Boss DS-1 Distortion

Like many other single tone pedals, 3 knobs and its dead easy.

I use Ibanez GRG170 (DiMarzio pickups) using BOSS DD6 Digital Delay , Ibanez Tube Screamer TS808 Overdrive, Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi USA and BOSS GT-6 Multi-effects (usually on tremolo/violin) through Marshall JCM 2000 TSL 100 full stack or Marshall 100DFX amplifiers. Before I buy this pedal I have been searching all around the planet to find the best sounding pure distortion (and no overdrive) for lead guitarist of my brit-rock band. I could get the sounds I wanted in rhythms with Marshall amps but the lead should be more punchy but not crunchy. I first decided to buy a DigiTech Hot Head distortion pedal and I did. The tones made by the Digitech's recent pedal had lack of personality. I didn't like it so much that I decided to sell it and buy another distortion pedal. And luckily I found my 3 favourites I should choose from. One was Marshall's Guv'nor which makes a crunchy British distortion sound, good for brit rhythm guitarists. Another one was ProCo's famous "RAT" overdrive/distortion pedal which was excellent and the last one was the most famous and best-selling distortion pedal ever: BOSS DS-1 Distortion. This piece of metal was a really genius-made! The tones we were looking for all the time in our amps was there! Bingo! It sounds best for you if you play classical rock. The sound has its personality , mostly for guitar leaders, it is a must-have. The best technical thing that I should tell you about this pedal is : 1) It has a very powerful sound even when I don't use my Ibanez TS808 (tube overdrive) the sound is still punchy and powerful. 2) Noise-free!

When I heard that Steve Vai and Joe Satriani are using it, I got cool.

I play brit rock / brit modern rock and this is my weapon (ignoring the great Ibanez TS808 pure tube pedal). I have been playing guitar for 9-10 years and I think DS-1 is a pro choice. Although ProCo RAT is a strong rival which also produces overdrive as well, I think DS-1 is, at least, cheaper. However I think you should try all those 4 pedals I have mentioned on your gear to see which one sounds better to you. The only thing I was wondering is why DS-1's price in the UK is #39 but its $39 in the US, regarding #1 UK is $2 US! It may be hard to understand if you don't know any maths, but if an American wants to buy this pedal from UK, he/she should pay $78! So Brits, go and buy it from the US!

This is a very simple pedal and you can get a lot of good sounds with it.

I use a Fender Cyclone 2, and use it through a good solid state amp. It sounds great, you can get anything from a bluesy sound to hard rock. I keep the tone at about 11 o'clock and level and distortion at full. It's great. I also use it all the time with the Chorus Ensemble (I just leave it on the whole time) and often with the Flanger (BF-3).

I would use this without a backup because I know it'll always give good sounds and stay in one peice for the most part. I stepped on the tone knob and broke it off but that was my fault. If someone stole this pedal I would run out and get another. It's great, you won't regret getting it.

I've never had any trouble with this operating so I don't think I will ever. I got it at a local music store.

I play something of a grunge-y, modern punk-ish sound. It's great. As I said before I would definately go out any buy another. I love this pedal. I also like the fact that you can change the EQ right on the pedal itself AND on the amp, giving you a lot of sounds. I got this because of its price and I favored it's simplicity over other distortion pedals. It's a huge part of my music and I would be lost without it.

Very simple, 3 knobs, volume, tone, and distortion, each one is obvious what they do. It can be used as either your main source of your distorted sound, or as a booster, either in volume or gain. You're not going to get an easier pedal than this unless you get the SD-1, same three knobs, except the SD-1 is an overdrive pedal, and there is a big difference between distortion and overdrive.

This pedals sound quality definitly depends on the rest of your pedals, guitars, and amps. It's one of my quietest pedals, the SD-1 is even quieter. You only get some buzzing-like sound when you have the distortion at max, and please, don't turn all the knobs to max, that is very unprofessional. The DS-1 works great with my Dunlop wahs. I'm always changing my pedals around, taking things out, putting something else in, but I always have my Dunlops wahs first, then my DS-1, then my Digitech WH-4 (it makes the harmonies sound so much better when it's after your distortion), and then I might put a delay, talk box, chorus, or flanger after it. If you use a different distortion pedal and want a volume boost, put the DS-1 after it. If you want a gain boost, put the DS-1 in front of your distortion pedal. If you use your amps distortoin, figure out where it sounds best, in your effects loop or right in your effects chain. You can get a very wide range of sounds out of the DS-1. It does lack a little bit of character, but you have the EQ on your amp to fix that small problem, or just use an EQ pedal. If you can't figure out a good setting, check out the manuals sample settings, they have good options for anyone who needs them.

I've owned Boss pedals for over 11 years, I've been buying them for a long time, they never seem to break, I've never even heard of a Boss pedal just breaking. Very reliable pedals. I never need backup, I either use the DS-1 as my distortion, or my amps distortion.

I mainly play classic rock and hard rock. I play lead guitarist in my hard rock band, and lead guitarist in my instrumental band. The DS-1 is just about perfect for both. And yes, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani use a DS-1, I've met both of them, I've seen their setups, got to talk with each of them. I am seeing Steve Vai again in two months, I have heard he's updated his DS-1, he had it modified by Keeley, I forget exactly which mod it is, but it's on Keeley's website if you are interested. There are many other guitarists who use the DS-1, find out for yourself. If you also believe your DS-1 lacks some character and can't get the exact sound you want, definitly get it modified by Keeley, I am buying another DS-1 to get one modified. The DS-1 is Boss's best distortion pedal, their other distortoin pedal are either too muddy, too trebly, or emphasize the mids way too much to give it a nasaly tone. I didn't even waste my time comparing other company's distortion pedals, I knew this one was good when I bought it a few years ago. The only pedal I would ever replace my DS-1 with is either a modified DS-1 by Keeley, or possibly an Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi (USA version only).

This pedal is very easy to use. Tone Level and Dist controls. Level is overall volume and dist is distortion. Tone is simple enough, turn it past 1 o clock and it has higher tone. turn it to the left side of 11 and its nice and bassy.VERY SIMPLE!

This thing sounds better than alot of the $100+ pedals I've payed. I don't like it when you have the tone on 9 o'clock because there are absolutly no highs.Great sound though.Awesome distortion for all types of music.

This thing is defenitly refliable.

Got it yesterday cant comment

This is a great pedal for the money i paid. I use on for my band. We play grunge and hard rock/metal and it works great for me. I only wish it had a 2 or 3 band eq on it. Besides not having enough tone control this thing is absolutly awesome. If you ever consider it...BUY IT!

Easy. Use your ears! Tweak it!

It depends on where you put it. I use it right after my wah and before my WH-1. I normally use the distortion from my amp. If you are into soloing then this is the best thing on the market for putting your guitar out front. This is why Steve Vai and Joe Satriani use this. Now Vai uses a Keeley modded verion called ULTRA.
I will review that one against this one soon. This is one of the few pedals that I have that I didnt read the manual and just plugged right into my rig.

Built like a tank! THey should use these to Armor the Humvees in Iraq! GO USA! We love you!
Look with over 550 reviews in this forum alone. A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE this! Why? Whether they liked it or not, it is the mainstay, back up or defualt pedal of all time!

Dealt with BOSS support 1 time. Excellent experience.

I bought it in sale for $39. An excellent pedal for the price and cannot be beat by anything under $150.

How easy to use this pedal depends on how you intend on using it, as a booster or overdrive, ect.
I use it as a booster & find it pretty easy to nail my original sound but only make it more louder & fat

This pedal sucks as a distortion, in my opinion that is, as everyone has a sound they like & some like it for distortion, well I'm spoiled.


I've been playing for 25+ years & I am finally very pleased with my sound, where the DS-1 comes in is a level booster for leads only & this is where it truly shines. I place it at the end of my pedal board, if you use time based effects such as delay in your pedal board than you need to be careful with this as a boost, don't use it in front of a digital device as it will clip the digital delay & it will sound horrible, if you use it after I'm not shure how it will sound as I've never tried it.
I don't use delay in my pedal board so I'm OK with it.

You set the tone knob to where it is very close to the sound of your guitar when the unit is turned off, set the level to the ammount of boost you desire & set the distortion to off, or if you like the sound of the distortion than by all means use it, I'm just listing how I use it, & it is a great booster indeed, I payed $40.00 Can. for it & it's one of the best boosters I've ever used.
Why pay $100-$200 dollars for a boutique booster pedal when you can have one of these for alot cheaper?
Mine is a Japan made but I don't think that makes too much difference where it's made.

It's a Boss, need I say more?

Never tried, never had to.

I play heavy music, blues,& older rock, if I lost this pedal I would find another for sure, awsome booster pedal for leads, it makes your sound cut through without coloring it, if used properly that is.

a monkey with a blindfold could use this

This is THE best pedal ever you can get a range of sounds by twisting some knobs its and to all those people who think its to noisy ive got some things for you 1.take into consideration that you shouldent crank the whole thing ass hole 2.change the level of distortion and tone for evry dif style 3.And only use singlecoils if u like single coils, theres no point in pkaying grunge with them,Cobain had humbuckers or hotrails installed in the bridge postion of evryone of his guitars, so if u play with it cranked get humbuckers

its a boss

kick ass for all styles of music if you fiddle with knobs and use the right setup

Play around with the three knobs to get the tone you desire. Cranking everything to 10 on your Crate combo is going to make it sound like shit. Use your head.

Right know I'm using the DS-1 in this setup- 96 Fender Stratocaster=>Fender Princeton 65 amplifier. Then these are run through the amp's effects loop: Crybaby wah=>USA Big Muff Pi=>Boss DS-1=>Boss DD-6 Delay. This works pretty good with the Big Muff for my needs and I often crank the tone up a little to give the Muff a boost. Keep in my that this pedal doesnt only have to be used for distortion. You can get a boosted lead tone out of it, you can get a slight crunch and you can get a heavier sound. It does create some buzz, which can become irritating, but my amp gives off noise as well, so you just have to fiddle with it until you find something that fits you.

I'd depend on it in a gig, at least with a fully-charged backup battery. Either that or buy a power supply. Built pretty solid

Never dealt with them.

It's a good pedal for it's price, and it has long been known as the first distortion pedal that many guitarists buy. When I upgrade to a quality tube amp, I assume my sound quality will improve. Test it out, play around with it.

I found it very simple to dial in the exact sound I was looking for. You shouldn't have to use the manual.

I use a Les Paul Studio and a Fender Cyclone through a Fender Hot Rod Deville 2x12. I find the pedal a little noisy, but nothing that could be considered annoying. The distortion is very versatile and can cover blues to Nirvana (I mostly use the LP for the bluesy stuff and the Cyclone for the egdier stuff). I agree with the reviews that say it sounds better with a humbucker, it sounds way to thin and screechy with my Tele, but I don't use my Tele with it anyway. I seem to be able to dial in all types of sounds that can closely replicate the artists I try to play. I do think you need a pretty high quality amp and guitar to get a quality sound out of any effect pedal. This may be considered a bias review because I do condsider this pedal to give me the exact sound I want. My favorite thing about the pedal is the smooth crunch sound I get instead of that digital buzzing sound found on so many amps and pedals.

Pedal is very dependable. I use it on gigs all the time with no backup. Just keep a lot of batteries around. It eats them up faster than other Boss pedals I've used.

Never used it.

I have been playing for about 11 years and own only stuff that I use all the time. I play a lot of music, Clapton, B.B. King, Nirvana, Far, Weezer, etc.... My favorite use of this pedal is with my Cyclone through a Fender Hot Rod Deville 2x12. This was the first distortion pedal I bought 11 yrs. ago. I put it away for a long time then rediscovered it a few years back and haven't stopped using it since. I use it in the studio and on stage. In fact, I had been using the amp distortion on my Marshall, then one day I decided to show up to band practice with a DS1 and Hot Rod Deville and my vocalist said he had never heard a better sounding combination. The only sound I have found that is sweeter is playing the neck pickup on an Amer. Tele through my '76 Fender Champ at volume 8. That is a beautiful sound that can be appreciated by any musician, regardless of style.

3 knobs. tone, level, distortion. i dock a point because the maestro fuzz has one knob and thats it so i don't think it'd be appropriate to give it a ten, albeit a very easy pedal to use.

Epiphone Sheraton or Gibson Les Paul > Maxon OD808 > Ibanez TS9 > Boss DS-1 > DOD Flashback Fuzz > Vox 847 wah > Fender Blues Jr or Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.

Its not really all that noisy seeing as though its a distortion pedal. It does moderate distortion very well. doesn't sound too digital at all, but thats not to say it sounds 100% natural. I use my Maxon OD808 about 85% of the time, but when I jam out I like to take this or my DOD flashback fuzz. I like this because it has nice sustain and a big crunch, opposed to my fuzz which is just fuzzy, nasty noise (in a good way).

I can get a decent early Oasis tone (Definitely Maybe) but that's not why i got it. I got it for my rock tunes and it does just that.

I play jazz, funk, blues, and rock (mostly british inspired). I'm not exactly a rock guitarist, but when i want/need to bust out some rock tunes, this definitely gets the job done. This is actually about the 5th time i've had this pedal. I happen to buy it and sell it and buy it back and sell it etc. I just happened to walk into the CD/Game Exchange and they had one for $15 and i couldn't pass it up. If it were stolen or lost i'd probably get it again; i always do. I love its reliability and the fact that it gives me a nice, gritty rock sound. I don't really hate anything about it. Its cheap and it sounds nice. What's to hate?

This thing is very easy to handle. The controls do exactly what they say; tone, level and distortion. Look out with tone though - past 12 o'clock the treble is painful!

This thing is no Texas blues purist device (i. e. TS-808 or boutique overdrive), nor a poodle hair heavy metal effect. This is plain distortion and I beleive it is quite good for classic hard rock. I use it in two ways: Either as a no fuss distortion unit for hard rock standards, or with the dist control near 0 as a booster of my tube combos own drive channel.

In a solid state amp it delivers lots of (rather transistorized) gain, but in my tube combo you have to play loud to make things happen. But when you do, I believe it sounds very good! I suppose you will have more gain with a humbucker guitar than with my Fender Strat SSS.

Of course I can rely on this pedal!

Don't know.

Mostly I play bluesy hard rock staples from 68 to 75. This pedal delivers good standard distortion at a very good price. My pedal is Japanese, but I don't think it gives anything else than a new Tawainese one.

The only thing that annoys me is the tone control. I can't understand why it is designed with a range where half of it is useless! But keep it below 12 and it is OK.

Its a 3 knob pedal (gain, tone and level), it ain't exactly rocket science :p The knobs are quite sensitive, so sometimes you have to be careful when you twiddling.

i use a lot of crap, so i'll just tell you whats in the DS-1 effects chain (i use 2 seperate chains)
guitar (ESP F-200 with EMG 81 and 60) -> Boss NS-2 -> Dunlop Crybaby -> Boss CS-3 -> Boss LS-2 loop B out -> Boss DS-1 -> Zoom GFX-707 -> Boss LS-2 loop B in -> Amp (Peavey Bandit 112 with 4x12 cab, or Marshall JCM900).

the pedal is kinda noisy, granted it is a dirt box, but it was replacing a Zoom Trimetal (the trimetal was a bit of a one-horse pedal), which was completely silent at any gain level. In this department, i was slightly disappointed to be honest.

i struggle to find a rounded tone with this pedal, its either too bright or too muddy, quite limited because it only has one knob. i got GE-7 EQ off a guy i know for #30, and it greatly improved the pedal, highly recommend some form of EQ after it.

now, this is my real beaf with this pedal. my guitar is active, quite high output. PROBLEM: no matter how high i crank the level knob in this pedal, it refuses to balance with the bypassed sound. to be honest, that sucks.

but, every cloud has a silver lining. this pedal with my crybaby sounds phenominal. i dont know why, but this pedal has a very unique sound coupled with my wah, it doesn't give the traditional wah sound i'm used to with my crybaby, it adds this slight synthy edge to it, fantastic sounding and really helps it cut through when i solo :) this saves the pedal.

the sustain is a little lousy, but my compressor/sustainer fixes that.

i've used boss stuff for about 3 years, never had any problems. i used to gig at least once a week, sometimes 3 or 4 times a week, so they got fairly high usage. i've never used the DS-1 in a gig situation, i expect it'll live up to the same standard. therefore, no opinion (because i'm only expecting)

they suck

i play any kinda music, i use this pedal mostly for the more rocktastic moments though, coupled with the EQ pedal, i also use it in the medal/grindcore moments. been playing intensivly for 4 years now. if it were lost or stolen, i've have to think twice because of my volume issue, but i really love that crazy wah sound :) (i think it has something to do with this pedals asymmetrical diode arrangement, but i may be wrong). i didn't compare it to others in the shop, it was this or a big multifx unit, and seeing as it was for my pedalboard, i settled for this. i wish it had a decent EQ built into it, it woulda saved me #30.

bottom line - unless you have a crybaby and an eq pedal, avoid it if you wanna play properly. if you just wanna sit in your room and arse around, go for it. since i play properly, the pedal itself is going low, with the EQ, i give it a nine, but this isn't a review of the EQ ;)

its a simple o/d pedal, nothing special, one of their first little experiments......

i use marshall 900 50w 4500 heads and 280 watt greenback cabinets, stratocasters, crybaby wah, dd-3 delay,
i couldnt get this thing to sound good, the best o/d i have ever used and still do today is the dod yjm-308 vintage o/d,
its smooth which the ds is not,
if you look at the new boss graph charts youll find that they are one of the most unnatural harsh pedals available,
i cant gig with one of these, simple as that..

believe it baby!

not the best
thats your music stores job though isnt it?

i play hard rock covers and my influences are Malmsteen, and anyone who can play guitar properly, it doesnt help me at all, in fact it wrecks my whole rig!
may as well go out and buy a monterey guitar and a practice amp it will sound better.
There are many great overdrives out there so dont buy till ya try.

Three knobs: tone, level, distortion. How hard can it be? Can you spell DUH!

I use a 40th anniversary American standard strat and a Marshall Valvestate 8080. Never noisy, it just delivers. Everyone says it's not the most versatile pedal you'ld get. I say it's a good deal. Used it for leadwork only. At first I used it as a simple distortion box: I set the distortion knob past 3 o'clock, the level at 1, and the tone at bout 10. For my taste the low end was a lil' too muddy. Then I began to use it for crunch. Set the dist knob at 10 and everything else the same. It was OK but the tone it delivered was too harsh for me. Then I realised that maybe I was wrong in using it. This thing has character: definitely a rocker. Not for my taste. Recently I discovered the best way for me to use it: clean boost. SRV, George Lynch, Satcho, Vai, etc use it for that. Set the level at maximum, distortion at minimum and it will only enhance the tone of your guitar and the personality of your amp whether you use it on the clean channel or the overdrive. Try it this way. U won't regret! A pedal that'll allow you to experiment in getting your tone. Since sound quality is a personal preference I'll give it an 8.

If broken during a gig...I'ld use the amount of overdrive the Marshall delivers. That broken too...well...I'ld run for cover :)
It's hard as a rock. I always use it without a backup since it very dependable.

Never dealt with them.

I play guitar for about 5 years. Blues-rock's my thang. It's not a VERY good match for my style. But it's so hard to get my hands on equipment in my country (I live in Eastern Europe). I think I succesfully succeeded in using it. Maybe I'm a lil' too hard to satisfy :) I REALLY think it's a good piece of equipment to buy.

Very easy to use...only 3 knobs to deal with.
Best sounding overdrive/distortion pedal out there for the price.
Comes with a very handy manual for suggested settings.
This pedal sounds different with every amp.
I would recommend an all tube amp to get that nice punch.
Not a solid state amp of any kind....I've had them all.
I'm using a non-modified....right from the factory version.

I'm an old rocker from the late 60's....
been playing and teaching guitar for over 35 years.
My set-up is very basic .... wah wah using DS-1 and
other secret pedals in line to get my original sound.
Did SRV give away his tone secrets when he was alive?
Sound quality is the best in my opinion for blues and classic rock.
Metalheads may want to seek another Boss pedal for crunch, though.

Very sturdy die cast metal as Boss always uses.
Even the middle east terrorists couldn't destroy it.
You could probably gig without a backup pedal.
I only have an extra drive pedal in case DS-1 is stolen.
Actually I would like to buy another DS-1 as backup.

Not many reviews I've read have dealt with customer support.
That explains how awesome Boss pedals are.
I'll be dead before the pedals are.

I play Blues and Classic Rock mainly.
Played for over 35 years and 20
of that I taught guitar, too.
Yes...if lost I would buy 1 or more.
I like everthing about this pedal.
Has much Tone to it and if you back it down
a bit you have a Blues Driver BD-2 sound ...
but they cost $70 new compared to the $40 of the DS-1.
Has very good sustain....don't waste money on another distortion pedal.
Somewhere I read where Joe Satriani and Steve Vai use DS-1 pedals.
I don't know if this is true or not so don't quote me.
But with the great tone from this pedal...some famous players probably do.
You decide for yourself because this is only my opinion with my setup.

Why even bother saying how easy this pedal is!

I've had my DS-1 for a few years, I'm not sure exactly how long I've had it for. I have a few other distortion pedals and I've played may others. I think the DS-1 blows them all away. The distortion is perfect for me, the exact sound I like and want. There are many things I like about this pedal, the main thing is that even with only one tone knob, it covers a wide possibility of tones. The distortion is perfect me, it's not one of the many over-the-top distortion pedals where you get soooo much distortion where it covers up your playing, most people that suck buy those kind of pedals because they need to hide their terrible playing behind a ton of distortion. Another thing I really like about this pedal other than the tone, is that it is super quiet, I get no extra feedback or noise. If you get unwanted feedback or noise, it can be a number of different things, it's definitly not the pedal. Like another reviewer said, try this pedal out on the things you use, not just what you can play in your local music store. I too have noticed that this pedal sounds very different when using certain, guitars, amps, and pickups. I also must agree with the other reviewer that this pedal sounds the best through a Les Paul or any high quality guitar with humbuckers. Single coils are too trebly at times.

This pedal is perfect, no extra feedback or noise, and I do use it every show I play. I don't need a backup for this pedal, It's been lasting me for a while and doesn't seem like it's gonna die andytime soon, and it definitly will stay in my pedalboard, just like it's been for years. All Boss pedals are reliable, they last for more than you can imagine.

No need, nothing has ever gone wrong with any of my Boss pedals, and I have some that I've owned for more than 10 years.

I said pretty much all I needed to say already. I do have an EQ pedal that I could use after this pedal, but I find no reason to use it, I have the sound I want right now, I don't need to adjust it in any way with an EQ pedal. An EQ pedal does give you alittle more room to find the sound you want if you think the DS-1 doesn't give you enough "EQing". I also have to agree with the other reviewer that the DS-1 is way better than the DS-2, the DS-2 pedal is crap!

come on!!!! 3 knobs

well.. i was blessed enough to have a friend GIVE me a early eighties made in japan ds-1. i used to have a taiwanese ds-1 and the mij's sound much more natural and warmer hands down. if you can find one get one. i'll give a 9 for sound quality

i still have other boss pedals that i bought in 1982 and 1984. still good as new. they won't break down

no need...NEXT!!!

iv'e been playing for 26 years, iv'e played a ds-1 through marshalls ,fenders, peaveys and an old 65 ampeg amp.i also use mainly strats.it fits my style perfectly,which is hard rock to blues.im using the ds-1 through a peavey classic 30 with a celestion v30 and the tone is VERY CLOSE to EVH'S tone on the VHII album..i'm not kidding. it's a great distortion unit for the money,although the japanese one's are better. if you are a good player with good control and dynamics,this pedal will compliment you

Definitly one of the easiest pedals around to use and get a good tone out of at the same time. As you already know, 3 knobs, Tone, Distortion, and Volume, you should know what each does. Who reads manuals anyway, especially for the DS-1. If you read the manual or needed to read it, you probably are an idiot.

There are mixed reviews for this pedal, most people probably expect more from this pedal or think they are gonna get a certain sound out of it. It realy depends on your guitar and amp, if you have a junky guitar, don't expect to get too good of a sound from this pedal. If you have a junky amp, you might be able to get a good sound out of it. If you have a junky guitar and amp, your screwed. I use Les Paul's and a few other guitars, but this pedal really shines when using a Les Paul, I gotta say that. I have many amps, from small battery amps, to a few half stacks and a full stack, (i could have more full stacks if I put my cabs on top of each other). If you want this pedal to give you the sound it is supposed to, you should play it though a half stack or full, you can really get that nice hard rock distortion. I do have to say this pedals tone possibilities are limited because it has one Tone knob, but the one knob can cover a wide range of tones. But, if you are like me and are crazy about your tone and distortion, get an EQ pedal, that will allow you to really get the sound you want. I bought the Boss EQ and have it right after my DS-1, buying the Boss EQ is what you really should do if you want to get the most out of this pedal, it can really enhance and change the pedal in any way you want. *****Do not get the DS-2***** I bought the DS-2 before I got the DS-1, GIANT MISTAKE, the pedal is too trebly and the distortion is terrible. I think Boss thought they could have made another DS-1 but with alittle bit more versatility. The DS-2, in my opinion, can't compare to the DS-1, the DS-2 might have the extra "turbo" knob, but it really is nothing great, it just either gives you a low, muddy distortion, or a trebly, crap fuzz sound. Also, this pedal really can give you anywhere from a nice mellow, bluesy overdive, to a hard rock distortion. The distortion really doesn't get "heavey" like most think it would, if you want heavey, get metal zone, that pedal takes heavey to a new level.

I've had this pedal for a few years, this thing still works like it's new.

You can only call them up by phone, they do not have an email address.

This is a really good distortion pedal, it is even better if you get an EQ so you can really get the sound you want. The main thing, if you try this pedal out at a store, make sure you try it out on either same guitar and amp you have, or anything as close as possible to your guitar and amp. Because there is a really big difference you get from this pedal depending on what you use. If you go to a music store and say you wanna try the pedal out, the will let you pick a guitar or they will give you a guitar, but the guitar won't be a crappy-ish guitar, and they will plug you into a nice, quality amp. So, make sure you try it out on what you use to see what it will really sound like. I've tried this pedal out with a Squire Strat on a 30 watt amp, sounded like total garbage, but then I tried it out on a Les Paul and a half stack, the sound was a lot better and more what I was expecting. Also, pickups do have a big roll in the sound you get, too. Humbuckers are the best for this pedal, single coils really don't cut it for me.

For me the DS-1 is a little hard to get a good sound.
Cant get a sound like Nirvana.

Fender Jag-Stang,Through a DOD Grunge amp,Boss DS-1,EH small clone,EH Big Muff,EH Poly Chorus,Boss tremolo.
When you lay your hand on the strings or quit playing you get this annoying sound.I have used better Distortion pedals.

I would not use this pedal on a gig.
I would not depend on this pedal cause of the noise.

I am only thirteen and I play Grunge like Nirvana,sonic youth,smashing pumpkins.I have been playing for four years and if this were stolen I would buy another.I probely need a new one.

Takes a bit of fiddling to get a tone with enough bass and mids. I use a p.o.s squier strat so obviously its gonna take a bit more tweaking. I was pleased with the results i got though. It really helped clean up my pice of crap single coils and added more sustain. i also have a fender 15 frontman so if i really want to get lots of distortion i turn the drive on on the amp use the pedal.

read the first the EASE OF USE category i accidentally put it in there.

solid as a tank. you could drop it off your roof on your house and it wouldn't do shit to this.

never dealt with boss and i doubt i'll nead any repairs.

i love this pedal and once i get a decent guitar with humbuckers im sure it will make a huge difference. My friend has a jackson warrior with 2 humbuckers and sounds awesome already so i cant wait to try it through my ds1 distortion.

My sister knows how to use this thing, and has never touched an electric guitar pedal in her life. Easiest pedal in the world to use.

The effect from this thing is really powerful, and hits nice and hard. I like to crank the distortion to maximum and just put the tone about half a centimetre above halfway. It gets that heavy, modern-metal sound that I like, plus sounds great with a solo. The big "but" with this thing, however, is the ungodly amounts of feedback I get out of it. Not only that, but some sounds sometimes start to overlap with others, and sort of ruin some very fun chords. It works amazingly with hard rock, and isn't too over-the-top.

I could drop this thing from a ten-storey building and not break it. The only thing is that the batteries die kind of quickly, but that's not an issue if you just ram an AC Adapter into it.

Can't say I've ever dealt with them.

I have been refered to BOSS numerous times for new pedals. This pedal left a very good first impression. I am planning on buying a whole managerie of pedals from BOSS used, because they are a bit pricey, but are built liek tanks. This thing is like the Orange Abrams. Dependable, hard-working, loud, sophisticated, easy to modify, and loud! Gotta give this guy a 9.

It is easy to get different sounds out of it if you understand eq and gain controls on amps.
I use this as a backup for my Boss me-50(godly pedal).
Theres no patches and the manual is ok, there isnt much to tell. The fact that boss gave some samples of different knob positions for different sounds is generous.

It gives me the 2 sounds I need. I have the gain on full and the tone at 12-1 o clock for Hardcore/metalcore styles. If I want a more classic sound or punk sound I can roll my guitar volume down and increase my guitar tone controls for more bite.

This will give enough gain for most hardcore/metalcore applications when hooked through a half stack or anything at loud volumes. This isnt some mesa boogie chug imitation pedal, so look elsewhere for nu-metal application.

This pedal sounds fairly marshall with a bit of a unique midrange, I like it alot. The only pedal I like more is the Marshall Guvnor which basically replicates the marshall sounds I like.

It hardly feedbacks at all, I was very surprised by this. I have a quality guitar with fairly good pickups though, a Fender Deluxe Double Fat Strat.
I use this with various heads on a peavey 5150 cabinet or on a fender dynatouch deluxe 90 watt hooked to a PEavey transtube 2x12 combo amp. I also have a Vox pathfinder 15 watt which is good for mic'ing and direct recording. It gives superb tone with all of the above.
I can get the sound I want, I don't know about other artists. With the gain all the way down and the tone at about 3 o clock you get nice old rock sounds like rolling stones.

My only beef with this pedal is the lack of sustain, you can't do long sustaining leads or tapping much.
I don't use effects with the ds-1 except analog delay which is fine with it.

Its boss.... Its analog.... I am carefull with my equipment too.
When people are skanking, 2 stepping, and causing chaos at shows I can rely on it to work if my Me-50 pedal wont.

5 year warranty.. I might need that for my boss me-50( multi FX digital stuff can break), but not this boss ds-1.

Everyone should have one of these unless they have no use for overdrive/distortion.
Go get one while they are cheap, 40 bux if u check the musiciansfriend website.

3 knobs and a footswitch... duh?

I run an SX Les Paul copy (a GREAT guitar for the price...) -> DOD FX 64 -> Digitech Synth Wah -> Boss DS-1
The pedal itself is a bit noisy, but it's a distortion pedal, what did you expect?
The sound is clean and crunchy, a nice classic sound.
I was looking for a slightly less crunchy sound though.

It's a Boss pedal... I have a feeling it would survive a nuclear blast (along with the cockroaches).

You can get this pedal for cheap online! It's an excellent pedal for the price... no guitarist should be without one!
If it got lost or stolen (this puppy will most likely not break), I would either buy another one (for dirt cheap) or take one of my friends...

Easy enough....just 3 knobs...tone,level and distortion. just a case of playing around untill u can get a decent tone

my setup contains a 30 watt marshall(ss), epiphone les paul, and crybaby. this box would probably sound better on a big amp, with lots of tubes. But for my little amp, it gives more of a boost on my overdrive channel. on the clean channel, u can get tones like undertones/teenage kicks, and queens 'we will rock you' tone. put it like this....on my overdrive channel, i dont know how i ever solo'd without it

built like a tank.
would use it without a backup at a gig definetly(with fresh batteries every time of course)

never dealt with them

i have been playing for near 4 years, and play anything from bb king to zakk wylde stuff.
doesnt make much difference, tone wise, but provides a good boost for lead playing

3 controls.how hard can it be!!!

This aint no metal pedal by any means and it aint the most versatile either.Dont let that put u off though.Use mine b4 a metal zone as a booster and believe me it really kicks ass!! Also use it as a bluesy overdrive using the same settings but with the mt2 switched off into the clean channel of a jcm900.Plying dynamics are also retained well.Was hugely disapointed when 1st used it but it just takes a bit of experimentation...and isnt that half the fun!!!

ITS A BOSS!!!!!

Overall this pedal is a good workhorse,just dont expect pantera from it when used on its own.

Easy to use... just tweak the knobs until you get something that sounds good to you.

Using it with a Jackson Pro series, with 3 humbuckers, and a cheap yamaha guitar. ...a fender 85 solid state amp.
This pedal (with my gear) gives a good generic disortion. You can hear the notes when you play open chords, and you can get those harmonic pings and squeals. I like the sound of it... it's a very good, "middle of the road" distortion pedal. Just mess with the knobs and you'll find a decent sound... It's a quality product. For metal though, I'd recommend an MT-2.

Boss.... you could hit it with a hammer and it'd still work. Then run it over with a commercial truck and it'd still work. Then drop a nuclear bomb on it, and it'd probably still work.

N/A

I play everything. rock, country finger picking, blues, jazz... etc... this pedal is nice.. gives you a good distortion, and it's somewhat smooth. I prefer to turn the distortion down some for a lighter sound. It can do hard rock and metal but there are better pedals for that. (like the boss MT-2)
If it were lost or stolen I'd buy another. It's a good, solid distortion pedal.

Very simple.Many useable sounds from mild to abrasive.I don't have a manual as I got mine used but I have no problems getting decent sounds from it.

Perfect distortion as far as I am concerned.I tried a RAT just before the DS-1 but it is too "80s Metal" for me and I once borrowed a EH Big Muff which is really radical and chaotic sounding but it kept breaking down(it was old though).The DS-1 is perfect for me.I admit that I am a "naive" guitarist.I am really a bassist(pro basses & amps)
but I like to play guitar for my own amusement and sometimes for demo recording.My guitar/amp selection is a modest but decent VOX Pathfinder 15R(small practice amp) and an Epiphone Flying V copy.The VOX has a surprisingly good natural overdrive that combines well with the BOSS DS-1.

Solid.Bullet-proof.I have owned many BOSS effects for my Basses and virtually every guitarist I know has at least one or two BOSS pedals.
I have NEVER encountered a problem nor have I even heard of a problem with a BOSS.

Don't need it.

Not as radical as some hand-made boxes but all around useful for me and my applications.It does exactly what I expect it to do.It distorts well for chords and or single note solo.

It has 3 knobs. It is a distortion Pedal. Any of you nu-metal heads could even figure this one out.

Im using a Ibanez Jetking and an epihone SG through a Fender Princeton 65. It doesnt sound as deep or as Full as id like or as i have heard from some of my other pedals

It hasnt broken once, even after dropping it off a 40ft balcony in a theater i work at. But i have heard bad things about Boss support lines.

I dont know.

Its ok for beginners. I got one for free from a friend which isnt bad at all. I guess its ok for $40 as well since thats about as cheap as pedals come. I would however hold off and get an mxr blue box or distortion or a ibanez ts808. This pedal is ok, but doesnt sound very rich to me.

This is one of the easiest pedals on earth to use. There are just 3 knobs. From left to right these are tone, level (volume), and distortion. Maybe not as simple as some pedals that just have one knob or a switch or something, but a monkey could still operate it.

This pedal is a classic and I've heard it referred to as "the Swiss Army Knife of Distortion pedals", and there's a good reason for it. You can get a ton of sounds out of it. None of them are great to my ears, but there are many, many good ones. This pedal is great for trashy garage rock stuff. VERSATILITY is the best feature of this pedal, and for $40 new, you can't go wrong.

This is one of the Taiwanese pedals currently in production, and I use it with several different cheap guitars into a couple of different (cheap) solid state and hybrid amps. Right now I've mostly been playing through a little Vox Cambridge 15 at home with either a Squier Telecaster or an Epiphone SG with a JB in the bridge.

If you want your favorite artists' sounds, the DS-1 can probably get you close. This was THE sound of Kurt Cobain on all studio and live recordings until the In Utero tour (he used a DS-2 during the latter part of the Nevermind tour, but only "Mode 1", which is a DS-1 circuilt with a slightly beefed up low end). If you like Bush, and I don't, this WAS their sound on "Sixteen Stone"--tone at 10:00, gain at about 3:00. John Frusciante uses it as his main distortion pedal, though he usually only uses a distortion pedal for overdubs and solos. Try tone at about 1:00 and gain at about 11:00, with a strat and you'll get his sound at the end of "Give It Away Now" when the distorted guitar overdub comes in. I think Jack White from the White Stripes might have used it on the first couple of White Stripes albums (I've seen pics of him with some boss pedal) and I could approximate his sound with the tone knob around 12:00 and the distortion set fairly low--I forget the exact settings. I also heard a kid at the music shop one time getting a pretty good Neil Young-ish tone out of this, a Tele, and a Peavey Delta Blues amp. I don't know how anyone could say that the DS-1 doesn't have enough gain for metal, unless they have a Strat and play with their guitar's volume on 2. Scoop the mids, turn the volume up on your guitar, and you can get some saturated, albeit somewhat stale sounding, distortion.

I do think it usually sounds better with PAF-ish humbuckers because they thicken up the sound and help offset the lack of bass, but single coils also work well. Distortion humbuckers can sound too shrill.

I usually keep the tone knob at about 11:00, as do a lot of people, because it can get overly shrill and piercing quickly. It can also get a little too buzzy with the gain all the way up, but from 9:00 to 3:00 the sounds are pretty good. With the distortion all the way down, you'll still get a boxy kind of crunch--useful, but it makes the pedal unusable if you just want a clean boost--get a tube screamer or something similar for that.

If you want to sound like Kurt Cobain, his usual settings were distortion and level all the way up, tone at 11:00--into a blackface Fender Twin in the studio. A strat-ish guitar with a humbucker in the bridge through this pedal into an amp with the mids turned up will get you close to his sound.

The main gripe I have with it is that it doesn't have much low end on its own, and when you roll back the tone knob to thicken up the sound it can get muddy easily. You have to compensate with more bass from the amp, which will affect your sound when you turn it off. This pedal doesn't compress your sound or give you a lot of fat sustain: it can actually sound pretty thin when playing solos. When the pedal is off, I do notice a slight lack of natural harmonics, but it's nothing big. It doesn't affect the clean sound like my Big Muff.

***A LITTLE TIP*** This pedal is surprisingly sensitive to the type of batteries you use. It may sound silly, but I've noticed that Duracell Ultras give me quite a bit more gain and high order harmonics than, say, generic batteries or even regular copper tops. Try them and see what you think. Oh, and remember to unplug it when y

Right now it is my backup, as I prefer to use my Big Muff with the Telecaster for a thicker, sludgier sound and a Blues Driver for crisper overdrive on lead-oriented stuff. Boss pedals are known for being indestructable and I'm not real hard on my gear. After two and a half years of use it's only got some small scratches on the paint.

Never had to deal with them.

This is good for pretty much any kind of rock, and maybe some grittier blues or honky-tonk if you keep it set low. So many sounds to choose from, and it's a great value. I've had it two years and I'm still finding new settings with it.

***I HAVE A-B'ED THIS PEDAL WITH A JAPANESE ONE*** The sound differences were negligible. The Japanese one was just a little smoother and had a slightly fuller sound to it than my Taiwanese pedal. I wouldn't pay much more for a "vintage" model, though. If you have two to choose from and the Japanese one is $10 more, I'd go for the Japanese version, but it's really not a big difference.

All in all, this isn't a boutique pedal and it won't give you the Tone of the Gods by itself, but it is very useful and it's probably the best bargain going. For $40 new you get a lot of good sounds and it's surprisingly sensitive to your touch and technique. It will also clean up some when you roll back the guitar's volume knob.

Easy to use, three knobs, not hard to work out.

OK THIS IS THE TRUTH: This pedal gives the most warbling treble sound ever in the world. It screams out a highly distorted high pitch sound which looses all of your mids and bass. This is good if you want this, but I don't, I prefere a more solid tone, not the best pedal for me. Only buy this pedal if you want this tone, I use it mainly for solos where i need screaming but not for rhythm, it just sounds horrible.

Indestructable (unfortunatly)

I shouldn't have bought this in the first place and given a chance I would flog it on.

This pedal is extremely easy to use. The manual is very complete. I was not born a genius so I always read manuals. There are 3 knobs--Distortion, tone, and level. LED light lets you know when the effect is on.

My setup: Epiphone Les Paul-->Boss DS-1 distortion-->Boss CH-1 chorus-->Peavey Special 130. I have noticed no noise in using this pedal. The effects are strong and sound good to me. I realize that lots of heavy metal guys are gonna want something a little fuzzier, but I personally like this pedal for its crunchy distortion, because it doesn't destroy the sound of your playing. If you want heavier distortion, try a Boss Metal Zone. For my style of music, this pedal is great.

I feel that I can depend on this pedal, although I haven't had it very long. On a gig, I wouldn't take a backup pedal---just a backup battery. You never know.

Never dealt with them

I play different styles of praise and worship music. For the harder songs, I can crank the distortion, and it is awesome. Also, on slower songs, I can turn the dist. down and it has a nice mellow sound. I have been playing about 7 years. If this were stolen, I'd definitely buy it again. I love the array of crunchy to smooth distortion. I wouldn't say it's for everyone. That's why there are different types of dist. pedals for different styles of music. This one is perfect for my style(folk rock, praise & worship). I wish it came with an adaptor. I'm thinking about buying one. I didn't compare it to any other products. I bought it based on these reviews and I'm glad I did.

i've bought it used without manual, but there are only three knobs (tone, level and distortion) so there's no problem.

my setup:
les paul copy -> morley pwa wah -> boss ds-1 -> digitech x-series digidelay -> peavey envoy 110

i plug ds-1 into a clean channel (EQ: bass 3/4, mid full, treble 1/2).
it sounds best with tone knob at 9 o'clock.
dist knob gives you variety of sounds: from dirty blues to '70 (Led Zeppelin) rock even to metal (some say that it's too weak for metal, but i can make it sound like Death - Leprosy or even Symbolic). I can get Satriani (Always With Me, Always With You) and Vai (Hand On Heart) tones without any problem. It's a bit noisy with dist knob turned past 3 o'clock, but only a bit. It's very versatile box.

Some people say that there's a drop of volume when you turn it on, but here's how to fix it: lower your pickups.

i've bought it used, and it was somewhat scratched, but it's solid like a tank (hmm i think i've heard it somewhere :P).

never dealt with them

i play everything from blues and jazz to rock and metal, an it suits me vary well. if it were stolen i would buy another one.

Very simple pedal, 3 knobs and step on it to turn it on. Like someone else said, DON'T EXPECT THIS PEDAL TO SOUND GOOD IF YOU ARE USING A CRAPPY GUITAR AND SMALL AMP!!! This pedal sounds great with a Les Paul or any quality guitar! This pedal sounds the best through a stack, in combo amps, the sound isn't as good as you hear it is, but put it through a stack, if you don't have one, too bad for you.

You can go from a nice bluesy, mellow overdrive, to a kick ass distortion, and anything in between! This isn't a heavey metal pedal, if you want a huge distortion, definitly get the Metal Zone. Keep the TONE knob under 12 o' clock, anything above 12 sounds way too trebly. You can put the distortion anywhere, sounds great in any spot. I use to have this pedal set as my bluesy, mellow overdrive, but one day I turned up the distortion, and I never noticed how kick ass it gets! I am buying another one to have one set as the bluesy, mellow overdrive, and the other as my kick ass distortion! Trust me, if you think this pedal sounds bad, try it through a stack and you'll see what I'm talking about, and what everyone else is talking about! Satriani's distortion comes from this box, he uses a DS-1, not the distortion from his amps! Satriani uses 2 DS-1's for a few songs. Even Vai has one that he uses to get his distortion from!

Very reliable pedal, I use it all the time, practicing and doing shows. I don't need a backup cause I know Boss pedals last longer than most. I will have two DS-1's, but the 2nd isn't a backup, it will be for a different distortion so I don't have to keep changing the pedals setting every few minutes.

Boss and Roland don't have an Email, they only allow you to call them? I think they should get an email address. There really is no reason to contact them unless you need a demo for something or a manual. I never had to deal with them and I have a ton of Boss pedals that never died or failed me!

I've been playing guitar for 11 years, I have soooo many pedals, Boss is my favorite. I think I know if this pedal is a good quality pedal cause I have sooo many distortion and overdrive pedals and the DS-1 kicks them all in the ass! If this pedal was stolen, I would definitly have to buy another one! I compared this pedal to the Digitech Hot Rod pedal, the DOD Supra distortion, and Boss DS-2, the DS-1 killed them all!!! It really doesn't need any extra knobs for "EQing", if you want more EQ options, buy the Boss GE-7, but you really don't need more EQ, the pedal rocks!

3 knobs. Can you scratch your ass? Then you'll do just fine with this.

Ok, this thing is ONLY good with humbuckers, and sounds best when driving tubes, as opposed to solid-state amps. Don't use this with your Squier Strat and Frontman 15and expect magic, it won't happen. The pedal lacks lows and low-mids, but sounds decent with the right setup. I hated it with my old Epi strat, but when the footswitch crapped out on my Randall RH200, I stuck the DS-1 in front of it, behind my Ibanez GRX20. With the hot Powersound humbuckers and the bass-heavy Randall head, the DS1 threw out some cutting, brain-shaking distortion, and worked for me until the dude I borrowed it from got kicked out of my band. I even chose it over the MT-2 I had lying around, and my band plays a mix of punk and metal (think At The Gates eating Discharge). Repeat, it's ONLY effective when USED RIGHT. For lack of versatility, I'd give it a 5, but since it nailed what I needed, I'll give it a 7.

I've only had one Boss pedal give me any beef, and it was a Super Overdrive. Turned out the switch was dirty. I cleaned it with a q-tip, alcohol, and compressed air, it works fine. Boss kills.

No effin' clue.

Once again, don't throw this bastard between your Squier strat and a shit amp. You need beefy buckers and a ballsy amp for this to work right. Fat tubes preferred. Wish it had more EQ options, mids, etc. I like its voicing, just wish it had better EQing.

There are three knobs. If you want more distortion, turn up the gain; if you want a brighter tone, turn up the tone; if you want it louder, turn up the level; and vice-versa.

I use the DS-1 with a Strat or a Washburn ES-335 copy. It sounds good with both humbuckers and single-coils, but is definitely likes humbuckers a bit more. Nails the early EVH tone. The full range of the gain knob is useable. The only complaint I have is that if you turn the tone knob to far clockwise or counter-clockwise, it sounds either to shrill or too muddy. Also, it sounds just as good with an AC/DC adapter as it does with a battery.

The battery lasts quite a while, and if you you can see the LED glowing then you know it will work. It actually works even when you can't see it, although I don't recommend playing like that because it doesn't sound very good. Anyway I use an AC/DC adapter so that's not important to me anyway.

This is good for all types of classic rock. If someone stole it, I'd look for a used one because it's a great pedal and you can find 'em cheap used. It sucks that it doesn't come with a power supply, but FYI you don't have to get the $20 BOSS adapter, there are a lot of cheaper alternatives. It does what a Tube Screamer does for a lot less $$$. I enjoy playing a lot more now that I can get some good distorted tones.

It's easy. Really easy. Three knobs, Tone, Level, Distortion. Simple

Man...the sound quality is bad...Really bad. My setup is an all-original 1960 Les Paul, Or a '61 re-issue SG, into a 1960 Supro, Or A Vox Ac30. And still bad, I tried playing it through my Solid-state Marshall, but it still sounded bad. The only good setting on this thing that I found is distortion all the way down, tone at 12 o' clock, And level even with clean sound. Still, it wasn't that great.

The most amazingly bad thing about this pedal was that even with the Vox, I couldn't get a warm sound without the distortion sounding horrible. And that was true for every single one of my amps I tried it on. I'd love to say this is a great pedal...but it's not.

Also, this Pedal is very very tinny. You can't emphasize the highs without it sounding very shrill.

It's a Boss. But I would never use it to gig. I would rather just try to make my own.

I dealt with them once...and it was very sloppy.

I play all styles of music except country and rap. And while this isn't the worst pedal I've ever heard, but it is bad considering the other pedals that could be bought for not a whole lot more.

This is a wonderful piece of equipment...if not Vai or Satch wouldnt include it in his rig. Simple as ABC.

Great sound from this pedal. Cleans up well for strats, can go soaring heavy with bassy chordwork. Perfect break up sounds. Use it with a TS9. This thing is the best distortion pedal I've ever played, period. You want distortion, you get distortion.

Built better than a tank.

Never dealt with Roland and Boss people b4.

It's a must have in your pedal board. Dun waste your money in getting those tube distortion pedals that boasts tube warmth distortion...bunch of gimmicks. I've been playing for 8 yrs and this has been around for that long. I dun understand why this pedal is underated. It has the gains, transparency, simplicity and good price.
Go and get it ...no I dont work for Boss...rock on!!!

This is an update. After about 15 mins of non stop fiddling with the controls i found the distortion sound i was wanted, bridge pickup on my strat with tone at 9o'clock, level and distortion full. I must apologise for my rushed review below, if you fiddle about for a while you should find a good sound coming out of your amp.

easy enough. 3 knobs, how was that lobotomy?

I think it is fine. GO to your local shop, and et a used one for $35. It is well worth it. It is a standard medium/hi-gain distortion, nothing more. I would use it as a back up for my beloved Ibanez sd-9, but it is not as gritty. Good as an alternate solo distortion, and if you are a studio rat, this is one of those cornerstone sounds.

Boss, nuff said

Stop bitching and buy one, if nothing else but for a studio box. It may not become your main distortion (though it could be), but it seves many good purposes.

3 buttons, if you can use a pencil you can use this.

The downside. If you own a Fender Strat DO NOT BUY THIS, or for that matter any other guitar. It sounds crap, like they removed all traces of bass and mids, and left the treble in. Sounds very, very tinny. If used with a strat it is hideously noisy, which i may have been able to stand if i had liked the tone and sound of it. This pedal does'nt know what gain is. Tinny and crap and only good for very very subtle distortion. WEAK!

Its a BOSS

Never used it,and not likely too. Had it for 2 days and taking it back to the shop tomorrow.

I really hope you pay attention to all the reviews further down the page that say it sucks.....it really does! The people who praised it must have some miraculously fantastic amp and guitar to get a good sound out of this. I bought it because it looked like a bargain for #39, and i regret buying it. AVOID!

If it were lost or stolen i'd feel sorry for the person who found it (or stole it) as they would have the trouble of getting rid of it!

Once again i say AVOID!

Its so easy that i dont have to explain this pedal. Its been made for 25 years now.

It sounds so different depending on what you use it with. What guitar? What amp? Solid State, or Tube?

Anyway, i just picked this thing up at a pawn shop for $48 dollars Canadian, and so, i cannot complain. Its Used but someone only USED it for maybe 3 hours it seems since it is pristine condition. i thought W T F ! its a steal .

I wont even dignify this category with an answer (BOSS)

fuck em.!!

Hey, theyve been making these pedals for a while now. I didnt need it, nor was i looking for one. It was just sittting there in this Hock shop up north of the city. bought it on the spot. I wont rate it, cuz i just bought it today, and wanted to see the HC ratings on this, so i thought i would waste time and put in my 0.2 cents. Been playing for 20 years now. Have the TS-9 original, Sans Amp Tri-Od, now i have the DS-1 to round out the trio. If you cant get a good sound with any of these pedals ,,,,,,man,,,, give it up, and go and get a job that involves the words " Would you like fries with that?"

what a joke. simple.... been said a lot 3 nobs. manual is good to give general ideas to modify to your own taste.

im playing a Dearmond M75 into my ds-1,to a solec phase shifter, to shin-ei exciter pedal(wah basically) and into my Kustom amp.
With the ds-1 i am able to get a wide range of sounds though if your looking for a pedal that has fuzz this is not it, what the ds-1 gives is much more of a fizz. It is much more suited for a crunchy distortion.
this is great pedal as it can be used widly from blues to punk or metal.

need i say

never had to deal with them

I play rock/punk/blues/metal, a wide range of styles as my band is somewhat of a joke band so we just take off all sorts of music. This pedal is great as i can switch between sounds with the turn of a nob. very simple and easy to use, as i said before great for a beginner.
If it was lost or stolen i would most likely not buy another one. I would prefer a Proco rat or some other style to give myself a more defined sound.
This is a great pedal and i highly recommend it to people who are not sure of what type of distortion they want. Its a great all rounder.

Well, I honestly cannot figure out why people says this is an easy pedal to get a good sound of. In fact, it is really hard to get a good sound out of this box... too metallic for my taste.

As I've said before, this pedal sounds like a mediocre distorsion box. It is somewhat too metallic, it has a cold sound that never fits my style at all. It is good for feedback and for some solos, but other pedals can do this for you in a better way.

My current setup is Jazzmaster + cs-3 + proco rat + big muff + nobels tremolo + rocktech analog delay plugged into a fender valve amp. I've owned the ds-1 for 4 years but finally sold it. The RAT is a way better box if you're looking for a good distorsion, and it also can achieve great crunch sounds -while the DS-1 can't- If you are looking for fuzz, then the ds-1 can be a bit if that but the big muff really kicks it.

For me, the ds-1 is a pedal that can get a great variety of sounds, but always on a mediocre way.

Wow. Boss.

I've been playing for 10 years now, in a great variety of bands. Nowadays I'm playing mostly crunchy sounds like Luna, the Cure, Pavement, Jeff Buckley, etc. I'm also playing guitar with Christina Rosenvinge's bands in some of their last gigs. This pedal never fits my stile at all. It is way metallic and transistorized, as every other boss pedal i've tried. Boss are great pedals for the realibility they offer, but the sound you get from them isn't very nice for my taste.

But for the price I guess it is a good thing to start, so a 6.

it has three knobs... level, tone, and distortion. A monkey could figure it out in seconds.

The pedal isn't very versatile, but it is exactly what I needed. Just a good amount of distortion. You can't get anything heavy or strong out of it. When used with a normal tone, the sound does tend to be a little sharp, but the tone knob can solve that. I personally only use it with the tone very flat on my guitar and the distortion all the way up to get a smooth distortion sound. Only works for solos though, because when set like that the chords make a very strange mix that make it sound like the guitar is dying... but the solo sound is awsome. If you're looking for your average distortion, this is it, but don't expect too much out of it.

you could throw a boss pedal off a cliff and still use it at a gig.

don't ever use it

Boss has MANY different distortion and overdrive pedals. If you're looking for the right sound go to a guitar center or some other store and toy around with the different pedals until you find what you want. Boss has something for everyone. This pedal is the cheapest, but it is still very durable and well worth the measly forty bucks.

I don't think I need to repeat what has already been said. A simple pedal, plus the manual gives you differents presets to help you on your way

My set-up is:
Ibanez RGT42 --> Zvex Fuzz Probe --> BOSS DS-1 --> Boss CE-2 Chorus --> Zoom 707 --> Marshall MG30DFX

The effect is not noisy at all, no matter what kind of pickups your using, if there is any noise, it's your setup, not the pedal.
The effect itself sounds pretty good for what I intend to use it for, obviously next to a Zvex Fuzz Probe it will seem a bit weak, but its not the quality of this pedal, its the sheer quality of the Fuzz Probe, but the Fuzz Probe is #300 and this is #40 so a comparison between these two pedals is pointless.
I'm not using this as my main distortion, this is intended to be used for different distortion sounds I require in songs.
When I went to purchase a second distortion pedal I compared this to the whole Marshall range of OD and distortion pedals, I also wanted to try a SD-1, but the shop didn't have any in stock and they said Boss were a bit sketchy with their supplying of pedals. This could have cost them a sale because if I had not liked this pedal I wouldn't have waited for an SD-1 to be in stock I would have gone for one of the Marshalls.
Anyway it's about time I properly reviewed the sound of the DS-1
Hmmm where do I start? well I have to admit, you have to be careful with the tone knob, the sound can get trebly very quickly, but if your capable of turning a knob, the treble can be toned down, the amount of available drive is enough for what I want to do with the pedal. This pedal is very raw sounding, which is the kind of distortion I like, it's all well and good people moaning about the lack of bass, but isn't that what a bassist is for? get into a band and use a bassy sound, where does it go? it mixes in the bass so it's hardly noticeable, so stop moaning about lack of bass, the pedal has all the bass you need.
I'm currently using the pedal with a Solid State Marshall MG30DFX with all the EQ knobs maxed out, except 'Contour' which is at 0. I then use the EQ on the Zoom 707 to get a good sound that really compliments both of my dirt pedals and gets me a sound that I really like (can't wait to try it all out with a decent valve amp), it's a sound that can always be heard in the mix and has a great filthy quality to it which I love.
I'm trying to obtain my own sound, but my sound does have a Muse quality to it, thanks to the Fuzz Probe of course. I have always believed in being yourself and not to imitate others, obviously use ideas from your favourite bands, but don't imitate.
Overall 8 because it can be too trebly at the "wrong" settings, so alot of the Tone knobs travel is useless to me unfortunatly, but it gets a sound that I like and at the end of the day, thats all that matters

I own a Boss CE-2 Chorus, these were made in the 80s for the uniniciated (sp?) and it works as if it was bought yesterday, so my rating is based on that rather than the DS-1 because it has not been around for as long.

Not dealt with the company, but the shop I purchased it from did moan about Boss that they are unreliable with supplying the shop with Boss pedals, so this rating is based on that comment rather than first hand experience. But shops are just as important as the final customers and Boss should take this into account

The music I play is mainly Muse, Radiohead and RATM, obviously I play others as well as my own. The DS-1 should find its way into everything I play, well the bits where I feel the Fuzz Probe is a bit much, which is what I bought it for.
I have been playing for over 2 years now, purists will now be saying that this review is invalid, to set the record straight, I have been playing guitar for two years, I have been playing synths pretty much all my life (I am 17 years old, I hear more screams from purists)so I think I have idea of what a good sound is based on my experience with synths.
I have already listed my gear, apologies about the amp, its for use in my bedroom mainly, I would like a valve amp, but they are so damn expensive unfortunatly, but one day I'll have the money.
If it was stolen I would be upset, I'm not that attached to any of my gear though, except the Fuzz Probe which I love like it was my child, well instead of upset, I would be pissed off because it's my money that was spent on this pedal and I don't ever have much so buying another pedal would be a serious investment.
I love it's sound, how it reacts to your playing, how it reacts to different gear (if it sounds crap, it's most likely your gear, not the pedal, or you don't like real distortion).
I don't like the fact that it is not true bypass, but it does have a good bypass, so I'll let it off.
I wish it was more colourful, more boutique-ish if you can understand what I'm getting at. The colour and general mass produced quality to it doesn't appeal to me, it looks like it doesn't have a personality, which is a shame.
All of my pedals help me make music, they can all help me to get the sound I'm after, obviously the more I have, the better for that, hopefully this pedal will find a permanent place in my chain.

Overall: It's a great pedal that won't appeal to some, but everyone should try one just to see what they think. This is another Love It or Hate It pedal which I love.

For any purists out there getting their knickers in a twist because I max out everything on my amp's EQ, get yourself an EQ pedal and try it, it does sound really great and I'm not the kind of guy that maxes out everything.

3 knoobs, Tone, Volume and Distortion all self-explaining. Can be run with 9V battery or adapter as i do because batterys just cost too much money.

First of all my Set-up: I play a Epiphones Les Paul Standart through boss DS-1 into a Cry Baby and Straight into my Marhsall V100 and a 1936 cabinett. The sound of this thing just sucks in my opinion. Don't even try to turn the tone knoob above 11 o clock because the Sound just gets much too thin and sounds like an old broken radio cranked up too much. It's impossible to get a fat deep sound out of it and it also lacks any warmth. I tried everything, and the only usefull setting is tone to 9 1/2, Distortion and Volume both all the way up, then it sounds a bit nirvana like but there is no low end, no mids just this annoying high fizzle. Perhaps it's usefull if you play Punkrock but don't try too play Black sabbath, nebula any 70s musik or Heavy Metal through it.
What i like about this pedal is the Volume, it can get really loud(ok then i have this annoying sound not only bothering me but my whole neighbourhood haha) and it has a beautifull controllable feedback. And it's not noisy at all, also a + for it. I give it a 6 because it might be a nice pedal if it fits your syle but i can't get any REAl rock out of it so for me it gets a 3 for the feedback and volume.

It's a Boss, try smashing it with a hamemr if you want to, thing thing will last. but don't use batterys, it sucks them out really fast.

i allready said it's a tank so i never had to deal with them

I have been playing for 2 Years, still looking for my sound. I'm trying to get somewhere between the old sabbath, Fu manchu Kyuss and Karma to Burn sound,what is quite difficult. And this pedal is just the worst thing you can do to your sound if you want to sound like these gread bands. If it would be stolen i'd kill the bastard, take his money... and buy any pedal except this one. The best thing is to try one, perhaps it fis your sound.

Really easy to use. It is really easy to get various degrees of distortion with this pedal.

This pedal sounds great for the classic rock sound I was going for. I use it for Ted Nuggent, Aerosmith, Black S., and it seems to do very well depending on how it is set up. It has limitations when looking to use it for more of a heavy metal sound but it will work if needed. I have tried it with a MXR Phase 90, the 90 would ad a lot of unwanted mids (the cat screaming into a mic sound) that I have not experianced with other distortion pedals. It is an old 90 though, and it might have some internal issues. For a straight distortion box I love it.

Seems solid. Have not experienced any problems.

Its very easy using it, and it has a good manual.

I play a Yamaha RGX121D and a Warm Music amp. And this pedal did very good sound. Its not noisy, and I can get sounds like Metallica, Stratovarius, Helloween, etc.

Never had a problem with it.

never needed

It does what a distortion pedal should do. You can play anything distorted with it. For Heavy Metal, good pickups help you to make the heavier distortion, not only the DS-1. I would buy it again if it was stolen.

The DS-1... yeah.. How simple can a pedal be. If you dont know, well this is it.

The sound quality is good. I play this pedal with my lead guitar parts in the music we play (rock pop music check this: www.archer-music.nl). It sounds exactly what i have to have no doubt about that. No complains too. The solo's i play with my Marshall Valvestat 8080 switch. I put the sound a bit up so you can hear the difference.

It never breaks

Never dealt with them

My configuration is like this. Digitech RP7 Valve--> Boss DS-1--> Dunlop Cry Baby--> Guitar ( Ibanez RG 470 ). It just sounds great and once i put the volumes like my taste, well... there we go. On stage i sure do the same.
We play Pop rock music and it surely puts a part in my band. Till now i havent heard multi effect that gives a good distortion sound. Also grunch or metal sounds just dont sound right with floorboards. Also the wah wah sounds doesnt sound good on most multi's. The Boss DS1 is the sollution. The RP-7 gives all the other effects (wich sounds good). The Marshall brings in the solo feature.Well thats my cake.
If i would lose it, or it being stolen, i would by a new one. There is nothing i hate about it

Very easy to use, only 3 knobs (Tone, Level, and Gain)

This is an awesome pedal all around! I play alot of Nirvana stuff and can get the right sound for any song. Its great for lots of other stuff as well. Turn the Gain all the way up and the level at 12 o'clock and tone at 9 o'clock and yo've got a great fuzz sound. And for the Nirvana sound, Tone- 11 - 1 o'clock, Level- MAX, Gain - MAX.

Very dependable.

Didn't need to use custmer support.

Very good pedal indeed. Great for anything from grunge, classic rock to metal.