Monte Allums Boss DS-1 Rectifier Mod Plus

Installing the kit is a breeze as long as you've used a soldering iron before. Just use the braid and resolder - even assembling the clipping switch (I call it that because you can switch between types of clipping) is clearly laid out. I won't rate it because its not for everybody, but its bonehead simple if you take your time.

I got the Roxx kit that Monte now sells, unfortunately I incorrectly identified my circuit board as the new one, while it is in fact the old style that isn't compatible with the op amp chips monte includes with the kit. Not a problem, because I also planning on modifying a BD-2 and it uses the same chips so they won't go to waste.

The Roxx kit, aside from the op-amps, is good. Definitely a 10 for improvement. However, I must be honest and say I like the way my SD-1/808 sounds better. It can't approach the levels of gain of this bad boy with the sd-1, but the gain of the Roxx mod doesn't sound as full or as smooth as the tube screamer clone. It's not as sweet but you can only tell if you play them back to back. The LED clipping sounds better than the diodes, but still doesn't sound as organic. Neither of them will fool you into thinking you're playing an amp, but the ds-1 sounds more like a pedal than an extension of your rig.

That being said, it doesn't particularly color your sound. Although, with the gain all the way up, I'm not sure you could tell - it just sounds like massive distortion that works for AC/DC stuff amazingly. The mods tighten up the low end so much that you can't really blame the pedal for sloppy rhythm sounds when you're playing at a gallop. As much as I prefer the sd-1/808, for $30 this can't be beat. It goes from a buzz factory with harsh and fizzy treble to a high gain marshall-in-a-box. It really does led you cop a joe satriani vibe.

There's no 8.5 so I rated it a 9. Its just barely less awesome than my sd-1/808. And I mean just.

I'm not gonna rate this category either because it's either a 1 or a 10 depending on your soldering abilities.

Very responsive, and Monte is really involved in helping people with troubleshooting from what I hear. I haven't contacted him yet, but if I do I don't doubt he'd help me out.

I play blues and rock, but the ds-1 came up on ebay for mad cheap so I went for it. I don't really need or use it that much, it's good as a novelty effect for me. I'm not going to say how cheap I got the pedal for, but I will say that even with the mods it's still the least I've ever spent on a pedal. Considering it's as good as distortions costing 3 or 4 times as much (depending on whether or not you get the pedal new), I'd say it's probably the best bang for your buck if you're looking for a distortion pedal.

Although you need to know how to solder properly, the instructions are fairly easy.

I tested the DS-1 before I did the mod and it was pretty plain sounding. You could have the distortion at the minimum and still have lots of distortion. After the mod with the switch you can get 3 different levels of distortion from moderate overdrive all the way to heavy metal. All the mods gave it more clarity and versatility especially once I did the opamp mod. It is a whole different pedal. I would never have put this on my pedal board before but it is there now.

Well I have never had a Boss pedal fail and my soldering skills are pretty good. I can rely on this pedal for sure.

I have talked with Monte on the phone and via email. He is very responsive to questions and advice. I am happy with his service.

I play mostly Christian music, but come from a rock and blues background. Have played for over 32 years. I have too many pedals to describe, but I have numerous Boss pedals and have modded 3 of them with Monte's mods. I mainly play a 78 Gibson LP Std and a custom 84 Strat. I would definitely get another pedal and mod it if something happened to mine.

Dont waste your time and money on this mod, dual LED clipping is way over the top, just go fo rthe Keeley mod, its way better, I've had both versions and the keeley blows this mod away. Easy to use, not now!

The clipping is not improved and the tone structure is as before, come on the tone sweep isnt hard to alter, this should be part of the standard mod as per Keeley.

Depends on who did the mod! Beware if buying 2nd hand off ebay. Children can get a soldering iron and do these mods!

One of the reasons I'm writing this, I waited an eternity for the kit to arrive, and was sadly disapointed.

Dont bother, get your DS-1 done by the pros! KEELEY EVERYTIME.

Very easy to use and hard to get a bad sound out of it.

The led diode setting is so warm it is wonderful. The guys in the band are so impressed with the sound.

Either a Les Paul or a Strat (Lace p/ups).
Usually into a Peavey Classic 50 with a few other modified pedals via Monte's kits.

The DS1 with the DD3 is used 70% of the time.

The mods, if done properly are great.
During the mod of an old CE 2 pedal I found a number of brittle and or dry joints so put these right. Consequently the pedal was better after the mod!

Fantastic.
Quick and to the point.

Mostly church rock which is pretty broad these days.

I have been playing a very long time and like most guitarists search for a better tone / sound. These pedals do just that. The DS1 gives that full yet defined distortion that I have been looking for.
Other pedals just do not perform as well. It is not even a close run thing. This pedal is way out in front.

With a big concert coming up I needed this quickly. I bought a new and just modified pedal from E bay in the UK as delivery from the US would have meant I would have not received the kit in time.

Easey Peasey - do the mod in a couple of hours and then you'll never get a bad sound from your new boutique pedal

Stunning - blows the Keeley out of the water!

Yep

Monte is a nice guy

Foreget the Keeley, Forget analogman, do the monte

This is a Boss overdrive/distortion pedal, so 3 knobs...What's hard about that! It does get a little more in depth when you add the 3 way toggle from Monte, but you can pretty much figure out which setting is which in each of the 3 positions.

Ummmmmmm....It's freaking awesome! When I took the pedal out of the box, it was a very nasally distortion. After adding the parts from the mod, this pedal turned into a tone monster! The mids were tamed and the shrilly highs were gone. I can now use this pedal to get a good range of tones with my P90 equipped Epi Les Paul Goldtop through my '64 Bassman. I am in tonal Nirvana. But that's not all I have to say. Last week Monte came out with a kit to change out the inline chips to the HiFi dual opamp chips. So I got an adapter and the Burr Brown chip. Holy Crap!!!!! The pedal is now even better, which I thought wasn't possible. Get this mod ASAP, you won't be disappointed!

Boss....Very reliable! You just need to be sure you don't F&%*! anything up when soldering and it will be fine.

Monte was quick to respond when I had a problem with my first try on this mod....Quick email response...Very detailed! The problem wasn't with my soldering or the kit, it was the pedal. Put it back together, took it back to Sam Ash, and when I got home I was up and running in about 45 minutes. There was a problem with the pedal from the manufacturer(ROLAND).

I play rockabilly, rock and classic rock. This pedal gives me great tone for all 3 and then some. I can bust out my old Hard rock and metal riffs with ease, but also back off the gain and get smooth overdrive. I also use an SD-1 that I modded from Monte as well, and it sits right in front of the DS-1 on my board. I have a very simple setup, and it goes as follows: Epi Goldtop with Gibby p90s and tuners with tonepros bridge and tailpiece, Boss TU2 tuner, Boss SD-1(Monte SD-1 mod w/Burrbrown), DS-1(Monte Rectifier CMAT trigain mod w/Burrbrown), and Line 6 verbzilla. That all goes into my Fender AA864 Bassman and through a Line 6 Flextone 4x12 cab. With both the SD-1 and the DS-1 on the board, I have every tone I need to rip on the songs my cover band plays and then some! From punk to rockabilly and Hard Rock to classic rock, I am in a place right now with tone in which I hope I never leave!

This is a diy mod - if you can solder, the instructions are easy. If you can't solder look on Monte's web site for an excellent soldering and desoldering guide.

The only difficulty here is drilling the whole in the Boss chassis - its not hard - I did it with a cordless hand drill, but make sure you have a range of metal drill bits and gradually work up to get the right fit.

It also helps if you have some paper tape or heat shrink shielding as the kit has the bare minimum and this means potential shorts if you aren't careful to place things properly.

Because of the drilling, i'll give it a 8.

In one word EXCELLENT - this turns the rubbish DS1 into a boutique monster distortion. Three modes of pure distorted joy. I got the pedal for ??15 on ebay and the kit at the 2 dollars to the pound, so in all I got a boutique pedal for ??30. cant beat that.

I bought switch part of the kit twice - and both times the switch (but not the rest of components) crapped out on me twice. The first time I thought it was my fault and had soldered it wrong, so I ordered another one. The second time I made the assembly of diodes extra carefully and put extra shielding around them, still the switch packed up when I flicked it.

It could be a bad batch as no one else has complained - the rest of the mod is fine - a new ??1 switch puts it back into order. So i'll give a 6 as things like this are annoying but not fatal to a modder.

Monte Allums sends you stuff quick - and for a ??1 switch I can't be bothered to phone, so i'll give a 9

I play classic rock, rock-blues, 60s stuff - a think this turns a really mediocre pedal into a tone rating. But 2 switches crapping out drops what would be an easy 10 to an 8.

it's still a boss ds-1 pedal, it just has new components changed out into it. it was quite easy for me to do and im still a beginner at modding.

i thought the ds-1 already sounded alright, but this makes it even better. it really is an "in yo face" distortion now.

it put the parts in properly and the ds-1 is already really sturdy.

monte was very reliable, sent me email and mail instructions.

what else can i say? excellent!!!

As for the pedal... Stupid simple to use. Operates the same as a normal DS-1 with the exception of the 3-way switch added to offer more tonal options. The mod itself takes a little skill but is fun and Monte gives great and clear instructions. If you take your time and do a little bit of reading up on how to solder and desolder you should be fine.

I have a couple of pedals that do the "marshall in a box" thing, but my band is going to be adding some heavy riffage, Mastodon style, and my other pedals, while great, just don't offer enough gain for that type of work. My search for a good sounding super high gain pedal was often met with the scooped mids Dimebag sound, or the 80s butt metal sound. I like neither of those sounds. I wanted all of the rich, musical mids that my Barber Direct Drive and my Menatone King of the Britains have, but with more gain. This pedal, once modded gives you Mastodon levels of gain, but is still extremely musical. It doesn't quite have enough mids for me, but it is far from having a scooped sound. One thing that's nice is that the harsh, icepick highs are gone. You actually can get use out of the tone knob.

The three way toggle allows you to switch between two clipping diodes, two leds, or nothing, giving you two settings with massive amounts of gain, and one with less gain but massive amounts of output. Very cool!!! The mod definitely pushes this pedal into boutique level quality. I'd be proud to rock it on my board.

Sounds AMAZING with single coil guitars, tried it with a DeArmond w/ 2ks, Hamer Goldtop w/ p-90s, and a strat, and all sounded great. In fact, my Hamer Goldtop may end up being my main axe with this pedal. Sounds great with humbuckers too.

Not too much noise to speak of for this much gain, quieter than my Menatone. My main amp is a THD Flexi 50 through a Mesa 212 Rectifier Cab, but I've tried the pedal through other tube amps and it always sounds good.

The reliability of the mod depends on your skill. I've had a few boss pedals and only had a limited amount of problems- My TU-2 has been on my pedalboard now for about 6 years completely problem free. Based on the reliability of other Boss products, I expect it to give me years of trouble free use, and I'd definitely trust it.

Monte is a real nice guy judging from all the correspondence I've had with him. My emails have always been returned promptly and with courtesy. He makes a great product, and stands behind it. I'm suprised at the amount of patience and level of support for a DIY product like this.

I play space rock, with some heavy riffage thrown in. This pedal is a great match for the riffage. Believe me, it's capable of more than just the heavy stuff, but that's the reason I got it. My bandmates liked it so much they're going to buy the mod kit and have me install it for them. It really is unbelievable what a great pedal this is after it's been modded.

The only thing I wish it had would be a mid control of some sort. It would be cool if Monte worked in an internal trim pot for the mid control, but all in all I'm quite satisfied. I'm going to do the metal zone mod next.

This pedal is definitely inspiring. I highly recommend it.

it's a boss pedal. 3 knobs, and if you're reading this, you know what the deal is. as for actually installing the mod, it wasn't hard. getting the diodes out was a bit of a pain, and getting the new ones in took some reaming, but apart from that, a snap. you take the part out and put the new one in, add solder and you're golden. I give it an 8 because of the diodes, but that's boss's fault, not monte's.

I'm happy. it took an anemic sounding pedal and lit a fire under it. the tone knob now makes a tremendous difference. I imagine it's less noisy now, too, although my amp needs a cap job (next project), so I'm in no position to judge this one right now. the distortion is just so much easier on the ear now. I play lots of jazzy chords, and this handles them well since the mod. it also makes single note stuff sound pretty good. it's not hard to dial in a good sound. the spiffy blue LED I dropped in makes it sound better too...

the pedal's sturdy enough, and I'm pretty confident I put the parts in there well. it should hold up.

Monte was on it, he had the receipt and files emailed to me in no time, and the parts came a couple of days later. Thanks, monte!

I play whatever I feel like playing. sometimes it's metal, sometimes jazz, oftentimes jazz chords used for metal, and other times i'll play other things. I've been at it for close to 15 years now, so I know what sounds good to me, and this pedal fills the bill nicely. The mod really added to the versatility, which is a treat.

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.