Boss CS-1

two knobs, one toggle, a 4 year old could figure this out!

I got this for 20 bucks at a pawn shop a while back lookin for vintage boss pedals. Mine is a first run 1978 with the metal thumb screw and momentary led. i didnt intend to use it, then i hooked it up. I use it first in the effects loop....immediatly folled by boss tw-1,ibanez ts-9, boss mt-2,dd-5. I also use boss bf-2,ce-2,ft-2 and ge-7 with this. this pedal is amazing. I leave the sustain all the way up, level at 11-noon, and the toggle on normal. Run my american standard strat into the cs-1, to a hotrodded ts-9 to the dd-5 and to the ge-7, It is total eric johnson! smooth and juicy yet punchy! I leave the volume on the guitar at about 8 so it doesnt give you that slap bass sound. I also run it with the same setting only in treble mode into the distortion on either my fender pro-sonic or peavey classic 30, Extreme srv. I recommend this pedal before any distortion, ANY...it is a bit noisy however, but unless you plan on spending hundreds of dollars, you'll find all comp/sustainers are. It brings out feedback and harmonics like you wouldnt believe. Highly recommended!

I rebuild/fix/modify pedals as a hobby I can count on one hand how many broken boss pedals ive seen

Well on the few i have fixed, Its a pain in the ass to find parts. the thumb screw and the footswitch are easy. But to find circuitry parts, it is opposite of what is posted on car mirrors "objects are closer then they appear". It also takes months to get parts, slower then most any other company ive dealt with. But i guess this is ok because so few of them ever break on their own

I play alot of blues/progressive rock, i tell you what this pedal TOTALLY changed my tone for the better. Ive been playing almost 12 years now, and ive owned nearly 70 boss pedals(not at the same time) and this one next to the ge-7 was the best single addition to my rig! i use it daily! the only thing about this pedal. if your going to run through heavy distortions, buy a very good noise gate.

The Boss CS-! Compression Sustainer is simple: Two knobs- Level and Sustain, plus a toggle for Normal or Treble. I set my level at about 2 o'clock, sustain all the way up, and the toggle on treble. The sounds are great- real punchy compression, easy to get that country pop thing goin' on. The sustain is very good, but it's not just a "sustain" pedal. You can get that nice long note and bleed into feedback if you want. It's very clean on/off, no static or hum or any noise with mine, and it's pretty old. I never had a manual or instructions.

My set up is: 1983 Kramer Pacer> DOD Tuna> Crybaby> CS-1> BF-2(Boss Flanger)> Ibanez TS10 Tube Screamer> HM-2 (Boss Heavy Metal)> Fender Princeton Chorus (2 x 10 solid state combo). The CS-1 is very smooth and surprisingly quiet. The LED light on mine works fine, and I hav not had any trouble with the switch (and remember, this pedal has been around for a long time). I use it more for sustain than compression, but they kind of go together. Great for solos- it really adds to your sound- the best way to describe it is it just makes the sound "professional." Great for making harmonics easier, and also letting that high 22nd fret bend ring out and fade into a little feedback. Works very well with my Heavy Metal pedal for blistering solos. Using it clean is great for country music, it can bring a real Nashville feel. You can tell that most recordings have compression after you use this pedal. The CS-1 is not meant to used when playing chords, it gets muddy and messy- it's mainly for picking or solos.

Boss pedals are tanks. The construction is just awesome. I think they would survive a direct hit from a nuclear missle. Just the cockroaches and Boss pedals will be left. I only have one CS-1 (for now) so if it died at a gig I'd have no back up!

Never dealt with Boss or Roland. My pedal has no mods that I know of.

I play a lot of "classic rock"- Zeppelin, Beatles, Grateful Dead, Kiss; as well as stuff like The Cars, Van Halen, SRV. I also play a good amount of real heavy and/or fast stuff like Minor Threat and the Dead Kennedys. I really only use the CS-1 on solos, you can't use it when strumming (or bashing out) chords. A lot of times I'll kick on the CS-1 about half way through a solo or near the end of a solo to really bring it home in style- it can give you that extra umph to finish a solo in a blaze of glory. If you have a note that needs to be held for a few seconds, kick on the CS-1 and let it shine.
I've been playing guitar for about 15 years. I use vintage Kramer guitars (the real USA ones) and a Fender amp. If my CS-1 were damaged or stolen I would have to replace it. I got the CS-1 over the CS-2 or CS-3 because i like the "vintage vibe" and, let's face it, the toggle switch is just plain cool. I'm looking for another CS-1 for a good price because I love this pedal so much. I might try a CS-2 or CS-3 also, but I don't think anything can beat the original CS-1.

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i rarely use this live anymore, but it comes out of "Moth balls"
for studio recording sessions for guitar work.
The CS1 has a slow attack, so it creates are real "percussive"
sound which sounds great when you're picking.
I use a takamine for effects pedal work, the preamp drives it well.

Mines old but hey, it still works

boss gear is pretty reliable

I play folk rock and use midi controlled effects these days.
I've been playing for over 20 years but have kept my prized
boss effects pedals for studio work, cause every brand has it's
"flavours" its own sound and gee, in a studio you need all the
help you can get. if it where stolen i'd get another one if i came
across one cheaply.The attacky sound led me to buy and modify the
BOSS CS3 (which has more gain) and changed some component values
to emulate my old pedals character. you gotta try these things...
Compression is pretty mandatory for guitar picking, to help control
peaks and smooth out your performance.

Very simple to use. The Level control adjusts the volume, the Sustain control adjusts the compression/sustain, and the mode switch toggles between normal sound and a slight treble boost. The only hard thing to get used to on this is the LED -- the pedal is from 1978 or so, and the LED on the very old Boss pedals only comes on when the pedal is actuallt depressed. Not a big problem, as you can definitely tell when the CS-1 is on!

Recently I wrote a rave review of my Way Huge Saffron Squeeze compressor. That's still a nice compressor, but the Boss CS-1 BLOWS IT AWAY in my opinion. The CS-1 gives the coolest "squwking" tone I've ever heard. You can go from subtle compression to major squeeze, with cool pumping/swelling effects if you want them. Also, the CS-1 is extremely quiet, and has very little changes in noise as you crank the controls -- very interesting . . .
I've owned a lot of compressors in my lifetime -- Boss CS-2 and CS-3, DOD FX80, Ibanez CP-10, Way Huge, and Rockman Guitar Compressor. The CS-1 is my absolute favorite. I still have the Way Huge and Rockman units because they're both classics at this point, but the CS-1 gets the call in my signal (which goes ESP MII or Fender Strat into all sorts of pedals into Tech 21 TM60).

Well, it's a Boss, and we all know what that means. However, the footswitch can be a little intermittent (sp?) sometimes. But that's just a design thing on the very old Boss pedals -- the later pedals have a structural change on the underside of the footswitch plate that fixes this.

Glad I never have to call Boss with technical questions!

Awesome -- I will buy every CS-1 I come across from now on. I made the mistake two years ago of not buying one at a store for $40 used -- never again, my friends. If you want totally squashed/pumping/breathing compression, the CS-1 is your ticket!