Boss DS-1 Distortion

As easy as it could ever be.

As you know;
Tone, Adjust Treble or Bass
Level, The Output volume
Dist, Adjust the Distortion level.

Changes batteries is a breeze, just like all Boss Pedals,
and a power supply makes the thing even easier

People right this off as a simple distortion pedal.
But that's what's so great about it.

It's a brilliant pedal, set high with my single coils, this things snarls.

It get a bit noisy with the Dist up past three o clock, but a Noise reducer pedal sorts that out no trouble

It's a Boss.

If you don't know Boss already, maybe you're new to effects pedals, these things are metal bricks with wire in.

Never needed to speak to anyone, probably never will.

Along with the CE-3 Chorus, this was the first pedal I bought.

I play this pedal and the Boss SD-1 as my main drive sounds, as the amp I own is shameful on all but clean settings.

I use it for the heavier stuff in the sort of Indie, RadioBloc sound area.

It's great, but if you want versatility, go for the SD-1.

The DS-1 Distortion is great, but only at doing one thing; straight up distortion tones.

For a bit of everything, go for the Super Overdrive (Or both, like me) are it can be very subtle if required.

If it lost it, I would search the market very hard to make sure there was nothing better available for the money, then buy a new one.

Don't let my comments about the SD put you off, this pedal is super great

This effect unit has recessed knobs you are unlikely to step on by mistake, and the casing is all metal, not plastic, two features you should demand as standard on all your effect pedals. I like the disposition of the controls and the range of sound is worth the buy. It has everything a distortion pedal needs and nothing it doesnt, especially useless eqs or dumb names for the control knobs. I gave a 10 because in my opinion it simply is the best solid-state distortion pedal on the market.

Those who say it can't play metal really mean that "they" can't play metal. Either that or they moan that a simple 50$ pedal can't reproduce the sound of thousand dollars worth of studio equipment.

If you really take the time to seriously fine tune your amp and your guitar, this pedal can produce an excellent, clear and articulated tone that is perfect for metal. If you are still not happy and need a wall of buzz to hide your hideous misnotes, buy a metalzone instead.

My usual setup is: a DiMarzio humbucker or EMG81, the pedal, and a Peavey Transtube Supreme on the clean chan (high 5, mid 6.5, low 7) or an all-tube combo with everything flat.

My pedal setups are: tone 50% dist 90% level 50%

Again, take the time to tweak your gear, its worth it. From 0 to 50% the tone knob roams the midrange and you can get a slushy, loose sound cool for old school blues. Set the tone too high and you get a handful of razors shoved down your ear.

I got mine second hand. The only problem was the ac adaptor jack. Its solderings broke away from the board. I just had to re-melt them in place, it took 5 seconds. I take care of my gear. Never had the slightest problem elsewise. I use it instead of my amp distortion and if it would break, I would just plug my guitar right into my amp and use the distortion on my amp instead.

its a BOSS!

Essential piece of gear for any self-respecting guitar player.

this pedal is pretty easy to get a good sound out of, alot of the quality of the sound really depends on your amp and guitar.

like any distortion pedal, it sounds alot different in your bedroom and on stage. it's not particularily noisy onstage, but i do wish it had more boost. while it's well voiced and not weak at all, i wish it could go louder than it does as you increase the level control, this would make it alot more flexible, or even cleaner sounding on lower distortion settings. but, seeing as it was released in 1979, i don't have a problem with it, distortion pedals were expected to be alot different back then.

i have never ever had a problem with any of my boss pedals, and i have over 8 of them.

i've heard their customer support nothing to write home about, but then again, alot of major companies lack in this department.

i play rock and classic heavy metal, and this is the most important piece of gear in my whole setup. it gives me my basic tone, and is good for so much more. i bring down the volume on my guitar for a dynamic overdrive, or i set the tone and distortion knobs to face the top corners of the pedal, and max the level for my heavier sound. often, i don't even need this much gain. like i said, i wish it had more output, but i'm buying an MXR Distortion+ to help me out, and i have a hunch these two pedals will work wonderfully together.

TONE - LEVEL - DISTORTION.....does it get any easier ? It's all you need on a distortion pedal anyway...

I bought this pedal for a specific sound I was looking for... Ironically it was for Bob Mould's HUSKER DU guitar tones (specifically from "Zen Acrade" thru "Candy apple grey" era's)... I know that Bob used an MXR distortion + for his sound...that's where the irony comes in. I plugged into an MXR distortion + through a Fender twin reverb (which is the amp that I swear by). I was not impressed with the MXR distortion + or the newer III model... So I figured, well let's try the "coveted" DS-1.. BAM... that was the sound I was looking for right out of the box... Once I got it home and put it in my pedal board rig I was hooked. With my Boss CE-5 chorus and Boss compressor/sustainer and the DS-1 all run through my Fender 65 reissue Twin Reverb... I can get 90% of that HUSKER DU tone I was looking for.. Even with my 70's reissue strat with single coils it sounds very "Bob'ish".... There is a bit of noise if you go to high on the level / distortion settings... I set it like this... LEVEL 3-4...TONE 4-5...DISTORTION 7-8... Even with gobs of distortion, chords articulate exceptionally well. Individual notes still retain their clarity.. This is not for the NU-METAL / Death metal... buffs... You won't really get that "chugga, chugga" palm muting "Master of Puppets" metal with this.... But if you want a great distortion pedal for ringing chords ...this is perfect.

It's a Boss. Unless there is a manufacturer defect out of the box.. It's going to survive a lot of abuse/ gigs/ practices.... Boss makes tough pedals...

Never dealt with Boss for anything.. Never had any problems with any of their products...

Like I stated above.. this is an excellent pedal for that early-mid 80's melodic punk/indie tone..(think HUSKER DU, BLACK FLAG, PIXIES...etc..etc..) And of course Nirvana must be mentioned here.. although they came a bit later... The MXR distortion plus does not even compare in my book to the DS-1, 2 completely different animals here. The DS-1 is way harsher in the mid range which I love... I've been playing guitar for 20 + years and have tried tons and tons of amps / effects / and guitars... So I hope my review helps someone with their decision... I would buy this pedal again ASAP...

3 knobs... i wish it was a tad louder...

Excellent dirt and a nice basic sound... i like to use the tone @ 10-11 o'clock, the level full and dist at about 3-4 o'clock... nice warm mesa-style distortion... i use in a chain in the following order:

EH small stone>Boss OD3>Boss DS1>Zoom Tri-Metal>Boss BF2>Boss CE5>Traynor Custom Valve 1-12 w/ vintage Sunn 2-12...

The Zoom is my "scooped" recto-like tone, the OD3 gives me a nice vintage roar (like a Marshall SL-well, kinda)& the DS1 functions as a nice "in between" distortion tone... it sounds great through a good tube amp, and in conjunction with the OD3 as well... yes, it might be a bit "generic" but that is just another way of saying versatile!!!

Seems fine for such a cheap pedal

I play in an experimental metal band - Nosebleeder http://www.myspace.com/nosebleeder666
- and we play many different genres... folk/thrash/punk/bossa-nova.... this is my basic crunch tone & i love it... i've never felt the need to mod it... a great distortion that goes from blues to mid-spiky metal...

How can you get lost with three knobs OMG Duhhh

pretty easy even when i frost saw and hear it i was interested in it
Tone-Sharpness(a bit of noise comes out of it if you go 4 and above)
Level-Volume knob noobs!!!(can never be as good as true bypass but only lose 1-5% of your tone naa not really a big deal)
Dist- distortion level. don't use 10. go from 4(for blues) and 6-8 for hard rock

guys esp. new players please don't annoy people(and yourself) and read the manual b4 plugging it in

Can emulate some of Satriani's and Vai's sound from her
pretty good for what i pay but sadly can be improved with some mods done to it.

i got some of hendrix's tone out of this but pushing the tone to position 6 with distortion of 4-7>can sound close to 'foxey lady', 'voodoo child' and 'purple haze'
my guitar has DiMarzio Fred in the bridge which helps it better

Not good for metal cause not heavy and smooth sounding. anyone who buys this pedal for metal will definitely be dissappointed(hahahah what idiots). Go for a Ibanez TS-9DX of Boss MT-2

very clear sounding but you have to be experienced in sound setting to dial good toens out of her>nvr trust kids within age of 14-17 to be good at sound setting

Yea used it for a couple of gigs
sounds great according to my guitar tech but needs modding for perfection

my first DS-1 died on me even before plugging it in so guys make sure you have your receipts to change it for a working one
this one replaced the broken one and lasted for quite a while already

Yea pretty good, they changed it for a new working one for me

Well sound is very personal but this is my personal testimony>it 90% matches what i'm looking for
amp OD/Distortion are ok but i found them pretty muddy compared to this pedal

this pedal Mainly targets players that are into hard rock, blues, punk, Jimi Hendrix stuff and shred!!!

ps. if you guys have single coil guitars, change them to better hum cancelling pickups cause this pedal can get noisy and too bitey for some ears
works best with humbucker or single coil stack guitars

Three big knobs (Tone, Level, Distortion) on an ugly little orange box. They can be adjusted "on the fly" with your foot. Plug it in and go.

For what it is, I adore the sound of this pedal. I play a Mexican Strat or Korean PRS SE through it, into a 50-watt 70's Fender Bassman 10, or ABY'd with a Crate Powerblock & generic 4X12. I typically play it with the distortion knob turned down, maybe 1/3 from the bottom, with the tone knob at 1/2, just to add a bit of dirt to my tone. I don't know that I'd use it for a "lead" tone, (for that I've got a Digitech DF-7 on a "midded-out" Big Muff setting), but for good, crunchy rhythm, it's wonderful. Low distortion sounds very vintage and warm through a good reverb, and high distortion is a wonderfully shrill twang (through single-coils). Through humbuckers, this thing really reminds me of Queens of the Stone Age, not really metal or anything, just good, fuzzy "rawk" tone.

It's a bit noisy through single-coils, but that's to be expected. Also, it gets an "8" in this category, 'cause if you're expecting to "chug-chug" or shred with it, you oughta look elsewhere.

Here's the best part. I've owned this pedal for 6-7 years, and have used it extensively for recording/performing. It's always sounded great. About a year ago, my basement flooded with about 2 1/2 feet of sewage. As one can imagine, it was a sad and disgusting affair in which I lost many pieces of gear. After the mess drained away, I was heartbroken. My beloved DS-1 (and a few other pedals) was on the ground, and had been completely submerged. Well, long story short, a month after the disaster, I pulled the ugly orange box out of a pile of the gear I'd thrown in my garage, cleaned it up a bit, and plugged it in, just to see what would happen. It worked like the day I bought it! Amazing, and a glowing recommendation for anything Boss makes.

Never had to talk to 'em, because their gear survives just about anything, apparently.

I play weird "alt-rock" in sort of a Jesus Lizard or Birthday Party vein. This pedal suits me just fine in getting either a good overdriven dirt or a chimey, shrill racket. That being said, I really don't think it's well-suited for "metal" or anything requiring that mid-scooped "Dimebag" sound. I've been playing for about 10 years now, and have experienced a lot of gear, but overall, the DS-1, going through a Fender tube amp, is my favorite sound. When I feared it was ruined, I had decided to buy another, but of course when I plugged it in and it worked like a dream, I was elated.

An amazing product, hands down, and the only reason I'm not giving it a "10" in this category is because it's sound is very distinct, and not for everyone.

This pedal is simple for it has only three knobs. I give it an 8 because the secret is to spend some time adjusting the knobs very carefully until the pieces of sound work great for your ears. I prefer to plug and play... but it's hard to get a good sound like that. Unless the configuration is set (after hours were spent on it).

The manual is very interesting, although the simplicity of the pedal makes the manual not so important. The good thing about the manual is the suggestions it shows. There are a couple of them that pleased me.

I wasn't aiming at any artist's sound, in fact I wanted to hear what I had in my ears and heart at that time. But some famous people use it: Joe Satriani, Kurt Cobain, Steve Vai... just to name a few.

The distortion is good, but I think it's a little harsh and noisy to me, even though I play with single coils. I don't believe it's nice to play metal. This pedal is for hard rock. It has a more natural sound. The DS-1 has an equalization curve on its on (like every other pedal) that is a bit "bassy" to me even with an EQ Pedal set right after.

My setup is: Custom made strat copy with three Fender Tex-Mex plugged in the DS-1, CS-3, GE-7, SansAmp Classic into a Marshall JCM 900 50w.

It has worked very well for me, although I don't play live.
I often bump into Boss pedals that have experienced years of heavy use, but still doing the job as it was the first day on it.

Never had to contact them.

I play rock... from Elvis Presley and The Beatles to Nirvana and Metallica. It's a good pedal for hard rock. I don't think it works for 50's and 60's good old rock n' roll.

I've been playing for about 10 years. I've had a bunch of guitars (Yamaha, Washburn, Epiphone, Kramer...). I had a Fender Richie Sambora MIM and a Marshall VS30 that I traded in for the JCM 900. I was a left-handed man who played right-handed guitar. After seven years, I read a lot about brain usage and emotional effects... and decided to switch to left-handed guitar. The best thing I did after starting playing this six-string instrument!

It it was stolen, I wouldn't buy it again. I think it's bassy and noisy for my taste. It may be good for playing grunge, though. I would try a different pedal, maybe a Jackhammer or a SuperOverdrive. There is a Boss pedal that's been discontinued that has a very clear sound and natural distortion, but I can't remember its name!

I like the mellow sound I could get from the DS-1. If it wasn't so "bassy", I wouldn't complain about anything. The noise part would be solved with a silent pickup.

I compared the DS-1 with the DS-2 that I also got. The DS-2 has a more distinctive sound to my ear, although it isn't so natural as the DS-1. It's hard to put sound into words, the best thing is to try it and then create an unique perspective of it.

I wish it was clearer and not so harsh. If it got a different curve, if it had more gain on the low-mids (600hz), it would please me better, perhaps.

It helped, of course! I got near one of the sounds in my head, but there are details that are very important.

My suggestion is: go for the sound in your head. Don't buy it because someone told you to or recommended it. Don't buy it because a famous guy used it. If you're going to buy any gear do it for the sound there is in your head and heart. Equipment is meant to help you get the sound of your head right into your ears and beating together with the sound of your heart.

You wont find an easier to use distortion.

I cant get any sound that is good out of this pedal. Its horrible. I liked it when I first played guitar and thought it was da bomb. Its been 12 or so years and I just tried this thing out today.

I cant believe I actually liked it once.

Its horrible. Thats the only word I can use to describe. Noisy, thin, cruddy sounding distortion that makes my Les Paul Standard thru my Mesa Boogie sound like a cheap wal-mart setup.

Its a boss, so its like a roach....it will most likely survive a nuclear war and make it out ok.

Ive never dealt with Boss's support.

I play rock, blues, some metal. Ive been playing about 15 years.;

distortion, tone, level. how hard could it get?

this pedal gave me the great clangy bite i was looking for with the tone all the way up, and i found a great dark side to it as well. unlike the big muff's low end, this one never sounds muted or awkward, but really inspires me. with the distortion toned down, this gives my amps' natural overdrive a good boost. one complaint, however, is that it's not the quietest pedal i've ever owned.

it's a boss, man.

it did what i wanted it to do.