Boss DS-1 Distortion

There are only 3 knobs on this pedal. Very little to mess with, and very easy to use. It comes with an instruction manual, but a monkey could easily figure this pedal out without it. The manual does come with some preset suggestions, but that's about the only use for it.

I use a Fender/Fender rig, a Strat going into a Princeton. This pedal handles everything from gritty blues to AC/DC distortion, but beyond that, it's not very good. Basically, I use it for low-level gains and for a boost on my high gain settings. The tone control can't be cranked much higher than 3 before it starts to sound trebly and ear-piercing. I usually keep my tone level at about 2, and set the gain wherever I feel like. This is not the greatest distortion pedal I've ever owned, but it's the only one that I've never considered getting rid of, so that speaks volumes about the pedal's usefulness.

This baby is built like a bank vault. I wouldn't be the least bit concerned about dropping it from a high place. It has never failed me, and I can't even imagine it failing me. The Boss lineup contains some of the best put together pedals in the world, and the DS-1 is no exception.

The bottom line is this: You don't need customer support on this pedal. It will not fail you.

No matter how my pedal board changes over the years, the DS-1 will always be in it. It's cheap. It's easy. It's useful.

Very easy to get a great sound of it but at the same time it is also easy to get a bad sound if u do not familiar with your amp, it only has
3 knobs (Tone, Level and Distortion). I do not need a freaking manual with this pedal, I straight away kick it in. Mine is the Taiwanese version and I bought this way back from 2003/2004, the 2nd and the 3rd one quite something around 2006. And i don't modify or upgrade them at all. But I am not sure yet maybe until I get my hand on the Analogman and the Keeley pedals.

I am using any amplifiers that are accessible to me with this pedals, either a tube amp or even a small solid state amp. For guitars, I'm using from the 61's Stratocaster, Jackson (Soloist, Dinky, and the Rhoads), Dillion Les Paul, Peavey Wolfgang and Ibanez RG Series (350 and the 450). It will of course be noisy with 2 of them side by side....hahahaha, for me this pedal is awesome especially when i can't lug around my amps and other rack units. And of course I am able to replicate from classic rock to the Dixie Dregs and even Rusty Cooley lead and crunch sound. A lot of people need to know that I have seen a lot of my teachers (from jazz to rock) being using this pedals when they are in a short notice gigs and they still sound like when they're abusing their tube amps. I give it a 10 but then to achieve my lead sound I need 2 of this pedals.

Yes, it never ever break down on me yet. And I've been using them since the day I play (borrow them from friends, and some studios prepare effects pedal). I never bring a backup pedals like I have them anyway. Until the day I stop playing if i do i will give it a 9 as nobody can predicts what the future hold.

I play every style (a jack of all trade...but I'm still sucks at jazz comping), I have been playing for 10 years plus and I own a variety of Boss pedals too. And yes I would buy them again if they're lost. I don't know if they need to improve them but comparing them to the MIJ, i wish it would slightly smoother sounding. But I just love them as they react well to my dynamics and volume on the guitar (and trust me I mostly practise with my RG350 stock)straight to a small solid state Laney LX12H as my Peavey Rage 158 can kick some serious butts for a 15 watters (it sound like a massive 30 watters with the volume on 3 man). And i'm using this as a tool for teaching to as I need sometimes at least more than just a sound from the amp the school provide me with.

I set the amp to clean and use 3 units of this pedals with one as a volume/ gain boost with the level at 9 to 12 o'clock, the tone around 12 o'clock and i either cut it or push it, with the gain around 9 o'clock or lower. Meanwhile the 2nd one is use as a drive boost or slightly lighter crunch with the level at 12 o'clock and above, the tone around 12 to 3 o'clock and the gain from 3 to 6 o'clock. Meanwhile the last one are use as my rhythm playing with the setting level are 12 o'clock or more, the tone around 12 to 3 o'clock and the gain usually nearly max. The amp are usually set up with the mid and bass full to the max (sometimes the bass/mid need to be cut depend on the amp), and the treble from 12 to 3 o'clock. The volume are set to depend on the venue that i played usually when teaching i set the volume at around 9 to 12 o'clock and when performing i do go beyond that let say 12 o'clock and above. As long as the soundman happy and I must be happy with the sound that I produce.

Very easy to use

i've never heard nothing orrible like this, the first half of drive control doesn't change the sound. the sound is like a can

nice case, like all boss pedals

bleah!!

very easy to use, Tone-Level-Dist. Thats it.

This pedal can be pretty buzzy, which bothers me because it doesn't produce that much gain and it makes more noise than my MT-2.
Other than that, this pedal has a good sound. Dial the gain in at about half and the tone at 3-oclock and you'll get a decent AC/DC noise out of it. Put the gain to full and the tone at about 10oclock and you can get some early Maiden tone (not spot on, but it works for me) so all in all, not a bad distortion, just don't try to use it for metallica or COB.

Its BOSS, 'nuff said

no idea

I love Maiden, and this pedal can give me a sound that i'm pretty happy with. You can also get a bunch of other classic (as in 'old') sounds from it. And so: an 8

Can 3 knobs and a simple circuit prgramming get any easier? Nope.

Some sounds are devestating, probably because my amp and guitar are so old. But some (Fusion, Natural Clip) are amazing! The sound of the DS-1 is just plain great.

The DS-1 is very reliable. I played 2 hours just now, and no messed up noises.

I haven't had any problems.

So, I can't tell.
But a 5-year warranty works fine for me.

I play pure rock (my band slogan). The DS-1 helps me play more pure than before.

I would buy it again if stolen.

This seems better than all amps with distortion I've played.

very easy to use, it's set up just like most distortion pedals: Vol, Tone and Dist.

I LOATHE this pedal!!! It sounds like complete an utter crap! No dynamics, no character, no balls at all! It's a child's toy, a beginners first distortion pedal. I cannot imagine a real professional using this? I know a lot of pros claim to use it, but I think maybe they're using the Keeley version? I just think this pedal sucks. I really have nothing good to say about it. I was keeping it in bag as a backup for gigs, in case my real pedal (MI Audio Crunchbox)ever died. Well, it ran out of batteries one night and we were playing for a crowd of 12, so instead of running to the store for another 9 volt or taking the one out of the DS-1 and putting it in the Crunchbox, I just used the DS-1. BIG mistake!! This ***** pedal sounded awful and in turn put me in a bad mood and ruined the gig for me. The bottom line is that this pedal sounds like ****.

Boss makes good solid stuff

N/A

I give it a 1, because in my opinion, this pedal sucks. I have no use for it, other than maybe as a paper weight?

Three knob pedal, stomp on it to activate. Pretty simple. In the manual, it shows settings for different styles and such.

Keep in mind, I got mine in 2006 so it may sound different than older models.

I run a custom Saga LP copy, Dean VX, and fender 02' made in mexico standard stratocaster, through this, into a 2007 Crate GLX1200 full stack. On a clean channel, with the tone in between ten and eleven o'clock, and distortion mirroring the tone, and level past 12 o'clock, I can get a good Led Zeppelin sound. And the rhythm channel on my amp sucks, but with this pedal, it sounds pretty good.

It's a pretty ok pedal, but I will do the Keeley S.E.M soon though.

It has taken a few falls onto concrete and worked fine, so yes very reliable.

Never needed too. So I rate it a five for not knowing.

Overall, for fourty dollars, it's a steal. Good sounds, good quality, I mean, it is a BOSS! (Excuse the lame pun)


(myspace.com/sologuitaristlee

Knob twisting. If you don't know how to twist a knob then you're in trouble!

It's a crap shoot with these things. I bought one new a couple of years ago and I just wasn't into it. It wasn't the sound I was looking for, or wanted, at the time. Tinny,raspy,buzzy,trashy, kinda "artificial" sounding, etc..etc..I got rid of it. Just recently I got another one for grins. The used one was a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SOUNDING pedal. Both were MIT's (made in Taiwan)but the 2nd one was ALOT more transparent and musical than the first one.(I think the used one was a 1990's version). Much more organic sounding....not "artificial" at all. Lots of gain and a nice eq range. Not buzzy or tinny. The used one had no mods so it was a stock pedal. I've played on a number of DS-1's and no 2 ever really sounded the same to me. I use Strats through vintage tube amps, so that usually is a good indication of what a pedal can or cannot do. Anyway, I lucked out with the 2nd one so it's a keeper. My opinion is...well, it's a crap shoot. You may get one that sounds good you may not. I've also played on one that had the analogman mod and that was killer. If you're not happy with you're DS-1 send it to Analog Mike...

Boss pedals are workhorses. They'll hang in there with you.

Have had no experience with contacting them so I can't comment.

It's a "sound". It's like having a different color crayon in your crayon box. If you have only one crayon, then your probably gonna get bored coloring in your coloring book! Get a few more different colored crayons.

Very straight forward, not much to say here. Very good ease of use.

Here comes the tricky part. This pedal is sooooo famous that everyone thinks sounds great, in my opinion it sounds okay. It's very acid like and rough, not very definite, not a great product. I always keep the tone control at from 11 to 13 o clock otherwise it sucks. The distortion potentiometer instead it's pretty good. You can get a cheapy overdrive, a nice distortion and a hi gain distortion almost fuzzy. This last kind is very good, but my fuzz factory sounds waaaaaay better. Anyway, the sound is ok, not very good but acceptable for most first starters or punks. I will mod the crap out of this pedal and add a keeley mod myself(ultra mod and seeying eye in one shot), no comparison between that and the stock one.

Hey, as they say everywhere: IT'S A BOSS. Probably made with diamonds..

Never needed.

Overall this little cheapy pedal does the plain distortion job, but for most guitarist it will probably need the keeley mods. I will soon mod it and put a review with the mod. In the end, this pedal is ACCEPTABLE.

3 knobs and away you go - they don't get much simpler than this.

I have used this pedal for years through all sorts of amps and with various guitars and have always liked the sound it generates. The only time it ever sounded weak and useless was when I was trying to play it at low volumes - it sucks. Soon as you get at least some pre-amp and speaker distortion she starts to fly, add some power tube distortion and its screaming. It works on all my amps from a 5W single ender to my Mesa 55W (clean channel works best). To my ears, when playing chords it manages to sound unhinged but still deliver good basic note clarity, play a lead or a riff and the there is a lovely harmonic snarl under the notes - particularly on the plain strings.
When its idling its as noisy as hell - but when I am using it I am not trying trying to be subtle and moody. Given the number of recordings that include this effect I can't see how it could ever be judged as sounding bad.

Bullet, tank and missle proof. Mine has been stomped to death and it has NEVER failed.

Never had to deal with them.

Rock, grunge, electric blues right down to jazzy stuff. Of the pedals that have passed through my hands the DS1 and my Fulltone OCD are the ones that always remain on my pedal board. If it were stolen I would I would buy another 2nd hand one, maybe 2 because they are SO cheap, for a small number of dollars and continue to happily wail away on my guitar.

I think these pedals are underated and very misunderstood. They are a simple and enduring design that need to played reasonably loud to do their thing. They work particularly well with valve amps, especially when the amps unadulterated sound is just crunching. Play them through a heavily distorted channel and they just get lost as the pedals signal is adding nothing new to that the amps.

IMHO one of these should be on the pedal board of anyone who loves to play rough and raunchy guitar - no question.