Boss DS-1: Pedal Mods

#boss #ds1 #csguitars

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[joeykelly]

Somehow you made the DS-1 sounds even more muffled! I didn't think it was possible, well done.

[MrLuizsaluti]

so you build guitars, mod pedals and lives in scotland? highlander proved real!

[PaulyTheFarmer]

i watch so many of your videos when I'm taking a dump that when i hear your voice there's a 50/50 chance I'll shit my pants. great videos, by the way!

[MrKoiking]

Am I the only one that thinks it sounds muffled?

[bjornustvliennk]

"Watch in HD for best picture and sound quality"
NO only 180p is TRVE

[jamesoconnor]

Pretty cool. Now you can actually play open chords when distorted on this pedal! lol

[funkydoodycool]

Thanks for this - I've been looking into DS-1 mods, mostly because it's too damn quiet, I have to set it on max level and still can't match it to my clean sound.  Your explanations for each component mod are very useful towards helping me choose what to do with it. (incidentally I am one of the few that actually love the MT-2, now I've found "my" setting for it.  But that is another pedal I intend to mod at some point.

[GogiRegion]

This sounds more like a tube amp now… Not a distortion pedal… Good job!

[jamesrogers]

Finally! Been waiting for this video and I'm not disappointed, this is a really interesting video. I wish I had the knowledge and skill to modify pedals. Great video.

[DJRY]

Your ds-1 has nice long leads to the circuit board.. mine are less than 2" and the thing only opens up about half as much as yours.. good thing my hands are steady. Thanks for a great video!

[jiontmusic]

0:00 to 0:02 sounded like you were about to play Come Original by 311. I don't care much for them but I have to give them credit for having a really good mix with their sound, their shit actually sounds heavy.

[raffifroundjian]

I think you did a great job. I just wanted to ask how you got the LED hole larger? And how you went about drilling in the tone LED spot?

[FlipeeeHD]

Can we get an updated parts list and diagram? Would love to try this out

[mitchellsperling]

I like your DS-1 distortion mod but would like to hear cleaner heavier distortion.

[gasolinechlorine]

Very cool man.  As a few have said, it does sound a bit muffled though.  Personally, I've found the Wampler JCM mod hard to beat for the DS-1, especially when combined with the AMZ fat mod.

[yackohoopy]

Here's a pedal that I use that has a lot of function in every aspect of my sound. I had picked this up used at a local Guitar Center for $40 and have been extremely happy with it.

It's the T-Rex Crunchy Frog. It's classified as a distortion pedal, but it also has a boost switch on it that I use for a light touch of overdrive. The frequency response is a little touchy on it, but once you're able to dial in something nice, it's wicked sweet. There is also a boost knob for when you want to kick it in.

Generally, my band has a dirty ska type feel, like Sublime, and I, pretty much, have the boost on at about 10-11 o'clock. It suits my personal idea for a sound so that when I strum harder, it has an overdrive edge, and lighter clean, but not too clean.

The distortion can be a little too over-the-top, so I have to be careful with that. In fact, with the boost on, I turn the distortion gain all the way down and the level at about 1 o'clock.

I don't know. Check one out if you want. I like 'em

[rjc]

I was a DS-1 user for a long time, then a few years ago, I saw demos of the Power Stack pedal on YouTube, and I was convinced that pedal was more valve-like than the DS-1 could ever be.

[Yupppi]

Ended up checking this as well from the new vid. I appreciate this mod much more after this video, gotta admit you do get more valve amp like behavior, more headroom and dynamics, attack. Not the mod I would do for DS-1 application, but if you have a DS-1 and don't like it and want something else, this sounds really nice. I would actually say this is almost like going from ds-1 to blues driver territory, just that the gain character is different. Thanks for the vids, now I actually wanna see what I can come up with DS-1! I'd probably keep the clipping diodes as they were, but the tone control change does good to Bosses. Maybe changing the midrange and distortion knob range. The balance between op amp and diodes might be also interesting to tinker with. Also how sometimes you see the diodes to ground next to each other, in this one in parallel (what weirds me out that everything you'd normally see go to ground go to +4.5 V in this circuit). I assume this biases the led clipping so that makes the clipping less hard, cuts less from the top of the waveform, is this correct? The setup of diodes reminds me more about the TS and SD-1 (despite not in the opamp) than say RAT. Really interesting options when you compare some of those.

I love your blue led on the face, even if it wasn't critical to how the pedal works. Now it also gives you information.

Did you find that the distortion knob's usable range improved with lowering the gain early in the opamp?

[JustinBA]

Where do I get those leather wrist things. I wear sweatbands alot but I want to get some of those.

[redkurn]

now i need to find another ds-1 to take apart and mod, looks like a good tinkering project and i'd like to remove the mid scoop. would it be possible to add high mid low control knobs?