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

Three controls, easy to use, tone control also cuts out lows when cranked up, takes a while to get the right sound.

I use a '72 telecaster loaded with Lindy Fralin's replacement pickups that sound sweetly warm, and a beautiful 1988 burny "super grade" Japanese les paul running on Duncan JB and Jazz pickups. The guitars both sound wonderful when played direct, which is a very important factor in producing great tone.

I play these through a fender blues deville 2x12, a hot rod and a blues deluxe for practise and Laney LX412A with 4x12" celestion drivers or an LV300T or 412S depending on the gig.

I've been trying out a whole variety of overdrive and distort effects, and use the amp tube overdrive much of the time. I also use a boss blues driver, SD-1, and a digitech bad monkey drive.

Tried many combinations of effects, tried driving the tubes by maxing out the volume on the DS1, and stacking the DS with low gain effects before and after the DS1.

The DS1 in itself sounds very shrill and buzzy. It's rather nasal and I can't seem to get a good tone setting that doesn't kill lows and give me decent treble at the same time. I got my DS1 modded and it does sound a little better now but still not so good compare to the other drive effects.

I've used it a couple of times for gigging, but I've always been told my SD1 or bad monkey sound far better, specially with the tele which comes out sounding very much like angry hornets. Will probably keep it and play around a bit but wont use it for gigs.

My bad monkey and SD1 do a far better job of maintaining the wide open sound of a tele and driving my tubes nicely at the same time.

Dont know as I have not had it long. I would always take a backup, since I've had my boss BD2 die on me once halfway through a gig.

Haven't used them for the DS1 yet.

Cheap entry into the disto world but there are better sounding alternatives, look at the bad monkey and tube screamer clones or the boss sd1.

Very simple except tone is where level is on some other boss drives so can be confusing at first. But its very easy

Sound sgreat when used correctly, will sound different on various amps. On my Reeves hiwatt clone it sounds awesome, just keep drive low and level high and use it as a booster(trust me there is still enough high gain) this way gives you thick high gain with low noise. Keep the tone between 10 0clock and noon add more if you want more bite and treble.

Great pedal and sounds great. I have been playing for 25 years and do have lots of different equipment including Bogner xtc, Soldano SL100, DR Z z28 a whole bunch of Carvin electrics.

This pedal will sound good for you just use it lightly and remember this will work better on an amp that has its mids driven more. It will give you satriani and vai tones. Mine is a stock model.

Very slight rolling off some of the chimey highs or crispness when bypassed versus when not in chain at all, but its only slight. Just dont have to many boss pedals in a row and you should be fine.

Just make sure you are using this with an amp that is just about breaking or where you amp is already giving you a good crunch.

Very well made, boss probably makes the most durable stomp boxes

Never had to deal with them which is good and besides most stores swap these out if the one you had went bad.

Overall its a very good pedal no issues at all. I play every thing and I use a Reeves custom 6 for home use and recording, need somethign to pushed it into Bogner XTC red channel territory and this does this to a tee. Great pedal.

This particular DS-1 I am reviewing was made in the early 2000's. The circuit is still the same as it was in 1978 with no changes. It is easy to get a good sound out of it as long as you know what you are doing, i.e. move your guitar controls from 10 to something lower and play on a valve amplifier that can take advantage of the boost in the preamp stages.

I'll give this a 7 because most users forget to use a quality valve amplifier with the pedal, which should be mentioned in the manual like it was in 1978.

If you are using a solid state amp your review ends right here with a "5" out of "10." If you are using a valve amplifier, keep reading.
--------

The Boss DS-1 overdrives the preamp stage of most 2 and 1 channel boutique amplifiers (Bogner Ecstasy, Carvin Legacy, Mesa Lonestar, Fender Twin, etc.) and creates more distortion to push the amp. When dialed correctly on the pedal, your guitar, and amplifier, you can get some superb distortion tones out of this box. This is why Joe Satriani and Steve Vai use this box, even in it's original form.

The DS-1 was meant to be used in conjunction with a valve amplifier and with different guitar settings than "all 10 on the knobs." When used correctly, it is a perfect "10" pedal.

BOSS pedals by Roland are some of the most dependable pedals ever created. The design is the same as it was in 1978. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is most likely the BOSS philosophy.

Never had to deal with BOSS for repairs, but most pedals do carry a warranty of 5 years. I did call them for amplifier recommendations with the pedal and they recommended any valve amp that can have the preamp stage loaded. (Which is most quality valve amplifiers manufactured today.)

The new DS-1's have the same circuit as the 1978-81 models - don't let anyone fool you otherwise. They are tonally 100% the same, even when analyzed for frequency response.

The DS-1 is cheap at an average of $39.99 USD at most retailers. When used properly, with a valve (tube) amplifier, you can get amazing full distortion tones out of it.

A solid "9"

Fairly easy to figure out, mine has got hte keeley ultra mod and sounds fantastic...more on this later.

This is the reason I am writing this review. I had searched far and wide on the net looking for some idea of what to expect from this pedal. I am a huge Satch fan and thought this pedal would help provide that coveted tone. I had Keeley mod mine because I loved the sound bites on his website. Now, for EVERYONE who has reviewed this pedal...here is my take. When I first got it back from Keeley, I thought it sounded as bad as the original. It sucked. Very bright, overly aggressive....complete shit. I was using it thru a JSX head thru the clean channel and could not figure out why even Satch or Vai would bother with this thing. I was about to throw it out and then I struck gold!!!!!! I killed some of the treble on the clean channel and played with the tone controls on the amp and the pedal. I left the tone on the pedal at 10pm and left the treble on the amp at 4. OH MY GOD.... The real tone of this pedal came shining thru. suddenly I had SWTA and Vai all in one. Monster Tone with balls to boot. It was easy to nail early Satch or Vai. I am in love with what this pedal can do, but it is very dependent on where you run your tone controls.

Its a Boss pedal, you could drive over it and it would still work. enough said.

HUH?

If you put the time in to playing around with this and your rig, you will be rewarded but its going to take time to figure it out. When you hit on that tone, this pedalis the Mac Daddy of them all....why do you think Vai, Satriani and Gilbert all own and still use DS-1's......I'm not making this up!!!!!!!!!! And Keeley does a great job modding this pedal!

I've got in my hands a "special" DS-1 with silver/gray knobs that says it's made in Japan, of a particular sweet vintage that is much sought after. It appears rather easy to figure out how it works without the manual, use your ears, easy.

I'm one of those over-obsessed stomp box crazies who pretty much blows almost his entire income on gear, much to the displeasure of the missus. I've tried out almost every overdrive, distort, fuzz and "death metal" type distortion boxes around, from cheap off the shelf danelectros to exotic stuff like custom made hand-crafted moollon gear from Korea.

I use a variety of guitars, from the stock Fender H-1 strat, an Ibanez RG, a Gibson explorer, an SG and a Yamaha AES 920. Once in a while the old "lead-butt" epiphone les paul equipped with JB's comes out. They go into a relatively small pedal chain, one compressor, one od/distort and possibly a second, one phaser/flanger, one delay and one eq. This is played off a 1966 fender twin reverb blackface, or a Genz Benz El-diablo 100 or a mesa boogie dual rectifier solo head.

Sound-wise this pedal is a mixed bag. It most definitely sits within the "distortion" class of effects, nothing subtle about this one here and none of that "mild transparent overdrive" nonsense. The tone is rather shrill on the strat or any single coil pickups but does fairly well with a very low to mild distortion setting. The gibson does ok with a higher distortion setting. The tone control is pretty much unuseable - moving it out of a 11-11.30 setting produces very shrill sounds when cranked up, or muddy bassy sounds when turned down. It has some volume boost but not much.

All in all a pretty simple pedal, but the sound quality lacks character and depth. The tone could have a lot more depth and juice, which even a cheap "bad monkey" or SD-1 can do.

This pedal is very solidly built, but my particular unit has been exhibiting problems on and off, very intermittent. It would suddenly drop volume/gain by nearly 80% and sound awful, like you're playing a very bad sounding distorted "sitar" (Ravi shankar in the 70's through a bad overdrive?). If I powered it off for about 3-4 minutes and powered on again, all would be well. Dunno what the matter is - definitely not the cables or power as we checked that time and time again, and this pedal is far too old for warranty repairs.

Dunno, mine is too old for support.

This is a mixed bag. It's cheap enough for anyone to give dist/od a shot. Sound wise, I've used better.

Before i start, i'm going to say that there are way to many "negative reviewers" on this site who smash a product just because. Yes, i am currently trading in or keeping this pedal as a back up, but that does not mean i am going to give it terrible ratings. I am also not participating in the japan vs China boss debate either. Mine is a newer pedal (less than 3 years)

This is a very easy to use pedal. A basic understanding of what drive (gain level,) level (volume level,) and tone (think eq). This is the most basic and the most common pedal layout, but I wish there were an extra knob or two to provide some extra tonal options.

My setup is custom Fender highway one (2004, before they started producing the crappy ones...) with a dimarzio pro track HB in the bridge with a virtual vintage 50s in the middle and a virtual vint. blues in the neck, with a 500k volume pot installed > fender pt100 tuner > dunlop crybaby > ibanez TS-9 tube screamer > Boss DS-1 > traynor YCV 80 amp with a ibanez CS9 chorus and a boss DD7 in the efx loop. A simple setup, but it works.

I use this pedal with the tone at about 10 o'clock and the drive at about 3 o'clock, with the level control adjusted to compensate my surroundings.

This pedal is a bright and fizzy with the tone anywhere past, say 11 o'clock, but sounds kinda muddy on the bottom end (not too, too bad though) With the tone fiarly low you can get some nice tones though, but the "usuable" range of the tone wheel is not very large ( maybe 8 o'clock to 11 o'clock.) This pedal also doesn't have a lot of sustain, but to get a lead sound a couple it with the Ts-9 and with the added midrange and drive you have a nice lead combination. Throw some delay on top and you're set! On it's own, i can achieve a nice "pop rock" lead tone coupled with loads of delay (think the edge's tone at the end of one by u2) On it's own i don't really like it too much. Still, it's not a bad pedal, especially for the price.

Anybody else will tell you of the sheer brutal strength of boss pedals. I have honestly never seen a broken boss stomp box in my life!

I can't honestly reply to this. i've never had to deal with them because they're built so sturdy. Their website is very informative as well.

I definatley think this pedal is a great value for the money, and can achieve some nice tones. In other areas it falls short, (perhaps the heavier rock genres?)but can suit a lot of musical situations very nicely. Do not let some of the idiots with their negative reviews scare you off this pedal, try it for yourself first, and second keep in mind that its only $45 CAN!!! Also, don't get caught up in gear, because you'll always sound like you no mater what your setup!

3 controls, easy.

Sounds average, for all the hype. My strat sounds like a can of bees and my HSH ibanez sounds like a strat! I got it modded but it still doesn't sound half as good as some of the other digitech / ibanez pedals on the market.

Dunno, I sold it within 2 weeks.

Never used.

Sub-average sound, look elsewhere.

Three knobs, forget the manual, use your ears. Easy.

Used with my strat on kinmans, and the les paul with burstbucker pros. They go into a laney 30w practice amp or a marshall stack when gigging.

I try several combinations and settings to refine my tone by ear, before a session or a show. The DS-1 is by far the poorest sounding pedal I've used. It kills the lows and highs and gives me a thin, characterless and nasty noise. It gets worse when you turn the treble knob past 2 o'clock.

I heard there are mods that improve the sound but I don't have the patience or energy to waste on that - even my cheap dod overdrive sounds way better than this.

Dunno - I used it only a week.

Not used

Look elsewhere.

the only thing hard is choosing which setting youll keep... but hey.. its just 40 bucks... if you love the sounds so much you can save for two! haha

just 3 knobs... pretty easy

i use it pretty much as an overdrive... my current setup (i change it because whenever i try a new pedal, even if its not mine... ill try to find a real use for me and everything chances from time to time.. except the knobs on 2 or 3 pedals) is guitar - boss ns2 (a tuner in the send)- crybaby535Q - ds1 - zoom hl01 - ac2 - dd5 - amp
i use it to get some chunky stuff together with the zoom hl01, or to boost some solos (especially when using the neck pickup of my guitar... its a stock single coil and my settings are pretty much done for the bridge position, a dimarzio with a ridiculous high output)with the tone between 11 an 12 o clock.. level al the way up and the gain pretty much down... about 10 percent... and when im not using the zoom hl01 (btw hl01 stands for hyper lead 01.. its a distortion pedal... a heavy one) i can get some really nice tones.. i use it with the neck position and ad some wahwah stuff there... awesome... besides i use the amp with a little gain in the celan channel to keep it electric but still clean... (i own an ibanez tb100)

but you can also use it as a heavier distortion... it has an awesome range.. i'm really considering buying another one... have one as a moderate rock dist, and one as a fusion dist (tine around 9, level around 1, and gain around 3 oclock) and having a tubescreamer or any other overdrive (i really havnt decide between the ts9 or the zw44)

always in my pedalboard... and its boss... it will last a lifetime

get one... at least give it a chance and dedicate time to get that perfect tone.. youll surely find 2 or 3 settings youll love... and its pretty unexpensive!

Very easy, only 3 knobs which are tone, level and distortion/gain or drive. Editing patch just by turning the knob with 3 way:-
1) Starting from min to max (which i use on the distortion and the
level knobs or for all 3 knobs like the way i use before)
2) Starting from 12 o'clock and use that as the starting poing to
boost or cut, i use this way on the tone knob to cut treble or
boost more treble.
3) Starting from max to min which is not too recommended get to
noisy for the level knob LOL

I havent refer to the manual since i bought it becos i dont need them yet, too simple to get the sound depending on how the amp settings and characters. My DS-1 are stock and made in Taiwan, more or less not much difference than the Japanese model. (Try one before not my cup of tea)

Im using this setup with variety of amp (Roland JC-120, Marshall JCM800, JCM900, Peavey VTM120, Peavey Valveking, Triple XXX, 5150/6505 Series, Laney VH100r and etc that are provided during gigs and inside the studio, for teaching, im using this with a Behringer transistor/digital amp on clean (this amp overdrive channel need more push and im switching the clean and dirty channel to get a crunch and lead sound or stick with the dirty channel and roll my guitar volume to around 6 to 8. Im using this with my Ibanez RG350 and Squier and Fender Stratocaster (need a noise gate for Strat too much gain can make the amp feedback with insane capacity) I like how the pedal respond to my volume pot changes and the way it react to the amp. Im not to particular to get a sound from other artist or something i just want to get my own sound and if im in a cover band, usually i find a sound that suit the songs and refine it with my touch. My setup with my band usually goes something like this lately:-

Wah>>compressor>>eq (x2)>>SD-1(boost for lead)>>DS-1>>MT-2>>eq>>flanger>>gate>>eq>>chorus>>delay (x2)>>to amp

Yeah, i depend on it a lot especially i dont have any amp that i can drag along to gigs and simple to setup and get the same or similar sound everytime my band perform onstage. And i have been using it without a backup for all this years and it still never breakdown on me.

My style of music are something like the range of rock/metal with a touch of pop/funk here and there, and it suit my crunch and lead need for this reason. I have been playing since the last 10 years and get more serious last 5 to 6 years. Other Boss pedals that i own right now are the SD-1 Super Overdrive, MT-2 Metalzone and CH-1 Super Chorus , other than that are loan to me from a good friend of mine. I love the pedals but if i have more cash i might just get a different type of overdrive and distortion to fill in my needs and compare with what i have now. I love all the thing that this pedal can give me but i wish it have a 2 knobs for the tone with one for the bass and the other for treble. I try some distortion pedals from Digitech and this one just suit me well, it just preference i guess.

Drive, level, tone. Same as pretty much every basic distortion out there.

Kind of a mixed bag; I actually got the most of out of this pedal by using it as a lead boost after an OS-2. I was able to get some creamy lead sounds with a decent sustain through this method.

By itself, this pedal either seemed a little to abrasive or a little more "fat" than I wanted from a distortion pedal. I was looking for a smoth, harmonically rich sound (like Everclear's So Much For The Afterglow and Good Time for a Bad Attidue albums, or the solo from Dishwalla's "Counting Blue Cars") and the DS never seemed to deliver that. I actually got decent fuzz sounds out of it... but I've already got a Russian Big Muff Pi so it was kind of un-needed.

Standard Boss, which is to say it'll probably outlive me.

Not talked to them

Despite my negative comments in the Sound Quality I'm hesitant to say this is a -bad- pedal; after all it's 40 bucks new and I'm familiar with the concept of getting what you pay for.

I ended up removing this pedal from my chain and relying on my Big Muff Pi when I discovered the DS-1 isn't true bypass and was indeed (apparently) sucking quite a bit of tone in bypass mode. However it's an excellent unit for beginners (low cost, fairly versatile) and even pros with tastes different than mine can find space on the board for a DS-1.

The bad reviews I have read of the DS-1 all stem from some ******* not knowing how to use the sound controls. It always takes some tweaking, be it of the level, tone, or distortion control. There are no hard and fast rules for using them. Just tweak them until you like the sound; it can take a while. Have patience and have fun screwing with them, and you'll find a sound you like. Trust me. I'm a distortion freak, and this is my all-time favorite pedal, just over the Ibanez Tube Screamer (which, by the way, I use in conjunction with this)!

I use this with a mid-90s Mexican-made Fender Stratocaster, a Tube Screamer, Vox wah-wah, a delay, and occasionally a flanger, all plugged into the front end of a late 90's Fender Blues Junior. I can conjure up an extremely authentic Pearl Jam, Jonny Lang, Shadows Fall, Buddy Guy, and Steve Cropper out of that setup. I use the tone on 9 o'clock, level on 11 o'clock, and distortion on 3 o'clock (all corresponding to hands, not dial numbers). The DS-1 never disappoints and always delivers great distortion, tube warmth, and killer grit and gain whenever I want it. It's the workhorse of my rig, with the exceptions of my guitar and amp; it should also be noted that my Tube Screamer is almost always switched on, but the DS-1 sounds great by itself as well when I need it to. Moreso than my Tube Screamer even, the DS-1 is my go-to distortion tone.

This bastard will withstand the nuclear holocaust.

Never had to contact them; see above.

I'm an alternative rock guitarist, tending toward the heavier sounds of that subset of rock. After having been doing this for over a dozen years, I haven't found anything as useful as the Boss DS-1--not a Tube Screamer (though it's close), not a DOD Hard Rock Distortion, not a Big Muff Pi--nothing. It has a warm-sounding distortion that produces huge gain that I'm unable to get with the small tube amp I'm able to afford on a limited budget. I'm not crazy about the mid-scooped tone--all the bands I've heard who use that sound are garbage. A graphic EQ wouldn't really help the pedal; I've learned to adapt my amp's clean tone and the pedal's tone to work together. This is by far the most versatile piece of my rig, and I couldn't do without it--ever.

Very easy, gain, volume and tone. Couldn't be easier!

First of all I'd like to say I use two basic kinds of distortion, a Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive for a bluesy Tube Screamer type of sound, and this pedal.. The DS-1 has more of a crisp, rectified 80's sound. Think of Dokken, Bon Jovi, classic rock like Bad Company etc. I imagine you could get a good nu-metal sound out of it too, and I guess some bluesy sounds with the gain down. Through an amp the reproduces too much high end, like my Champ 600 with a 6" speaker it sounds harsh and horrible, it's quite top endy. But through a Marshall 4x12 or my Traynor 2x12 combo it's awesome. I have the tone about 12 o'clock, the gain about 3/4 way up and the volume around half. Mine is also an older "long dash" MIJ unit.

I've owned it for about 25 years and it hasn't failed yet.

Never dealt with them

I've been playing almost 30 years, I do mostly classic rock, blues, twangy retro stuff etc, but used to be a metal head and still enjoy that sometimes! This pedal sounds better with a humbucker guitar doing hard rock/metal stuff, might have to experiment a bit to get good sounds with single coil. I plug in my RR Jackson into this then to my Marshall 4x12 and it's instant hair metal heaven! The ultimate pedal for smooth compressed 80's type distortion..

This is my second pedal from Boss, and actually this is very easy to tweak to get a good sound from it. No fuss, no manual needed especially if you are used to play straight to amp for your basic sound. Controls are tone, level and gain (or distortion).

Refer to my other post in the Boss CH-1 for my latest gears. That are what i still use now. For any gigs im using the amplifier they provided (which usually either Marshall or Peavey, once in a while i might get to abuse my pedals with amplifier like Hughes n Kettner, Mesa Boogie, Crate or Randall). At home im using Marshall MG15dfx combo. This pedal would sound noisy with high level of gain and level, especially the way im using it with the amplifier overdrive channel (im setting the amp at a milder crunch usually use to play blues or rock n roll rhythm works)

I can get any pedals in my arsenal to sound like what i want, that is the most important thing. The only defects is the midrange drop when engaged but it could be help with an aid of an eq pedal. The only problem for me is when im using it as my main distortion it sound pretty buzzy when the gain control are maz.

Well yeah, i have use this without a backup until now and i have 2 of them on stage, one as a sustaining crunch sound and the other are used with a Boss MT-2 (not both pedals together but either one), for a mid scooped crunch sound with single note fill in parts becos im using the MT-2 as a power chords riffings. As i wont know if it gonna break or something im gonna give it a 9 becos of my experience with me.

No comment

Well you can refer my previous post on the Boss SD-1 and CH-1, for other xtra reviews. I try the Digitech Distortion which is okay but doesnt suit me well, and the DS-1 now are being used as my crunch as im preferring the SD-1 as my main lead sound now.

I used this for 1 yr practise and gigs and i can honestly say that this is just a very average sounding pedal. When i first got it i thought it was the dogs nuts but actually its not. Its like a 'generic' pedal that covers some ground-can be used as a boost or as a crunch or heavy distortion....however, all sounds are a bit weedy and actually not very good.
Its easy to use three knobs to make a sound but the sound isnt that good.

I am lucky enough to play through top quality gear and ive been playing 20 yrs. All i can say about this pedal is that its just ok. Nothing special about this. But then its a cheopo discount pedal from BOSS not a top quality type so dont expect too much. Its better than a 'crappo -cheap -beginner type' but this is soooooo average. Check out some of the others out there-and then youll realise.

Absolutely dependable cos its a boss which means that it could withstand the immense force of an extremally fat lady's arse smashing onto it .....er.....or something similar.....!

Dont know

Playing a long time and loads of experience-but so what really. Make no mistake this is a cheap pedal that is up to the job of bedroom players and for gigging BUT play this long enough and you will grow to dislike its bland sound. Its just so average sounding. So uninspiring. Do your self a favour and try out something non BOSS but not el cheopo and then youll see the difference.
I love the build quality and the price-but bored with the dull sound.
Ive found that its better to have one fantastic piece of kit than loads of cheap stuff so save up and buy something expensive.

not easy getting a good tone from it, because when you're using a tube amp, it will sound different on stage as it is at home. on stage the amp will cut off the buzziness and sawing sound, because of the tubes.

Also there's many problems using the tone knob, i always put it right down to zero, or one.

When dialed in correctly, PERFECT!!

I always used tubescreamers and a bluesdriver and a fulltone fulldrive, but I sold them all, and i placed my old ds-1 on(perchased years ealrier for my very first gig!!)

It is looking for the right tone, and in my opinion is it, working as a boost. level op, gain down en tone very little. work that into my fender bassman, wich is set volume to about 5(crancs it up a little), use the guitar's volume and tone for rythm, clean or lead and you've got the perfect tone for any guitar!! solo's do come out and cuts through the mix and rythm is softer with less treble and fits right in. the ds-1 reacts way better on picking strength, better than the fulltone!!

never broke down in all these years

don't know, butt sometimes i'm thinking of modding my ds-1 but don't know the people to ask( in the netherlands)

playing alternative pop it's great, but it's also right in blues, jazz, rock, heavy rock, metal etc!!

it depends on how you play!
(take ted nugent for example, plaing with blues-tones in a metalband)

i have used it in many styles anyway!!

Three knobs. But on a distortion pedal, three knobs are all you ever really need. You got your level knob, your tone knob, and your drive knob. Like a safe cracking adventure, you have to dial in the sweet spot for the guitar amp and situation.

Great hot overdrive; not for metal and a bit edgy for mellow applications, great in the middle, sweet distortion.

This has the ibanez tube screamer enamel look with the big knobs, I can't see much hurting this pedal.

I play this in my chain with a ts-9 and a wah and an analog delay and eq- Because I play a vintage amp with only a clean channel, this is a valuable tool to start the distortion process. Its got such a nice algorythm, its super.

Just like any pedal, try it our before you buy it. But for the price of this, its a no brainer.

Though the simple 3-control setup appears trivial to use, it is not very easy to get a good tone out of this pedal.

I played the DS-1 with my Ibanez RG450 and a Gibson SG, into a Fender G-DEC at home or a marshall 100w head and matched speakers for gigging.

I bought this pedal online after reading rave reviews about how everybody who's anybody in the music scene uses this pedal (Vai etc). I also have a couple of other od and distort pedals (maxon, ibanez ts clones etc). The first time I plugged in the DS-1 I thought my pedal was fried. The tone control was all the way at max and it sounded like angry hornets in a tin can. A bit of tweaking made the sound slightly better but not much.

At any setting the effect is quite harsh and very artificial sounding. It really sounded like something cobbled up from spare parts lying in the garage. I have a couple of other boss pedals (chorus and delay) and I can't believe this tin can has a boss name on it.

I really thought my pedal was busted and packed it up to send it back, but I tracked down someone else who has a DS-1 and asked to try it out - the sound was pretty much the same.

Why anyone would recommend this pedal is beyond me - when you can buy better sounding pedals at the same price. Even the boss SD-1 sounds far far superior.

Dunno - I only used it a couple of times and sold it after that.

Never dealt with them.

I play rock, blues and some funk. This pedal flat out sucks at that. Heck, this pedal sucks at everything I've tried, and it sure can't do metal. What do I love about this pedal? Hmmm.. let's see... I love the fact that I could get rid of it to another poor sucker at almost no loss to me.If it were stolen, I'd track down the thief and buy him a beer. Compared this with other products - yes, I use a maxon OD (some TS clone) and an ibanez in the same ballpark distortion level.

It's pretty easy to use. There are three knobs: tone, level and distortion. It came with a manuel; probably shouldn't have to use it, but if you've never delt with distortion pedals before, it's nice to have around. However, it was somewhat hard to get a decent tone out of it, but there's more on that below.

This is the pedal's one weakness. It does not sound that good at all. I use a Fender Roc Pro 1000 combo hybrid amp with a Fender GE112 extention cabinet. It can get some pretty sweet clean tones, but it won't break up, so this is why I bought. This was a mistake. To start off, the pedal is extremely noisy. It sounds like there is a swarm of killer bees coming from my amp. I've tried using a noise suppressor (that didn't work). However, that is not the main problem. The main problem is that this pedal sounds like crap. It's tone is lacking. No matter how many different EQ setting I tried with my amp, this pedal insists on sounding like a pedal a little child made. It is incredibly brittle. When you stomp on it, your amp sounds like it was enclosed in a tiny metal can. Overall it's too hard to get for me to find the smooth distortion tone that is was looking for. However, you do have to keep in mind that is did cost only $40 (although I have gotten MUCH better pedals for less than that!).

It's a BOSS. You can drop it down the stairs, throw it at a brick wall, play with it in the smokey haze of a bar, put cigarettes out with it, spill beer on it, and say really mean things to it and it would work (however, I advise that you don't try some of those things). I guess reliability is what this pedal has got going for it.

I play rock, so after talking to some people and explaining to them my tight budget, I thought that it would only be logical to buy it. My advice: if you already have this pedal, get it modified by Robert Keeley (www.robertkeeley.com). This is what I did, and WOW!!! The tone is AMAZING!!! I guess you have to keep in mind that for people on a tight budet, this is not that bad. But for the giging musician, which is what I am, the pedal is lacking. Definately get it modded.

The pedal is very simple to use. 3 knobs. Volume, Tone, and Distortion. The manual offers a bunch of settings you can use. And a few empty ones so you can write your own settings.

If you want an all around distortion try a ds-1. It has a very Marshallesque sound. Most people would say to go for the modded one from robert keely or analog man.com. I have not tried those but the Ds-1 is so unbeleivable common in music though. Everyone from John Fruciante, Kurt Cobain, To Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. Literally tons of people. The stock pedal I will admit has some midrange issue, but that is what the Modded pedals accomodate. They add more control over the midrange. It's hard to get a good review of a pedal because most people rate it based on what they play not on what it's for. It isn't the BEST pedal for metal, but can get alot of distortion, and it can get down to a mild overdrive-ish sound a la The Tube screamer. It can work well infront of an amp to add that extra kick for a lead tone. It does create a small his though when doing this but most pedals will. Try out a regular one and then keep in mind that a modded one will have a better tone. It's also really cheap. The DS-1 is about 50 bucks unmodded, about 100 modded. Overall though the sound is still nice.
P.S. It is wicked infront of a wah pedal. You don't get that annoying clipping you get with a High gain distortion.

Boss pedals are usually built like tanks. You can use this without a backup no prob, but at 50 bucks a pop, you can get two for what you'd usually pay for one of the other pedals.

I've had boss pedals for over ten years and never need to get anything fixed.

I play mostly punk and metal. This does not give the amount of distortion that I would like, but it would pass if you had a loud enough amp. If it were stolen I probably would buy another one. I love it's variability. I have the HM-2 and it is pretty much for only one style. This pedal can get tons of low and tons of high. (but the tone suffers on either. That is where the mod comes in. Which I plan on getting) but if you want a generally midish tone anyway, with the distortion allowing variability then this is your pedal. Most tone comes from the amp anyway. I usually run this through A Washburn SB. Mohogany body with maple top. Rosewood fingerboard. I'm running through a REXX preamp/amp with a homemade cabinet sporting cheap roland speakers HA.

use this pedal straight into your amps Return. this is always the best way to hook up distortions to your amp.

Guitar > DS 1 > Amp's Return(-input)

you'll be surprised how good your pedals will sound when used as pre-amp.

very easy..only has three knobs..

i use this with a dd3 super chorus and for lead i add in an overdrive turbo.using a 79 strat..i tried it through a behringer vintage and it sounded awesome for blues,,rock but not metal...i had to turn the tone at about 3 to 4,distortion at about 4 and level at about 4 also..the sound gets too thin when the tone is past the halfway mark..use neck pikup..run your amp clean and turn down your treble..you'll get a very bluesy rock tone,,very clapton like..i can't give this a ten coz there's other distortion out there that could sound better,but this pedal aint too bad..

never had a boss break down..

never had to call them so i don't know

this style is good for rock and blues..been playing for about 15years..i use a 79 strat and a 95 lp standard.if this was stolen,i'd probably try a mxr distortion..i like it but don't love it..i've compared it with a rat pedal..two different sound..it's all preference george lynch was interviewed about his effects and people thought he was using a 1000,dollar pedal.it was interesting when he told them it's a stock ds1 store bought.just because it's cheap doesn't mean it's crap,ibanez tube screamer wasn't even selling when it was 40 bucks until srv came along then it became 200.00 bucks.

as long as you can read the letters on the front and turn the 3 knobs, you'll be fine.

got this last night and been playing it like crazy.. hard to believe my neighbours haven't complained yet, but my point is i LOVE the sound of this pedal.

i've seen alot of reviews in alot of places where people bash this pedal due to it's shrillness or fizziness, but i personally love it. i'm an overdrive kind of guy, and this is only my 2nd distortion pedal and it's already my cup of tea.

i run the ds-1 after my overdrives into a vox ad15vt amp set for ac30tb, and after tweaking the tone knob on the pedal i've come up with a great distortion sound that isn't too fizzy or shrill at all. i've got the warmth of the tube preamp still coming through, and the ds-1's distortion is extremely transparent and great on the ears.

good ol' classic distortion from boss, doesn't get any simpler or better than this.

hehe... what do people say about these things? IT'S A BOSS!!

1. throw it off a building
2. bonk your brother on the head with it
3. drop it like it's a bomb on north korea.. etc etc..

yeah, i have a few boss pedals and this bad boy is here to stay and built to last. 'nuff said.

never had to deal with boss, don't think i will in fact.

but my local music store has my back on all my purchases hence the 10, and with a five year warranty you really can't go wrong.

if you play electric, you play it cuz you're drawn to either some form of overdrive or distortion.

now there are alot of pedals out there - cheap ones, boutique ones, generic ones, standards... etc etc

say what you want about boss, but the ds-1 is a time-tested truly great product. all the good stuff i've read about it is true now that i finally have one. i'd definitely recommend it.

Easy to figure out. Tone knob is kind of touchy. Goes from slightly muddy to slightly too bright in a very small turn. Some tweaking and it could sound good. There isn't much of a drastic change in distortion unless you're very high or very low. At 0, there is still lots of distortion, a but less though. Past 3 o'clock and you're ripping!

Stock, it is great for the price. Because it's so cheap though, you don't have to be afraid of modding it. $40 brand new is a bargain.

I have a 1996 Gibson LP Studio, into a jimi hendrix wah, into the ds-1, then to an me-50 for delay, chorus, sometimes compression and into a Traynor YCV50 Blue. The pedal sounds really good. Could be a little fuller sounding, but for the price, totally worth it. It doesn't sound very well with and already overdriven amp. Sounds sloppy and bad.

It's not noisy at all, very quiet. It's very good.

I modded it though by pulling out diodes 4 and 5 and now it's a great boost pedal. It got a LOT louder, and a lot less distorted, but can still get pretty distorted by cranking the distortion knob. It goes great now with and overdriven channel. With this mod, I'd give sound quality a 9, because it could still be better. Great with tube amps!

It's a boss, they never break.

Their website is nice. I've never dealt with customer service.

I like this pedal a lot after the mod. Stock, it's still very good. If it was lost or stolen, I'd get a new one fast.

Stock, it's great for rock. It would almost be nice to have 2 of these, one stock and one boost, but I'm pretty happy for now.

Overall, great product. Boss makes great pedals.

The things real simple to use. A distortion knob which controls the gain. A level knob which is the volume. And Tone which is A Built in EQ. TO turn it on you just step on the pedal button.

I play Either my squire Strat or Ibanez S470DXQM through a Line 6 Spider III 15 watt amp set on the clean channel. so far it isn't really noisy unless I use the single coil on my Ibanez (that does that with all pedals and amps though) This thing is great for alternative and grunge sounds. Like to get Kurt cobains tone You put the tone at 11 Oclock The LEvel all the way up and the distortion all the way up. But don't try to get his exact tone. Experiment with it first. I Know with my really old DOD chorus pedal it gets a little fuzzy but not too bad.

It's made out of a metal body so it holds up really nice. I would gig with it but I would bring an extra if I didn't have a power supply (in case the battery went dead.)

I got it from guitar center and they helped me pick out a nice power supply.

I play Grunge and Punk music and this thing matches what I play real nice. Some of the music I play consists of Nirvana (Kurt played a DS-1) The Offspring and Pearl Jam.
I've been playing for 4 or 5 years now. I own A Crybaby A DOD chorus A line 6 spider III. I'd buy it again If I lost it. My favorite thing is It's real simple to use and gets great hard rock tone. I don't hate anything about it. I compared it to Line 6 POD Danelectro T-bone. A ZOOM G1X and out off all this one was the best by far. This has been on all of my recordings. But make sure you try other stuff first you never know something else might suit you better.