholar of distortion boxes at all but I did have a vanilla DS1 for a while in the mid-'90s. As far as I can remember it was the only distortion pedal that I liked enough to buy it.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Talk to me about the Boss DS1 in stock form.

My experience with that pedal has been limited to recent pressings from Taiwan. What has been happening for me is that the tone, texture, and feel vary wildly with which channel on which amp I’m using. I’ve gotten sounds everywhere from $8 Danelectro to high-dollar deluxe.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Talk to me about the Boss DS1 in stock form.

Careful with that tone control Eugene.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Talk to me about the Boss DS1 in stock form.

The DS-1 is definitely different than the BD-2. I had both on my board for a year or so and eventually went with the BD-2. You can get the BD-2 sounding great into a completely clean, bright amp . . . but not the DS-1. The DS-1 has a kinda weird fizzy thin thing into clean channels but worked nicely into a warm sounding overdriven channel. The BD-2 is more flexible IMHO (it works as a pretty high gain pedal, it works as a clean boost, it does light gain well) and there are multiple settings I like with it. I found myself always using the same one on the DS-1 . . . level way up, tone back, gain around 12. It's not bad at all though.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Talk to me about the Boss DS1 in stock form.

Just a general rule of thumb for setting the controls on a DS-1: Tone and volume are always in bottom half of travel, gain is always in the top half. This setup with vintage/moderate output pickups into an already slightly dirty channel is what the DS-1 really shines at.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Talk to me about the Boss DS1 in stock form.

Just remember - a DS1 is for juicing a stock Marshall 800 with a guitar with stock PAF's....

To the degree that the amp is less than far-from-mondo-distorted, but distortable, like an old 800, the better the DS1 will be.

I have used one recently with my Mesa Stiletto, just for old time's sake, but honestly no need. It can put the crunch channel into a cool place, making it like a two channel amp (or three...) but like I said - no reason....

 

[Diego]

Re: Talk to me about the Boss DS1 in stock form.

Thanks guys!

The DS-1 is definitely different than the BD-2. I had both on my board for a year or so and eventually went with the BD-2. You can get the BD-2 sounding great into a completely clean, bright amp . . . but not the DS-1. The DS-1 has a kinda weird fizzy thin thing into clean channels but worked nicely into a warm sounding overdriven channel. The BD-2 is more flexible IMHO (it works as a pretty high gain pedal, it works as a clean boost, it does light gain well) and there are multiple settings I like with it. I found myself always using the same one on the DS-1 . . . level way up, tone back, gain around 12. It's not bad at all though.

Hmm. I definitely will NOT use mine into a clean amp. My amp's always a bit gritty.

Does the DS1 clean up well when rolling the guitar volume back?
I hate pedals that muffle themselves out when you do that. My Zvex SHO clone is amazing at that, and the BD2 was great at that too, and in fact I used it as part of the amp, always on. Grit and boost that you could roll back and have a nice bright clean-ish tone.

 

[Diego]

Re: Talk to me about the Boss DS1 in stock form.

Just remember - a DS1 is for juicing a stock Marshall 800 with a guitar with stock PAF's....

To the degree that the amp is less than far-from-mondo-distorted, but distortable, like an old 800, the better the DS1 will be.

I have used one recently with my Mesa Stiletto, just for old time's sake, but honestly no need. It can put the crunch channel into a cool place, making it like a two channel amp (or three...) but like I said - no reason....

That's the way I set my amp. Slightly crunchy and I'd use my LP which has Probuckers, Alnico II PAF based pickups. Love 'em.

The DS1 should be great but I might go back to a Blues Driver. That grit it has is something else.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Talk to me about the Boss DS1 in stock form.

If you want more bang for your buck, check out the Behringer DM100 Distortion Modeler. It has a three way switch to choose between DS-1, MXR Distortion +, and Proco Rat. And it’s under $30.


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[Diego]

Re: Talk to me about the Boss DS1 in stock form.

If you want more bang for your buck, check out the Behringer DM100 Distortion Modeler. It has a three way switch to choose between DS-1, MXR Distortion +, and Proco Rat. And it’s under $30.

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Oh, that would be nice but I've got a Line 6 M13 already. I just want a classic standalone 9 volts dirt box to go with my rig, so it's gotta be a Boss. Not to mention I'll get every peso back if I sell it back!

I think I won't reinvent the wheel and just get a BD2 again.

 

[devastone]

Re: Talk to me about the Boss DS1 in stock form.

As a boost for a crunchy amp, gain around 10 - 11 o' clock, tone ~ 9 - 12 o' clock (season to taste), output ~1 o'clock (more if necessary).

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Talk to me about the Boss DS1 in stock form.

Oh, that would be nice but I've got a Line 6 M13 already. I just want a classic standalone 9 volts dirt box to go with my rig, so it's gotta be a Boss. Not to mention I'll get every peso back if I sell it back!

I think I won't reinvent the wheel and just get a BD2 again.

They say “modeler” but it’s just a stomp box. Those three circuits are very similar. It’s easy to change a few parts.

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[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Talk to me about the Boss DS1 in stock form.

There are a few easy mods for the DS-1 that really help. Grab an older used one off Reverb and start ripping out components.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Talk to me about the Boss DS1 in stock form.

If you want more bang for your buck, check out the Behringer DM100 Distortion Modeler. It has a three way switch to choose between DS-1, MXR Distortion +, and Proco Rat. And it’s under $30.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's a sweet combo of choices. That would kill in a high quality pedal....

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Talk to me about the Boss DS1 in stock form.

That's a sweet combo of choices. That would kill in a high quality pedal....

It sounds good from the demos I’ve seen. It’s a plastic case, but I still have an old SoundTank chorus from the 80s. It hasn’t broken.


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[Nostalgic Distortion]

Re: Talk to me about the Boss DS1 in stock form.

The DS-1 is an absolutely fantastic, amazing, & useful distortion pedal, TO MOD.....

 

[ErikH]

Re: Talk to me about the Boss DS1 in stock form.

In my experience over the years, the older MIJ ones sound better than the newer ones with the different chip. I've had plenty of the post 2000 DS-1's and each time I ended up selling them or modding them and then selling them later on. The best mod I found, for what I like, is on Jack Orman's blog called the Fat Mod. Two resistors lower the gain and re-bias the input transistor (which is overdriven in stock form). It sounds much better with that change. For me, the DS-1 always worked better with single-coils vs. humbuckers.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Talk to me about the Boss DS1 in stock form.

Thanks guys!



Hmm. I definitely will NOT use mine into a clean amp. My amp's always a bit gritty.

Does the DS1 clean up well when rolling the guitar volume back?
I hate pedals that muffle themselves out when you do that. My Zvex SHO clone is amazing at that, and the BD2 was great at that too, and in fact I used it as part of the amp, always on. Grit and boost that you could roll back and have a nice bright clean-ish tone.

This sounds like an ideal case to use a DS-1 to be honest. I found the pedal to clean up reasonably well when rolling back volume, and it works best into an already gritty amp. The DS-1 isn't a muffled sounding pedal by any means.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Talk to me about the Boss DS1 in stock form.

In my experience over the years, the older MIJ ones sound better than the newer ones with the different chip. I've had plenty of the post 2000 DS-1's and each time I ended up selling them or modding them and then selling them later on. The best mod I found, for what I like, is on Jack Orman's blog called the Fat Mod. Two resistors lower the gain and re-bias the input transistor (which is overdriven in stock form). It sounds much better with that change. For me, the DS-1 always worked better with single-coils vs. humbuckers.

This used in tandem with the Brian Wampler JCM800 mod is truly a thing of beauty. You can also install a switch to change R13 to 1k and C8 to 1uf if you ever feel the need for balls through the wall level of gain.