Boss DS-1 Distortion

Very easy to use. I love the sounds that come out of this box, Johnny Winter trebly distortion, anything. There wasnt a manual but i figured it out in about 2 minutes. The key is matching the amp and the efect's volume.

I have a Strat, Firebird, and a Courus through 2 15 watt and 20 watt amps. My effects setup is Crybaby Wah---> BOSS-Ds-1 ---> BOSS CS-3 ---> BOSS CE-2. This thing sounds great, this distortion is Gritty and thats why i love it, tube screamers are way to mellow and fuzz faces have no dynamics. But dont turn the tone on this baby past 2' o'clock, your ears will bleed.

I can always depend on this, it has fallen down stairs, been dropped, kicked, throw (retard friend), just about anything. I could bang nail in with this.

never had to deal with them so il say seven because its a big company.

I play rock and blues, and have been playing for three years. I would definetely buy it again it it was stolen. i love everything about it. I ve tryed Tube screamers, overdrives, everything, but i always go back to my Ds-1.

Very easy to get a good sound out of it, a nice simple distortion pedal, one level, tone, distortion knob for each.

This pedal sounds awesome, will give you a great sound for a good array of musical styles. never too noisy, sounds great on all settings. Im using this with a les paul studio through an ampeg bass head and a carvin 4x12. i can get the sounds of good ol thrash metal and heavy metal and rock etc. great pedal for the rock sounds you want.

THis thing like all boss pedals is built solid, and works great, i wouldnt need a backup with this pedal, i would trust it to last me my whole life as long as i replaced the battery

never dealt with em

I play thrash metal and it is perfect for that old metallica kill em all sound. I have been playing for a while but i also own an envelope filter by DOD and an ampeg 4x10 and also a les paul studio lite. I would definitely get another one of these if it were stolen. This pedal is awesome for a cheap price i suggest everyone has one of these if you are gonna play metal or rock.

the pedal is easy to use, three knobs.. on/off.

sounds bad. i don't know if it's this very one i got (bought new 3 years ago) or they all suck, i guess maybe mine is the sucking winner. anyways, it souns brittle, the only way to get some fat out of it is to close the high completly on the tone know, but then you have no pressence at all, the high mids are gone, and your guitar sound doesn't cut threw. BRRITTLE.

you can defend yourself with this one against any weapon, it's built like a tank

don't know

mine sounds bad. if you're going to buy one, check a few out. don't buy one just because it's cheap or the hype. be carefull.

3 simple knobs...shouldn't get easier, but I found myself spending hours upon hours tweaking these 3 simple to find that "special" tone. Not because it was necessary, but because it sounds fantastic, and I couldn't make a decision.

Pysically turning the knobs was pretty easy, though, so maybe I should have given it a 10...

I'm using this as a solo enhancer, ala Vai. With some tweaking, I am getting that saturated, tone-ful, not mushy gain and tone boost--plenty of sustain and controled feedback. You have to tweak, though. If you max out everything in this vein, it will sound like kuck.

I'm not going to spell out my laundry list of gear...running Ibanez or ESP M-II > DS-1 > Marshall JMP900 half stack, with chorus, delay, reverb, eq in the loop. Running at half-gain on the head (back off the guitar volume to really clean it up). DS-1 set to : Tone at 10 o'clock, level at 11 o'clock, Dist at 1 o'clock. Super-sweat violin-like saturation when run with this Marshall gain setting. Of course, the louder, the better, when the tubes are pushed. Pick attack remains intact, actually better than the Marshall-only distortion.

Harmonics are clean and bell like. Pinch harmonics are effortless.

See other "tank-like" posts. It's like the Terminator. Knobs are sturdy and tight, footswitch is solid.

Don't imagine I'd ever have to contact these folks in regards to this pedal.

I've had a love hate relationship with my Marshall since I got it. With this $40 marvel, I'm now TOTALLY in love with my sound. This pedal seems to enhance the sound of your amp, not change or mask it. If you have a total crap amp, you're probably not going to get much more than "enhanced crap". But if you have a decent amp, this pedal will definitely make it sound better, whether you're after more gain, more distortion, a fatter tone, or all 3. Sorry, can't comment on the solid state vs. tube amp thing (don't have a solid state amp).

Not going to put down any musicians...if you've just started, or don't have "pro-quality" gear, don't expect this pedal, or anything for that matter to make you sound like (insert guitarist here). If you have a wall of Boogies, and you can't play that well, people will still not like the way you "sound". If I tee'd off with Tiger Wood's driver, I'd bet everything I had that I still couldn't hit a 330 yard drive...catch my drift?

Been playing for 22 years, accumulated 22 years worth of gear. I play whatever I am inspired to, from blues, jazz, metal, old school 80's hair band stuff...whatever. This pedal handles all of those applications with ease, and suprisingly, on the same settings. I'd buy this again in a heartbeat...kind of makes me mad that I didn't get this pedal sooner.

This pedal is very easy to use. theres three simple controls, but theyre effective. The manual is pretty informative. it gives you sample settings for hard rock, british punk, american rock, natural clip, crunch, fuzz, mild +warm, and fusion. ive found it best to just experiment until you get the sound that you like most for your style.

I get the exact sound that i want from this pedal. i play a fender strat run through a fender rocpro 700 amp. i play mostly all sorts of punk and classic rock ranging from CCR to Blink 182 to The Ramones just to name a few. this pedal is very versatile. the only time that i dont care for the sounds i get is when the level control is turned way down which is no big deal, i just leave it turned up and change the volume on the amp. i also dont like the sound quality when the battery starts to drain, but thats to be expected. i always just pop a brand new 9volt in before shows and its fine. then use the half dead batteries for practicing and stuff when its not so important. or if youre not cheap, unlike me, just buy the power adapter. the pedal is sometimes noisy, but im pretty sure thats because i use not-so-good stock single coil pickups, my bands other guitar player uses the same pedal with a les paul with humbuckers, and its pretty quite. so i guess the noise depends on your guitar

Very dependable. i once heard someone call boss pedals "little tanks". well, its very true. its covered with about and eighth inch of die cast metal. i always use mine at gigs, and theres never a backup. i've been using it for about 10 months now. its been dropped, drug across the floor, jumped on by crowds at shows, jsut about anything that happens to gear. and its held up through all of it. theres some scratches in the metal, but thats all the damage thats been done. overall very durable

havent had to deal with them yet.

if lost or stolen, i would get a definately get a new one. ive been playing for about 6 years now. i dont really use many other effects because theyre mostly so expensive. distortion is a must-have for my genres of music tho, and this little guy is not expensive at all, but it isnt a piece of junk either. when i bought it, i was comparing it to the DOD Grunge pedal. i chose this one because of its versality. you can turn the Dist. control down and get jsut a little bit of nice edge, or turn it way up for some shredding grunge type distortion. the DOD could shred, but when you turned it all the way down, it was still really distorted. well, i suggest this pedal for jsut about anyone. it is very versatile, durable, and affordable. i have no complaints. very good pedal.

It's really easy to get a good sound out of this box, because of the pour features...don't worry about the lack of controls, the do the job perfetcly..I didn't have a manual because I bought it used but who cares, it's just 3 knobs, volume, tone and distortion!!!Read on and you'll see why I give it a 10..

Sound quality is awesome!!!!I also own a Rocktron Rampage wich costs 125 euros and has 5 knobs with a big amount of distorsion but there's really no chance to compare this to my ds-1. The sound it's huge and there's more gain than how I tought it could feature.No noisy at all, it works so well on my Peavey Bandit I just won't sell it anymore!!!!If you're looking for a professional type distorsion go out and buy it used (it will cost less!!!!)

I wouldn't gig without a backup because shit always happens. I remember a night with my Rocktron Rampage i did a perfect soundcheck and everything sounded great...I went on stage to start the show and I discovered that the box had left me because of the batteries.....shit!!!!Things like this will never happen with the ds-1!!!!!

I just think this box does the job really well, it's an incredible quality distorsion, nothing to share with lots of "so they say" big, famous pedals. It's fantastic!

Three simple dials - Tone, Level and Distortion. A lobotomised neanderthal could figure out how to use it in about thirty seconds. The pedal part is springy with definitive resistance as it toggles on and off and the knobs track clockwise and counter clockwise with ease. Manual? Who needs a manual?

I run my DS-1 with an Squier Bullet/ancient Rola 40w beast. This baby produces a variety of crisp and harsh tones and I've never had a problem with the pedal for my sort of musical preference - dark rock/indie rock-pop/low-fi. However, the DS-1 can sound like anything from Queens of the Stone Age to The Strokes with ease. I also use it in conjuction with an Ibanez SC-10 analogue Stereo Chorus pedal achieving a beautifully melodic sound that harks to Placebo/Muse.

My only gripe is that it's a little less potent in terms of tonal variety than it's bigger brother, the Boss DS-2 with turbo distortion. My only suggestion is to not let the tone dial get past halfway, or you'll get lost in a low-end haze. I stick to the followin settings for a crisp, punchy sound.

Tone dial - 11 o'clock
Level dial - 3 o'clock
Distortion dial - 4 o'clock

Sounds both hard, but controlled and clear.

Boss Pedals are the Holy Grail of guitar effects as far as I'm concerned. These pedals are strong enough to withstand any form of blunt-force trauma and although the paint may chip on older examples, I've never seen one in terrible condition with the exception of the afformentioned paintjob.

I've had my DS-1 for about six months now and I wouldn't be surprised if it outlive me. I'd happily gig without backup as these things seeem pretty indestructable.

The only thing I would probably care to note is for second-had buyers to check the 9v battery wiring and spring mechanim - the latter will usually be okay, but a lot of examples I've seen of Boss Pedals tend to be missing the internal batter contacts. If they're there, you're home free. If not, only buy if you're a deft hand at electronics.

Never dealt with Boss directly over this unit, but they have a great and easy to use website that is well presented and detailed. I emailed them a couple of questions about the technical specs etc and conversed with two different people, both of whom were highly professional and well-knowledged.

Ideally, you should never have to deal with CS reps, but the ones from Boss were both scholars and gentlemen.

As mentioned before, I play a conglomeration of music ranging from rock to low-fi and have been in a serious band after a couple of botched attempts now for about six months. Both myself and the other guitarist use Boss pedals and have found them to be far superior in sound and reliability to all others. If it were lost and stolen, I'd purchase another in a heartbeat, though I'd try and find a second hand one or move up to the Boss Overdrive/Distortion pedal.

The only other pedal I've found to make a similar noise is the classic-looking Danelectro distortion pedal which another bandmate uses, but I've found the Boss pedals to be more solid in terms of physical construction. The only thing that could make this pedal better is if I had one of the other models I've mentioned, the Boss Turbo Distortion or Overdrive/Distortion.

The only thing I urge to potential buyers is to try and find one of the earlier models made in Japan (it will be printed on the bottom) as the majority of recent ones are made in Taiwan and have less tonal variety. Mine's a Tai model and I've played a Jap one - the difference is quite astounding.

Still, you CANNOT go wrong with one of these. Try and buy second hand and if you do, you've got a great pedal that you won't replace unless it's with another Boss. You'll wonder how you ever got along without it or why you used any other brand.

Well to be honset with only 3 dials it is extremly easy to use. I like this pedal because of this. And also I can turn the tone all the way up and the distortion all the way down and it will still be semi-clean/semi-distorted. Something that instanly pleased me.

I use it through an old fender bandmaster head and cabinet. I love the way it sounds. It has been used on my friend randall amp and i said "wow your amp has nice distortion" and he was just using my pedal. This pedal was used mainly by kurt cobain so it is pretty easy to sound like nirvana. But it works well for other styles. It is really great for classic rock tone.

It is very reliable. They are built like bricks. That is why I love Boss pedals. The most plastic that gose on them is the knobs.

never dealt with it.

My style is just looking for my own sound. But I tend to like to play classic rock and indie rock and blues. I've been playing for 2 years. Yes I would buy it again. I love almost everything about this pedal even like how it's orange. I did compare other products but the price wins. It helps me greatly when I just wanna throw in some distortion over jazz chords. I just a overall nice pedal.

nothing to it.

Before you buy this pedal, try it through an amp as similar to yours as you can get, cause' this thing sounds great on some, and horrible on others. This pedal is SO much more handy if you're a LEAD GUITARIST! You only have a few options if you are one of those over rated power chord playing nim nuts who have no clue what a penatonic scale is. The lead guitarists dream is in this pedal. I play lead, therefor, I love this pedal. (now that wasn't so hard.)

Toss it off a cliff and see. two thumbs up

?

as i made clear above, this pedal has almost no options as far as rythm goes. Plenty of fun.

This pedal is VERY easy to figure out. Three dials...volume, gain, and tone. Pretty straight forward. The manual is decent, but you don't really need it. It's easy enough to figure it out on your own...
The only real downfall, is if you're not aware that the volume level on the pedal is more than a quarter of the way up, the thing will SCREAM like crazy. It was kind of a paranoia for me when I first started using it...but it gets better with time

When I first got this pedal, I was using a Fender Ultimate Chorus amp (solid state, obviously) and I absoulutely HATED this pedal. It just sounded horrible no matyter what I did to it. I did everything in my power to get rid of it, but ended up throwing it in a bag with all my other unused pedals.
BUT NOW I play through a Crate Vintage Club Series 50 (all tube) and happened to think about the old Boss DS-1 when I couldn't get enough gain from a newly purchased American Standard Strat. So I tried it out before buying another distortion pedal, and it sounds GREAT. It took me a while to get the settings perfect, but I can get a great gain boost without altering the original tone or volume. This pedal has become and essential part of my setup.
I ALWAYS play through the gain channel on my amp, even for clean tones...I keep the gain on about 4 - 4 1/2, so I use this pedal for gain boost on my gain channel. It sounds GREAT that way, but doesn't sound too good on the clean channel. But I rated it a 9 in this category because that's what it deserves for the way I use it.

I would NOT reccomend this pedal for anyone with a solid state amp, or if for some reason you would use it on your clean channel. It sounded terrible with mine...

I haven't had any problems at all with it. Extremely solid metal casing. I've been using it 6 months pretty heavily...and it's been dropped 2 or 3 times. Still going strong.
And yes, I would and have used it on a gig withougt back up.

Haven't deal with 'em.

I play a really wide variety of music, and I've found that this pedal is pretty handy for all of them...except maybe country (which I don't play at all).
Sounds great live, and I do some home recordings that it sounds great on too.
If you're going to buy this pedal, and you don't have a powered pedal board, get an ac adaptor for it. The batteries are hell to change, and it uses 'em up quick.
GREAT PEDAL...ESPECIALLY FOR $40!!!

This pedal is simplicity in itself. Just set the level control to match your amp volume, crank the distortion to the level you want set the tone knob and off you go

I absolutely love this pedal. I play a strat and sometimes add a little light phasing to fatten up the sound. I generally have the distortion almost all the way up and the tone almost all the way down. Once you pass 12 o'clock toward the treble side it is way too harsh for my ears. I use this pedal thru the clean channel of my fender hot rod deville for the higher gain sounds that my amp can't produce on its own

This pedal has been to hell and back. it's been stomped kicked thrown around in a bag with half a dozen other pedals dropped etc. and i've never had any trouble out of it. Wish i had a couple more of these for different settings without having to adjust knobs

N/A never needed support

This pedal is excellent for rock that needs a little more bite. it also produces some good crunch tones, but my amp does that fine on it's own I love the sound when i get it set, but i hate the tone knob being so trebly past 12 o'clock. I love boss products because they sound great and they're built to last

3 knobs. tone, level, distortion. if need the manual, you're an idiot.

I use a gibson les paul into this into a vox wah into a boss tremolo in a fender blues jr. I can get a grungey tone with distortion maxed out or a good, non harsh drive with it at about 3 o'clock. I have a marshall halfstack but i use this setup for practice and what not. this thing REALLY impressed me. In fact, ive owned it for YEARS and have never liked it until i used it with this rig. My only complaint is the slight volume drop.

it is ALL fucked up from drops and what not. i gave it to my friend for awhile and it came back all beat up. works like a charm though.

If you're looking for a 90s rock tone, here it is. Or if you're in need of a distortion (not overdrive) pedal to go with your rig and you're hurtin for cash, here ya go. If it were stolen, i'd buy another one.

Super simple. Three knobs. You can master manipulating it 3 minutes out of the box.

I use my DS-1 on the bridge position on my Mexican 57 Reissue Strat, where i've installed a Dimarzio Fast Track 2 Humbucker, into a 50 watt Marshall MG Series amp. I use my amp distortion most of the time for a solid distorted punch, but I use the DS-1 to get a second, much dirtier raw sound. With the DS-1 I get an early Clash or even In Utero (Nirvana) sound.

I did have some trouble finding a tone setting that i liked that was different enough from my main amp distortion, but didn't sound really tinny. After some fine tuning though, I was able to find one.

My band also incorporates feedback sometimes into our music, and the DS-1 also acts as a trigger for instant, cool sounding noises when my amp distortion is already activated. The DS-1 by itself gets pretty hot feed back (sometimes unwanted) when volume levels are high.

So far this has been a super reliable pedal. Except for 2-3 times when i've gotten a short squeak of unwanted feedback, this is an excellent tool. As long as the battery is good, i use it without a back up at every gig.

Haven't had any problems so i haven't had to contact Boss.

I bought this pedal specifically for an alternate distortion from my main Marshall distortion, and this little orange box just does that. Playing around with it, it's extremely versitile and could probably fit into any musical genre that needs a little fuzz or wants a metalish buzzsaw sound. As the singer/2nd guitarist in my band i mostly do rhythm and don't need a lot of effects, but i feel that the DS-1 is essential to my overall sound. I don't plan on ever replacing it with any other kind of distortion distortion.

A tone knob, a gain knob, and a level knob... can't get any easier.

Fender American Strat with Dimarzio pickups or an ESP/LTD 7-string running into a Boss Compressor --> Boss DS-1 --> Voodoo Labs Octavia --> Snarling Dogs Blues Balls Wah --> Line 6 Spider 212 (or Line 6 POD for gigging/recording) I mainly use it for a distortion boost when I already have the amp's gain set at mild distortion/breakup on a crunch setting. I set the drive at about 4 or 5 and tone at 1. This gives me a very warm overdrive. Gets a little harsh though when you crank up the tone.

Never a problem. Built like a tank.

My likes include old Chicago blues to Dream Theater and everything in between. I'm currently on an Eric Johnson craze in that I need to learn every song of his. If this was stolen, I would probably pick up a Boss Overdrive instead (I've borrowed one and sound is warmer). I would like to get a Tube Works Overdrive pedal-- I heard it's awesome. Hey- find one on e-bay and you get a hell of a value.

Very easy

I play metallica, panter etc. I play my DS-1with a Jim Dunlop Crybaby and an epiphone LP through a marshall MG 30 DFX and I get a great sound if I use the amp OD with the gain fairly low with it.It isn't noisy.I find it good for all kinds of rock music.
By itself I hate the thing though, sounds tinny and crappy so I gave it a lowered rating

It's boss and whatever....

I play metal and heavy rock most of the time and it suits me fine when I mix it with an OD.I've been playing 5 years and it's way better than my MT-2.
If it was stolen, I'd get a new one.

This one stands pretty well. Its simple set-up of just 3 knobs eliminates nearly any confusion. I like the many tone and distortion combinations you can create, and overall, it's pretty easy to use. You could get the hang of it easily without a manual, in my opinion...

When I found the need for this pedal, it was mainly because I was dying for a low-cost, effective distortion pedal with a respectable name. I didn't know where to start, but somehow I ran into Boss. They had so many to offer, but I picked up the DS-1 because it was surprisingly the cheapest of the collection (street price = $40 more or less brand-new).

As for the overall sound, it's satisfactory. I've found it can only go so far. I don't blame its simplicity or its price range for this. I might just expect too much out of it. Anyhow, it stands as a reasonable distortion pedal for its class. The distortion can be very weak if you don't adjust all 3 controls to a good combo -- luckily, this isn't hard at all to find. At times, compared to other distortions, the DS-1 can sound somewhat "muffled" or "closed in" from lack of tone. The problem is, even when you crank up the tone control, you can get way too much and it sounds very trebly -- very scratchy. Either way, you're left with little freedom to explore while staying in the boundaries of a good sounding distortion... I give it a respectable 7...

Can I depend on it?! Whoa yeah! If all else seems plain about this particular effects pedal, you have to admit one thing -- the casing of this puppy is like a miniature tank! No joke! The die-cast body of the DS-1 can withstand a number of accidental drops, 'cause nobody's perfect. I've had my DS-1 for about 2 years now, and it's followed me through anything and everything. Quite a few spills on cement even, and all it's aquired are a few small paint chips on the corners... sound-wise, it's as good as it was the day I bought it. You gotta respect that hard casing. This is clearly my kinda stomp box...

Never had to deal with them... the pedal's never given me any problems...

I play rock mainly, though I can be quite the soft acoustic fan too! As mentioned before, the pedal's decent for its price and very reliable. The only downside is its limited freedom. But I won't drop a ton of complaints on something that only costs you $40 when most effects go for $70 and up. It's very road-worthy and will never break down on you. I personally recommend you grab a Boss AC Adaptor to go with your DS-1. Changing batteries is just a plain nuisance in my opinion. These kind of things eat up 9V batteries pretty fast. Just skip the chance of it cutting out during play -- it's well worth the extra $15 or so.

If lost or stolen, I probably would shop around for something a little more open and versatile, while still staying within the distortion category. I like the DS-1, and I like Boss in general, but this one isn't worth a second time around, unfortunately. Maybe you can enhance its overall sound with a combination of other effects? I wouldn't be certain, but it's always worth a shot...
Good luck to all the aspiring musicians out there! Best wishes...

Very easy to use. i figured it out... and i'm not one for mechanics!

I play a fender fat strat with a dean markley 40 watt amp. this pedal is purly a matter of opinion. I love it. others don't. if u like fuzzy distortion and high gain, this is your pedal! a friend of mine went through some more expensive pedals before he found this one. he loves it and so do i

the only gigging i do is a church, so i'm not to rough on it ;). i'm pretty sure that if my house burned down, this pedal would survive, i'm sure of that!

five year warranty. never had to deal with support. (that's a good thing!)

don't use this pedal on anything but grating hard rock, metal, or anything the army uses to interogate POWs. this pedal suites my styles and i think it majorly outperforms many more expensive modles. to wrap it up: if u want a easy to use distortion pedal for a good price, and decent tone, than this is your pedal. (peace)

The knobs are easy to turn! Yet, you gotta know how to use this gem!

I bought my first one in 1980 and had it stolen in 1988. I bought a DS-2 Turbo Distortion to replace it but was never really happy with it. The DS-1 is much smoother than the DS-2.

So last week I bought another OLD DS-1 off of Ebay. This one is serial number 0100 and has the metal thumbscrew and the name DS-1 stretched out [Just like the picute at the top of this page, see the metal thumbscrew? That picture is over 20 years old!] Interestingly, the indicator light stays on when the distortion is on. My first DS-1 light only came on during the pedal being held down and the only way you could tell if the pedal was on or off was by ear. Boss changed that design on all their pedals in the early 80s and so I'm guessing my first pedal was built before that. I'm happy to have the light stay on while the pedal is on.

The pedal has the usual chips in the paint and is covered in yukky stage sweat but still operates great.

I always use my pedals with in a BCB-6 Pedal Case and use the multi power suppy.

With the setting all straight up this old DS-1 is smooth and tight. Great for speed metal and palm muting.

The sound is classic rock and metal and can be used for obtaining sounds from Aerosmith to Everclear. Alice Cooper to Tool.

I'm sure you can get LimpBizkit, Pantera and the god awful Metallica tone with it too with the right eq behind it to scoop the mids out. Unlike the Metalzone the DS-1 is not really equipt with an elaborate tone control section and why should it? With the tone knob straight up my sound switches from clean to distorted and the original TONE is unchanged. I like that. It sound natural like if I had just cranked the volume knob instead of useing a pedal If I need a tone change I'll hit my GE-7 equalizer. That way, I can keep my tone even when I turn the distortion off.

What the DS-1 won't do is the Boss Heavy Metal pedal sound which is loose and rough sounding, like an old Big Muff. No Smashing Pumpkins tones here.

It's important to remember that the DS-1 is ONLY a distortion pedal. Not an EQ or a Compressor or a good guitar. The DS-1 will not compensate for a dead wood guitar or an amplifier that has no compression and sounds like hell on it's own.
I use a 13 pound 1971 Les Paul with a Seth Lover pick up, a Boss CS-3 Compressor/Sustainer pedal, the DS-1, a Boss GE-7 eq pedal, a Boss DD-2 Digital Delay pedal and a Boss CE-5 Stereo Chorus running into 2 old Fender Champ amplifiers. Without the Compressor/Sustainer, at low volumes, my sound would lack sustain. The DS-1 is not responsible for my sustain. My compressor and amplifiers are. My amps and eq are responsible for scooping out the mids or fatten the bottom if I want to sound like Pantera or WhiteZombie.

You kids that plug your Squire Strat into the DS-1 and then into a Peavey Backstage amplifier and then complain about not sounding like Megadeth are naive.

I haven't compared a newer DS-1 to this old one but when I get a chance I will submit a review reflecting my findings. So far I have found no difference in old and new Boss pedals with my SD-1 and HM-2 pedals. I've compared those guys and don't know what people are talking about when they say the old Japan made ones are superior in tone to the Taiwan models but I had to buy this old DS-1 just to make sure I could relieve my old childhood and have the exact same sound. And I do!

People always complement me on my incredible guitar tone. My secret is that Boss pedal should always be used with the knobs straight up. If you are turning your distortion knob all the way up then your real problem is that you don't have enough compression. Buy a better [ old tube amp] or a compressor to remedy this. I played with my distortion knob up all the way for years before finding out that I needed a compressor when playing at lower volumes. Now I usually set the distortion levels on my pedals at just less than halfway up and get endless sustain even at apartment level volumes because I use the compressor [which by the way is set with all knobs at 1 oclock].

So if I hear you complaining about the DS-1 and your not using a compressor and equalizer in your review I'm just gonna write your review off as amature and immature.

Abused for 23 years and still works like the day it was sold.

never needed these guys.

I've been playing metal for over 20 years. cool eh?

I adore my Metalzone but the DS-1 is more natural sounding and with an eq behind it can do whatever the Metalzone. I'll still probably use the Metalzone half the time anyways. I also dig the Big Muff sounds of my Heavy Metal pedal and DOD Grunge peal. I'll still enjoy my OS-2 and SD-1 and my old Big Muffs as well.

Supposedly Curt Cobain used the DS-2 but I think the DS-1 captured his sound better.

If this old DS-1 was lost or stolen again, I'll steal one!

The tone control on this one seems like its pretty sensative- its hard to find the medium between to trebly or too bassy. Other than that, its extremely easy.

I'm using an american roadhouse strat-525qwah-ds1distortion-ce-3 chorus and other pedals into a blues junior. When i first got this pedal....I hated it. I wanted something kinda heavy and this is certainly not that. About 4 months later i took it back out of the box. I plugged it in put the dist on the lowest setting, the tone a little less then half and it was excellent. A great bluesy tone thats very sensative to pick dynamics.

Boss- enough said.

I like it- definately cannot be ones only distortion pedal, but in my mind it definately has its uses. If you're looking for heavy rock, this is NOT it. However, if youre looking for a good little lead tone that is very inexpensice, go for it. Give it a try before you slam it.

very easy to use and to get a good rhythm distortion but the tone knob is useless for me, it would be the perfect pedal if it had a scoop knob, but it doesn't, the manual sucks

i play a squire strat with an invader on the bridge, and new locking tunning machines. i use a marshall mg50, i can get blink, sum41 and pennywise sounds, it doesn't work for lead

i won't break

this is good for punk and metal, i been playing for 5 years (only 2 electric guitar), i own a memory man, a phase 90, korg pedal tuner, tube screamer, and a crybaby from hell, if it were stolen i would buy an mxr doubleshot distortion. i love the price of this pedal and also it's price and i think the only distortion that sounds better than this one is the double shot. i wish this one had a scoop knob. this is the only cool thing about boss

Simple.

I bought a DS-1 in the mid 80's for around $75.00 new. Played it through a solid state amp with a stock strat for years. Later I used it with a Blackface Bassman, same guitar . Always gave the same great smooth saturation and great harmonics. I sold it about 7 years ago to purchase some new equipment. BAD MISTAKE!!! Bought a new one mail- order recently, and I'm sorry to say it is NOT the same pedal. The new DS-1 SUCKS REALLY BAD ! It sounds mushy and flat compared to the one I bought 18 years ago.What happened? Did the original chip fall out of production? Is it too expensive now? Is this what it takes to compete with Digicrap? I have always used BOSS products and have never been let down like this. I remember what it was like to be a kid and have no money, but listen guys SAVE UP!! Git yosef a reel pedal! The moral of this story is YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. By the way what happened to the OD-3. Glad I bought two.

Never had a problem with a boss.

Never had to have a repair. Im sure BOSS Has excellent coustomer support.

Okay maybe I'm being a little harsh. Im sure this pedal can hold it's own with anything in it's PRICE RANGE. Just call it something else so you dont confuse us old folks.

3 knobs, lots of combos,

I play a LP on a CrateDX212 and i'm playing mostly rock and blues. The pedal isn't that noisy compared to other distortion pedals in its price range, it makes some good sound for a 40 dollar pedal honestly. You aren't going to get fuzz or subtle overdrive, but you will get nice distortion for 40 bucks.

when i stomp on it, it has never failed to come on. So I guess that's good.

never dealt.

I'd like to stress that this is a 40 dollar pedal. If price is a big concern and you want to get bang for your buck, this is a great distortion pedal (not a fuzz pedal or metal distortion pedal). You can not compare this pedal to a Metal Zone or Ibanez TS9 or Blues Driver b/c these pedals are in different categories and cost more. But if you want a nice distortion pedal for rock (and if you're a good tweaker blues and punk) this is an awesome pedal for 40 bucks. Is it going to get blown out of the water by 100 and 200 dollar pedals? Of course. Likewise, you can't compare a 15w solid state amp to the Marshall JCM800. However, for the money this is great. If it were stolen i'd replace it b/c it's just a great little pedal to haul around and practice w/ in the garage.

Easy to use.

(I bought a DS-1 from Musician's Friend for $39.95. It sounded crapy. It was very thin sounding. I was using all tube amps, and it still sounded crapy. The distortion settings were bad 1-9. 10 was ok, but still yucky. The tone knob just made a big fuzzy mess.)

I bought a DS-1/Pro from analogman.com($100). Mike replaced the stock chip with a JRC op-amp chip. It sounded much better. The distortion is very usable from 1-9. It has a good overdrive distortion all the way to singing sustain of high gain. Only thing is at 10, it's a little too fuzzy. I roll it back a touch, and it's fine.

I use the tone no more past 9/10 o'clock. I think the highend gets harsh after that.

It's dependable. I gig with no back up.

Over all good distortion pedal for tube amps. This with a tubescreamer type pedal is a good versital setup. The DS-1 will give you a good low gain or high gain distortion.

I only recomend the analogman.com DS-1/Pro mod.

simple but definately the best 40 dollars you will ever spend

crank the distortion on ur clean channel...sounds great, crisp and sharp. The thing about this pedal though that no one knows is its ability to boost your sound. Here's what i do

Set the Tone knob around 11-12 oclock...turn the level knob up all the way, and turn the distortion down completely. Use the pedal over your amps overdrive channel to get amazing feedback, turn the amp to the clean channel and with this setting get a bluesy sound, this setting is killer. THis pedal is just incredible

its a boss

dont have to worry bout it, so it gets a 10

do yourself a favor and buy this pedal, you wont regret it, whether you are using it for nice crisp distortion or as a overdrive booster, this pedal is incredible

Tone, level and Distortion. 'Nuff said?

Great crunchy distortion. Tends to get a little muddy in the highs, but still fabulous.

It's a Boss. 5- count 'em 5-year warranty.

I bought this pedal after hearing a live take of the Cult's "Fire Woman." I read that Billy Duffy used a DS-1, so I got it at Guitar Center. This is a truly great pedal- it really does a nice job of adding distortion and emphasizes the harmonics with my DiMarzio Tone Zone bridge pickup. You can go spend tons of money on boutique or vintage pedals, but you're not going to get a much better sounding or more reliable distortion box. If you need a little more clarity in the high end- try the SD-1 overdrive. You may want to add a compressor in front of it if you're doing some really loud metal.
Don't be a snob and buy some $500 TS-808 or crazy boutique pedal- it won't make you play or sound better. For $40 bucks, there's almost no reason not to at least try it. Clearly a 10.

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I just wanted to share something I found on Steve Vai's website. There he tells exactly how he uses his DS-1. So here it goes :

"With my set-up, when the distortion pedal is turned off the amp is a little dirty sounding. Kind of a chunky rhythm tone that I use as a basic sound for all the songs. If I back off the volume on the guitar the sound clears up enough to use it for cleaner songs. When I crank the volume on the guitar and hit the pedal it's usually pretty distorted but smooth. The way I set the knobs on the DS-1 are tone control to about 9 o'clock, level at about 11 o'clock and the distortion to about 11 o'clock. If your amp is set very clean then crank the distortion on the pedal all the way up but smooth it out by bringing the tone way down, maybe to 7 or 8 o'clock. The basic sound is in the tone but most improtant is the way you hit the notes. "

On the other hand, Joe Satriani uses it as his premier source for distortion. He has set his amps completely clean and the DS-1 with the Dist-knob on full !!!

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easy to use? , sure! , only three knobs! , just one for the tone , this cute thing would have more tone knobs , this manuals is for dumbs ...

ufff , this pedal sound bad in a average amp (Marshall 8040), sure this ting could sound better in a head + cab rig , well ,that isnt my rig so i coulnt reach great tones with this cute stompbox , not sound smooth enough for my taste

can you say Boss?

no dealt with Boss

well in this moment im selling this thing cos i got the Marshall Shremaster , that is a good distortion pedal! , this thing is really overrated for all that Kurt stuff.. sure Boss have better pedals around..i would try the blues Driver for a good tube sound..

This one is a modified pedal by Steve Dudley and it
kicks butt. Per His description: This pedal uses LED's in place of the stock clipping diodes. One of the LED's is next to the switch (see photo) that allows you to actually see the distortion as it happens. In it's stock form the DS-1 uses symmetrical clipping. The switch on this DS-1 allows you to connect one of the original clipping diodes in series with one of the LED's to give you asymmetrical clipping. This adds 2nd order harmonics and gives a more "tube like" distortion. High quality stacked metal film capacitors, silver mica capacitors and metal film resistors have been used to increase the bass response and improve overall fidelity. A blue power LED has also been added for a cool look when turned on. See my recent feedback to see what others have thought of my work on effects pedals. sdudley6760@aol.com
This is the type of mod infamous Robert Keeley does to DS-1's

I'm a Strat player. This pedal is quite quiet for a
overdrive/distortion pedal. I believe Steve's mod have
something to do with this. I use Fender Super Reverbs,
Hot rod deluxes, and occasionally a Tweed 4x10.

Its a beefed up Boss pedal and definately road
worthy.

I like bluesy stuff. I've now bought two DS-1's
from Steve.

Not as easy to use as you might be lead to believe since it really is difficult to obtain a good tone from this pedal.

Sounds very thin and tinny and it feeds back at high drive settings, making it unuseable.

Boss aint all that bad when it comes to reliability. Actually its Boss's main strength, as the actually sound quality of their pedals is questionable, especially when they are disengaged- the bypass stinks, and your "bypassed" sound loses so much treble youll swear you are going deaf.

Boss is Roland. Roland is Boss. Boss is good.

This is probably the single most overrated guitar/keyboard pedal in history. If this pedal was ever used by a pro it was probably because it was so long ago that not much else was available. I guess those "pros" never heard of the Vintage Rat pedal either. This pedal is junk, plain and simple. Its perfect for someone who has never played the electric guitar and wants to make alot of noise fast and easy, but any experienced player would shun this noisemaker in place of their SD-1 Overdrive, which is a much more subtle and useful pedal. I bought this pedal used but it was in mint condition, and thats the same way I sold it, used in mint condition. I no longer own this piece of junk, and I use my Rat or Blues Pearl Blue Balls instead.

3 knobs--easy as pie.

I use it with a stock 94 Fender American Standard Telecaster through a 94-ish Fender Blues Deluxe Blonde Tweed. I keep the overdrive channel on the Deluxe turned up all the way and only use the dirty channel. I kick on the DS-1 when I solo, to cut through the rest of the band. With the Blues Deluxe, you only need to play softer to clean up the sound, so the clean channel is pretty useless unless you're playing acoustic-based music. I can get any sound I want with that setup. I like to keep it simple and anyway, I've always thought people who had to use thousands of dollars worth of equipment to get "their" sound are compensating for their lack of ability with their instrument.

I've gigged weekly for 10 years without any problems-but keep an extra battery around.

N/A

I play mainly garage/rock-n-roll and it fits like a glove. I've been playing since I was 14 and other than an early experiment with a crappy DOD American Metal pedal and the ultra-shitty Zoom 505, I've never used anything else. I set the tone at 12:00, the volume at whatever fits my playing volumne and the distortion at 8:00.

Hi. I wrote the very last, pretty lengthy review back there.

One thing I forgot to mention for the Vai/Satch fans is that for the most part the DS-1's they were/do use are the older made-in-japan type. I had one. They sound very different. Better. As I understand it they also use DS-1's modded by Robert Keeley called the seeing eye mod. Check out his site at www.robertkeeley.com for his explanation of what he does to thier DS1's.

This is a touchy subject with this pedal. I know alot of controversy is over the fact that Satch and Vai use this pedal and that most pro players here think it sounds like shit the first time they play it.

As far as the satch thing goes, his live tone comes 100% from this pedal. I heard it strait from the horses mouth. Ive seen his rig up close. Its channel switching marshalls set on only the clean channel and set very loud with the DS-1 providing all the gain. Sounds weird but it is true. The albums are a different story although its my understanding many of the recordings he's done on his albums are with this same live rig miced up in the studio. I think on albums like Crystal Planet he essentially does a similair thing to what Vai was doing for a while. Using the DS-1 as a gain boost to a loud, slight, or mildly, overdriven amp. I know the main ones on Crystal Planet were a Marshall Plexi and then a Peavey 5150.

Vai during the 97 G3 tour was using the DS-1 to smack the input of a modded plexi and put the distortion into the saturated over the top zone (the mod was the typical arrendondo type mod: adding a master volume and another power tube for added gain)

The thing with the DS-1 and all distortion pedals really is it acts very different with different amps. With fenders it sounds like shit. With any overly bright clean amp distortion pedals usually give mixed or bad results. With a meaty rig like a 100W marshall into a marshall 4x12 it sounds much better. You need to back way off the tone too. If the tone is set too high it makes the box VERY harsh and trebly. Especially into a marshall clean channel. Satch keeps his tone control around 9 o'clock I think.

Another thing about SS distortion like this. Its never gonna sound as alive and present as tube amp distortion in a live situation. My Soldano sounds huge and makes the DS-1 sound whimpy by comparison. Thats when playing them live. Standing in front and hearing the huge sound of even a Dual Recto or Plexi. Distortion boxes by comparisson are muddy, undefined and lack cut-through. BUT!!! When miced up, either live or in a recording situation, the sound that comes out (on recorded track or PA) is just different. Not better or worse. It just needs the right treatment at the board. Ive found that when that happens, both sound similiar through the monitors, presence-wise. Thiers only a certain frequency range a guitar can occupy anyway. Especially when recording. The lower frequencies are typically gonna be rolled-off to make room for the kick and bass. What most always comes through on guitar is the high mids.

I, however, use this pedal as a booster only. Even though I use the king of modern super high-gain amps (the Soldano SLO-100) I like to run it at lower, crunch, gain settings. It yeilds a better clean sound when backing off the volume and the only really appropriate time for ultra gain is during certain leads anyway. Overly-distorted rythym parts just get muddy and undefined. Ask James Hatfield that one. He definitly agrees with me there. And the many interviews I read were he said that was back in the justice/black album days. When they were more-or-less at thier heaviest. Right?

I give it a 7. It gets the job done well. Its cheap. But it lacks real character. But hey, its a $40 pedal, right.

Unlike all the other bedroom jammer drones who spout off about how boss pedals are built like tanks, yet have no experience to come to that conclusion, I, in my real experience, under reasonably demanding conditions, find that Boss pedals last 1-2 years under any real heavy usage before funny things start happening with them. I dont stomp on them either. I gig, at times, 4-5 times a week but when I turn them on or off I use the toe action and just press with the front of my foot. I try to keep all my pedals in good condition so I developed this habbit. The posative thing is thier very cheap ESPECIALLY the DS-1. A mere 40$. I have more than one of almost everything I really like and use alot.

Talk about well built effects. Teece wahs and the Foxrox CCII. But they are the top. The Crem-de-la-crem of thier effect type. However you spell that:) Your looking at 250-400 for these kinds of effects. Inevestments I am always glad to make when I get that right tone.

A joke. The products are so cheap I dont even bother with the corporate machine. Its not worth it. Sometimes you have to do research and spend time just to get a hold of someone at these bigger music corporations for what? A question about a 40$ pedal. No thanks.

(Not that testy people like Mike Fuller, at Fulltone, are any better to deal with.)

I wrote a pretty lengthy review of this thing. I hope it can help someone whos on the same wavelength as me.

My crudentials are pretty decent having toured pretty extensively yet I cant say Ive been in a band with anything above minor success. Not that that means shit anyway.

When all is said and done if its the sound you hear in your head realized, it sounds right in your head and fingers while playing, and inspires you to be really creative, its the right peice of equipment. Dont listen to people who say a real pro will sound great on anything. BULLSHIT!!! Although 10 times out of 10, Al DiMeola is gonna blow me away, even if Im playing on a rigg I love and spent thousands of dollars on and he's playing a $50 crap rig, even he would admit if you dont have a rig that sounds good to you, itll never inspire you to play well and reach your potential. He'll still be better then me but not nearly as good as he would be on his own rig:)

The most simple Distortion unit you could possible buy quick no nancy pancy with filters or anything just straight down the line distortion

You can get anything you want out of it it serves all purposes Blues rock grunge and it doesn't Hum alot infact there isn't much hum at all

I never had a problem with it it was my first distortion unit and out of the others that i have tried i have always come back to it and it's got a long lasting battery use too. and i have never had it serviced. (it was second hand aswell)

very good staff, never been unable to help, and very friendly

For #30 you can't fault it if you want cheap fantastic distortion then this is the one to get well worth its money

Simple to use and to get a good sound. I had it sounding good within minutes after I brought it home.

I'm using a Mesa Boogie Triaxis into a Boogie 50/50. My guitar is an Ibanez JS 1000 with Dimarzio pickups (PAF neck, FRED bridge). It is plugged into the DS-1 and then into the Triaxis. A little noisy but the sound quality is worth it. A noise gate cleans it up.

I never thought a cheap stomp box would benefit quality Mesa gear, but it does enhance the sound. I'm using the DS-1 to get just a little more response out of my pre-amp.

I've read on web sites, althought I don't know how true the accuracy, that Satriani's setting on his DS-1 are 9-5-2. I started with those settings and quickly found my preferred settings: 10-5-3.

There's no single setup combination (pre-amp, power amp, stomp box, etc.) that can be called the best sounding. "Beauty is in the 'ear' of the beholder". Keep trying even the little things and eventually you'll find the sound you're looking for. I'm close, but still looking.

Boss stomp boxes last forever.

Excellent value for the money. Contributes much to my sound.

3 knobs, Couldn't be easier. It came with a menu with instructions in it.

I used it with a Marshall MG 15. and a Fender Amercian Stratocaster.

I don't care who used this pedal, It just doesn't sound good. It gives a nice distortion, sure. But if you want to play lead guitar with it, take something else. It can make a crappy guitar sound ok, and make a great guitar sound ok, no more.
but the it kills the sound, it makes it very dull. and no matter how much I messed around with the knobs, it still sounded bad.

Solid metal. no problems.

never had to contact them.

Its a nice distortion, good for beginners. however, if you want something that sounds really good, you should buy something else. This one doesn't cut it.

Very easy to use, only three knobs so you can't get yourself into too much trouble. The only other 10 will be for reliability.

I'm playing a Les Paul Standard through a Mesa Boogie Nomad 4x10. That's the good news. As for the pedal it was like stepping on a box of suck! The tone knob was the worst thing they could have put on this pedal. You turn it past 11 and the high end is brittle and nasty, completely unusable. I took it out of the pedal chain and put it between the guitar and amp and Yahtzee!! it still sounded like suck. I don't know how this mass produced piece of junk is scoring 10's in this department. I can only imagine that there a lot crappy sounding rigs out there. The unit I had was made in Taiwan. The folks who made this pedal popular were probably using the ones made in Japan. Then again, I don't care for Vai or Satch's tone anyway. There are solid state amps out there that sound better than this. Ebay is has been overrun by the DS-1, why? Because they suck real bad.

This is the injustice of it all. Boss pedals will last for years because of their construction. So what you get is a pedal that is a complete abomination to all distortion pedals that will last a lifetime. What a pitty! You have to be real nasty to destroy these pedals.

Musical tastes: The The, The Cult, Infectious Grooves, Radiohead, SKA. This pedal is a tonal nightmare. If you asked me, "hey Evan, do you know how I could get a sucky sound from my rig"? I would definitely reccomend the DS-1. "Yeah, I guarantee you'll sound like suck"! If I hadn't pimped mine on Ebay I would still be praying that it get lost or stolen.

Three knobs, all making a large difference to the sound when turned, 9v input. The manual gives you some preset ideas, which are mildy amusing, and it tells you how to change the battery if you can' t work it out, but I think you' re smarter than that;)

"the best distortion in the world...probably". I own 5 distortion pedals, and this is definatley one of the best. You always seem to get quite a rich sound out of it. If you like a high trebley sound, it' s very good for that, if you like a bassy grunge, it' s good for that. It' s amazingly verstile, I find it can apply itself to praticaly any electric guitar style, or even an acoustic style.
The sound is a very clean distortion, and it can handle chords beautifully. Good for solos, too.
One thing that has to be said for it, though, is that it doesn' t give that supergain that a fuzz pedal might, but the pro side to this is that it keeps its definition when a fuzz might just sludge out. But if it' s distortion you want, then this is your pedal. If you want a super gain, I may advise you to look somewhere else.

I' ve had it for 4 years, it has never ever let me done.
I had lost it fot 2 months, during which time it was subjected to some terrible English winter conditions in my damp and wet garage. I found it, and it still works fine. It comes in a solid metal case, What more could you ask for?

N/A

This pedal is a great tool in my effects arsenal. I play grunge and rock stuff. Fantastic for Gunsn'n'Roses and Nirvana, and heavier stuff requiring detuning. If you like hendrix, pumpkins, sabbath kind of rock though, I'd stress that this isn' t a fuzz pedal, and you won' t get to sound like one.

3 Knobs, easy as anything, didnt get a manual as it was secondhand. Now just a quick note to all those "guitarists" who have been slagging off various pedals on these pages. GET YOUSELVES SOME GOOD AMPS. If the metalzone/ds-1/od-3 are so bad why are they industry standard??? Plugging them into your 10 watt tranny crate/fender/marshall will not get you a good sound even if you whack one of these in front of it. Even though my Laney is 15 watt, its go valves and when i turn it up its great. Dont upgrade anything until you have a good amp. I've been through about 30 pedals of varying quality trying to get my own sound (not copy someone elses, "I cant get a metallica/Vai/SRV sound out of this piece of shit" well guess what? even if you played through the same rig you wouldnt sound like them. YOU ARE NOT THEM!)

Dont get this if you want overdrive or fuzz. It does what it says on the case, its a distortion. You want distortion, then buy this, you want heavy distortion, get a Metalzone. Great distorted tone even though I think distortion is too trebily 99% of the time. Its all in the Amp and EQ settings.
This is in a chain of: Squire Strat with Bridge Kent Armstrong Hotrails, Boss OD-3 DS-1 Boss MT-2 Metalzone Boss ct-6 Tuner and Laney LC 15r Valave amp, great set-up to my ears covering evrything i could possibly want, Basically its a 4-channel amp set-up. with the DS-1 giving the third channel, dirty but not saturated. While the whole set-up cost no more than #450 I have a sound that I am proud of.

Boss,look it up in a dictionary and it'll give you a definition of build quality. As I said in a Metalzone review-Ive seen nuclear bunkers with less buid qulaity 100 out of 10. pots might get scratchy but thats what contact cleaner is for.

N/a but cant find any manuals online at Boss or Roland sites

Fits at the center of my set up and does its job with consumate ease. Rock all the way baby, Dont do Country or (heaven forbid) jazz.
If it got stolen i'd hunt down the thief get my orginal pedal and bludgeon them to death with it for the scum that they are. err..i'd buy a new one.

I've been playing about with this unit for about a month now. Although there are only three knobs I've had some trouble getting it to work with the equipment I already have. Playing one for ten minutes in a shop (where you can't really turn up the sound) is very different from playing at home. I wanted to use this as a boost for an already distorted sound, but found I was losing all definition. I prefer to use it as the gain for a clean valve channel that is just about to break up. Putting the level on full with tone at about 9 o'clock and distortion on 2 o'clock gives a really convincing Satriani sound, particularly if you know how to roll the guitars controls around a little bit.

For the setting that I described above it works really well. I don't like the way it sounds when used as a booster and find putting the tone at anything above 10 o'clock to be too harsh. This pedal adds a lot of mid and bass to your sound so just keep your amp in check - I keep my bass at about 3 these days, with mid on full and treble on 6 or 7. I also found that using the EQ on the amp gave me a nice and chunky metal sound.

Seems to be pretty sturdy but then I've only had it for a month. Other BOSS products I've used are still going strong.

No dealing with BOSS.

Overall I like this pedal a lot. I find it to be best at Satch/Vai/Timmons type stuff, where the guitar is at the front. For more classic rock and in a band setting it is too obvious and I prefer to get a good sound from the overdrive channel on the amp. In this case I use a BOSS GE-7 for boost.

After reading the manual and experimenting you learn its workings in and out.

I am playing a with a Gretch Committee, through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.
With my setup it sounds good for a punk rock "authentic" sound. As in it doesnt get a studio perfect distortion. It gets that raw sound that artists use once they have to use effects that arent buuilt into there multi thousand doller system (aka live sounds).
-The distortion can get to the point were all you hear is "whish whish" in the back ground (atleast when you play with more than one person) once you turn it past halfway. I use it around 2 with the tone on about 6 or 7.
-When palm muting it gets a wierd sound that is only good if you want to sound somewhat different from the rest of the crowd.

I have used it at one gig and countless practices in many different practice areas. At the gig we were playing in a garage and some kids decided to declare open mic nite and rushed the "stage". It and all my otehr boss pedals sustained being stepped on a couple times.
-Its solid metal casing. The only thing that could break would be the nobs that control the dist., tone and volunme (thats because they're the only plastice on the whole thing aside foerm the step pad).

Never ahd a problem.

I play punk and its great for that. It CANT get a real "metal" type sound, either that or i dont know how. I've been playiong for almost three years, and playing in bands for about two years. It holds its weight. As far distrotion i also have a boss metal zone and a ZOOM 606 II. In comparison to the later it is definetly 100 times better. The MZ is good but not for the type of sound you would get from this. If it were lost or stolen i would cry... and then go get a new one. Its good for making music if you add it to the song after you've planned it out. In general it continues to strengthen the appreciation for boss stuff in genral. WARNING: this is a good pedal by all emans but only as one of a few other pedals that should be in the line up with it. Dont expect to play every dist. type invented.

This pedal is pretty easy to use. After about 20 minutes of messing around with it I could get some nice distortion. The manual doesnt give much info on each of the knobs but they are kind of self-explanitory. One thing I did like about the manual was the suggested settings. I didnt like all of them but some are good.

I'm using a fat strat with this pedal to a fender amp. If I switch the the 'bucker and flip the pedal on i can get some fat distortion. When I switch to the single coils and the pedal i get yet another cool sound. This is one of the reasons I like the fat strat. Nice versatility. It can get somewhat noisy at some settings wich is annoying. This is good for grundge, punk, metal, almost anything.

Like everyone else whos reveiwed the DS-1: "Its a BOSS." or "Built like a tank" or "I could pound in nails with this"...you get the idea.

I havn't had to deal with them. I probably won't either. It came with a five year warranty in the rare case of a problem with a BOSS.

I play a lot of different music and this is good for almost any of them. If this was stolen i would consider a different pedal maybe a Big Muff pi but I might buy another. Overall a good pedal.

Hate to add to the redundancy, but it's three knobs and a footswitch, how much easier can it get? Well, I guess one knob and a footswitch, but where's the fun in that?

Fender Std Tele-->DS-1-->Crate MX15R

It took me ages to get the sound I wanted out of it, despite the ease of use. I bought it a few weeks after I got my Tele and immediately sat down and tried out all the little suggestions in the booklet it comes with.

It was okay for a while, but eventually, after I started playing and hearing the sounds that other guitarists got, really for the first time, I decided that I wanted a warm, subtle overdrive, not entirely unlike a tube amp, I guess. Anyway, I quickly dismissed it as too harsh and too bright (which it is...when the distortion is set past the halfway mark and the tone is, too...) All I had to do (in a sudden "Christ I'm an idiot" revelation) was turn the tone knob all the way down and put the distortion at around nine, level to taste.

Having the tone all the way down eliminates, almost completely, all the hum from the single coils without making the sound muddy. The distortion, set like it is, can stay pretty subtle, and then, with a quick flick of the volume knob and a slightly more aggresive attack, can get pretty angry. I don't, however, like it for *this* sound if the tone is any higher, or if the distortion is any higher or lower than about nine or ten.

The only other sound that I need out of this pedal is that harsh, really bright distortion for some punk-ish, noise-rock. It does it well, but I'm never very particular about the settings.

In short (since that was so long): Good pedal. You just have to look for your sound.

I won't give this a rating, because I've only "gigged" with it in my bedroom, but Boss' reputation preceedes them. I don't think I'll have any problems with it.

Also, no opinion. Never had a problem.

I play Radiohead-style rock, indie rock and pop with some alt-country thrown in for good measure. After some tweaking, I'm really happy with it.

If this were stolen I might give the SD-1 a spin, since it seems like it might give me more variations on the "subtle overdrive" that I'm looking for, but as for right now, this is fine.

I did, however, spend way too much for it. Fantastic pedal, but robbing a kid blind is just unethical. This is, however not a reflection on Boss, just on the local music store (the ONLY local music store) where I bought this.

3 Dials, what else is there to know?

Too bad there is no 0 for rating. I paid 30 bucks for this thing, sold it in a week. If you are trying to sound like crap, definately buy this pedal. I was lucky enough to sell it to a friend for 25 bucks. Save your money and buy a Boss MT-2 Metalzone. DS-1 was definately Boss's worst pedal ever made.

The only good thing about this pedal is, it will never stop sounding like crap unless you pull the battery out. Boss has made it so that you will know that you will have crappy distortion until you die.

Never dealt with them. Ive heard its hell though.

One word describes this pedal... crap.

Every different sound i can get with this is useful. I would like to be critical but its ahrd this is the best distortion out there.

I use this for Punk,ska,metal, and blues you can use it for anything. It can get noisy on single coils but my less paul's humbuckers do just fine with it. I'm using it with a line 6 spider 112 (this amp needs a kick of distortion real distortion). This is perfect for all types of rock music>

Its a pedal it get stepped on waybe 10 times a day and it keeps going. I would use it on a gig i a had a gig>

never dealt

Awesome for punk/ska and other rock. I would defintly buy it again.

How simple can it get? 3 controls, all doing what they say they do - Perfect!

The manual is well written for those with little of experience of Distortion effects which in my opinion is great, better to assume the player knows nothing in my opinion.

I have several guitars but tend to use a EBMM John Petrucci 6-string into a 535Q wah, VL MicroVibe, DS-1 straight into the clean channel of my Marshall DSL50 (have also got a Tremoverb but works better with the Marshall).

This pedal definately needs to be played through a valve amp, the reviewers who rated this pedal any less then 7 either played it through solid state or are deaf. The tone is superb and it is apparent why guitarists like Satch rely upon this heavily for their lead tone tone. It really sings, has no hint of buzz, and musical feedback is easily obtainable. In fact I've had more comments about my tone using this live than playing through the aforementioned boogie.

At first I found there to be not enough gain (isn't that always the case?!) but I actually have a Fulldrive II and I run this before the DS-1 when I need a smoother, more refined tone.

I tend to have the distortion control all the way up with the tone at about 9 o'clock. The tone control is really vital on this pedal and will help tame what is generally a very bright tone from this pedal.

I can't complain about the sound, does exactly what it's supposed to. Better than pedals 3 times it's price.

Boss pedals are built to last years and this one is no exception

no experience

For #35 ever guitarist should have one of these in their armoury - it's money well spent and well serve you many years through many styles.

And by the way, those earlier reviewers who said Satch doesn't use one of these - HE DOES. I got the chance to speak to Paul Cornford (of Cornford amps fame) late last year and he confirmed that Satch exclusively uses this pedal live for his distorted tone. And when I turn my Marshall up it really is Satch's tone.

I have been playing over 14yrs and this is the first distortion I've had that I really like. Get one you won't regret it. (unless you have a crappy solid state amp!)

3 knobs.....can't be any simpler

The sound quality is great. Plus it has good use in the world of famous guitarists also, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Kurt Cobain to name a few. It sounds great, i use it to add some punch to my rhythm and lead channels. I use a Crate Steath tube head. This pedal was made for some amazing heavy distortion sounds. Like i recommend with any Boss pedal, check out the suggested settings then tweak from there... it works a lot better than just going at it yourself. I use it only in conjunction with my amp and my PW-10 wah pedal (try it with the bad horsie patch..you'll love it)

Still working after 2 years

Boss support isn't great, but i haven't needed it with this pedal

The band i play with uses a variety of sounds...everything from scoarching lead to light distortion octave parts to clean with reverb...and this pedal is a great asset to the sonic array. I would definatley get another if this got stolen or lost... i'd be pretty pissed too. check out my band at http://noapologies.cjb.net

You can get a great sound right out of the box.
So it's really easy.

It is only noisy if you have the dist. and tone knob all the way up.
It's great if you want a nice blues of classic rock sound but, you can get a heavy tone out of it.

Nothing can break it.

If you need or want a nice blues and hard sound it's great.
If it was stolen I would be really mad.
I think it might be the pedal I like the most!

Easy to get good sounds from the device. No patches can be stored. Manual useful for beginners, but unnecessary to someone experienced with using distortions.

DS-1 into Traynor Bassmaster YBA-1 with a 2 X 10 solid backed enclosure, or DS-1 into SansAmp GT-2 into a Carvin solid state 100W combo amp.

Since it is a gain device, it does magnify noise, but its self-noise is acceptable. I'm many years past trying to get the sounds of my favorite artists, but knowing what they used is instructive in developing your own sound.

I think people who dislike this pedal may be using it in a way that doesn't master its potential. Direct from guitar into a clean solid-state amp isn't going to get good results. For years I wondered at why pedal distortions all sounded so rough and thin, and I stopped using them. Then I got a real tube amp, and even at volumes which barely drive the power amp at all, the mating of the quality of of distortion of the DS-1 with the coloration of the tubes results in a beautiful full-bodied overdrive, which is reminiscent of just cranking the amp up to ten, but with more finesse and control. I use it in two different ways, depending on the effect I want. I can either use it 1. primarily to drive the front end of the tube amp, in which case I dial the distortion all the way down and the output all the way up and turn the amp up high (no master volume = painfully loud! but it sounds sweet) or 2. turn the volume up to about two or three, beneath the range of audible power amp distortion but into the range of heavy coloration, and turn the distortion to about 3 o'clock. The DS-1 changes timbre greatly at that point, and goes from a subtle overdrive to more of a true distortion, but still not to the point of outright fuzz. At this point is the magic, and the amp sings warmly and can be used for controlled feedback. It also cleans up nicely when rolling off the guitar volume. This sounds similar to a cranked up tube amp with an extra preamp tube.

One thing to be careful of is that it can get squeally at higher drive settings, especially if the tone isn't toward the treble cutting side. For best results, don't use any other effects before your amp.

I've used twenty year old Boss effects that were third hand or more. People will be trading these things on Ebay in another 30 years when effects from the 00's become "vintage".

Would gig without backup.

N/A

I play a very versatlile range of music. It covers a wide range, but there are some things in which I'd still prefer to go straight from guitar to amp, for those just barely distorting bluesy sorts of sounds. I also wouldn't use it for the "brown sound". It is musical and can be made sweet, but its transistor clipping cannot be mistaken for a pure modded Marshall cranked on ten sound. What I like about the pedal is that it is the only pedal distortion I've ever used that doesn't diminish and/or depersonalize my guitar's tone quality. It makes tube distortion thicker when used subtley, and can push up the front end gain to push a tube amp into saturation without sacrificing the percussive attack of the strings. It keeps rhythm playing punchy and crisp and helps leads sing.

I use a Fender or Hamer Strat into a Vox Wa> MXR Dyna Comp>(2)Boss DS-1's>Boss FV-60 Volume Pedal>Ibanez TL5 Tremolo>(2)DigiTech Digidelay Pedals>DigiTech Multi Chorus>(2)Music Man 212-HD 130's.The DS-1 is a very transparent pedal.So the better your gear, the better it will sound.With this set up I can any gig.

I have never had to call Boss for any problem in 20 years of using their gear.

I play Rock,Jazz,Country,R&B,Blues,& Funk.This orange pedal helps me get all the sounds I need for these styles.I would buy this pedal again and again.

Well...It has three knobs, lets see if se can figure this one out, really though, with two knobs, you cat get a full spectrum of distortion, how cool is that

I use this along with my boss AC 2, PH 3, DD 5, and GE 7, i play a custom fender strat through my hot rod deluxe, this pedal sounds awesome, has a real range of sounds, anywhere from warm and gentle, to nirvana like grunge, its great and sounds beautifull, if it was lost or stolen id buy another without even thinking about it

pppllleeaaassseee...

havent had to deal with them at all

This pedal sounds phenominal through my amp and with my setup, i general play all differant types of rock, from hardcore to wuss rock, and it sounds great, definately one of the best purchase's in my musical career, and it is really pretty inexpensive

this is a pedal that i use to own and forgot how it sounded...all i remember is that when i first bought it i really wasnt looking for a distortion i was looking for an overdrive...now that ive finally found the overdrive of my dreams (well the two overdrives) fulldrive 2 and marshall bluesbreaker (the old black box one) i am on a quest to find a distortion again. what i remember about this pedal is that it really was creamy and made a very interesting boost for my big muff sending the big muff into anurisms...yes. i think i will try it again...

one thing that i didnt like was that this pedal didnt quite match my gear..i own a epiphone casino and fender twin reverb...i didnt do what i wanted...but you know, sometimes you need to overlook something to really appreciate it later. my friend just bought one for dirt cheap so i think im going to borrow it.

It is simple. an input jack. output jack. easy as.
-tone knob
-vol knob
-gain knob

i use a crap-ass samick strat into a squier practice amp. i like to play punk and i need saturated distoertion. the ds-1 doesnt deliver. it only offers classic crunch with little sustain. i also have a zoom505 multifx which has a variety of good distortions from crunch to hi-gain

it is very sturdy and doesnt break, its solid. runs on a 9v battery or supply

good for classic rock, crap for punk, metal etc.

This is very simple. You just plug it in.

I am using my Ibanez GAX70 and a piece of shit Rogue amp. The effect pedal is good. Bosses generally are. It is a classic distortion pedal which you can get nearly any sound with.

Yeah, it is dependable. I would use it at a gig without a back up easily. It's a hell of a lot better then Danelectro Pastrami Overdrive.

Zzound is an A+ company.

Great match. I like to play grunge and punk music. I have only been playing a liitle over a year though. I could be wrong about it because I haven't developed an ear for tone yet.

Very easy to get a good sound, set distortion at 8 or 9 and adjust tone accordingly.

I am using a Wolfgang->Cry Baby->DS-1->5150 setup. The sound is very high quality i cant complain. The only thing that might be a i little shoddy is the volume nob doesnt raise the volume very much. But unless u want your lead way louder than the clean then its no problem

Its boss what else is there to say

havent ever used boss CS

Overall this is a great pedal. I used to have the DS-2. It was a gift. And this one blows it out of the water.

Simple to use 3 knobs gain leval and tone and on off switch

Well before buying this pedal i was allready sceptical,i ad a prevois DS-2 and played other's in the range and sounded like crap,totally horrible to listen to but what else can you expect for under a #100.I was willing to give the DS-1 a chance having heard satch and vai use etc athough i was just carrying out a little experiment as before i bought it i pretty much new they both of them where talking totally shit,And once i had a listen of the thing it was just what i was expecting not only pafetic for lead legato and frettapping etc as the notes just dont come out but the little git of the thing manages to just soung plain disgusting to all that come into 50feet of the thing.It's not even a preferance of the sound{maybe someone will like it lol lamo}or with someone that plays different styles the honest truth is it just sound's awfull

who care's it's useless

whould'nt know

Don't ever go near distortion pedals of any kind's guitarist's have to wake up to the idea where getting conned left right and centre with **** getting paid to promote ****

Tone, Level, Gain. Not hard at all.

Excellent sound quality. I've been playing for 10 years or so and I find this can do just about anything i want it too.

The only thing i dont like is that the tone is dramatically changed when u switch it off... But hey... i can live with that.

Just like someone else on here said, its sorta thin with the mids but i use it with a Vox Cambridge 30 so that more then makes up for it. They go together wonderfully. Occasionally i want that warm sound of overdrive which this doesnt get. but then i can just switch this baby off and hit the channel footswitch on my amp for that. This does what its says. DISTORTION. I wasn't dissapointed at all. Nice thick distortion.

Another thing that surprised me was how good it sounded when strumming open chords! It actually sounded musical! Even with the gain all the way up. Not like with other distortions I've used that just sound like one noise when u play chords on it.

Its like a rock. I've used it for a few months. Its been dropped had things dropped ON it and it still works.

I cant imagine anything going wrong with it. It seems like the sorta thing that could get dropped off a 4 story building and just have the paint chipped here and there :-P

But then again. I wouldnt be at all surprised if it suddenly just stopped working. :-P

Never dealt with them

Overall a really great pedal. I dont like the orange paint. Thats about it!

Some ****head on here said the following and it really annoyed me...

"not all of us care enough to waste all our money on gear. some of us have lives, and some of us actually attend higher education and--yes--even have girlfriends"

I can't express how stupid that statement was... how stereotypical and just plain ignorant. Some of us have lives? What exactly are you implying? That people who live for music have no lives? higher education? I see... musicians aren't intelligent? Thats the kind of asshole logic that makes parents and society in general think musicians are losers and that being a musician isnt a "real job". In the future, think before you type.

Also if my girlfriend had a problem with my music, or if I had to divert funds to her to buy her shit then I'd dump her. Homey dont play dat!

Can't figure it out? Yet again, you are the world's biggest douchebag.

My setup consists of the following: an Epiphone SG deluxe to the DS-1 pedal, to a 1978 Peavey Classic VTX. I'm not going to tell you my settings and all that, since not many people have the same setup. I just like to keep it in 5 pieces or less. With the distortion turned all the way down and the tone in the middle, and with the bridge pickup on, hit an E power chord and tell me that it doesn't sound just like the beginning of any one of AC/DC's songs. It's nice like that. With the gain turned up really high, it's pretty noisy but when you start playing it masks that. My only advice is to keep batteries, because this thing sounds worse as the battery dies. Roland batteries are the best.

I can and do depend on it, yes I would use it without a backup. It's a f*ckin' Boss, for sure it'll last.

Haven't dealt with 'em.

I play any type of music that tickles my fancy, but I must reiterate that this pedal is perfect for AC/DC. If it were stolen, eh, let the guy play it...he obviously needed it if he had to steal a $40 pedal. Great value for the money.

Three buttons; level, tone, and distortion. Not much to mess up!

It's a blatant distortion pedal! The bonehead who reviewed this before me(pk is the name he left :P) should have bought flowers if he wanted pretty. If you know how to handle your guitar and amp, you can make this pedal sound sweet and sing.

Solid as a tank.

Never dealt with them, never had to.

Great! Just don't take the bad reviews for these pedals seriously. Like I said before, no-talent hacks like "pk" just don't have the ability to appreciate a good pedal for what it is. This is true distortion, not overdrive, but true DISTORTION! Buy one, for $40 you can't go wrong!

couldn't be easier - roland even stuck the battery in it before they boxed it up.

wow. this thing is capable of an enourmous variety of really horrible tones. quite impressive. this little pedal, all by itself, sounds worse than all the other bad pedals i've tried, combined. but, it might be useful to make a crappy amp sound good - you know, through some sort of mutually-cancelling crap-frequency-interference or something. maybe that's why a lot of people like it. oh, and if you turn the tone and distortion knobs down far enough so it makes almost no difference in your sound, then it almost doesn't suck.

Boss stuff lasts forever. This pedal will provide you crappy tone, for your entire life.

Never had trouble with Boss/Roland products - but i hear Roland is good to deal with. No opinion.

Waste of money. It doesn't do $40 worth of anything. Glad I kept my receipt.

Easy. Fast to set up. Dials change the tone drastically, but gradually. Very nice.

Excellent. Tonal range is great. Also noticed that unlike many other distortion pedals, the DS-1 doesnt kill the bass tones. That makes the DS-1 good to use with bass guitars, too!

Boss is the one. Metal with rubber dials. Tough. Giggable, for sure.

Never needed.

I replaced my Daddy'o Overdrive with the Boss. The tone of my Les Paul has been forever changed for the better. If you dont have a lot of cash, and want to get some good ole' rockin' distortion going. Get this pedal.

this pedal is great.with time you can find yourself a very good tone.there is 3 knobs gain,level,and tone.

here is my setup gibson sg->dd-5->digitech whammy->dunlop crybaby->ds1->80watt marshall combo.the pedal is not noisy at all even at high gain.if you mess with it enough you can get some great satch leads from engines of creation.great for legato runs.

very strong and the battery last a very long time. i would gig with out a backup.

never needed to talk to them.

for the money this pedal is the best.i have been playing for 4 years and i have tried many other pedals and this one beats them all.if it were stolen i would go get another.

Just 3 controls. However, I don't think the tone control belongs. I discuss that in sound quality.

I very much dislike distortion as opposed to overdrive. But distortion is a fact of electric guitar music and this pedal delivers nicely at it's extremely cheap price. Just to set the record straight distortion and overdrive are totally different. This and tremolo and vibrator are like the two most understood things in the guitar world. Overdrive gives u sustain while distortion just colors your sound. Overdrive is warm and distortion is harsh. So, do not attempt to use this pedal as an overdrive nor to boost your leads. However, u can use this on top of an overdriven tube amp or an overdrive (simulator) pedal and you will get a more abrasive sound. In my opinion a good distortion pedal will not create noise when added to a high gain setup. W/ the tone set pretty high u get noise but I don't see why this pedal has a tone control. Tone belongs to overdrives or pedals that are meant to regulate sustain but not distortion pedals. The DS-1 loses points for that. On top of a Marshall JCM800 u sound like Zakk Wylde (no surprise here) but u also sound a little like the guitar in Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" and "Simply Irresistable" which I thought was just the coolest thing.

Everyone knows a Boss is practically forever.

Very helpfull but u are forced to listen to the techs demos. They get a 9 for that. Battery connectors and ac jacks are easy to replace.

9 b/c @ $40 this is major bang for your buck. As I previously stated I do not like distortion very much but if I need distortion thsi pedal is the pedal I would use. Unless I needed "fuzz" distortion but that's a whole nother review. If it didn't have that tone control I'd give it a 10.

Not very hard to use, I must admit... but keep the tone control at less than noon.

The DS-1 is one of Boss' longest-running models, and it's easy to understand why. It actually sounds like the preamp stage of a JCM800 Marshall, with added gain - no less. It's very versatile, going from a good mellow overdrive to Marshall-at-ten, with everything in-between. Its pre-eq lets a lot of highs through, which means it will hiss a bit, but it also means it cleans down very well from the guitar. Its bass is tight and firm, and the highs a very clear. The only downside is that it has a tad too little amount of mids - but then so do most Marshalls. The DS-2 has more mids, but doesn't quite have the response nor tone of the DS-1...so sometimes I'm spoilt for choice. The best match is to use this pedal with a mid-rich amp like Mesas or AC30, and preferrably a guitar with humbuckers. And yes, like any solid-state pedal it can sound rather flat and uninspiring at low volume, but turn the amp up, and it really shines.

Mine lacks the rubber ring which sits around the battery compartment screw, so the pedal makes some mechanical clicks when one steps on it, and one of the plastic knobs have a quarter-broken shaft hole, but overall the pedal works fine. No electrical issues.

Never dealt with Roland Scandinavia for guitar-related problems.

By coincidence, this is one of Boss' best-sounding, but also cheapest pedals. No wonder why Robert Smith, Steve Vai, Kurt Cobain etc. use/used one. Real quality doesn't come much cheaper than this.

Three knobs...Tone, Distortion and Level. Not rocket science to work out. There are a few suggested settings in the manual, but i didn't need them.

I use this pedal with my Ibanez SA160QM, into a Marshall Valvestate 102R as a boost which gives me a fatter sound with loads of sustain. This is very useful for solos as it makes notes ring out, and good heavy grinding sounds when used on the thicker strings.

I can always depend on it. That is the reason i go for Boss. They make pedals without all the frills. They are just coloured boxes, but the incredible sound u get out of them says it all.

Never dealt with them.

I play all styles, from Classic Rock to Heavy Metal, and this pedal certainly helps me to create the sounds i want. If this pedal was stolen, i would buy another straight away.

Pretty simple to use once you figure out the basics and how the knobs interact w/each other. Don't use the Tone past 12 o'clock--or else it sounds like a hollow, painful shrill distortion. The distortion knob goes from mellow not-quite-overdrive to all out distortion. don't expect warm overdrive--just straight distortion.

Very good basic distortion. Not fuzzy, not metallic, not warm, not smooth--just straight distortion. nothing fancy, but sometimes you don't want anything fancy. it switches in and out noiselessly without any clicks. I use it with a solid state 12" speaker amp, and it's a hell of a lot better than the onboard distortion. I play a gibson LP jr lite with P-100s, so yes, I do get some hum with distortion. not the pedal's fault.

boss

I play rock--classic and alternative. think styles of springsteen to GNR to pearl jam to U2 to smashing pumpkins. this pedal fits in perfectly for BASIC distortion. it won't do everything; that's why they make multiple pedals. still, pay no more than $25 for this.
let's get something straight: not all of us care enough to waste all our money on gear. some of us have lives, and some of us actually attend higher education and--yes--even have girlfriends. so don't bitch about having to get the most expensive gear out there. this is a really good unit.
and, some of these guys on here are full of shit. I once read a guy gave a MIM strat a very poor rating. His reason? well, he "owns" a marshall full stack, and he plays his Gibson Zakk Wylde, Gibson ES-335, Gibson LP custom, and all sorts of other expensive guitars thru it. a silly little MIM strat can't compare, he says. I bet that guy is a pimple faced high school loser who gets beat up at school everyday and doesn't even own 2 guitars, let alone $40,000 worth of gear.
so don't listen to the people who say "instead of a $20 DS-1, go buy a tube amp for $400 and the actual tubescreamer that Stevie Ray Vaughn used and stevie ray vaughn's actual guitar and eric clapton's own guitar cables and jimi hendrix's wah pedal and drive around in jimmy page's actual car and buy jesus christ's shoes and go play in the roman coliseum for best acoustics possible." Yeah, I'm sure these folks do all of that.

DUH

I think this pedal sounds like crap on its own. the secret i have found is to stack it with TUBE amp distortion. I jsut barley overdrive the pedal in front of my Recto-verb. It doesn't really add more gain, instead it articulates the seperate freq. Agian, I barley over drive the pedal. It actually is quiter and more effective than all the eq's i have tried. Like one previous reviewer, i now understand Satch and vai concept for using this pedal. If you run this pedal through the clean channel it sounds like absolute crap, but as a tone shaping tool it is effective

it is boss

i am going to give it a 9 because it only cost me 5 bucks and i dont really use it as a distortion pedal. But if you pay forty bucks for it i would give it a 3. Actually, if you cant get one for 5 bucks or less just forget it, and save your dough and buy a new amp or something

Feeds back at high gain and volume settings so its impossible to use unless you like noise- hey, who knows?

Sounds like shit. Period. Will impress you if you have chops but are tone deaf. Its just too much noise, too much gain, about as subtle as a blowtorch. The low gain settings kind of sound like Jimmy Page and then again they dont- remember if any famous artist admits to using this pedal its because 1) he was paid to promote it or 2) hes using it with $100,000 worth of studio equipment so its bearable, or 3) he stripped the guts and replaced the insides with real electronics and just uses the shell for show.

Boss is actually reliable because what they do is take this really cheap plastic Japanese switch and bury it inside the pedal where it can come to no harm.

Boss is owned by Roland- there is no customer support on their cheapest product, which happens to be this pedal. You want support then buy a $2000 keyboard from them, OK?

Really cool pedal of you have been playing for less than two years and have no sense of rhythn, lead or tone control. If thats the case then this specially designed noisemaker is right up your alley. This pedal is for wannabes who cant play a lick.

It has knobs. One, two, three. No, seriously, I spent ages staring at the thing trying to figure it out.
"When I turn this up, it goes buzz." That's the "Distortion" knob.
"When I turn this up, it goes buzz and hurts my ears." Then I figured out how the "Tone" knob worked.
"When I turn this up there is feedback." That's the "Level" knob

I used to (more on this) use this with an Ibanez GRX-20 which is not too good, so blah blah blah basically the only original parts left are the body, bridge, and tone knobs (not the pots themselves)but it's still somehow the same guitar. I think some of the screws are original, too. My guitar used to be plugged into some stereo set or another, or the mic input of a mixer.
Is it noisy? Duh. Yes that's what its for. If you turn it up, it does feedback.
What I hate (maybe I'm stupid because I'm not using a guitar amp) is that if the tone knob is high, it sounds harsh and shrill and like a Guinea pig in pain, but if the knob is low it sounds muffled like a. . . urrm. . . a Guinea pig in pain under a blanket. It's not subtle at all, if you get what I mean. It does have some dynamics, but it's not entirely responsive. It kind of buzzes loud or softly, depending on how you pick.
It nearly sounds good, and nearly sounds like some of my favorite artists (Page, Clapton, Richards, May, et cetera; can't stand Hendrix) but not quite and I think that this is because it has genuine 12ax7's and EL34's in it, while my favorite guys always used cheapo solid state piece of wassit amps that they dragged out of dumpsters in central London. Yeah.
Seeing this metallic box not entirely useless, I decided to plug microphones into it for a killer robot noise and if you split two mics and plug them both in with a Y-cable, you can rub them together and it sounds funny because the wind screen mesh catches and it. . . hard to describe. . . download "Instant Message Buster" off KazaA and you'll know what I mean. Also I plugged a digital pipe organ thing into it and made the most disgusting, annoying noise ever. It pierces the ears and leaves no trace of sanity within the listener. Hahahaha. Another Spakko Munkle masterpiece. Hahahaha.

I can safely say that it is made solidly out of metal and with limited amounts of plastic bits.

No Opinion.

I play bluesy rock and rock and blues and every thing in between. Hmm. And distored pipe organ music. "Grammy for new category of 'Distorted Pipe Organ Music' goes to G-Bob!"
I've played guitar for two years. I learned how to play classical guitar and it's good. I have also played piano for six years but I took lessons for three and quit. This is why I can play distorted pipe organ music.
I own an Ibanez GRX-20, which is no longer in one piece, a Warmoth neck of maple and rosewook, two Seymour Duncan '59 pickups, one Seymour Duncan "Duncan Custom" pickup, a Fender "something or other" acoustic guitar, the neck of the Ibanez bolted to a four-foot-long plank of pine wood with the stock Ibanez pickup (I debated using the spare Duncan Custom for that), a Behringer V-Amp 2, which replaced the little orange god of distorted microphones and pipe organs, a Behringer mini-mixer that I have forgotten what to call but it works, and an enourmous Yamaha Clavinova digital piano that provides the ill-utilised pipe organ sound. And a metronome, now I come to think of it.
I bought this to use because I wanted to have a guitar that could buzz without blowing out speakers using my 1975 Rotel. That would be bad to blow up, also. It satisfied my needs until suddenly I could play the guitar, and then I bought the Behringer V-Amp 2, which is way cool and groovy and whatever. Read the reviews.
Without it I would not be able to create distorted pipe organ music (I keep writing pie organ because I miss the "P," but I catch myself. I think.)

3 knobs, piece of piss, cept its a bit gay how the level nob doesnt go any higher, coz its only just loud enough to contend with bypass volumes

i use a yamaha pacifica through my dunlop jimi hendrix wah-DS1-zoom gfx 707-shitty old 60 watt yamaha amp/or samick La10. It sounds pretty good with both, but better with the yamaha amp. I bought one coz i knew it would cut through the mix better when playing with my band.

blah blah fuckety blah its a boss blah blah. theyve gota good reputation for the strength of their products yes. ummm yeah id gig without a back up.

wouldnt know.

this pedal is the ultimate answer to a good stomp box distortion that has grunt. im into chilipeppers and funk...and a bitta shred/80's on the side. this pedal covers all of them pretty much, it can go pretty heavy, although it sounds crap if you using a piece of shit guitar, so spend your money on a guitar $500+ new(australian) and then get a ds1. it goes really well with my other pedals, and beats the crap outta my ds2, which sounds too...fuzzy i guess. i used to be all "metalzone is the only way" and had to have heaps of gain, but those pedals are useless if your in a band, coz they dont have any definition, whereas the ds1 is supurb for this. if u were scared like me that it wouldnt quite be heavy enough, dont worry, it should do most of what you want, if it sounds crap its coz ur amp and guitar are pieces of crap. a good second hand amp and guitar for about $300 each (australian) and you'll be off. good pedal. the main reason it isnt a ten is coz the level of it cant go any higher than the bypass level, but its at an ok volume, its just that you cant adjust it up anymore. if youre like me and read these reviews all the time, stop doing it and start focussing alittle more on your playing, because thats whats gonna get you places, not necessarily a stomp box, but this pedal is a good tool for making music. GET ONE!

10 3 YEAR OLD COULD FIGURE IT OUT!

i use a fender prinston 65 and a squier Stagemaster with this pedal and with the second channel i can get any sound i want
(though it takes a while).. this pedal rox!

yeah i would gig without a backup. this thing wont break! just have a couple extra battries.....

mmmm well I sent in for the warranty a while ago, still havn't gotten anything back

this is a excellent choice for the money, but if it were stolen i might buy the Ibenez smashbox.,.... i wish it had tonelock dont pay more then 50 bucks for it

Very easy to use. 3 knobs, turn em all the way up.

I play a tele into an mg50rcd. its not noisy at all. the distortion from the ds-1 is very warm and is perfect for acdc or rush type distortion. Its not a TS-9 so if you want balls to the wall TS-9 type drive then buy a TS-9. The DS-1 does exactly what its supposed to do.

isnt a DS-1 a type of tank? well it should be.

hasnt broken

its a great match for classic rock which is what i play. i guess you could say its good for any distortion other than a really high high gain distortion/overdrive.

Well, this is about as simple as it gets. Three knobs:
tone: the color of the distortion - basically you'd want to keep it rolled back, because as soon as you turn it up it gets ridicously harsh and brittle...
level: the volume of the effect
dist: the amount of distortion

If you're getting this pedal, I recommend modding it. There's a mod that can make it less harsh and more smooth with the 'tone' knob not rolled back...

I play:
Ibanez RG470>Dunlop Crybaby>DS-1>Ibanez DE-7 Delay
The sound with the DS-1 is absolutely fantastic. Smooth as hell, pretty close to Vai's tone on '97 G3 (For The Love of God...).
Like I said, I keep the 'tone' knob rolled back, this gives me the best sound...

Well, I guess I could depend on it, Boss are known for durability.
I guess I'd gigi with it without a backup, but that's pretty much because I have no money.

I play blues, jazz, rock and such. Basically there are the times when you need a smooth, creamy distortion - the DS-1 will do the job.
Although, if you're buying it, don't pay over $35 for it. Get something more versatile, if you can.
Like I said, it does the job great, and that's about it.

theres only 3 knobs,its very easy to find a sound u like.

i play lots of grungeish type stuff and my own style of garage rock.I have a fender strat with a duncan invader humbucker in the bridge so thin tone is not a problem.I really love Nirvana and this pedal can get that sound perfectly.sometimes i wish the distortion knob could go higher,i just want more distortion ya know.its very quiet,this is a great cheap little pedal.

well i am an idiot.i found a 9v toy adaptor and thought it could be used with my ds-1.next thing i know theres this funny smell and smoke pouring out of the output jack.i ghuess the voltage was too much or something and it fried its internal circuitry.i was very disappointed about lsoing my favorite pedal.

its broken now so i kinda want a bigh muff pi usa reissue.i dont even like the pumpkins,i just need alot of grungy fuzzy distortion with a very thick sound.i have a dod grunge pedal,the ds-1 kicks its ass.i use it in conjuction to my bf-2 flanger pedal.im really upset abouyt the loss of my ds-1.but still id replace it with another pedal such as the big muff.

Couldn't be any easier...three knobs...input...output...pedal switch. Who needs a stinkin' manual?

I am using this pedal as a lead boost/sustain pedal (not as a distortion unit). My setup is a follows...PRS Custom 24 or LP through DS-1 (Tone and Dist. set at 0, Level set at 3 O'Clock) into my Mesa Dual Rectifier with a TC Electronics G-Force in the amp's effects loop. This combination gives me a great lead tone without coloring the original signal.

As a pure distortion pedal, I would not have purchased the DS-1. My Mesa already has awesome gain/crunch. However, for the way I use it, it is awesome. I was seriously considering installing a Fernandes Sustainer system in one of my guitars until I tried this setup. Now, I'm not sure that it's necessary.

I have run this pedal through my clean channel to check out the distortion and found that the tone knob is worthless past 12 O'clock (very harsh and tinny). Distortion is decent and does not color the signal significantly.

No problems so far... don't expect any either.

N/A

Overall, I am very happy with this pedal. For 39 bucks, you can't beat it. It's given me that extra umphh that I was looking for without the expensive and permanent guitar alterations that would have been needed to fit the sustainer system to my guitar.

If you have a quality tube amp with nice overdrive, this pedal can provide that extra something to make you stand out when you want to.

Very easy to use except that Level and Tone are the opposite way round to other Boss pedals and if you use it without looking at the manual or labels your ears will get messed up.

I tried one of these about 5 years ago, compared it to my Boogie amp and gave it back to my friend completely unimpressed. More recently I've been driving my already overdriven amp with old Fuzz Faces (which uniquely go from really clean to fuzz with the guitar volume) and realised there's a certain magic to feeding distortion into an overdriven amp so I bought a DS-1. I can now see why Vai and Satriani use one of these. It has much more harmonic detail than any other Boss pedal I've tried, yes most of them are in boxes in a drawer somewhere, yet it adds a level of rasp to the tone which makes an overdriven amp sound great. More to the point you can play really fast more confidently. I've used Ibanez Jems, PRS Singlecuts, Les Pauls, Strats in this way and they all work really well. On it's own it's also quite versatile but thats not what I use it for.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

It's ironic to that, in my opinion, Boss oldest and simplest unit wipes the floor with the all of the OD units, Blues Driver FZ2 and FZ3 Metalzone etc. The main reason is that it retains something of the guitars signal that the others don't. It's not hifi but through an overdriven amp sounds like a million dollars. I just wish I hadn't dismissed it so long ago. A little gem.

Three Knobs... Not a very hard thing to figure out... If you don't know what Distortion, Level, and Tone mean, then i think you shouldn't have bought (or be looking at buying) this pedal...
I gave it a 9 because I modded my pedal... read in sound quality for details on that.

I use a Epiphone Les Paul, and A 1984 Squier Strat (this guitar ROCKS... puts ANY fender of the same age or younger to shame), Into a Univox 20w SS combo, Yorkville Sound Bass Amp, Peavey Classic Chorus 130. All these amps benefit greatly from the DS-1, ESPECIALLY the Peavey; The distortion is absolutly crappy.. it goes from nothign to super-saturated in 1 number on the dial I also have a Marshall JCM 2000 DSL401, but that I do not use the pedal with; its distortion (all tube) is VERY good, and it is now my main amp.

I found the stock pedal a *LITTLE* weak... (It would have gotten a 7 or 8), so I modded it.

******* *DISCLAIMER* i am not responsible for anything you do to your effects pedals********
Inside the pedal, diodes are used to clip you sound, which generats the distortion. I replaced these 2 diodes with LEDs (light emitting diodes.. i didnt put them in because they put out light...), which have different clipping properties than other kinds of diodes (each kind of diode has different clipping properties). I even drilled holes so I could put the LEDs in so I could see them... VERY COOL

This mod made the pedal sound smother, and the distortion is ALLLLOOOTTTT better

I haven't really used it outside of home much, cept for the occasional jam with my buddies, and 2 small gigs (where 2-5 songs were played)... I haven't had a SINGLE problem with it.

I have a couple complaints: The switching jack is plastic, and if used enough, I guarantee it will break... And the fact it is not true bypass (i know, it is more expensive to do, etc) sorta suck, but for 50$, what the hell can you do?

Hvaen't had to deal with them...

I play whatever music I feel like, and with the mod, this pedal SCREAMS.... Ive been playing for 5 years, and own plenty of other gear: 2 Bc Rich Acoustics, Silvertone "Spanish Guitar", 1984 Japanese Squier Stratocaster (stock), 2001 Epiphone Les Paul (stock), Yorkville Bass Amp 100w, Univox 20w, Peavey Classic Chorus 130 130w, and Marshall JCM 2000 DSL401.
If it were stolen, I would find the guy (or girl), a hit him with one of those BC Rich Acoustics (the left handed one, cause i i pick with my right hand one) until he was dead, then i would steal whatever he had and beat his (or hers) dead body with whatever crappy stuff he has, keeping anythign good... NOBODY STEALS FROM ME.

I wish it came with the mod though, because it wouldnt be hard to add in, and it isnt very fun opening up the pedal.. its prettygy hard to put back together!

GREAT VALUE:QUALITY RATIO!!!

Very easy,push it,stamp it, play with it, it yours!

This is what becames hard to describe,
i first purchased the Taiwan-modell of the ds1.
I wasnt to satisfied with the sound, lack of compression, first to say. Then arpeggios, and fast licks wasnt really that good to be onest. But then i replaced the d4 och d5 diodes,with germanium ones.
And i noticed a different sound. with my tubeamp the sound was great alltogether, more sustain,and better sound. averall a big sound improvement.
If you cant get a Japanesemodell, try this mod first, its works perfectly, but the diodes are hard to get. But i hope you find some of the germanium its really worth it, besides that its really cheap.
it only cost me a totalsum of 2 dollars so its very cheap installation.
I cant imagine,living without it now.
first .. i thinked of trowing in the wasted department, but DONT! do that.

with a decent battery eliminator, its easy, and good.

fun to use, rather fancy colour.
you can spill beer on it, its still going to work.

Havent had any.

Cheap, good sound.
you can play any style, bluez,jazz,rock and even heavy metal.

the downsides is that you have to get a decent tube-amplifier.

its pretty easy as everybody says

i play a custom strat through a peavey bandit, its pretty hardcore dist, i dont use it as much as i used to cause im more into my amps distortion, but if you have a little practice amp this will give you good dist.

as always its a 10, these things just dont break. i noticed in an earlier review a guy said that if you think these are tough, check out ibanez tone lok pedals. i diasgree, i had an ibanez smash box which stopped working days after i bought it, boss is the way to go on stompboxes. my only problem is the volume know comes loose once in a while and it just takes a little tweak, but thats the reason for the 9

i havent needed it

i like this thing for its reliability and classic good looks. i dunno about it gettin stolen cause i think everybody owns one of these, but id replace it in a heart beat.

A few reviews earlier someone noted that the DS-1 was unable to get 'grunge' tones for them... and cited Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains.

Seeing as 'grunge' isn't a very good description of a band's sound--I mean, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains don't sound anything alike--I think that the person isn't really sure of what they should go for.

If you want the rude Nirvana sound you want to go with a DS-1 or a DS-2 as Cobain used both of these during his career (DS-1 on Bleach and Incestice era tracks, DS-2 on Nevermind and beyond).

If you want the Alice in Chains sound aim for a VHT or Bogner tube amp... or the Metal Zone pedal because honestly their tone is pure metal.

If you want Pearl Jam aim for an overdrive pedal... although any semi-dirty sound will usually do the trick. Most PJ is fairly distortion light.

But if you want raw, rude and uncultured distortion in the true 'grunge' or garage rock style I think the DS-1 is king. Set your amp right, with a lot of mids, and you won't need to have a ton of gain to make a loud ruckus. In fact, you can keep your tone intact as well as raise some hell.

Gain is overrated to me. DS-1 has sufficient gain.

Pretty straightforward operation. Not a whole lot of tweaking required, and I find the owners manual gives you a lot of good sample settings to get you started. All in all, it was pretty easy to get a feel for how the Tone and Distortion control react with each other (they are somewhat interactive).

I use Telecasters, a stratocaster, and a Ric 330/12 into Fender and Vox amps. This pedal does a great job of staying transparent and keeping a lot of the nuances of each guitar intact. It doesn't do so well with the Ric 12 string....that requires some cleaner clipping. The Strat (a reissue with replacement pickups) sounds absolutely awesome...very bluesy and bell-like. I could easily cop a lot of Texas blues tones. It also works very well with my Telecasters, though my thinline reissue seems to like my Boss Turbo Overdrive more. But my other Tele, A Tele Plus with Lace Sensors, drove the DS-1 very nicely.

It's actually a somewhat dynamic pedal too. It won't clean up like a good overdrive pedal, but it does seem to react very nicely to changes in strumming strength and position on the guitar. You won't fool anyone into thinking you're overdriving a nice old tube amp, but the distortion is not sterile or solid state sounding by any means. This pedal is very dependant on what you're feeding into it and what it's being amplified with. My gear is pretty decent, so I get some good sounds out of it. If you're trying to play a Rogue Strat copy through a Gorilla and hope the DS-1 makes it all sound good, well, it'snot going to happen. You can't use good gin with flat soda water and crappy sweet and sour mix and expect to have a good Tom Collins.

This pedal likes volume, too. It really opens up when you crank your amp. Bedroom levels are alright, but it won't really do this pedal justice. Again, this pedal is sensitive to what you give it.

Cranking the distortion level gets you a tone very similar to an old fuzz pedal. It's not bad-sounding at all.....good Smashing Pumpkins vibe. I like the distortion mostly around 2 o'clock with the tone below 12 o'clock....it yields a good blend of bluesy chime with the ability to bust out semi-punkish power chords and keep more complex chord shapes intact without farting out. Want full anarchy mohawk onslaught? Notch the drive up a little bit and add tone to taste.

The tone and distortion controls are pretty interactive, especially when dialed past 12 o'clock. The distortion control seems to accentuate a lot of high end as it gets closer to being maxed out...these setting are what yield the fuzz-tone type of colors from the DS-1. If you're looking for straight-ahead, no-frills distortion that can provide a lot of variety, the DS-1 is the way to go.

I've owned a fair amount of Boss pedals over the 14 years I've been playing and have never had one fail on me. I've used them in all situations, from bedroom jamming too very boisterous shows and they've always survived. One thing is for certain: Boss, at the very least, probably has one of the best pedal-construction designs around.

never dealt

I play a lot of classic rock, blues, indie, and shoegaze type of stuff. My favorite bands are the Who, The Hives, Ride, My Bloody Valentine, Blur, Spiritualized, Dinosaur Jr., and the Replacements.

I'm much more of an overdrive/fuzz type of guy, but decided it would be good to have a distortion in my stable (I'm a dirt box addict). I was really impressed with this pedal. This is definitely a "starter" (I say that sarcastically) pedal that could earn it's way into a permanent position on a lot of pedalboards (and has, as a matter of fact). Bang for the buck-wise, this thing is the champ. If you think about it, this is a pedal that, price-wise, is pretty accessable to new players, but is of high-enough quality and durability that it could easily accompany a guitar player through his/her entire playing career. I kinda wish I had gotten one sooner so I had more opportunities to bang it up a little and give it that good "old road warrior trashed pedal" vibe. Highly recommended overall. It gets a 10 simply because this pedal could probably beat, or at least compete with, a lot of other pedals twice it's price.

how much easier could it be? three knobs!

im using this with my prs custom 24 and my mesa boogie nomad 55. it works good at any volume. VERY VERSITILE.

ITS A BOSS! MOST RELIABLE PEDALS MADE

havent dealt with them

i play lots of stuff from hardcore to mellow stuff and it covers a broad spectrum. if it were stolen i probably would buy it again. this has to be the most versitile and well built distortion pedal

the pedal came with a manual with some suggested settings, but this pedal is pretty easy to figure out. it's pretty straight forward: one distortion knob, one tone knob, with a volume knob.

I play mostly punk/ska, but i also play some alternative and indie stuff. you can get any sound out of this pedal. i plug my prs santana se through a dunlop crybaby wah, dod grunge, boss ds-1, and ibanez ph7 phaser. This pedal sounds great with the phaser (quite similar to a flanger with the tone near 12 o'clock, and the dist 9-10), and i can get pretty good rage against the machine sounds. even w/out phaser, this is a good ratm pedal.

i originally got this pedal to back up my dod grunge. if i had to, i would gig without a backup using this as my main (though i have yet to play a gig with it). but for those people who say this pedal is "built like a tank" (or simply say "it's a boss!") should check out ibanez tone lok pedals. they seem much to be built sturdier: the knobs obviously don't knock around as much as boss ones, and they are heavier, so they could probably take more of a beating.

never dealt with them

i play in a punk/ska band, and this pedal is a near-perfect match. it is great for semi-dirty ska riffs, but at low volumes, the heavy distortion can seem weak (the dod grunge fx69 is a great punk/metal pedal). it is also a great alternative pedal a la nirvana, etc. it's also one of the cheapest distortion pedals out there, aside from the ibanez tone-lok dist and the dod dist. but great pedal for anyone interested in a good solid rock pedal.

3 Knobs, so it's pretty easy to find a usable tone.

If you are looking for a bedroom hero sound, I suggest you look elsewhere. This pedal really starts to spring to life at a rehearsal/stage volume.

Note: I don't worry about a pedal necessarily sounding "good" or "bad"; rather, I try to find my own voice within any piece of gear I have.

I personally had a very easy time getting a good sound out of this pedal; however, for my tonal preferences, this pedal seems VERY picky about the amp it's put in front of. Tried it in front of a JCM 900 and a Valvestate and this pedal was too buzzy. In front of a Dual Rectifier or a Fender Champ and I was able to get a tone I liked. Anything much past 9 O'Clock on the tone knob and it gets too buzzy in front of ANY amp for my tastes.

I personally prefer the DS-1 over all of my other distortions (running the gamut from $20 generic pedals to a home made Fuzz to assorted amp sims, etc). I find that the DS-1 just sounds, overall, bigger due to the fact it is not a super high gain distortion. For lower volume practicing or writing, I'll use my Metal Zone.

Bottom Line: This effect has become a critical component in my rig. It is part of my own sonic voice. The thing I like most about this pedal is getting enough gain to be distorted but without going into a buzzy metal-lead type sound. I'll give it a 10 because I was able to contstruct part of "the tone" i hear in my head.

I *never* gig without backups. You just don't know. This include a backup amp, guitar, and a second set of all of my essential FX.

Never dealt with the category.

I teach and play everything from country to blues to jazz, rock, metal, classical, and everything in between. I find this pedal works best at a rehearsal/stage volume and for my own personal playing style, this works excellently. It reacts in accordance to "The tone" i seek.

Incredibly simple to use. Three knobs. Don't know about manuals, got it used without manuals.

I run an old Yamaha RGX-612S through this pedal into a Peavey Blazer 158 (soon to be replaced, probably with a Fender Deluxe 90). I manage to get a surprisingly good sound out of this setup, considering what a pile of crap the Blazer is. The pedal can provide a nice crunch, I manage to get metal sounds out of it, although more gain would be nice. I listen to and play extremely heavy music (Melodic death metal, heavy metal, black metal), so more distortion/crunch would be nice. For classic rock or punk, this pedal is unbeatable. Relatively quiet, too.

You couldn't break this thing if you tried, its built like a tank.

Never had to deal with them, never will, because they build their pedals so well.

The distortion on this pedal is a little weak for my style (metal, melodic death, black metal), but not bad. I got it cheap, and it's an excellent pedal for a beginner. If it was stolen, I'd probably upgrade to a Metal Zone (which I plan to do anyway). I like it's durability, decent sound and ease of use, but it doesn't provide quite enough distortion for me. Still, I love this little pedal, and I'll have to for a long time yet

Very simple....3 knobs, and a wide range is capable with each.

If you get it right, you can get THE Nirvana sound. I use a Roland Jazz-chorus 80 watt amp, with the treble at 4 oclock....mids full, and bass almost cranked. Epiphone sg 310 is the axe, and man.....NIRVANA GLORY!! Perfect. Set the DS-1 to this...tone..midway. Level, and distortion cranked, and there you go. Hard to get this sound with smaller amps, though...you really have to crank it up.

Could survive a world war. Impenetrable.

No idea...the thing's a tank.

It's a sweet ass pedal...CRANK IT UP!!

This pedal is about as simple as they come. 3 dials and and input and output. The manual is well explained and easy to understand.

I mentioned in the previous section the ease of use and simplicity. That's the problem, It's so easy to use I can't get the sounds I desire. For a first distortion pedal this is great especially because of the price, but if you're looking for a more specific tone than I suggest checking out a specified distortion - example Mega Distortion or Metal Zone or Blues Driver. For a generic distortion this works great, but I play hard rock so it didn't give me the sound I wanted. I even have coil tap on my guitar which allowed a broader variety of tones, but not what I needed. Even with cranked it doesn't supply the gain I wish. When I did add enough distortion it becomes so jumbled, almost to the point where I can't tell one chord from another, especially in a large room with lots of echo. If you want a high gain more tweakable pedal get an MT-2 Medal Zone. If you want more variety of distortion or morph ability I suggest the Mega Distortion, but I f you play everything from Nirvana (which this is great for!) to blues to punk this is your pedal.

I know people who've had Boss for twenty years and it still works like it was bought yesterday.

Never needed it.

I play hard rock and metal so this is not MY pedal, but it was my first and nonetheless served me well in the beginner stage. But I think as soon as you find a genre of music you prefer try a more specific style of distortion.
Mega Distortion - modern rock/ hard rock
Metal Zone - high gain, crunchier, more versatile
Blues Driver - obviously blues
But for beginners this effect is perfect. If you try and bury your sound in effects they become your crutch. If you don't have much experience or are just beginning this is the perfect pedal. You don't want to sound good because you've plugged into a dual gain circuit pedal to cover up the noise - you want to sound good because you are good.

Very Simple, theres only 3 knobs. How hard can it be

i bought it because my amp is old and it didnt come with distortion and i think it sounds very good. You can t really play the heavy stuff with it, but it fit my liking as soon as i got it. I havent been playing that long, but this is a very good beginner pedal.

its a boss

havent had to yet

I think it is very, very good and it will be in my use for a verylong time. oh, i play a bunch of the classic stuff and it fits it perfect

Very easy to use! Three knobes (volume, tone, distortion). Manual is for babies! Editing pathes?!?

I must say that BOSS was a big disapointment for me. I read all of reviews here and I was conviced that I found the perfect grunge effect. Nope! I still have my Zoom 505 multi-effect and it just sounds better. I use Marshall Valvstate 60W amp and Epiphone Black Beutty guitar and BOSS sounds like crap (anyway you turn the knobes)! Maybe is the amp to f***ed up or maybe my guitar is the problem. If anyone has a solution or a perfect BOSS config, please tell me!

It is solid as a rock! No way you can break it!

I play grunge (alice in chains, Pearl jam..) so I though that this is the pedal for me! Hell no!The sound is....well it isn't! It sounds like if my guitar was broken or as if my amp was million years old! I get much better sound of my Zoom 505 effect. I don't know the secret but as I said earlier, if someone knows what the problem could be, please tell me! thanks

Three knobes! Babies can use this thing. Nice manuals by the way.

I bought this effect three days ago (second handed) and I also owe Zoom 505 multi-effect and I must say that Zoom is far better than Boss. My musical knowledge is very low I just like to play (Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains...) but sound just don't fit me. I have a 60W Marshall Valvstate amp and I play Epiphone Black Beauty LP guitar. Hate the sound! I don't know what to do. Everyone told me that BOSS DS-1 pedal in great for grunge music but it simply sucks. Maybe is my guitar setup or is it smaller amp? If someone knows the key of making the best of BOSS, please tell me.

It's practically made of stone. Unbreakeable!

No problems yet. Have one for three days! :)

I just want to say that buying BOSS pedal was a big mistake. It just don't give me the sound that I want (grunge) although I read it here, on this page, that this effect is perfect for music like this. I just get some ugly muffed sound. Please help! Do I have to buy new amp, guitar or just throw this pedal away?

As soon as i got this pedal i threw the instructions out,theres only 3 knobs so its very simple.

I play a mex fender fat strat with a seymour duncan invader and a tom delonge neck.Since peavey distortion is very weak i can get a heavily distorted crunch sound with alot of bass.I sadly use a peavey blazer 158 amp.I love Nirvana and this pedal achieve that "grunge" sound very well.but sometimes,i wish the distortion knob could be turned up a little higher and there was more choices for the tone.

i probably would gig with this pedal without a backup BUT due to my clusminess i have started to tear the wiring where the 9v battery is placed.Im afraid it will short out someday.

it sure is a relief after my horrfying expierience with a DOD grunge pedal(i know,i know).Even though i try to play grunge music i think it suits any style of rock perfectly.I love its unique sound of distortion that sure beats any amp.If it breaks or anything,i would buy a BOSS drive zone pedal,to fufill my dream of a perfect distortion.

Completely idiot-proof. 3 knobs, 3 functions...how hard can that be?

Wonderful, crisp distortion at all levels. Run my Fender Standard Strat through this, a CE-5, and a SD-1 to an Ibanez amp and everything comes out clear and intoxicating.

This thing is a freakin' tank. If my 220 pound butt can stomp around on it for an hour long gig, then it passes in my book!

No Experience.

The DS-1 is simply a sharp, edgy distortion pedal that provides wonderful distortion through any setup! Completely idiot and bomb-proof!

This pedal is very easy to use. Only three knobs; you can't go wrong. The manual is straight-forward with some good examples.

My current setup is a Fender Standard Strat > Boss DS-1 Distortion > Boss BD-2 Blues Driver > Boss CH-1 Super Chorus > Peavey Bandit. This pedal produces classic, crisp distortion with chararcter. It is very expressive and dynamic. The notes you play are easily distinguishable instead of running together like so much distortion sounds these days. It has a nice crunch and sustain. Do not buy this to play today's music like Korn, Creed, etc. You simply will not get that heavy sound that so many are trying to emulate. If you want classic distortion with character, get this.

As you can see, I love Boss pedals. My first was purchased back in 1986. Boss produces solid, excellant-sounding pedals. Boss = Reliability. Period!! I do not gig without backups.

I have never had to deal with them.

I play classic rock (think AC/DC, Grand Funk Railroad, Eagles, etc.) and 80's rock (think Def Leppard, Ratt, Scorpions, etc.). I also play in a church band. This pedal, along with all of the other gear mentioned above, is a perfect match for what I play. I have tried a lot of other pedals in the 18+ years I have been playing guitar and I still come back to Boss. If this pedal, or any other of my Boss pedals, was stolen, I would definitely buy this again. For my purposes, the Metal Zone and Mega Distortion were too heavy, DOD's distortion is too weak, and some boutique pedals, while sounding very good, were way too expensive. This pedal produces an expressive, dynamic, crisp, and crunchy distortion that works for my playing. Many have said that this pedal is too trebly and harsh. If you use pedals exclusively through a clean amp, the key is finding the right blend of strings, amp EQ, and pedal settings. You cannot get every sound with just one pedal. Also, this pedal sounds great through my single coils and solid-state amp. Again, it is all how you blend everything. For those who have been playing for a while, you know what I mean. Always remember, a good tone is not what others say it is but what you make of it. If you like tube distortion, go tube. If you like pedals, go with pedals. The BOSS DS-1 is one of the best distortions around.

I must say it's easy to use you just stomp it on/off turn the level and tone knobs dts knob to your prefered setting.

its distortion is good but you have to crank it to full for it to sound good. and it dosent sound fake in a way that it dosent hide your screwups.oh and may i remind you both steve via and joe satriani use this pedal.

Yes id recomend boss pedallsto anybody their built like tanks and the
baterry lasts extreamly long in it.

It was okay guess but af never had any proplems with it these pedals don't need customer support.

It's great as long as your not trying to sound like megadeath.

Definitely easy to use. 3 knobs: Tone, Distortion, and Level. The manual came with sample settings, although I always find them useless and never read them anymore.

The noise this thing puts out is starting to get more annoying as I play more practices and shows. I'm using it with plenty of other effects, which might be the reason. That and I have the distortion on the pedal cranked up all the way. My setup goes like this: Ibanez AX120 > Boss DS-1 > Boss Ch-1 > Boss AC-2 > Boss DD5 > Fender Stage 100 head with a 4 x 12 cab loaded with 75 watt celestions. I just ordered a USA Pi Big Muff, and I heard that is also noisy. So I'm planning on buying a noise supressor. This pedal is good for punk and some alt. rock, which is what I play. I have the tone knob at half way, and it still seems a bit too trebly. With the tone down further, it almost gets too muddy at times. But I can deal with it I guess. Overall, it's an average distortion pedal.

I haven't had a single problem with any of my Boss pedals.

Never dealt with them.

This pedal is average. Not the distortion I am really looking for, but it will do until I find an alternative. I want something that's not too trebly, with more definition and low end. I'm only 17, but I've been gigging for quite a while, even playing gigs with such bands as The Liars (awesome band), and Schatzi (who have toured with The Getup kids, Jimmy Eat World, and so on). This pedal, used with my Fender Stage 100, doesn't have the normal Marshall-type distortion that you hear everywhere nowdays. It gives me sort of an old school/garage rock type sound. I've been getting many compliments on it. So I think I'll continue to use this every now and then, along with more types of distortion since we are an experimental garage rock band and every song sounds different. Good pedal overall.

very easy to use 3 knobs just dial in what you want. and gooo

great tone, it sounds a bit sandy sounding with compressor, with my settings anyway. But if put some delay behind it and click on a wah pedal preferably a 535Q or a wah with some gain control on it it sounds good for a clean distortion sound that you can play lead on.

very reliable

never had to deal with them

great pedal go buy one

Simplicity itself. The pedal sounds good, so dialing in a good sound isn't very hard at all.

Signal chain is: Brian Moore i8 > DS-1 > Lab L5. Sounds very beefy on the L5, which is a fairly "clean" amp. This is a very dynamic distortion pedal and it responds to your picking attack, velocity, pressure and so on like a champ. Very expressive... definately a must have to run on the front end of a tube amp. Even on my L5, which is solid state, it is very expressive.

The tone knob is very wide--extreme high/low settings are in my opinion unusable, but this is a good thing as you will find your range.

The DS-1 could be said to be somewhat "wimpy" compared to units like the Xtortion or even the Metal Zone. The DS-1 will NOT make your guitar sound like a chainsaw, so young kids keep away if that's your thing. It can barely get Metallica crunch on its own.

But for me, this is a positive thing. I don't want those tones at all. I just want a fat, dynamic and beefy tone. If Pantera is your idea of good tone, avoid this pedal.

Never had much trouble with any stompboxes, but I only buy quality ones. No Arion or DOD crap pedals for me. Boss stuff sounds good--it isn't the best, but their build quality is very good.

Roland US can be boneheads at times.

I like a lot of indie/noise guitar stuff. I can play, but I like the textures of noise and once you learn to play it becomes sort of the "final frontier." Been playing about 16 years now and have gone thru a lot of guitar gear... I learned one valuable lesson about guitar in the early 90's--avoid digital. Now I like all analog sound paths and keep it simple. I don't use or want every effect under the sun.

I would actually warn novice guitarists away from this pedal as it won't (like most distortion) hide your playing errors. It can be very unforgiving, but in the hands of decent players you can really belt out some dynamic playing.

This thing is awesome for leads, if that's your thing.

There are other units out there that are better... but for 35 bucks NEW you cannot go wrong.

this pedal is pretty easy to use, the manual for it was very clear and concise and even included some sample settings

it sounds pretty good. I'm currently using a Samick strat copy on a Peavey solid state amp with a Cry Baby Wah pedal. You can get many different sounds out of it, if you crank the treble on the amp and turn up the distortion knob you can get some good metal type distortion, and if you turn the distortion down you can get some very subtle distortion. it's very versitile, you can use it for just about anything

it's a boss, enough said. it would take a very big sledge hammer just to pu ta dent in it. i'll never need a backup for this pedal

I play a lot of alt. rock/grunge, and this pedal fits perfectly. the price is great on these things, i owudl definately replace it if it were stolen or lost.

very easy to use, just dial in the sound you want and rip

I got this as a freebee with an old marshall plexi head, soon after I switched to a 50W jcm800 and used a gibson sg. I soon grew tired of the sg and switched to a telecaster, but since it didn't have the punch of the sg, I thought I'd try the ds-1; IT ROCKS! I play 120+ gigs a year and everwhere I go people come up to me and ask if I have hot-rodded pickups,but the ds-1, coupled with a jcm800 stack makes a telecaster sound pretty fat considering the single coil factor. I takes a lot of the twang out of the tele, doesn't have the low end of a mesa but that's what bass players are for! rock!

rocks

no need-rocks

rocks, gets a great sound with the tele, it's got tons of sustain, but a tighter response than your typical humbucker, I play emo/punk with tons of kicks in the tunes, and its nice to have a pedal that delivers the distortion + the control that the music requires-rock!

3 knobs....pretty simple....but it is a touchy pedal. It takes some work to set it just right.

It's a bit noisy when running with other effects, but it's not all that bad. I play texas blues/rock and I saw Chris Duarte use one of these (and if anybody has any tips or secrets for setting this pedal to get a tone like his please e-mail me!) so I decided to try one out. I'm usually a TS-9 or a Maxon OD-808 kinda guy but I felt I needed something with a little more bite. My set-up from my guitar to my amp is: SRV sig. strat, Crybaby 535Q wah, 1974 MXR phase P-90, OD-808, TS-9, DS-1, (sometimes i use a danecho) and then a quick tune pedal tuner to my 1967 blackface super reverb. This works pretty good but I am always up for suggestions.

A little orange tank!

I like the fact this pedal has a little more bite to it, but like i said, it is a very touchy thing. It can get too piercing if the tone is up too far, and very muddy if the tone is down too far. Until I can get some good advice from someone on how to get an awesome blues/rock sound out of this, i'm stickin with my tubescreamers.

3 knobs and an on-off switch.
Yet there is a trick to getting this pedal to sound absolutely frikkin killer!

Mine was a late 70s model and was stolen. I bought a DS-2 to replace it and they sound the same when the DS-2 is in Mode 1.

The trick to getting Van Halen and Santana like tones from this otherwise thin and average distortion pedal is to use the Boss CE-3 Compressor Sustainer before it and the Boss GE-7 Equalizer after it.

See my recent write up under the CS-3 pedal to see the setting I use to obtain these magnificent sounds.

Most people turn the distortion up too far to obtain the sustain and fire they seek. What they are lacking is the other two thirds of the equasion.

Boss engineers designed this pedal to be used with a compressor and EQ. That must be why the manuals and brochures often show the DS-1 in series with these two other pedals.

These three pedals united take you ANY where you want to go. From vintage Big Muff sounds to Pantera. Van Halen to Santana.

Stop turning up the distortion past midway and get a compressor.

Stop complaining about a thin tone and get an EQ.

Go from Ok to Excellent!

get an AC power supply while your at it.

You can get all three pedals on EBAY for under $100 total, so why buy some fancy pedal for three hundred? I guarantee you'll find the tone of all your favorite artists with these 3 pedals.

reliable as a hammer

Now mind you. I play through a 1971 Les Paul Standard and a 1973 Fender Champ. I quality guitar and a very pretty sounding amplifier. If you don't have a great clean sound without pedals...you're not going to get a great sound with pedal. You gotta have a decent guitar and amp or all the pedals in the world won't help you.

Another thing. The distortion pedal doesn't sound good with an overdriven amp. The amp has to have a good clean sound at the volumes you play at. An old Marshall 50 watt is going to sound muddy with the DS-1 if you start to push it at all. Gee, I guess that's anywhere over 3!

Also, I guitar is the most important piece of the puzzle. Most guitars sound horrible. The wood is everything. Thats why a Taylor 810 sounds so very different than that $200 job on the wall. They look the same but the tones are a million miles apart. Strange as it may seem. The electric guitar is the same way. Nothing sounds as good as an old Les Paul or Fender. Newer guitars may look better, play better, feel better and last longer but unless it's a $3000 P.R.S. it's not going to come close in tonal quality. If you want to sound like Tool get yourself a 1979 Les Paul Custom. I think that's where the term Heavy Metal came from! The guitar feels like it's made out of metal it's so heavy and so is the tone! I'd change that bridge pick up with a Seymore Duncan Jeff Beck model as well. Now that's a killer guitar. Pick one up for less than a new Les Paul and it won't devaluate. I still see them for under a grand. They are the ultimate ka chunk ka chunk ka chunk guitars.