Analog Man DS-1 Mod

It's no more difficult than any other boss distortion pedal. in fact, I'd say it's easier because mike's modding to the pedal has made it easier to get good tones out of the pedal. You don't have to tweak the knobs back and forth so much to find "sweet spots"

What sound am I going for?: I wanted a distortion pedal with a wide range of sounds. I wanted to hint at that weezer-y JCM800 when I'm doing rhythm power chording with the gain on 2 o'clock. Once you go past that, it gets into some very cool Jimi-type muddy fuzz. But I also wanted to be able to dial it way back and just add some grit to push my tube amp a bit. This pedal has done both very well. Mike's mods have made the whole sweep of this pedal's knobs very usable. The unmodded pedal has a couple settings where it shows potential for great things, but I found it was always hit and miss to get back to those tones. A slight tweak of the knob, and the pedal is back into crap-territory.
If I had to compare it to another pedal, I'd say it's somewhat similar to the Marshall Shredmaster (made famous by Radiohead's Johnny Greenwood).
You should know, while the modded pedal does low-gain stuff surprisingly well, it will most-likely NOT replace your TS9, Tim, klon, etc. It still uses the Boss asymmetrical clipping distortion. It doesn't have the sort of mid-hump or compression you'd find on some of those pedals either. It also passes the range of gain on a TS9/SD-1 by the time you've gone past 1 o'clock on this pedal. I find it's not well-suited to blues or death metal. Then again, I'm not well-suited to blues or death metal, so...
see below for what gear I'm using this with...

I'd trust it at least as much as any normal boss pedal -- maybe moreso since it's been blessed with the analogman "magic"

Mike (and everyone I've worked with at the shop) has been awesome to deal with. They're not making a killing on these pedals, so it's not like they can take all day with you for every question, but they were very responsive to emails. They are great to work with. Very kind and helpful

If it were lost, I'd try to see if I could get my Tim pedal to adequately reproduce it's tones, then I'd realize it was too much trouble to tweak in the middle of sets and buy another one. The only thing I feel like the effect is missing is some sort of switchable mid-hump feature. In that respect, it makes the Fulldrive 2 more attractive, but that's not Mike's fault.
I've been playing for a little over 10 years. My style goes between the rock anthem (weezerish) and the groovable rock ditty (pedro the lion/modest mouse) -- kind of like the frames in concert. This pedal works really well with my style.
I'm playing the pedal with either a nashville deluxe or '72 deluxe RI mij tele (both of which I've had customized). The pedal setup is tim pedal - Analogman DS1 - Boss DD20 (with footswitch) - Modded Boss Tremolo - EB volume pedal - Line6 verbzilla -- amp.
The amp is something I built from scratch. It's comparable to Tophat club royale or club deluxe. Or, if you like, a '63 deluxe reverb preamp section with a marshall TMB power section.

The Analogman DS-1 Super mod is very easy to get a good sound out of it. You adjust the tone, level & distortion to your liking. It's an analog distortion pedal so there is no programming for it. I do have the original Boss DS-1 owners manual for the pedal, but I've never had to read it to know what this pedal does. The DS-1 Super mod can only be done on the early Japanese Boss DS-1 pedals due to the large chip on its circuitboard.

Lots of famous artists such as Kurt Cobain, Gary Moore, Joe Satriani & Steve Vai have used the stock DS-1 in their guitar rigs. I know that Steve Vai is currently using the Analogman modded DS-1 in his new pedalboard. I'm sure you can emulate their sound with this pedal, but I strive to have my own voice instead. The quality of this mod is very good. The tone control operates in a much more wider range now. When it was stock, the best position was 10 o'clock. If you went past that mark, it was either muddy or trebly. With Analogman's DS-1 Super mod, I can set the tone control above 12 o'clock and not get a buzzy or fizzy tone. The output of the pedal has increased slightly. The pedal is now much quieter than before due to installation of low noise components. There's some noise from high gain settings which is normal for distortion pedals. Originally the pedal was thin, buzzy, and noisy. The distortion sounds much fuller, rich with a deep tone to it now. The range of the distortion is still the same. I like setting the distortion between 2 o'clock to 5 o'clock.

I'm using this pedal with any of my guitars & my Lil' Dawg Champster Special 1x12 combo amp. My other amps are channel switching and high gain so I have no need for this pedal on those other amps. I have the DS-1 Super mod installed on my SKB PS-45 pedalboard with AC power so it doesn't need to use a battery. This pedal does get noisy at higher gain settings above 12 o'clock and when the level is up at around 3 o'clock. It comes with the territory when you crank up distortion pedals. I use the DS-1 Super mod as a stand alone distortion pedal for high gain rhythm & leads. If I use it for leads, I usually run an Xotic RC Booster with the DS-1 Super Mod for a clean boost. This pedal sounds so much better after Mike Piera (aka Analogman) modified this pedal for improved sound & performance.

Boss pedals are perhaps the most durable pedals built on the market. The only thing that wore out was the rubber gasket on the rear of the pedal when it melted. I used a hairdryer to remove the velcro adhesive and melted off the gasket. I e-mailed Mike about this and he sent me a couple of rubber gaskets for free, SASE. The label came off and I had to use hot glue to affix to the bottom of the pedal. I didn't want to lose its original label. When you pull of velcro or heat it up to remove it, you'll end up pulling off the factory label from the bottom of the label. Hairdryers can ruin battery gaskets, making the metal chassis hot and make the label come off the bottom of the pedal. My fault on this one!!

I've had my old DS-1 for over 20 years. I tend to keep things and store them away. I was glad that I kept this old pedal, sent to Analogman for his mod and received a great sounding pedal. I can gig without a backup for this pedal. I have yet to see this pedal fail unless I run a battery in it and let the battery run out. I usually carry backup 9 volt batteries for such an occasion.

Mike Piera's work & customer service for his modded or custom pedals is top notch!! He answered all my questions in a timely manner, maintained good communications with me on the status of my pedal, and informed me when it was shipped. His turnaround time is very quick considering his store is based in Danbury, Connecticut. I sent out my pedal and had it back within 7 days. That is customer service!!! He knows that musicians gig on the weekends and he has it delivered to my home on Friday afternoon. I've never had any problems with my DS-1 Super mod, but if a problem arises, I have confidence that Mike will be there to provide me customer support on his mods or custom pedals. Plus he gave me a couple of free rubber gaskets for the battery compartment screw, which he didn't have to do. I'm grateful to Mike for his great work and concern for his customers.

I'm a working Top 40 musician. The DS-1 Super mod meets my needs for high gain rhythm tones & leads for clean single channel tube amps such as my Lil' Dawg Champster Special or borrowed & rented amps.I own quite a few guitars & amps over the past couple of years. All great sounding & useful tools of my trade. I would use my Xotic AC & RC Booster pedals for low gain overdrive & clean boost and either my Analogman DS-1 Super mod or MI Audio Crunch Box for high gain rhythms & leads. This allows me to basically turn a simple tube amp into a 4 channel amp using the amp as a pedal platform.

If it got lost or stolen, I would have to find another stock MIJ DS-1 pedal and have Mike mod it for me again. My DS-1 Super mod is an old soul to me. I originally purchased it from Gelb Music in Redwood City over 20 years ago. I grew up with it, playing that pedal connected to my Peavey Backstage amp in my bedroom to cassette tapes learning my favorite songs, used it in guitar contests to help get a better sound out of the crappy amps the clubowner provided (I always took Top 3 in these contests :D ), and had it modded by Analogman after it sat unused for a few years in its factory original box in my closet. Once again, my little orange friend is back on my pedalboard, ready to take me where I want to go. She's ready to rock the 21st century with me in its new & improved form. If you have the older, MIJ Boss DS-1 pedals, I highly recommend the Analogman DS-1 Super mod. It improves the overall sound & performance of the pedal. If you ever decide to sell it, you'll increase its resale value since Analogman & Keely modded pedals are highly sought after by musicians for their sound & performance. Thank you, Mike, for reviving my little orange friend to be onstage with me again!!

Very Easy three knobs

I am using a 1963 Strat with texas special pickups also a 84 strat plus with duncan stacked humbuckers. amp is Twin reverb silver face dont know what year no serial numbers in it.

yes i would gig without a back up mike dose really good work and cant say enough good things about it.

Mike is the best at customer service freindly and his turnaround is amazing had it in a couple days.

I play almost anything from clapton, hendrix, through Metallica. though you cant get a twin to growl like a classic marshall this pedal will get it close will go from a nice overdrive to almost fuzz when you push it. Mike took an ok distortion and pushed it to a level i never thought possible with a stompbox. ifit were lost or stolen i would get another. i have compared it to the klon and i must say i get more bang for the buck with this pedal. i really feel you cant go wrong with it.

Simple in all respects. Sounds good immediately.

Tested with ('64 Fender Strat) --> (DS-1) --> (Carr Rambler). The sound and tactile responsiveness exceeded my expectations. Superb note definition at all distortion settings. Meaty lows. Highs with plenty of edge that can be rolled back to taste using the tone control. In short, a full range articulate sound with no mid-hump whatsoever. This thing sings/screams with throaty lows and bristles with harmonically pleasing breakup in the highs while retaining a full-bodied sound. Voiced just right. Reminds me somewhat of when I plugged into and maxed the cascaded stereo input channels of an expensive, tube-driven, two-track, Revox open-reel tape deck many moons ago, pinning the magneto VU needles. Hi-fidelity mayhem.

My guess is this will be reliable. It's a Boss plus Mike does careful work from what I've read.

He has answered my e-mails in the past. Helpful & friendly.

A true bargain. Great tone at a reasonable price.

level, tone, dist.... too easy

i use this for my garage/fuzz/grunge sound and for what it is it is perfect. i also hav an sd/1 and mt-2 both modified by analogman for my blues/rock or more gained out tone. after a bit of fiddling i found the best setting for me is everything at 12 o clock. i would call the sound more of a fuzz... great for the '90s alternative stuff i like ala. soundgarden, flaming lips. it would also be perffect for white stripes/ yeah yeah yeahs type stuff. for a more versatile pedal i would go for the mt-2/pro instead if i only had one pedal. with the drive turned up too high it doesn't sound good IMO, too fuzzy and muddy.

no complaints so far... seems pretty tough

analogman had provided good customer service, and seems very helpful.

for anyone into alternative/garage type music i would recommend this to. But it isn't the most versatile pedal in my opinion, i leave it set as my fuzzbox and that's the only sound i need out of it.

Very easy. Unlike the original, the tone knob is very musical and very useful. Sounds great with any guitar - just shift the tone knob to balance with natural treble of strat all the way down to archtop.

Main squeeze is project strat with lil 59 bridge, old strat middle, and HS-2 neck. Fave amp is a frankenstein champ clone. The DS-1 alone gets a lot of sounds with just this simple combination, all of them delicious. It plays nice with all my gittars and amps.
I will say that the pedal definitely likes going into an amp that is pretty well cranked at the power stage; I guess you'd say you're concious of the illusion if the amp isn't cranked - moreso than with even a TS9-808. That just reinforces my belief that you have to have the right amp for every situation...

I'm gonna say it's reliable, only because of analog man's rep. Also I want to bring up the overall score of this pedal. If this isn't a 10, I've never once heard a 10 in my life.

His website shows an enthusiasm for education and support. Very cool.

I would def replace this if something happened to it. This is a standout, even among much more expensive boutique pedals - rare ultra-musical quality. I modded my other OD/distortion boxes myself. They are DS-1, BD-2, Rat, TS9-808. It's still pretty new, but the DS-1 so far is designated as the OD for any high-energy, long-haired, tattooed hard rock sound. There is some overlap between the DS-1 and my upgraded BD-2. TS9 in front of the DS-1 is a great high-gain lead tone; you still get some performance nuances AND metal-type sustain and thickness. I use that at church on some of the power-ballad type songs, and the old folks love it!

The same three knobs on the original DS-1, tone, level, and distortion, but the tone knob actually makes a difference. Easy to use, though the amazing variety of sounds might be a bit daunting to the unimaginative..

The different tones are clear in their various forms, riding the distortion at even the highest level, rather than being swamped like the stock-pedal. I like the distortion full on, with the tone and level around half-mast for a great fuzzed-out frizz. I play a jaguar through a late '70's fender twin, with a boss compressor before the Ds-1 pro mod. I imagine you could emulate a wide variety of artists from the power trios of the sixties to the grunge of the early nineties, but why bother? There are so many new sounds the sharply defined tone knob brings out that it seems silly to be watermarked by other people's progress. Just having an EQ pedal or a chorus with a different tone setting changes the fuzz radically enough to keep me in my basement for days.

It seems as reliable as any other Boss pedal, and Mike seems to be very helpful and prompt and only an email away. I would use this live, and would not worry too much about its dependability.

I wrote Mike to thank him for the pedal, and he responded immediately, and seemed very genuinely pleased that I enjoyed his art so much. I purchased the pedal new and modified from his shop, and the service was prompt, with a handwritten thank you note. I have no concerns over this man's customer support.

I would certainly replace this pedal if it were stolen. It is an essential part of my spartan gear, and the sole form of distortion on my palette. It is unimportant what form of music I play, as I can imagine this pedal being relevent to musicians as disparate in style as Robert Smith and Robert Cray. That said, I probably wouldn't hear it on a Kate Bush album, but you never know.....
All in all, I love the fuzz, I enjoy the general clarity of tone, and I think that Analog Mike has some really neat creations and this is certainly one of them. Not only will I use this pedal for a long time, I will probably try a few more of Mike's clever boxes.....

It doesn't get much easier than a DS-1. Tone, Distortion, Level. Except now with the Super Mod the Tone and Distortion knobs actually do something, so it took me a while to dial in my sound.

I play a '95 American Strat with Suhr V 60's pickups and an '80 SG with a Tony Iommi bridge pickup and Duncan Jazz neck pickup, going into a Bogner Fish preamp and VHT Classic power amp, into a Marshall stereo 1960 Vintage model cab. Plus a ton of pedals in between.

I originally bought the Japanese DS-1 new in '87 before I really knew what was up. Eventually I thought it was too brittle and tinny, like someone going "shhhhh" whenver I hit a note. A decent amount of distortion, but not ballsy and fat enough for hard rock. It found it's way into my closet.

Lately I decided I needed a distortion pedal for very quick switching on certain songs between clean and distorted sounds. (The Bogner is controlled by a midi foot controller, so in order to switch back and forth, I had to step back and forth on two different foot switches, very annoying and imprecise). I went with the Super Mod (I could only get the Super Mod and not the Pro mod because I have an old Japanese DS-1) because of Mike's sterling rep and because I wanted to give my old DS-1 a shot.

It is unbelievable. The same brand of distortion, only ballsier, with much more low end, yet with plenty of definition while chording. It's not super-chainsaw distortion, but I wasn't looking for that. Now the tone and distortion knobs give me a wide array of tonal possibilities. But it's also definitely not just an overdrive pedal. I don't get some of the reviewers talking about it being too transparent. Max out the distortion knob and it has nothing to do with transparent. I have it set to about 4 o' clock and tone to 9 o' clock and I'm set.

The kicker is it sounds great with the same settings with both my strat and SG, two very different guitar tones. Mike hit the bullseye with this one.

I'm very critical about tone and I've got nothing bad to say about this mod. If you care about tone, spend the $60.

The switch was a little glitchy, but it took years to get this way. Mike cleaned it out and it seems to be fine.

Mike is the best. He quickly replies to emails and is great on the phone. All he cares about is getting you what you need, with an emphasis on quality parts and workmanship.

I play hard rock, from Zep and Sabbath to Tool and STP. This is a perfect match for my style. If you want mega distortion or creamy overdrive, this pedal is not for you. I would replace this pedal in a heartbeat if it were stolen. Combined with my Crowther Audio Hot Cake overdrive, I have a every combo of distortion and overdrive that I need feeding into my Fish. I tried other great sounding distortion pedals, but I'm so happy that I went with the analogman Super Mod because of the combo of distortion and tone, and for its unique sound that complements the killer gain and crunch of the Fish. It definitely provides me with another tonal option when writing songs and performing live.

This is an update to my previous review.

Unfortunately my pedal went on the fritz a couple of days ago. It got very fuzzy/farty. I tried turning it off and then turning it back on to find that now all it does is mute the signal. I tried replacing the battery, using an AC adapter, different cables, etc. Still nothing.

Here's the real reason I posted another review. I contacted Mike and he was very helpfull. He gave me a suggestion on what to try before sending it back and he was very willing to take it back and fix it. MIKE'S CUSTOMER SUPPORT IS TOP NOTCH!

Easy, no change from the stock Boss DS-1 mode of operation: Tone, Level and Distortion knobs, step on the pedal to make it work or make it stop.

I had Analog Mike modify and older Boss DS-1 to make it a DS-1/Super. I originally wanted a DS-1/Pro mod with the JRC4558D chip, but apparently they can only do the Super mod because the older Japanese models had too many pins in the chip and the JRC4558D chip will not match up on the Pro mod - just a little tip. If you want the Pro mod, send him a Taiwan pedal to modify.

I have gone though several Taiwan DS-1's and Japanese DS-1's with and without the metal screws and different chips, etc. After getting the AnalogMan SD-1/808 mod I thought I was ruined for the DS-1 and would never like the DS-1 again. I have literally sold almost a dozen of my DS-1's in my collection and I am down to this last DS-1/Super mod from AnalogMan on an older Japanese model pedal. I figured if I didn't like it still after this I would sell it and give up on the DS-1 for good.

The AnalogMan DS-1/Super mod is totally different from the original stock DS-1 pedal. It has a great deal more low end as promised and the tone and drive knobs have some serious control now - thanks for that!!! Just as he said in his description on his website. It really has a nice, lightly distorted sound when turned down low (up to about 30%) whereas before it was virtually the same wild distortion up and down the entire drive dial. It was almost a waste of time even playing with the knob before. It had good potential but nothing was happening. Now, with the DS-1/Super mod something happens in a big way! I must confess however, I still don't like the DS-1/Super as a stand alone pedal, BUT I totally love it as the first pedal in line before the SD-1/808 mod he did for me on the stock Japanese model Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive pedal.

The DS-1/Super is still very brittle on the highs, but I've come to realize that it is just the nature of the DS-1 pedal itself. So I decided to try running it inline first at about 20%-25% on the drive dial and then run the signal into the SD-1/808. I can crank the SD-1/808 up on the drive knob and I get the DS-1/Super's scream and squeal and quick response to my fingerwork on the guitar neck after the SD-1/808 has smoothed out the signal and gotten rid of the broken pieces on the top end and I have a smooth, warm, highly compressed, overdriven signal with some very cool fuzz in the mix, but still with a great deal of clear clean signal to hear the string itself. Man, it is tight. Very cool with serious sustain too. I tried this before the mod and it totally sucked. But, with the DS-1/Super mod bringing out the low end and cleaning up the signal across the signal path and controlling the harmonics and amount of distortion with the drive knob really makes it a workable pedal and a viable tool in my sound creation.

Running the SD-1/808 second in line even cleans up the broken pieces created when using the DS-1/Super with single coil pickups. I've found the stock DS-1 and still the DS-1/Super is best when used with dual coil pickups, but using these two pedals, in the above order, and dialed in makes everything work with my Carvin SC90 (with dual pickups and coil taps) or my Fender American Strat - not bad, my friend. Yep, the AnalogMan DS-1/Super is a keeper.

My band really liked the sound during rehearsal. We feel it is a sound that no one else will have out there. Yes it is duplicatable enough but very few people will have the resources immediately at hand and that means our original stuff will stick out from the rest.

Thanks-a-bunch, Mike and keep up the great work!

Well, considering the base unit is still a Boss pedal ... it's a rock!

Mike gets a little fuzzy in his e-mail messages back top you when he's busy, but he gets back to you quickly and makes things right if there are any issues, etc. He's a great guy and very approachable.

I play Rock (not metal), blues and country. I've been playing since I was a child. I run my sound out of various tube amps - Marshall, Fender and Carvin. If it was stolen I would send another pedal for AnalogMan to modify. I would only buy this if you like a rougher Rock sound, if not get AnalogMan's SD-1/808 mod.