Boss DS-1 Distortion

This pedal is very easy to use, it has a simple layout of only 3 knobs, tone, level, and distortion. You can get a wide variety of tones out this pedal.

i use a vintage v99 guitar with a cube 15x amp, and this pedal is a great addition to my collection. With it i can get close to the sound of my favourite artist, slash. However if you turn the distortion up to high you get a strong buzzing sound, and if you turn the tone up past 12 o'clock it sounds very trebaly. But dont let that put you of it is still a very good pedal

This pedal is very reliable, i would definately use it in a gig without a backup, this pedal can take a punch.

i have had no need to deal with the customer support

i play alot of classic rock e.g guns 'n' roses, velvet revolver, and this pedal can handle it very well. I have a few other pedals and if this one was lost or stolen i would definately buy another one. I did wish that it had more knobs so that you could get a wider variety of tones. I considered lots of other pedals like the boss ds2 but this one is cheap and sounds great.

Very easy, a no brainer

Bottom line is that for the most part, this pedal really sucks. It is not versatile in the least, it sounds buzzy and unnatural, it has low output... Just a piece of useless garbage. if you've ever played a REAL distortion or overdrive pedal, you'll immediately be able to see how bad this pedal is. I can't imagine a real musician using this at all. Its completely useless to me.

All boss pedals are built really well.

N/A

This pedal just plain sucks. I have no real use for it at all. If it were lost or stolen, I would not shed a tear. If you want a REAL distortion pedal, look elsewhere. This one just sucks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Very easy to use

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

nice case, like all boss pedals

bleah!!

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

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

Its BOSS, 'nuff said

no idea

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

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

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

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

I haven't had any problems.

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

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

I would buy it again if stolen.

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

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

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

Boss makes good solid stuff

N/A

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


(myspace.com/sologuitaristlee

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Never needed.

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

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

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

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

Never had to deal with them.

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

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

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

3 knobs...Gain, Volume and Tone. It's easy to set up and changing the battery is as simple as using the thumb screw.

I got this pedal as an all-around distortion pedal that I've read several guitarists use and thought it would be great for most applications. It's not, but it isn't terrible either. I've noticed that this pedal sounds better in live settings or where the amp is turned up loud. I usually used this to distort my amps clean channel. I would usually use the distortion effect at 50% or greater. It's good for classic rock to 80's metal. My biggest complaint is that the pedal is not very open. It's pretty boxy and fizzy if the amp isn't blasting and even when it is, I usually had to do some serious EQing to get it to match up. After doing some research, most people who rave about the DS-1, have the older MIJ models or a modded pedal. I can see why since the MIT DS-1's are fairly bland for distortion sound. Mine is stock and I'm planning to get it modded by Keeley when I can justify the expense. The pedal struggles with dynamics, it's super compressed. Rolling back the distortions make the pedal sound weak and thin.

I've had it for 4 years with gigging and it's still going fine. I take good care of my stuff, but it's still a very sturdy pedal.

The DS-1 isn't a bad pedal. It's not a great one either. If you're in a jam and need something cheap, it's a good way to go. If stolen, I'd not really worry about it as my Satchurator has taken it's place on my pedal board. I don't feel negatively about the DS-1, but I definitely made conscious decisions over the last few years to explore better distortion options because I felt it didn't meet my needs. It's hard to describe, but the distortion was not open and dynamic enough for what I wanted.

Pretty Simple only 3 dials 2 are very self explanatory the tone control annoyed me though either too much or not enough could really use a 3 band EQ. but at the price of these now they are dirt cheap. plus i modified mine a few years back i dont remember exactly the mod wether i joined all the tone wires together bypassing the pot or what exactly. but now mine just gives distortion and boost with NO TONE COLORATION at all and through the front of a good amp sounds great.can easily get those early VAI tones through my X100B
the slightly down rating is due to the fact i had to modify the tone control which wasnt hard at all

With the no coloration tone mod i love the sound although i havent used it as much since getting my ENGL Savage 120 se if i play my carvin i cant go without it!

its boss no problems whatsoever

not needed

I reccommend anyone with a slight electronical tinkering mind like mine to mod the tone control out of the circuit you get nothing but a distorted and boosted guitar tone so if it sounds bad its possibly your guitar or you are looking for overdrive not distortion.!

Considering it has 3 knobs, this pedal should be very easy to use. However, much tweaking is needed to find your preferred tone. This is a very simple stompbox and it can be very versatile, especially if you play around with the tone knob.

I was looking for a pedal with a nice and heavy distortion to play lead parts and solos. I purchased the DS-1 but was disappointed at its low output. I couldn't get enough boost out of it, not even with the level knob at its max. My super overdrive boss pedal is easily louder at 12 o'clock!! I ended up buying the LS-2 line selector and the volume problem was solved, besides helping me switch between rythm and leads in a clean, one-stomp way. I use the tone knob at 9 o'clock, because of its thicker sound and the fact that I have a mexican strat. I tend to play with lots of distortion, nearly maxing it out to get that lovely metal sounding sustain.

I use the DS-1 with my great Peavey Classic 30 combo. I don't really use this pedal for power chords, just for picking and some riffs which sound awesome and very intense. I don't like the idea or sound of a 30 watt peavey blowing out extra heavy chords (I would suggest a Crate or Marshall for those purposes). The single coils and the boost make this pedal very noisy if you're not playing, but i never have my lead loop on except for the exact seconds I use it, so it's no problem for me.

The tone knob past 12 o'clock makes this pedal sound crappy unless you dig the vibe of the Revolution song by The Beatles at the intro! In that case you can always lower down the distortion and play with other set ups. In my opinion, this pedal will only suit me in a very specific way (can't play around with it much if I want "my" sound). For the price, it can sound well for leads, or rythm riffs BUT for solos I would buy a louder pedal or buy it with the LS-2 line selector which will come in handy someday anyways.

Boss is extremely well known for their amazingly built pedals. I do use it without a backup and to be honest I haven't had the need to think about one. These are cool tanks, light years ahead of other plastic pedals out there. Probably the worst that can happen is the paint coming of the corners if it takes a fall !!

I haven't dealt with them, which is a good sign. I own 4 Boss stomp boxes, my other guitarrist has three and we have never ever found a problem.

I play indie-rock but on the heavier side. For my soloing purposes this pedal suits me well but I must say I needed the boost of the LS-2, otherwise this pedal isn't loud enough. If this pedal were stolen, I don't think I would buy it again because I can't take advantage of its versatility, there's only one cool setup for me. Right now, I would go for a Big Muff or a ProCo Rat which are a bit more expensive but you'll get many more cool sounds out of them. I mean, the DS-1 helps me and I'm very happy with my sound, but I feel kind of "stuck" with it.
I have to stress the fact that I play a mexican Strat, and single coils aren't best friends with this pedal. Humbuckers would definitely suit it better.
I'm giving this pedal an overall 7.

I have always liked Boss pedals. They are tough and simple to use. In the case of the DS-1 I wouldn't call it cheap,more like limited. If you want real crunch you will need to look in other directions. I did get an interesting sound when I used it with a stereo Flanger.

Weak as far as distortion is concerned. Needs help to get a better sound. Real Rock /Metal sound need a lot wider distortion range

As said Boss Gear are durable,and I always have a back up.

I attempted to get a battery box cover for another pedal I have with no sucsess

Simple to use

I a/b'd this pedal with some real heavyweights (MI Audio Crunchbox, Fultone OCD, EH Big Muff...). The point is that while they all had their own sound, the ds-1 just sounded SO amateur! Someone once likened it to a toy? I think that's the best way to describe it. No dynamics, thin sounding, buzzy, just plain weak in my opinion. I have gotten it to sound good using higher end amps, but I believe it was the amp giving me the super tone, NOT the ds-1. I guess this is a good starter distortion? I wouldn't gig with it, it just doesn't deliver. I understand Keeley makes a good modded version of this pedal? I always thought that this pedal probably suffered from cheap parts and bad craftsmanship(poor design). I'll check out the keeley version, simply out of curiousity, but my heart belongs to the REAL sounds of the OCD and the Crunchbox (and the big muff for certain occasions).

Biss makes pretty solid stuff

n/a

I don't like this pedal and only have one because it somehow ended up in my apartment and I have no idea who it belonged to or how it got there? If the owner were to show up one day and ask for it back, I'd return it without any fuss. I just think that tone is important to a guitaist and there is so much gear available these days, that for an extra $30 or so, you can buy something that is at least useable?

Three knobs: A Tone knob, Level, and your Distortion Knob. Battery compartment is pretty easy to get into as well. Not at all complicated, though getting good tones out of it is anohter can of worms.

Ok, I run a modded PRS SE Singlecut (with Gibson Busrtbuckers) and an Epi Les Paul also modded with a Burstbucker in the neck and a Dimarzio Evolution in the bridge. All thru a Peavey Valveking 100 watt all tube amp, using 6L6 "ruby" tubes (4 of them). Being a little short on funds for gear, I bought this as what I thought would be a good upgrade from the only other pedal I own, which ends up being one of those FAB Distortions I bought four years ago. I like using the preamp gain for any distortion, so I use my dist pedals as gain boosts for the most part. Well, it's not a replacement for the FAB (I actually liked the FAB better!). Tends to be a bit more noisy on some settings, which you'll get wth any dist pedal, but high dist levels, I would'nt even bother messing with the tone knob. It's quite scooped and gets real thin on settings past 12 o'clock. The distortion is allright, albeit also thin sounding. For $40, not terrible, but not great either.

Well made, metal housing. Boss pedals seem bulit to last, so you can gig with this absolutley. I've but just got it last week, so I can't say how it's been for me personally, but my speculation is it probably wont give me problems.

Well I've only been playing for five years, but I got a pretty good notion of what a good dist pedal should be. My advice is to use as a boost. Now it'll give some meat to your rythms, I wont knock that, but for leads, nuh-uh. Use with a good overdrive pedal and the ds-1 will reward you with a nice kick to your lead tone, bt by itself it's allright for the price but there are better options. This is my view about it, it might work for other music styles, but it's a good clean boost pedal, and I'll probably have it modded one of these days to maximize it's potential usage.

If you can't figure out how to nuse this pedal, then maybe you should play acoustic?

I hate this pedal. It's cheap. It's a toy. It may be ok for some 15yr old kid playing in his bedroom, but for a gigging musician, a professional, this pedal simply will NOT do. Spend the $$ and get an MI Audio Crunchbox or Big Muff, or something along those lines, but if you decide on this pedal, just know that it's below average.

Boss makes tough pedals

Like I said, this pedal is cheap and you get what you pay for.

There are only three knobs it is pretty easy to use. But there are definitely some differences depending on what kind of amp you use. It is very hard to get this pedal to sound good through a solid state amp, on the flip side, it is easy to get a great sound out of this when placed in front of a tube amp. This is the most sold pedal in the world, and 90% of users do not know how to use it

Again, solid state is usually a nightmare and it can make a tube sing if you know how to use it

I have used mine to hold my truck from rolling down the hill.

Its a boss.

If you can not get a good sound out of this and you are using good tubes then there might be something wrong with you.

Very easy

Sounds good, settings will really depend on your amp settings. This really can sound very good. I currently use this on a clean channel of a Mesa Mark III since I dont really care for the drive channel of that amp(can be too woofy and flabby) I currently own a Bogner XTC 101B, Soldano SLO100, CAA OD100 SE+, DR Z Z28, and a Hiwatt clone. So I have heard top notch stuff before. For the price this pedal is pretty good, it can sound pretty compressed but thats not to big of a deal. Just be liberal with the gain you probably will never need it past half way.

In all honesty the pedal is really as good as the gear you match it up with. Ofcourse this pedal infront of any amp with the mids scooped out will sound horrible. This pedal really needs the mids there to achieve a full tone.

Built very well

Never needed them and I think most people would just buy a new pedal than deal with them anyway if something happened.

Very good buy, good sound for the price.

Awerage easy, be careful with tone controls.

Not so good. I try a few distortions. DS1 sound a bit nasty and thin.

Here in Indonesia we dont get many choises for guitars or fx pedals but Boss and Ibanez, Digitech etc can available or you need to special order from some stores. DS1 easy to get in the second hand market.

I play a thailand made NNG guitar PRS santana copy with 2 humbucker. Sometime the amp distortion sound better, other time I use a old ibanes tubescreamer copy it sounds much better, more full sound and less nasty.

It feel solid but dont know, my one is second hand it looks very much used.

Here in indonesia not much customer support. The local electronics repair shop do many service for guitar and amps.

Not so good my ibanez drive fx sound much nicer.

If you can't figure this one out, maybe you should only play acoustic?

How do I explain? Well, this pedal has taken quite a beating in reviews. I used to LOATHE this pedal, then one day I played it at a rehearsal studio, with my Les Paul DC with a duncan super distortion pickup in the bridge, through the studios mrashall jubilee head and a marshal 4x12. It sounded AWESOME! It never sounded that good before? The moral or the story is: For those who say this pedal sux, what gear are you using it with? I have the feeling that some people may be playing with some ****** bottom of the line guitar and some crap amp. If you play with quality gear, you will have a VERY different result. besides, for the $40 you pay for this, what do u expect?

Well, say what u want about boss pedals, but they are tougher than tough!I've own quite a few boss pedals and have never had one crap out on me.

n/a

This isn't a bad pedal, it's just not a great one. Like I said, for $40 u get what u pay for.

I got a "silver knob" old japan made ds-1 that is supposed to be much better than the later taiwan or china made units. It is easy to use because there are just three controls, mine came without a manual but it ain't rocket science to figure it out.

Sounds blah. Very thin sounding. Thought my amp was busted. Dont know what's so great about this japan made ds-1. It sounded the same as my band mates black knob taiwan made ds-1. I can do some hard rock rhythm with it but cant use it for solos. We tried with a boss cs-3 compressor before and after the ds-1, and a combination of a chorus and delay to fatten up the tone, but it just made it sound very unnatural. My SD-1 sounds so much better and fuller.

Ive just had it a few weeks. Dont know about how reliable it is but I always take a backup.

Not used them.

Very thin sounding effect, I didn't like it. I went back to my sd-1

3 knobs how much easier would it get but you have to forget the turn all knobs up theory to use it well never turn the tone past 1 o'clock it sounds super thin.

like i said
tone- o-1 o clock
distortion- anywhere not a big difference b/t 12 and full on
level- i have found i used a whammy/boost in front of it and it caused it to clip very easily. at about 3 o clock its the same volume as the bypass signal. also as said in one of the other review; its sounds good in front of a tube amp that's just barely over driven.

boss builds there pedals like a rock i use a powered pedal board so idk whether it dies quickly but its tough.

it does one sound really well but overall its not a versitile pedal. if you tone everything back a little you get more fullness and less thin sounds