Monte Allums Boss DS-1 Rectifier Mod Plus

Monte Allum DS-1 Rectifier Mod Plus. This mod really worked well. I can actually use my pedal now

This mod didnt really add more distortion gain but it did add more overall gain. This is exactly what I needed. I am using a JEM 555 (love this guitar)

Jem>DS-1>TS9>Front end of amp
Effects loop> Line 6 DL-4>Boss CE5>Boss Noise Gate>Volume pedal>Effectsloop
I also have a modified Furman SPB8 Pedal board I power most of the effects with a 1 spot through my Pedal Snake.

Amp is a Fender Deville 2-12

This is by far the best soundin rig that I have ever owned. Very Happy

With this being a do it your self mod. I will say that it will last forever :)

Monte is very quick with his replies. I initially had a problem with the LED not working but after a few emails I fixed it easily. He is very helpful I am glad I purchased from him.

Dont be afraid of doing these mods. I am a trained Navy Electronics Technician and I honestly believe that with little soldering skills ( find it on the internet) my daughter could have done this. Plus there is NOTHING cooler then whipping out that pedal at a gig and saying "Yeah I modded this myself" Be-Autch

I only had one problem with the mod and that was the LED not working but like I said I think it was a bad LED or I messed it up. The only other issue is that my pedal would not work unless I put it all back together. Monte was saying that you can make it work out of the case but I didnt experiment long enough to verify that. I think it had to do with grounding to the case and as I had it sitting on my workbench it did nothing but HUM. When i put it back together BANGO it worked great.

This review is for the DS-1 Rectifier CMAT Tri-Gain Mod with the toggle switch.
This mod kit is easy to install if you know how to solder and de-solder. Monte includes easy step by step instructions with pictures and if you test the pedal after every mod like he suggests, you won't have any problems. You have to drill a hole in the top of the pedal for the toggle switch too. I didn't want to drill with any compnents left inside so I completely dis-assembled the pedal. Jacks, stomp switch and all. If you don't know how to solder or don't have the right tools, you should consider having the kit installed for you.

I can't beleive how much better this pedal sounds than a stock DS-1. It's much clearer, has more gain, is more sensitive to your pick attack and lets the sound of your guitar come through. The tonal range this pedal has is incredible now. The LED's on the toglle switch give you a big volume boost if you need it. It's like having 3 pedals in 1. This is a great pedal for 70's and 80's rock and metal. I use this with various guitars, amps and other pedals. I have pedals by some of the booteek pedal builders like Fulltone, Keeley and Analogman and this ranks right up there with them.

Boss pedals are very dependable so I don't have any worries.

Here's where Monte really shines. I've emailed him many times with different questions and he always responds with quick and friendly answers. He helped me troubleshoot a bad solder connection on the tone pot of my stock DS-1. I even emailed him an idea I had for adding an extra diode to his Tri-Gain mod and not only did he respond quickly, he emailed me a picture of how to wire it so it would work correctly. I've bought 3 of his kits so far and I'll be getting more very soon. Monte takes great pride in his products and stands behind them.

I've been playing for 28 years and I've played professionaly for many of them. I've had equipment ranging from the most expensive handmade booteek stuff to cheap stuff and everything in between. I play Rock, Metal, Blues and Folk and I'm a professional teacher with 25 students per week. When I talk about equipment, I'm speaking from experience so I can say that for Classic Rock and 80's Metal, you can't beat this DS-1 with Monte's mod for the price. I bought the pedal for 20 bucks on Ebay and bought Monte's kit for about 30 bucks including shipping. You will NOT get a better distortion pedal for 50 bucks. Even if you buy a new DS-1 from Musicians Friend for $40, you still will only have $70 invested and you won't get a better distortion for that price either. If it were stolen, I'd just buy another DS-1 and this kit and build it again.

3 knobs

Blimey, the pedal feels alive, the tone of your guitar really shines through! I have a usa strat plus and it sparkles using this :) I have used this plugged in with my other stomp boxes to record on my pc, the quailty of sound I am getting on recordings is very good :) clear and warm :) I tell you this, I have a Tone Bone Classic and this modded DS-1 matches sound quailty for so much less money :) its a winner

Boss, can I say anything more?

I have spoken to Boss before in the past and they do respond well here in the uk :)

a mod that makes a pedal sound top notch deserves a 10, this is the cheapest way to get a top notch sound, it definately is up there with the Tonebone classic for sound quailty. I'm 30 now but if you like? 16 and hardly have cash, take my advice, grab a boss ds-1, cheapest Boss on the market, get this mod and forget those 200 pound distorion pedals, this will please you well :)

This review is the DS-1 Rectifier Mod. Took about 1 hour to change out the components. One drawback was the actual Rectifier Diodes: The leads for the new Diodes were thicker than the ones you remove. Therefore they wouldn't fit through the holes on the PCB. I emailed Monte and 2 hours later he replied, "File 'em." I went and bought a micro file at Home Depot. I went home, bored out the holes to be just slightly larger, and the problem was solved.

Easy Mod all around. The DS-1 doesn't have much to it. The green LED is a nice touch. Looks really cool. All 3 knobs are much more flexible now. Gain doesn't have to go maxxed out to get a heavy sound. I'm not using it for that though, I only set the gain about 1/2 way. Tone knob is much more flexible now, doesn't just roll off the very high frequencies only. Makes it useful.

Using a 25 watt all tube amp and various guitars.

The noise factor: it will always be there, but is exponentially better. You will never be able to tell there is any hiss once a band is in the equation. Actually, I wouldn't call it noise anymore. It's a hiss. It's very subtle under 70%. Non-existent below 30%. Nice. Very clean. C'mon, it's a $40 pedal, and most expensive pedals are still much noisier than this one. This is now the quietest Distortion I've ever owned. Will be tough to beat.

The tone knob is now empowered to actually shape your sound with this Mod. Surprisingly flexible. The Gain really is a good Rectifier now. I think from the description people expect it to sound like a Boogie Dual Rectifier or a Marshall JCM. It is neither. This really has it's own sound. No longer sounds like a compressed Orange head. It's not "brown" either. It's a very smooth distortion if you want it to be, or very gritty if you want, but either way it is much better than I expected. I think the difference is that it is so much quieter. That is due to the better capacitors. Sustain is amazingly strong, even at lower gains. It "unsquishes" or decompresses the stock sound of the DS-1. The new rectifiers are probably responsible for that.

Of all my pedals, this is the one that definitely surprised me the most. It is much, much better than I ever expected it to be. Very solid. Tonally it now is something that can cut through a mix without being painful to hear.

I think this will be very dependable. The pedal is six years old, and the mods are so simple that if the solder broke it would be a matter of minutes to repair.

Monte was extremely helpful when I had a question. Solved a problem for me and I didn't have to write back. Piece of cake. He's answered a couple of other questions about unrelated pedals with a smile.

I play rock, funk & blues, and am going more for the sound of the guitar rather than the sound of the effect. This complements the guitar. Most guitars all sound the same through this pedal before the mod.

Not only would I replace if stolen, I'm going to buy a couple cheap DS-1's in the coming months to have on hand and mod them to give to friends as gifts (or just to keep handy in case it's stolen)

I heard the Keeley DS-1 but just wasn't as impressed with it. It sounds too much like Vai (whom I like, but I don't want to sound like him.) It's really cool, but still sounds too stock for me. I'm not knocking Keeley, by the way.

This Mod transforms the pedal. It's really just not the same thing anymore.

This is my third review for Monte Allums mod kit.
It comes with instruction and all the parts plus a green LED.

It took me about 30 minutes to solder and test it. It's not hard if you've previously dealed with other Monte's kit.

Get a coffee and listen to some soft music on Saturday morning. Just follow the instruction carefully, and you will have your DS1 screamming sexily for the rest of your life.

Since I have a Marshall hybrid amp, I only use DS1 for low gain distortion or to boost volume in lead guitar.
The original DS1 has a very unpleasant sparkle in high frequency. Thanks to Monte Allums, the high frequency is warm and clear with much less sparkles. The low frequency now sounds similar to Boss MT2 mod kit. Very tight and punch. Mid frequency is very transparent. You can actually hear the wood.

The low gain distortion sounds sexy.
When using it as boost, it adds sustain and slightly boost high frequency. The noise is still pretty low comparing to original DS1.

Depends on your soldering skill. It should last for a pretty long time.

As always, quick, polite and knowledgeable.

This DS1 become one of my favourite low gain and volume boost pedals.
Very amazing job. Low cost and high value.