How John Frusciante Uses The Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion Pedal

How to get distortion tones like John Frusciante using the Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion.

- Boss DS-2

John Frusciante has the DS-2 set to mode II which gives a mid boost which can sound quite nasal and choked on a lot of settings but because he has the distortion and tone all the way up, that really opens up the highs and gives a more pleasant bright cutting distortion.

He has the level control set all the way up, that setting is only really going to work if you have your amp set with some overdrive. When you have your amp set like that, when you turn the level up on the pedal, what you’re really doing is turning up the overdrive on the amp with that level control and it’s cascading together with the distortion sound of the pedal.

If you use the pedal with these settings into an amp set clean with a lot of headroom, you’ll get a huge increase volume when the pedal is on, and you’ll only be getting the distortion sound from the pedal, you won’t get the sound of cascading gain stages.

If you like to always have access to a loud clean sound from your amp then the you can run an overdrive pedal after the DS-2 instead of using overdrive on your amp. Just make sure it’s a nice natural amp like overdrive sound that you’re getting from the pedal.

The other effect of having the level control all the way up is that because all the gain stages are really maxing out you can use the pedal for creative use of feedback. You could have a shriek of feedback to announce your solo, or let longer notes in your solo morph into an infinite howl of sustain.

Timecodes:
00:00 - Intro
00:21 - Mode II, Dist and Tone Controls
01:29 - Level Control
03:42 - Creative Use of Feedback

[frusciantegeartone]

I love the “clicks” from when the pick attacks the strings. That’s a big part of John’s tone. Great video brother.

[FarmerSlideJoeBob]

I used the DS-2 for years and it was for years my go to distortion for pretty everything. Good Video man :)

[ivanm]

lots of people think Frusciante always uses knobs maxed out on this pedal, but I literally got a photo of him from recent years where he used it Volume 2 o’clock, Tone 1 o’clock, Gain 10 o’clock. Second mode of course

[danielok]

I've been using so wrong my DS2 all this time. Thank you so much Michael. I'm enjoying so hard the DS2 now that I switched my amp from clean to dirty channel.

[abelramirez]

I always thought this way too outlandish to work without even trying it before. I'm so amazed how it sounds with my Marshall style amp

[abysmillard]

After years of trying different full range overdrives, my favorite two are the Vick Tree Of Life and the Keeley Super Phat Mod. Can’t wait to try a DS-2 again - also, I think for that huge storm in a teacup fuzz, he ran it into a Big Muff Pi. My favorite rhythm fuzz sound ever.

[symmie]

Awesome video and super playing.. the tone achieved here is absolutely paint peeling but sounds class

[royalmarine]

The part about the clean amps and headroom is correct.

[pyratoothNL]

I own a DS-2 and listening to you I can see why this pedal sounds amazing if you play single coils. Being mostly a humbucker player myself the pedal feels very different.
Also shows how important the amp settings are for tone and drive this to work as a boost pedal (which is what you effectively do when the level control is up).

[martrinshyde]

Thanks for the great advice! I’ve just bought the SD2 turbo and had this problem! Going through a Marshall HD & 4x12’cab.

[ZaidVegaL]

I get my tone with a BOSS KATANA 50 MKII with a RAT simulation. I set the simulation too low to get a overdrive, but im thinking in other overdrives. This video helped me so much. Thanks!

[deepsynth]

Just found your channel. Love your work man

[manolispates]

Adding a more mid-pushed OD does amazing things with a DS-1 in front given the more scooped EQ hitting it

[thecrankedamps]

Great vid, your pedal vids are excellent and very informative 👍🏻

[charlesrubitschung]

I like to use the dirty channel of my Fender Champion 40 Amp with my Boss DS-2 a Boss FZ-5 and a Boss DD-3T (Fuzz, Disortion, Fender Reverb, and Delay) and it sounds great

[lichen]

An inspiring demonstration for experimentation! I really liked the gritty tone you got using this method!
I do something similar by running my gain staging as follows: Tubescreamer -> Rat -> TC Mojomojo overdrive. Lots of tonal versatility there.
The mojomojo runs a bit dirty just like you might do with an amp like you demonstrated and has a very full, amp-like character. The EQ controls let me dial in more than enough low end to fill out the sound of the more the mid focused Rat and TS and help smooth out the high end.

[gibs]

i use mid focused pedals, transparent, and gain from my amp channels, i use a compression pedal, that i actually set kinda high... lately i have been using the od200 alot because i can make my own settings and recall via midi. i run my amps with alot of headroom. i use atleast 2 amps at a time, so i run the preamps thru a switcher, and hit the power amp sections with my hot signal, a mix of preamp and my pedals.

[callmeej]

Oddly enough I use a DS-2 > WH10> TS9 (or a tone city golden plexi) > Twin Reverb. And surprising I’ve found that the TS9 controls (with drive reduced) and sounds better than the plexi.

[starsandsilver]

I use my DS-2 stacked with a cheap little (iSET) dumbler pedal...makes my strat more 'metal' sounding. Works with bass too. Try it out!

[andresilvasophisma]

That thing maxed out sounds like an HM2.