Boss DS-1 Distortion

If by "good sound" you mean the best sound this pedal is capable of producing then it's quite easy, there are only three controls, and you don't need a manual to fool around with them. Mine is a made in taiwan model, late 2005 I guess, from what the dealer tells me.

I play a variety of guitars but mainly a Fender tele, a Godin LG P90 and a Charvel San Dimas, which go through a variety of effects into a Kustom tube 12A combo or a Budda at times when we gig. I used to play a lot of shred stuff with my old Ibanez guitars for which I used pretty nasty distortion pedals. When I mellowed down due to age (I am 44), I wanted some milder sounding distortion stomp boxes. Since everyone around me used or recommended the DS-1 I bought it.

The DS-1 has its own character and tone, and it does change the guitar tone in a non subtle way but it is most often too flat, sucks lows, doesn't deliver chunky rhythm nor does it sound full. I'm not looking for a do it all Grateful Dead overdrive to Napalm Death thrashmaster stompbox but I wish it was at least good at what it did.

First of all this is a distortion box, not an overdrive so one can't expect mild hair tones from this box, but the gain setting only goes from mild fizzy sore throat to nasty fizzy fart. Beyond the 1 o'clock setting it gets real nasty and sounds truly screechy and noisy. I'd use it with gain between 10 and 11 o'clock. Too low a gain and it sounds like a transistor amplifier on its last legs, letting out its last croaking breath before it falls on its back, throws its legs up in the air and dies.

The good thing is that I didn't pay much for it, and I'll gladly get rid of it to anyone who offers even 60% what I paid for it.

Got to give 'em that, it IS quite well made. I would depend on it, but then again I probably wouldn't even use this pedal. If there was no other dist pedal around I'd probably just use the amp's distort.

I didn't use it.

A cheap entry level distortion. There are much better sounding pedals at this price. The newer Behringer pedals are dirt cheap and extremely good value for money if you're really strapped for cash. If this were lost, I'd say good riddance, and yes, it really does get in the way and I went back to my EHX pedals.

Well, even though it has "only" three knobs, they don't all work like you'd expect. The tone knob is quite tricky, since bumping up the tone beyond 10 o'clock really eats up your lows, and you get a thin watery icepick kind of tone. It depends a LOT on the guitar and pickup used. I find the 9:30 setting ok for my strat but when playing a humbucker equipped hot strat I can go up to 10:30 and still get enough lows. I wish increasing the tone didn't kill the lows.

I bought the DS-1 because "everyone" recommended it. This was supposed to be the "standard", a yardstick used to measure every other dirt pedal out there. I fell for the hype and bought it many many years back. I think mine was a Made in Japan version.

I play a standard strat with slightly hot DiMarzios, and another strat with humbuckers. On stage we use a 100 watt Marshall stack and for practice I use a small Marshall 15-watter.

I was not happy with the tones I was getting. It was too fizzy / hairy for lack of a better term. Not much character to the tone. There was a large amount of coloration to the guitar's tone, but in a nasty way. Like some other people have commented, I was surprised at the poor tone quality I was getting out of this pedal.

There's not much noise unless the gain is way up. For me the pedal sounded best when gain was close to 9-10 o'clock, tone at 9:30-10:00 and level to taste. I got quite upset with this pedal for some months when even a naturally fat sounding Les Paul sounded thin and watery through this pedal.

Then I got mine modded (Keeley) and it did sound better. I always found myself going back to my SD-1 or Maxon's because I could get a warmer, fuller and more rounded tone with lots of character from these other pedals. It was sold a few years later and it's been replaced by other pedals.

I'd rate this a 2 (stock) and 5 (Keeley modded).

I dunno. There was a problem with the input socket. I had it repaired at the local music store for $10. I had it happen again and had my bassist fix it for me in his workshop. Didn't happen after that, but I didn't have it long after that.

Never used.

This is a cheap dirt pedal which tries to do it all. Sadly it doesn't do anything quite so nicely. If budget is a constraint, there's the SD-1, the bad monkey overdrive and some other dirt pedals which have far better tones. For just a few dollars more, I got the truly blistering West Siberian AMT california sound a few months ago. Imagine yourself playing on a fourth-hand $50 guitar, minus a couple of strings, through a 5-watt practice amp with overdrive. That's the DS-1. Now imagine playing a beautifully crafted top of the line PRS or American fat strat through a 100-watt marshall stack. That's the AMT. Don't compromise on tone, I almost ended up giving up music thanks to bad sound.

It's a bit tricky getting a decent tone out of this pedal.

This is a weird pedal. People rave about it, but I have heard better OD/dist sounds from almost every other pedal I've tried. I run my Gibson Les Paul or Fender MIA strat with texas spl pickups through this pedal. There's also a SD-1, a compressor, a chorus and a delay in the chain, sent to a mesa boogie or a fender.

It does add a significant amount of color to the tone of the guitar - the original tone doesn't really come through nicely. The distortion is not quite nice to listen to. It's a bit fizzy when at min, and sounds like a nasty shriek when close to max. The tone ctrl is weird, when you increase the tone, all the bottom end vanishes and it sounds truly nasty.

Thought it may be a problem with that one pedal, but I tried a couple of DS-1's, all made in Taiwan, and they all sounded the same. I can't imagine how anyone could rate this good. I'm going back to my SD-1.

I guess so, but why the heck would I use this horrible little noise maker?

Not needed. I sold my DS-1 a month after I bought it.

I'd really look at other pedals, any other pedal would probably sound better. I know my SD-1, OD-3, TS-9, MT-2 and every other dist/od pedal I've used sounds better.

Level, tone, distortion....if that's not easy I don't know what is.

I'm not sure if anyone has noticed or mentioned this but the tone knob is is just a freq shift for a freq that is permanently boosted on the pedal, its a parameter. I have a MT-2 Metal Zone (have had for 8 or so years) and if you boost the mid and rotate the mid parameter back and forth it sounds just like rotating the tone knob of the DS-1 back and forth. Just thought you should know.

Okay the review. I bought it for a generic rock/alternative/punk/whateverthehell distortion, and it serves its purpose well. What I had not planned on was that it would sound like the Divine Intervention and Seasons In The Abyss Slayer albums. Shocking, I know. Go ahead and try out Dead Skin Mask, War Ensemble, SITA, Serenity In Murder, 213, Sex Murder Art and see do it sound like that. You will be surprised. I'm rambling now.

I set level at max (not a very loud pedal) and its just about matches my amp volume (I think I should mention I have high output hums so if you have sc's it will sound louder). Tone at around 10, 11 o'clock and dist anywhere from max to 12 o'clock.

Pros:
I am amazed at the difference you get from a Seymour Duncan JB pu (New Found Glory, Green Day-ish) and an EMG 81 (metal, Metal, METAL), not that I use ti for metal, but it sure does work with the right pickups.

Cons:
There is an ear-piercing high freq characteristic to this pedal. When you shift from low fret chords to high fret chords (like in most punk) the sound of you're hands moving down the strings seems to be amplified, pick srapes all the way down the strings even more so (perhaps this particular aspect is a plus for some but not for me). This doesn't happen with any other distortion I've ever used and I can't seem to get it to stop, but then again it's 40 bucks new.

Overall a decent sound and if you're just starting to play you can buy it without fear. Maybe look around a bit first but just about everything else is more expensive.

C'mon, it's BOSS, should this category even be here when reviewing a BOSS pedal?

Don't know, and probably never will.

I play all types af metal (too many to types list, although the amount of time it took me to type this paranthetic blurb probably took more time than it would have to just list all the various types of metal....I'm gonna go cry now), just about all types of rock, some blues but I'm not that good at it, a bit to technical. It works for most rock, some metal (especially with the right pu's). Been playing for 10 or so years, I'd probably buy it again, maybe try something else out. Sure as all fuckin hell would be nice if it had a 3-band eq instead of tone.

3 knobs. dist, tone, level

not the metal sound i was looking for, but i adapted with minutes.

boss...

simple, relatively sheap, solid built

Tone,Level and Gain thats it cake walk!!

Well its OK,so-so.
I use it to boost my Marshall into a more thrash percusive sound for heavyier rythm sounds and lead boost.
Its OK and pretty decnt for its price but not the"be-all-end-all take into abby road pedal". The tone knob tends to get make the tone nasily and tinny and metalic(not the music type).It seems like I can't get enough treble bite outta the pedal without getting into that metalic tinny thing.
The lowend on power chords tends to be a hair muddy and "garbled" as I call it.
As far as gain I'm sure theres not enough to boosta clean amp into Mesa Boogie territory but there more than enough to boost an allready overdriven Tube Marshall.
For leads the pedal is pretty decent I can get some nice pinch harminics with it but it allways seems a bit middy.Atleast with my rig.
Also I do think thsi thing loads the signal a bit too. I A/B'ed it bypassed against the amp alone and I can hear a differnace.......unless its just the double cords length I'm hearing??
Its not the best pedal in the world but its a decent distortion on the cheap if you only need it for certain things.If you use Dist. all the time there are better units.

Can I say it??........................Can I??.................ITS A BOSS!!!!!!!!!!................cliche

Dunno

OK So-So yadda yadda.....Its Ok on the cheap.If you like your sound and only need a distortion for certain parts or for a few songs.Its great.If you need a pedal for your main sound or are realy particular about your alternate tones this ain't it.If your distorting a clean amp prolly not enough gain.

Bone simple 3 knob layout. I much prefer a 4 knob setup with individual bass and treble controls but the 3 knob layout has become almost standard even on a lot of the botique pedals. The ac plug is on the top which I like, (I hate them on the side.)

A lot of people give up on this pedal (too early) I have a lot of other pedals to compare this one to and I must say... harmonics and smokey woody tones come out of this pedal better than my Fulltone OCD or Xotic BB and RC and at about one third the price thats a huge statement. I tend to run this pedal with the gain fully cranked, for me that is where this thing comes alive (atleast with my setup) and my only real problem with it is that it is a bit noisey with its gain fully cranked. This pedal is actually quite articulate and does have its own voice. For me grind boxes are just colors and flavors and each is a little different and I like having a lot to choose from. I concidered having this pedal modded for a while but after playing it and comparing it my other dirt boxes this stone standard DS1 will stay just as it is. I do know that what you can wring out of your guitar and effects comes from your own hands, your touch and style and the little things that make you you. It has taken me a long time to get to this point (been playing 40 years) but its true. I must give this pedal a 10 for sound, it may not be concidered a botique pedal But, it really is a classic and there is a reason many of your top players use this pedal in pro rigs.

I have owned many Boss pedals and products over the years and their stuff keeps working long after many others stop. Build quality on the pedal is good and I like the silent switching.

I have used customer support several times concerning my BR1180cd and they always been helpful and polite. They have always tried to help.

I play mostly rock (my own stuff) The DS1 is run into a Genz Benz El'Diablo 30/60 (tube) combo and sits in line with a Barber tone press, an Electro Harmonix Metal Muff, Xotic BB, a Frantone Peachfuzz and a BBE Sonic Stomp, this line up goes straight into the amp and I also run a row of effects through the amps effects loop. I also have a Digitech Bad Monkey, Boss OD3, Barber Direct Drive, Dan Electro Fab Distortion, Barber LTD Silver (and a few others.) I like to have a lot of switch out options when it comes to drive pedals. The Bad Monkey is an outstanding pedal and a great deal as is the Fab Distortion. The DS1 is a fantastic deal provided you are willing to put the time into your playing to make this thing really sing. This pedal really suprises me sometimes when it comes to sounding great. For build quality, price, sound and reliability I have to give this classic a 10 ... you can spend a lot more and get a lot less. I may get another DS1 and have it modded a bit but I will always keep a stock one around!

Easy to get a good sound out of this than other pedals cause its only got 3 huge wonderfull knobs, manual is cool I guess but who needs it?

Im into alternative rock mainly but I judge on power chord sound mostly and this thing surprised the hell outta me when I first tried it, I was not expecting it to be so LOUD and crunchy! more like a sd1 sound I guess but oh man I just turn both tone and dist. all the way up and BAM its there, very good harmonics! Only complaint is its kinda noisy and also a bit HIGH and squeally and not as warm as other pedals (so 1 point off for that) but ive tried it against all kinds of distortion pedals and this one keeps beating them to hell I dont know why its got a solid sound that stands out, right now my set up is a hotrod deville 212 and Epiphone sheraton 2 it works well with my boss dd3 as well and seems to do well on batterys

you know the drill its Buh Bah Buh Bah boss.

Here are some pedals ive tried it against: Boss metalzone, Boss ds-2 Line6 UberMetal, Ibanez Ds7, Ibanez Ts7, Bigg Muff, ProCo Rat 2 (I still own this one) Digitech BadMonkey and some others ive tried in the past like the boss sd1 and korg dst3

My next pedal I wanna try is a boss blues driver but if this gets stolen then I would buy it again since its so cheap I got a good deal on mine for 20 bucks :)

easy, but the again, I'm from belgium.
(I could give it less than a 9 going from other peoples reviews,
only 3 knobs, yet many cant get this one sounding good ??? oh well )

I descided to post a review on this one because:
I went through nearly every distortion / overdrive imaginable.
played the entire menatone, fulltone, Xotic, radial, MI Audio, whatever boutique, and all the others => boss, line 6.... lineup. Didnt own them all, (too much though), but had each one for a few gigs er at least for a few hours. After this dist/OD frenzy (and a few years and many gigs & countless rehearsals) the bottom line is, I stil use the DS-1 as "my sound", the building stone for my entire rig. A previous reviewer said: the are but 4 distortion pedals out there: DS-1, Big Muff, the RAT and the guvnor. what is (In my humble opinion, true)
If you can't work any of these, you dont have it in your fingers, and thats where 90% of your "sound/signature" is. other pedals only try to emulate one of these 4. Of course there are flaws in this pedal, but a lot less than in any other I've come across. (must say, the menatone carcrash is MIGHTY GOOD, but for 400?/$ ???)
The Radial tonebone hot brittish is nice, espessially with a better 12AX7, has many times the tonal posibilties of the Boss, but still I prefer the Boss, example, A/B these two guys they both only sound at there best on One or Two setting, then whats the use of 100 sounds if it lacks that (REALLY) sweet spot ?
the DS-1 is not noisy, not more than others in this gain rage, you only have to use it wisely. As I said, level and gain are to be set as you wish, but here the toneknob is the key, to set this one, just listen, straight in front of the speakers, (at a safe distance ofcoarse) TURN UP THE AMP, !! LOUD !!!
any distortion pedal that sounds good at bed/living-room volumes will Not sound good on stage. and the DS-1 sings at gig/rehearsal volumes. Also mind, if you are using a solid state amp (and a POS guitar) this will not de the pedal justice, or visa versa. The pedal is picky to what amp it is played through though. i'd say best on 6L6. think thats about it.

everything I ever owned broke down, rattled, being switches etc...
everything but the boss pedals. wonder when these will fail on me ?
I gig without backup.

never dealt with ...

I play everything but house and classical. currently studying at the Jazzstudios. play rock (hard), blues, funk, fusion, jazz, pop ......
this pedal works all these styles, all the time.
been playing a lot for 10 years now
my rig:
Les paul - 535Qwah - MXRsupercomp - OD3 - DS1 - Pitch shifter - DD6 - volume => mesa F50 or (the mighty)FUCHS ODS50 - FXLOOP=> 10 Band EQ, RV5 reverb. speaker out to the REDBOX DI.(to PA) and G12T75 and G12M greenback speakers.

Besides experimenting to find the levels you like, it's a piece of cake.

I don't think of the DS-1 as a single, stand-alone effect. I've found that the shortcomings others have mentioned are done away with when it is paired with an SD-1 Super Overdrive (except for some noise... you may want a noise gate). Then it becomes like a distortion boost layered on an already full and warm overdrive sound (the drive can be set low on the SD-1 and you still get the warmth). This approach delivers the compressed crunch of a traditional distortion effect this role, but without the cold, thin sound of the DS-1 on its own. If you already own either the SD-1 or DS-1, I highly recommend getting the other pedal and trying this versatile combo. It covers the gamut from blues to metal.

Sure. I've never had a Boss unit fail on me.

I haven't had to deal with them, but I haven't hear good things.

As I said, on it's own it doesn't cut the mustard for me, but with the SD-1 it undergoes a magical transformation. I play everything from Cream to the Cult to Dream Theater, and I can cover it all with this combo. In twenty years of playing, I have found sounds as good, but I haven't found a compelling improvement. They're so cheap, if you are curious about this pedal, you might as well try it. Simple, effective, solid.

Tone,LEVEL,distortion.Fairly straightforward I would say.

O.K.,this pedal sounds like shit,BUT wait,there is hope for this little diamond in the rough.If you feel brave then there is a simple MOD that will breath life into this otherwise crappy sounding pedal.Remove the four screws holding the bottom plate and remove it.Lift the board up and out carefully. Find D4 and D5 and remove them(cut them off,or unsolder them if you want to reverse the MOD)This will give it more crunch and tone.P.S.if you have an older pedal made in japan,don't do this as it may affect it's value.Buy a new one(they are cheap).You'll be pleasantly surprised.

All Boss pedals are reliable,but then so are most electronics these days.

doesn't matter really,at what it costs it is easier to toss it and buy another.

Blues,rock.this pedal not suitable for polkas.

3 knobs which makes not so overwhelming. But to get a good sound requires some what of a good experianced ear. The tone knob I find is well responsive and by adjusting that I can get the sound I am after. Then adjust the other knobs accordingly to your liking. simple.

My BOSS Distortion DS-1 pedal is completely stock, Made in Taiwan

I found (much like many amps and pedals) at a low volume it dosent perform at its full potential, when I finally used it at a jam and a gig and cranked up the amp with this pedal, its sounded amazing and I loved it. You really have to play it at a higher volume to hear it sing (as I said much like many other devices). I can get that crunch out of it that I like for a good blues tone. When I play punk I can get that heavier chunky sound. Also for Metal I can get a good over the top searing tone. Its all how you play with it and how well you play and as I said having a good ear helps.

It can be a LITTLE noisy when you play loud, but nothing unbearable, I manage fine with it. I use a Fender Stratocaster with a Seymour Duncan Humbucker in the bridge, through a Fender Bassman and sometimes through a fender Princeton 65. Through both amps I can get the sound I want from this pedal no matter what style of music I am playing.

I found I can get that raw Jimmy Page sound from it (think the solo in Heartbreaker) and a heavier 80's metal sound. Also when I jam to Green Day it works great. For rock and roll and blues its amazing.

Once again all how you set it, It can sound horrible if u crank up tone and distortion (just like if u put everything at 10 on an amp) or it can sound muddy and horrible (just like putting everyting at 1 on an amp) so people who say its too trebly or muddy are forgetting that theres a set of knobs that come with this pedal to help prevent that. Cause I make just fine with it for every style I play.

It gets a 9, NOTHING is perfect, the onyl cons to this is th ebit of noise u get from it at high volumes, as I said u get from many things and this isent even that noisey. Hope this add helps someone.

Yes I have used it numerous times in jams and gigs and it performs well everytime, sound wise, quality wise and I know I can depend ont his pedal.

Never dealt with BOSS

I play all styles as mentioned above, and this pedal delivers everytime.
Iv been playing for 7 years, I own a few other BOSS pedals and they have never let me down, its pretty hard to go wrong with BOSS!
Theres nothing I really hate about this pedal to be honest. Compared to other distortion pedals I have played this one beats out the compition withotu spending hundreds of dollars. If you want a great distortion pedal for cheap then Boss Distortion DS-1 is IT!

Come on, three knobs!

I used a Cort G290 (EMG SAs and 89>TU-2>Whammy>Wah>NS-2>DS-1>CH-1>PH-3> BF-3>DD-6 into a Marshall MG100DFX. The sound was good, clear tone but unfortunately a noticible lack of bass, a bit trebley and not all THAT much gain. Stick an EQ after this however and I'm sure you'd love it.

It's a Boss.

N/A

I play alternative rock mainly and this just wasn't suitable for my needs. I prefer the modelling of it on the OD-20 (my current distortion pedal), as there is a bottom control, allowing you to get that power and there's more gain on tap! This is a great starting distortion pedal, and is good as a booster, if a little noisy. On a bass though, this pedal is AWESOME. Probably one of the best bass distortions out there. But on guitar, average.

Three knobs, it couldn't be easier to use

I'm using this with a Epiphone SG on a Spider II 30w amp. It's not noisy.

I think this pedal just sounds like crap, the only "correct" tone setting is setting the knob on the minimum to the left, when I put more, it starts getting way too trebley and it's unuseable.

I'm using it just as a gain booster on the drive channel of the amp. It does it OK.

It is very reliable and strong, I would use it certainly without backup.

never dealt with them

It is absolutely not what I need, I find it very poor.

But, I'm not playing on a tube amps and I have read that it sounded greater on a tube amp.

I'm just keeping it until i'll have a better one.

3 knobs a n00b would have no problem with this pedal. Manual was great

By itself it sounds ok, but combined with other distorsions, it can really warm your sound up, if you put the tone to 0 and distorsion to full

This thingy's a beast

No Dice

This is a cool pedal, but there is probably better out there.

hmmmm... ok so its a basic stomp box so its pretty easy to use. Plus its a Boss compact pedal, which are really well designed,
the knobs are easy to see and access, but placed away from the footswitch, so you dont change your settingas as you hit the switch (something ProCo should think about! lol)
There is a Red LED to tell you its engaged (just incase you didn't notice!)
oh and of course the battery can be changed easily, no tools required to access the battery, nice!
The base has a HUGE rubber grip, so its not going anywhere, and the foot switch is easy to press and also has a rubber grip.

This thing is very easy to use.

My setup at the mo:

Fender Stratocaster (SSS) --> CryBaby wah(basic) --> BOSS DS-1 --> ProCo Turbo RAT --> Peavey Express 112 (transtube series)

a really average joe setup here! Im after a new all tube amp, will be extending my sounds soon (after I get paid lol)

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Ok so this is the infamous Boss DS-1 Distortion, and thats exactly what you get!

This must be the most "standard" distortion ever!

BUT that does not mean its not versatile.

theres the three usual knobs found "Tone" "Level" "Dist"(distortion)

no fancy eq or la di dah Mid boost found here, and theres no need.

ok so lets put Dist up to max...WOAH! yeah, theres a lot of distorion here, could even argue that its got some fuzz!

Now its the Tone control which gets interesting here, theres a little marker dot at 12 o'clock, and if you push it up to and beyond that dot, say goodbye to your hearing! 'cos here we enter sharp, fuzzy distortion, screaming high sound, push Tone to the max and it just sounds aweful in my opinion!

But its when Tone is under 12 o'clock when this lil box starts to warm up...

ok now lets turn Dist down a bit, say 10 - 11 o'clock.

messing withe the Tone control at around 7- 10 o'clock can give some nice results, smoother or chunkier distortion here!

Right, time for my favourite setting, thats Tone just over 9 o'clock, and Dist just under 10 o'clock

This gives me a twangy jangle to my sound, which is nice for single notes and when you play chords hard it gets nice and messy and scratchy (kinda how i like it, kinda)

ok so to round off "Sound Quality"

yeah, this is pretty good distortion, I can get a nice "Slayer" sound and a nice erm... i dunno "Rock" sound, its just that theres something about this box which makes me think "hmmm... plastic" i dunno, perhaps I should of gone for the SD-1 Super Overdrive, I dunno...lol,

This Is a great sounding stomp box, its just not exactly great for my style, although I have no idea what my style is!
hmmm... i think am gonna mod it!



(oh yeah, its you can get Nirvana out of this thing no problem)

Heck yes I can depend on this!

I have only played a few small gigs with this, but it is built well!

I would gig without a back up no problem.

Not applicable in anyway, I haven't contacted Customer Support, and probably won't need to.

I play mainly blues/punk/jazz/funk/newwave/soul
Im influenced by pretty much anything, but I love these bands/artists alot: Hendrix, Yeah Yeah Yeah's, White Stripes, The Black Keys, Bromheads Jacket, Be Your Own Pet, Graham Coxon, many more!

I think if I put this through a Marshall and recorded in ball rattling stero I could get a Be Your Own Pet sound, yet if I had Marshall I would just use the gain on there. hmmm...

Ok I'll admit it, I bought this cos I was quite bored with my lame setup and had 40 quid to spare so went out and compared this to an SD-1 Super Overdrive, I got the DS-1 because it had more gain/drive/whatever! I shouldo saved my ###'s and gone for a blues driver or something, but i'm not complaining,
Ths DS-1 will do for now, at least I know I can go to a gig and just plug this thing into any amp or PA and get some quality distortion!

If this were stolen or lost I probably would get something else, simply because I am trying to find MY sound, and the DS-1 is just a part of that journey. That idea pretty much goes with all my effects, unless I absolubtly love them.

I wish it had a little more "character" and a little more volume because when you turn down the Distortion, you loose that little bite in volume and it turns a little 'wooly' or 'fuzzy' trashy kinda.

Im unsure if it helps me make music, i mean, the tone kinda hinders pogress, but that fact that I dont have to walk over to my amp and change the settings all the time helps alot!

I would definatly check out the DS-1 if you have a little spare money and want a basic pedal. If your just getting into effects I would recomend the DS-1 for sure!

takes a bit of fiddling to get the sound you want but has a tone, distortion and what amounts to a volume control so not that difficult.
manual comes with it, but with three controls you probably wont spend much time looking at it

ok ive read a lot of reviews slating this pedal because its too noisy etc etc, and at high gain levels i'd have to agree in some ways, but apart from that it is very good. people dont seem to know what this pedal is meant to do. they say it doesnt sound like a tube amp, but thats cos its not supposed to. tube amps, especially ones that dont go for five stage gain circuits, tend to use fairly soft clipping. distortion pedals use harder clipping, so sound different. up to moderate gain this pedal sounds very good indeed, especially when played through a tube amp which warms the sound up quite a bit. its great for a crunch sound and for classic rock sounds.

built like a tank

i play blues, classic and more modern rock and a little metal. suits the rock styles very well. i use a MIM strat (getting the pickups upgraded soon) and an epiphone les paul. play through a laney LC15R tube amp. the amp at lower gain suits blues better than this pedal, and if you want metal a MT-2 would be what youre looking for. and if you want a status quo sound youre probably more interested in the OD-3, but for a nice classic rock sound that can do lots from AC/DC to some pink floyd and beyond, this could be what youre looking for.

Easy to sound like Poop!

If the purpose of this pedal is to Distort & make your Amp sound like Shit?? It does that very well. If you want your tone ruined & colored in a way you can't imagine. Then buy this pedal.

Boss makes a couple good pedals that I can deal with. (One is a Tuner)!

Boss stuff lasts forever.

If they cared about their customers they wouldn't flood the market with crap pedals! I wonder if any of their research folks even know how to turn a Tube Amp on?

I know some noted Guitar Hero dudes use this pedals, hopefully the old Japanese ones sounded better. I've been playing, touring, recording for 20 plus years. I own many very nice sounding Stompboxes - The DS-1 may be the worst I've ever heard.
There are plenty of other choices out there for Solo/Boost pedals, do some research & try something else.
This thing was back up on Ebay within 25 minutes of trying it out.

Boss should spend more time on tone quality & less their Bottom line.

Simple Distortion pedal Tone-Distortion-Level

It takes some working with to get that sound that youre looking for.I use this stock pedal with a Epiphone Dot Limited Edition With a Gibson Burst Bucker Pro Bridge and a Peavey Stereo Chorus 2x12..pretty dopey amp too..I found a setting that fits my need but for some people it may vary. I play punk and it sound great...altough with some settings it sound fake.

It's a strong little thing..It's built like a tank...It can run on a 9V battery but i always use the adaptor.

N/A

I've been playing for about a year and a quarter but i've been playing bass for about a year and a half now...so i'm stil a young pup in the industry....This pedal works good for punk

Easy to use. manual ok....but really you dont need it.

I use a decent valve amp (cos they are the best!) and a decent strat with fat 50's (good pups)
Of course this is noisy but the sound you get is good. Not so good that it makes you feel good to be alive etc or that you've finally found that holy grail fantastic sound in your head type of sound .......but this really does a decent job in making you sound authentic and good.!!

Its a boss which means it puts other makes to shame. Absolutely reliable.

Dont know

Love how easy it is to get a decent sound. I only use it for two types of sound really........low fuzz so its like an overdrive but with more rawness to it, and then with high gain for a more modern fuzzy sound think franz ferdinand..
Ive tried other makes -mostly cheap stuff and multi effects (including boss) and didnt know what boss footpedals were about....let me just say that I am impressed by this pedal. Its a no nonsense decent sounding workable professional effect. Very usable and giggable. This will make you sound good -(as long as you know how to play!!) Oh...and for the price this is a bargain.

3 knobs what's so diffocult about it?, blend in your sound, great pedal a real leader in it's kind, a must have in every home

you want distorsion you got it , want overdrive you got it, want funk, you got it, your imagination is the limit

boss there built to survive nuclear war!! and they still live

boss there japanese what else is there to say but great!!!!

boss ds1 is a must have in every home, so what are you waiting for go and buy it!!!!!!

It's easy to get a good sound if you use this properly (like say with a TUBE amp.) The manual shows sample settings, so this should help steer you in the direction you are looking to go with this pedal (natural clip, crunch, american rock, etc.)

Ibanez SZ320/Hamer Vector Flametop Flying V -> Ibanez Weeping Demon Wah -> Boss DS-1 -> Rocktron Rampage dist -> Rocktron Metal Planet dist -> ART 451 and 442 EQ's -> Peavey Rockmaster 120w tube amp -> Laney 2x12" cab. The "excessive" distortion pedals are for different applications. Rampage is more for an edgy modern style dist from Queens Bohemian to Randalls famous a la Dimebag dist. The Metal Planet does more of an old school sound, also does raspy fuzz for black metal, and makes a good rhythm death metal tone. The Boss is great for everything else, playing Marshall-esque crunch, lighter dist for blues and lighter genres, clipping for Overdrive, or for sustain.

Boss is pretty dependable, and if it broke, I probably wouldnt gig with a backup, but I could tough it out. Maybe if I get my friends DS-2 fixed, I could set that up as a backup. Boss pedals are pretty simple to fix if they were to break anyways.

Mainly Metal, but I can also play blues, jazz, classical, etc and its good for everything. I love that its very enhancing to the sound dynamics without masking anything. I really like the improved articulation, like when I palm mute harmony lines, I can actually hear the notes, not muffled versions.

Three controls, how easy can it get? Got to be careful about the tone control, anything above the 10 o'clock position makes it thin, shrill and tinny sounding. The tone knob doesn't just control the tone, it kills bass when turned up beyond 11 o'clock.

I use an Ibanez RG with this pedal, and the effects loop is RG -> distortion -> delay or chorus -> amp.

It sounds so so. Turning the distortion knob from min to max gives you a moderately decent range of tones ranging from mild distort to hard raspy fuzzy distort. The tone is sub average, it sounds noisy and tinny. Every other distort pedal I've tried sounds better than this.

I've heard about mods for this pedal, but haven't experimented with them. Don't need to, when the stock SD-1 or even the MT-2 is soooo much better than this noise maker.

I've only had a boss fail on me once, in the past 16 years. Yes I'd depend on this baby, but I'd carry a backup just in case.

Never needed it.

It's a solidly made pedal. Too bad it sounds terrible. I would rather use a SD-1 or any of the bazillion other overdrives or distortion units around.

3 knobs..yeah that's really hard to use !

My setup is Epiphone LP > DS-1 > Line6 spider II 30W. There is no problem to get crunch tones, smooth overdrive, classic distortion or fuzzy sharp sounds. If you want to have mega-kickass-raw-drill-sulfur- mega-gain machine, you gonna need MT-2, Uber Metal,KM-03 , Metal Zone... but if you want an universal overdrive, distortion or fuzz good to everything except blues and metal, DS-1 will be excellent choice.

If you will hitting it with hammer or throwing it to the walls, you gonna destroy it!

I'm playing everything between light rock through grunge to nu-metal. I compared it with Boss DS-2, ProCo Dirty Rat, MD-2, MT-2, Marshall Guv'nor, Ibanez SH-7. DS-1 has been better and cheaper ;).

Very easy to get a usable sound. Very pleased. Manual is ok-but dont need it at all.

I use a strat with fat 50's into amarshall compressor then jd wah then peavy valve amp.
This effect is good. Im surprised cos I didnt think a 'distortion' pedal would be my thing really-but this pedal sounds great. It has a great crunch sound and when set on low distortion and tone does a passable overdrive ( though still with a bit of distortion present) then up the tone and distortion for a more modern sound through to fuzz type of 70's rock sound.It is a bit noisy but what do you expect!

will depend on it as its built like a tank.

Dont know.

I play all sorts of music but when gigging standard type of pop/rock stuff-some clasics and some modern.
Ive been playing 17yrs and had lots of gear-some good but mostly crap stuff(I keep being conned into buying cheap stuff in the hope of finding something that sounds good, like a line 6 or behringer etc!)Anyway I think I know what sounds crap and what sounds good. This is a definate good pedal. Its well made and has good usable sounds that are easy to get. I dont care for more tone controls but could see this as a problem for some, however dont let that put you off. This is a great little pedal and is definately giggable. Through my amp at gigging volume this pedal crunches fantastic and just sings when pushed-perfect for a solo. Probably need a good amp though and you also need to be able to play a bit as well.....!! Anyhows get one if you want some great sounds-you wont be dissapointed.

It has three controls so you don't really need instructions for this thing.

I got this pedal in an old box at home. I think I put it there sometime about 10 years ago. The thing souns very harsh for me. Dodgy tone control. Transistor sounding distortion. After doing some research I bought a mod kit from pedaldoc and the pedal sings now. The sound is very similar to Eric Clapton's sound with the Cream.

Well it is ten years old and still works.

Never have to contact them.

I play funky music at the moment but have played almost everything from hardcore to blues. I use the pedal to give an extra edge to my solos, being a Vintage rat my main distortion.

I use a Fender Blues Deville (4x10), a SRV Stratocaster and lots of pedals (I just love them).

I wouldn't buy another Ds1 really (I would if they came with the pedaldoc kit installed though).

Though it has just three knobs it's not too easy to get a decent tone from this baby. Mine is a made in Taiwan model. The manual is unnecessary for this sort of a pedal.

I play a Fender MIA standard strat retrofitted with Seymour duncan humbuckers in a H-H-H configuration (yeah, hot rodded). It's also played with an older MIM Fender strat with the standard stock pickups (S-S-S). The amp is a Fender blues jr.

Though many people rave about this pedal, it honestly and truly sounds like a fart. Weird, but the tone control sort of acts like a high pass filter when cranked up. Distort needs to be between min and 12 o'clock. Anything higher and it's really farty and noisy. You can't get a mild overdrive with this pedal, the controls only allow you to play between moderate distort and heavy distort.

With my single coil S-S-S strat, it sounds like utter shite, unuseable.

Overall, I'm less than impressed with the DS-1. My super overdrive is far better.

I guess so, it's a boss. I've never had a boss fail on me.

Never needed any. It's never died on me.

I play everything from jazz rock to hard/heavy rock such as black sabbath, zep, etc. Nope, this pedal simply doesn't cut it. The tone is a bit too 'dry' and characterless. I wouldn't recommend this.

Plug in and play can't be any easier. The manual comes with recomendations for settings which is very useful.

This pedal gives me all the sounds i need ranging from Nirvana to System of a Down. Its amazing especially with my amp. My setup is Epiphone 1965 reissue > DS-1 > Vox Ad30VT. THANK YOU BOSS!!!

Boss pedals are built like tanks don't even need a backup.

Never needed yet.

I lay anything from metal to grunge to emo to punk it can play it all. It is such a great piece of kit. Best #30 I've spent yet.

After you adjust the Level, Distortion and Tone to your taste, just step on it! Easy.

My setup is from an Ibanez Rg350 > Boss DS-1 > Boss CH-1 > Marshall Combo.

The thing sounds great, I can get a very close Joe Satriani and Steve Vai tone with the right settings.
(The settings are as followed: Steve Vai: Tone 9 oclock, Level 12 oclock, Distortion 3 oclock. Joe Satriani: Tone 9 oclock, level 3 oclock, Distortion Max.)

I'm giving it an 8 as it gives out quite alot of noise (crackle).

I would definatly gig without a backup, nothing has broken so far (touch wood) and the battery life is quite long, around a month.

I havnt dealt with Boss before.

I play instrumental rock and shred, the DS-1 definatly suits my tastes and I can get the distortion i've always dreamt about.
Im 14 and been playing for 3 years and this is the best distortion ive heard. If it were stolen or lost i would definatly buy another one, infact i would probably buy a modded keeley version. I compared this with the Metal Zone, and the DS-1 completly wipes the floor with it.

Excellent tone, excellent value. If your thinking of buying a Boss Metal Zone, consider this beast insted! Great tone to suit every style of music.

It's really easy to get a good sound out of it, the editing patches who uses them?? all you need is you ear.

Gibson Sg Junior>Boss Tu-2>Boss Ds-1>Boss MZ-2>Boss DD-6>Marshall VS102R. I found when using the DS-1 with your amp,if you just turn down the mids all the way on your amp unless you like using them, you get a great tone of distortion, with this pedal you can't just plug it in and play, to get a great tone & sound you have to play with it. Unless your not picky, but i am and im alway looking for that unique tone.

Yes it's built like a tank. I would definitly use it with no backup.

Never dealt with them, why should i anyways

I play Punk,Hard-Core,Alternative,post-hardcore,emo. Been play the guitar for 9 years. If it were stolen or lost i would try to find it used i probably wouldn't buy it new again. I compared it to Digitech distortion pedals and some other Boss pedals. This one was good for its price and more versatile then the digitechs like with the digitechs the gain already starts up reallly so their is really no way to turn it down but with the Ds-1 you can make it almost clean to as much as gain as you can handle. If you want something thats just classic and something thats not digital this or the metal zone would be the way to go.

easy to use, gain, level and tone.

mine is a new one from 2003. i think it sounds awfull. unless i turn the tone conntrol all the way off it just sounds harsh and blurred. but when you do that, you're closing your whole sound. i couldnt dial a sound inbetween.

i guess so, but it's in no real danger sitting in the closet.

i play rock, im not a metal player but sometimes i like to play with distortion full on. been playing 20 years. i would suggest listening to it before buying and not justr do it coz nirvana or satriani has/d one. i heard that the old ones that were made in japan were a whole different story.

very simply to use, only three knobs, tone, distortion and level, all you need really. I find boss to be brilliant stompboxes for not sliding around on the ground like those cheap plastic stompboxes, great point. (You know what im on about). This is as i said one of the simpler units, it was straight out of the box and plugged in for me. No problems atall. Takes a while to get to grip with the sounds, but as is with any effect unit with controlls.

My current pedal line up is as follows.

Boss cs-3 (compression Sustainer)>>>Boss Ds-1 (distortion>>>Jim Dunlop Cry Baby (wah-wah).

I play these pedals into a carlsbro GLX100 amp (some good sounds) and through my pedal line-up into my Washburn bt-4 (i cannot stress how good that guitar is, i have played Fenders not as good as this little devil). i get everything i need from this lineup.
I have had some great sounds out of this little orange beast. I mostly play a mixture of punk rock and some other types of rock style music. Green Day, Queens Of The Stone Age, Placebo (listen to the new album it rocks). This pedal has given me all the distortion sounds i have ever needed, and has never set me wrong, it can give practically no distortion to screeching metal sounds. The tone controll gives you full controll over the bass, middle and treble frequencys all in the same Knob, a simpler feature but works well, some guitar players would require more tone controlls but im happy. The level knob gives a tiny whimper of volume to full drive. When using this pedal with volume on full you can actually get more from your amp.

I don't know why i am even writing in this section. Every review i read on Boss units is the same. Absolutly no problems. perfect as ever, hasnt gone wrong yet, don't think it ever will. You Boss users out there will know what im on about. This pedal i garuntee will last a lifetime and perhaps someone elses.

Hasent ever happened yet. Dont think the dam thing will ever go wrong. It's like a tank.

As i have said countless times before this pedal is really built to last, i mean it. im not sure i would ever switch to anything other than a boss they are just so reliable. This stompbox may not be top of the price list but it still stands up to units twice it's price. If you are just getting into guitar effects (which i have to say not only helps your band sounds out but it is so fun, will give hours of endless joy)you should deffinatly consider giving this thing a go. i have tried out lots of distortion units and the Ds-1 is my first and only choice for distortion.

3 knobs...does it get any easier? what do you want 2 knobs?

If you can't use this pedal you most likley can't put your own pants on.

GREAT! BUT! I have a 1970's made in japan model. A lot of people reference like steve vai or joe satriani or one of those *&^%$@' camaro players who use this pedal...or they reference Cobain using it. Here's a hint, they all used old japanese pedals...kurt had about 10 of them at any given time on tour. The japanese ones are more expensive and harder to find, but its worth it. The taiwan pedals aren't bad. Also....stop complaining about how this pedal sounds with your squier strat and 5 watt solid state gorilla amp...any pedal sounds like crap with that setup. Through a cranked tube amp its awesome...i reccomend a high output humbucker as well.

I use it with a 68 twin reverb with 5881 tubes and celestion G12-65 speakers, and with either a Epiphone Sheraton, or a Les Paul junior with an EMG-81 pickup.

Take a guess on my rating here..its over twenty years old and it still works perfect.

Not an issue with Boss

Awesome....i suggest spending the extra time and money to find a Japanese version...silver screw (70's) if you can!

I collect vintage Boss pedals..i have a huge collection so if you want to know anything about them i've tried every models and own most of them.

It easy too use.....

This little mother&^%$#@ smells Rock and roll like nothing else. With my custom les paul and every amp i play this pedal get classic, noisless rock sound. You can have every sound you needed - blues, punk, hardcore, metal or cock rock( if u like to played heheh ). If you want use transistors pedal this is no.1 since 1978 and nothing change that.

bulid like tank.... survive a nuckler explosion

I have every pedal which was worth my attention. Some i sold , some i broke. Since i start to play , use this pedal and it is this same i bay with my first guitar.

Very easy to use. Very versatile controls (the tone knob has a large range of sounds on it)

It's worth noteing that this pedal is better as a boost pedal IMO then a pure distortion. On clean channels with this, i find the pedal to sound a little bit muddy and more like a smooth fuzzy sound, but when used as a boost on lead channels it sounds beautiful :P

As i said before, this pedal is better as a booster. It's pretty terrible on it's own. I use the pedal with a Marshall TSL100 stack and use it to boost the lead channel. It just sounds great and makes pinch harmonics screem.

I have the Tone knob set to around 10 o'clock ish, Distortion to 9 o'clock and level to 1 o'clock and it sounds brilliant on a distorted mid-scooped Marshall. It is pretty noisey, but that's too be expected because i'm using it with the distortion on my Marshall at around 9 and no noise supressor. It's very noiseless anyway.

This pedal can do a range of sounds because the tone control is very responsive. I tend to find the tone control set to around 9-11 o'clock sounds best.

All in all, a brilliant pedal, but not in use by itself i find. For that reason i've given it a 9.

For the people who rate this lowly expecting it to be a distortion monster, at least consider that this is more of a boost pedal in many people's opinions and many famous guitarists that use this use it as a boost, not as a main sound (although some do) - Vai, Satriani etc etc.

I've only had it a while, but they're bloody sturdy and none of my Boss pedals have broken.

It's also very cheap (not cheap as in rubbish, but affordable)

Never dealt with them

Brilliant pedal. I use it as a boost but i end up using it more and more just full-on rather then occasionally because it sounds so great.

I've only had this pedal a while but it's done wonders for my sound. I prefer the sound of Mesa's, but with my Marshall this gives a whole different tone pallet.

I don't own many other amps. Only some Line6 stuff and older Marshall stacks (A superbass, various super leads and my recent TSL100) but i'm going to buy a Mesa Triaxis/2:90 in the future which i guess will leave this pedal redundant. It's still a great pedal to carry around in a bag just incase!


On another note, check out Keeley and other mods to these pedals. I haven't tried them yet but they're held quite high in opinions. I still think the basic models is great and affordable.

Very easy to use. The manual is correct.

The reason for many problems: a good guitar & a good amplifier! I use it with a '96 Fender Strato and an '83 Yamaha G100. We have no problems... Sounds great!
I play from oldschool blues to hard rock everything, and the DS-1 is a great pedal. But be careful: it's not an overdrive! It's THE distortion.

No problems.

Never needed.

Remember: it's not an overdrive. But it's a good choice for your money. Try it, and if you like that sound, buy and use it.
I've been playing since 1992. I play Clapton, SRV, Santana, sometimes jazz and a lot of rock.

FIrst of All it's Unfair to give this pedal A rating of : 1
there's a simple rule in all the effects pedals : U DON"T KNOW HOW TO USE IT...IT"LL SOUND LIKE A BROKEN CAR ENGINE!!
I'ts not that easy to use even if it Got only 3 Knobs...
for me to get the sound that i want I Tweek the 3 knobs in the pedal and the Volume control of my guitar.. so do not say it's crapy cos u don't know how to use it!

I use this Pedal with a Les-Paul 100 With 496R/500T pickups on a Avt-100 Marshall Amp, sometimes i play this pedal alone and sometimes thru a set of single pedals..and in both way it sounds Great.
alone it's not noisy at all..but when u turn the gain at Max Levels with high volumes u can get lot's of feedbacks, the distotion in it is Unique,u can't find it in an other pedal..and it blows away the Most High Tech multi effects distortiion pedals..it sounds Simple..it's the real distortion u are the master of ur tone with this pedal..u can get a screaming Distorion for solos and hard Rock stuff,and a warm Mild one for rythms.. i owne this pedal since 2 years and i never thaught of changing it..If ur good enough u'll get The reall thing from it.. If not then Buy A multi effects.

It's Boss,It's metal..it never break..it's like an Orange Little Tank!

This pedal fits my style,i play Mostly Blues/Classic Rock ..never thaught of changin it and never will replace it cos im sure that there will be no other pedal that will deliver the sound of this unit. if it were stolen or lost defenitly i'll buy another one, cos u can't compare it to other products..it's unique.

3 knobs, hella easy!

oooo god, like many past reviews say, it blows! if you want it just because lots of big names use it, you must be eatin psycheshrooms. it is THE worst distortion ive ever owned, once i stepped on it to turn it on, it cut the volume BIGTIME!!!!i owned it for about a month before giving it to my friend, who plays bass, but it does sound suprisingly good for a bass distortion, (so for bass, id give it an 8, but this is a guitar player's review soooo.................it sucks major ass!!!!!) dont get it cause you read kurdt used it, dont be another kurt wannabe!!!(this is in my opinion, of course)

its a boss, its the best.

totally useless to me and my needs.

Easy, what could be easier, 3 knobs

I had this pedal for about two years before I sold it. I say that to let you know that I tried to lik ethe tone, but couldn't.
I use a Yamaha Pacifica into a fender deluxe 90. The sound of the DS-1 was so 'tinny' that it was unsable. I tried it in several situations with several different settings but never got anything really useable out of it.

Yeah, it worked fine. Dropped it out the window once. Two stories down....still worked fine. I take a point off though because the on off swith was hooked up backwards...it would automatically come on when I plugged in.

Never dealt with it

Wouldn't buy it again...completely useless....sold it to some punk kid for twenty bucks(with the 20 dollar power supply).

It,s to easy! Which makes it more difficult to dial in. It needs more tone knobs

I don,t understand why someone would give this only a "1". I was impressed with the sound of this pedal due to the old bd-2 I have. I just bought it, brand new, it's a Taiwan pedal. Its actually has a decent amount of bottom end. this thing can gain up pretty good. the tone sounds best around 9-11 O'clock. thats the problem with boss pedals, the narrow range of usable sounds on these tone knobs. although the OD-3 was very good with a full bodied sound and more range of the tone knob thats usable. I modded my bd-2 with a keeley phat mod to alleviate this problem.I A/B'd the bd-2 against the DS-1
and it held its own. it actually has a more desirable distortion tone. It's not as transparent, but for 40 bucks this is well worth it. So the fool who gave this thing a "1" must have had the tone turned all the way up, a crappy amp, a p.o.s. guitar and no sense of dialing in guitar equipment!

It's a Boss! it will still work even when you get sick of it 20 years from now!

Never needed support

I wanted to give an honest appraisal of this pedal and I think it sounds pretty good through a tube amp. This is a distortion, not an overdrive. It's for high gain work with a classic vibe. You know 70's/80's stuff. thats when marshall ruled and every rock band had a good to killer guitarist. Unlike todays modern guitarists(Pathetic!)
I would replace if it got swiped because there is no cheaper distortion thats not plastic. Besides you can mod it for 50-75 bucks and have the best of the best for about $100

Been playin since 1972, can play styles from John fogerty to John petrucci, have and have had mesa, fender, traynor, strats, pauls, ibanez, parker, and a alot of pedals.

Nic prostrzego, bardzo łatwo i przyjemnie się z niego korzysta...

Efekt brzmi fajnie, zaskakujące jest to, że można uzyskać na nim nawet fuzz, szybko podsumowując efekt jest w 100% wart swojej ceny i raczej jest to podstawowe wyposarzenie. Jak ktoś potrzebuje dobrego efektu, to bardzo polecam. Efekt nie jest przeznaczony do łupania, ale można wydobyć z niego trochę ciężaru, ale bez przesady. Myślę, że nadaje się do grania stylow od Blusa na Hard Rocku kończąc (przynajmniej na moim sprzęcie Squier Affinity Strat + Boss DS-1 + Laney MXD30).

Wiadomo BOSS... nie probowałem jeszcze żucać nim o ściane ale chuba nie będe, i tak by się nie rozleciał.

nie miałem okazji z nimi handlować

gram wszystko co mi się podoba i co uwazem za choc trochę wartosciowe...

The easiest pedal ever made, surely? Distortion, tone, volume. And the on/off stomp. That's it. Sorry, but only a total idiot couldn't operate this unit.

Its a distortion, so naturally there are a few strange (albeit quiet) noises going on. Show me a distortion of any real calibre that doesn't have 'em...

Its THE distortion. There is no other distortion. If its good enough for Johnny Ramone... But seriously, I know there are a lot of fun pedals. But there aren't many classicx. The Big Muff, the Guv'nor, the Rat, and this one. None of the others matter, not really. If you can't do it with one of these four then you shouldn't even be playing the guitar as far as I'm concerned.

What does everyone say about Boss pedals? Nothing... NOTHING is ever going to stop this mother...

Roland are OK, but I've never needed to call 'em about anything in the Boss range.

The only reason I don't give it a 10 is because this is the most emulated and ripped off distortion in the business. The plastic Behringer is a decent knock-off and a lot cheaper, the Marshall Jackhammer can accomplish a similar sonic range, and it does a lot more for the money. But the DS1 is the #1 distortion in the history of the electric guitar, and that's not a bad way to judge an effects pedal.

I can always get sound suitable for me. I play punk, rock, grunge and it isn't problem to get all this kind of distortion from it.

Manual is very good and easy. The preset sounds are all great!

I use copy of Fender stratocaster and Peavey bandit 112 amp. It sounds really great with it. I can get Nirvana, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Pixies sound. I use a lot of settings, but my most favourite is: TONE 10-11 o'clock, DIST 4-5 o'clock its really good for punk such as Ramones etc..

No problems!

I have never needed it.

Its great for PUNK, GRUNGE and ROCK music. So if you like this kinds of music, its good choice. I have played 1,5 year and this is my 1st effect. I'm really satisfied with it. Its much better than my amp distortion I can get all kind of distortion. If it were stolen or lost I would buy it again. So I recommend it all guitarists who need distortion, but it isn't for metal and hard playing.

three knobs

don't be fooled by the other reviews, this is not a good pedal. the tone is horrable, yes kurt cobain and many other famous guitar players used this pedal, that was partly why i got it. but even if you're tone deaf, and don't care about clarity, still don't buy it. the review some guy wrote about the tone knob being a joke(and old man coughing into cheap speakers) is the truth, i won't even use this thing just to get feedback durring a section of one of our songs anymore. i turn on a reverb pedal and drone on a note instead.
buy something with tone.

3 Knobs. You would have to be an idiot to have dificulty using it. As far as getting a GOOD sound out of it...no way...impossible. I realize some of these guys are having orgasms over this pedal, but it sucks and there is no other way to describe it. Sucks, I tells ya!
Forget the manual.

I use a Crate VFX5112 modded by Bob @ Eurotubes. It is the best sounding amp, period. I play a Fender Custom Shop Telecaster with DiMarzio X2N and Fender Black Canyon humbuckers. The pedal adds NO useful tones for me. I am an Electronics Design Engineer, so I modded the pedal myself. That helped a little and at ONLY one setting can I get a useful tone. As the useless box comes from the factory, it has an electronic, phony, gritty sound. I cannot imagine what they were thinking when they made this thing (must have gotten some good pot that day). It is a simple 2-stage overdrive unit with a 4558 op amp doing the honors. The capacitors are the cheapest I have ever seen, they are sub-standard and that may be why it sounds like crap. It is made on a phenolic board. NOBODY uses phenolic boards, that is stone-age. I cannot imitate any sound I have ever heard at all with this unit. You would do much better with a REAL tube overdrive unit. The odd-order harmonics bite, even-order are too hard edged and synthetic sounding. Obviously, whoever designed this was deaf from listening at high volume levels. No audiophile could have agreed to make and sell this thing. It has an electronic bypass, not a true hard-wire bypass, so it will load the signal.

Typical Boss. Last forever.
I think you could gig with it without a back up and have no worries.
That has always been a Boss characteristic.

No idea, never used them.

I play Country Rock and Southern Rock (used to play metal). I use overdrive all the time. This thing is useless for me or anyone looking for a good sound. I have been playing 34 years, so I know a little about music. I own a slew of tube amps and one solidstate amp. I have a collection of Stratocasters (my favorite weapon). If it were stolen, I would be glad. The guy would be SO disappointed. I would NEVER buy one again. Love the physical quality, hate the sound. Anything I wish it had? Good sound and wider tone controls. The passive tone controls suck. If you used it to crack walnuts, I would give it a 7. If you used it to achieve an "overdrive" sound, I give it a 1.
If you MUST have one, contact me and, if I still have it, I will send you mine. It has the dual hi-gain mod. Hi-quality caps in the signal circuit, and, yes, a blue LED (I like blue).
I reviewed a Behringer OD pedal and it, along with this pedal tie for crappiest sounding pedals of all time. They are stinkers.
Don't waste your money. These guys who have wet dreams using it, must REALLY be deaf. Or 12 years old.

Could it possibly be easier?
Tone, Level, Distortion... plug guitar, plug to amp, press to ON.

I find this pedal a building block for any pedalboard. It is very versatile.
It has almost that "tubey" vibe and dynamics to it.

I own quite a few types of guitars, and the damn thing goes perfectly with every single one of them!

It also goes great before rack systems and hi gain amps to add some more juice to the sound.
Oh... and no noise! ;-)

No problems whatsoever. These pedals are tanks!!!
Careful when using external DC power instead of battery: it might make noise. However, the noise is produced by the power supply, not the pedal. Make sure to use a regulated 9VDC power supply.

It suits every single style: from mild blues to really heavy Metal.
It is a bit expensive. Not so much as a Tubescreamer, though.
The price difference might not be worthwhile to most ears, so subltle are the differences.

I'd defenitely buy another DS-1 if something happened to this pedal.

As I write this there are already something like 35 reviews of this pedal on here already, so I'm not sure that anything I have to say will make that much difference--but since this is my first review here, maybe that's so much the better.

I like this pedal a lot and use it constantly. For the use that I put it to it's very close to perfection. Although it's not absolutely perfect, it's certainly good enough for the girls I go with.

As to ease of use, it has Level, Tone and Distortion knobs and a footswitch to turn it on and off. One jack to send your signal in and one to send your signal out. I can't think of any way to make it easier...

First a note on how I use this thing--my rig goes something like this: Guitar (usually humbucker-equipped) --> Boss noise gate pedal --> Ibanez TS-808 re-issue Tube Screamer set as a boost only (sometimes I'll dial in just a hair of distortion on it, but very seldom) --> Boss DS-1 set as a boost only --> any other pedals (GE-7 graphic EQ, Time Machine Boost, etc.) --> Marshall 100-watt Plexi re-issue with the bright channel on 10 and the "normal" channel on about 3 or 4 with the channels jumpered --> Homemade oak plywood 4X12 cab with Weber 35-watt ceramic-magnet Blue Dog speakers in it. So I use the Tube Screamer to boost my guitar's signal into the front end of my amp. This gives a bright, upfront, crispy sound. That's how I like my heavy rhythms. Think Starship's "Jane" or Ozzy-era Jake E. Lee. But when I go for a solo, I like to have more bass in the sound. That's what the DS-1 is good for. It adds warmth back into the tone for that nice, contralto, lower-midrangey kind of tone. More David Gilmour.

I vacillated a bit between giving this pedal an 8 or a 9 for sound quality. It does add a bit of hiss and hum if you're not careful and leave it on when it's not being used. But, hey, what's perfect in this world? Especially for less than forty bucks?

I've had mine for a few years now and never had any sort of issue with it at all. I doubt I ever will unless it gets damaged by being dropped out of a sixth story window onto concrete, flooded, run over by a pickup or some such...

As for gigging with it without a backup, well, I have other distortion/boost pedals; I'd probably go to one of those if this one took a crap during a gig.

I've never dealt directly with Boss or Roland. I doubt I ever will have to with this particular pedal.

If this got stolen, broken, lost, dropped overboard, confiscated, whatever, I'd mosey right on down to my local Sam Ash, Guitar Center, Musician's Fiend or other musical instrument retailer and replace it. It's just to great a pedal not to, especially at the price.

As you can tell from my review, I really like having this pedal. It's just about the perfect tool for my purpose. However, I don't really use it as a distortion pedal, just as a boost. If you think that you'll buy one of these, plug your guitar into it and plug into a Fender Sidekick practice amp and sound like you're playing a Marshall stack, you're doubtless mistaken. Used to extract just a bit more crunch/distortion out of an already nice-sounding rig, this thing is aces. Trying to use it to create a good basic tone into a clean amp would almost certainly be far more problematic. So I give it a 9 instead of a 10 for that reason. Used the way I use it, it'd get a 10.

Really easy. My drummer could use this!

Boss pedals will always sound great no matter what. Here's my setup: Epiphone Les Paul - Dunlop Original Crybaby - Boss DS-1 - Rocktron Vertigo Vibe - Boss CH-1 Super Chorus - Crate XT65R. With the Vertigo Vibe it sounds like a flange almost. With the CH-1 I get a good grungy Kurt Cobain-esqe sound. Sounds awesome with the Crybaby. I use this on the clean channel of my amp and it sounds fine. Really brings out the character in my Les Paul's humbuckers. I listen to alot of Led Zeppelin and Social Distortion and this little stomp box is great for those types of sounds. Good distorted Beatle sounds too!

Two things will survive a nuclear apocalypse: Cockroachs and Boss Pedals. I don't think I would need a backup.

I play Classic Rock, Hard Rock, Punk, Blues, Grunge, Country, Rockabilly, Jazz, Psychobilly and this pedal is a God send. If I could make a heist on the Boss factory, I would. And then I would come out of the factory, running around with an AK-47 and yell "Where is the f*** is the van?" To quote the great comedian Dane Cook. If this were stolen I would beat that person with a Louisville Slugger! I know everyone else is saying "If your thinking about it, just get it!" Well listen to us! You will be completely satisfied. I play in a Punk band and I depend on this motherf***er!

Really easy to use...if you can't tweak 3 knobs you're an idiot. To get a good sound, now that's the hard part. I've had this pedal for over a year now, and now own a Keeley modded one. Check out www.robertkeeley.com for upgrades and sound clips on a bunch of pedals.

From the factory, this pedal sucks. It's great for a beginner, but that's it. Really though...what should we expect from a pedal that costs $40? Now that I have the one modded by Keeley, I couldn't be any happier. By the way, everyone that says Steve Vai uses this pedal is right, but his surely isn't stock. It's a Keeley too. :-) It sounds like a marshall through my fender amp. So sweet.

Before the mods, it has a buzzsaw kind of sound and is too harsh and tinny...

Yeah yeah...Boss. We all know

Never dealt with the company, but I've heard they're amazing...they'll fix your pedal for free if it breaks, which I doubt will ever happen.

I play a lot of different styles, mainly rock or indie. I have this run before my Ibanez TS-9, as well as a slew of other pedals and it really makes a good mate to them all. I still give it a 7 because if you want any kind of a good tone you HAVE to have it modified, or if you're against that just buy a Fulltone or something of the sort. It's good for the cost - cheaper than ANY of my other pedals, and it's always gotten the most use, even when unmodified.

Great DISTORTION tones from this pedal. I use this pedal only with a clean amp. Either Solid State or Vintage Tube. If I wanna punch an already OVERDRIVEN amp I use a BOOST, OVERDRIVE pedal or FUZZ pedal. My ds-1 works well with my other pedal types and sounds good with humbuckers and single coils.

I have the MIJ version. I A-B'd it with the MIT version and to my ears there is a difference. My MIJ isnt as harsh in the high end and has more low-mid capabilities than the MIT. Both cross paths within some ranges and with amp EQ tweaking I could approximate the ranges I like with the MIJ on the MIT. I prefer the MIJ over the MIT for what I consider a better more "musical" tonal range, but I have jammed with both and had just as much fun with either.