What is it
Hard clipping distortion. I put this in the same family as the Pro Co Rat. They are distant relations.
Boss says:
The DS-1 Distortion is a true icon in the world of guitar effects. Introduced in 1978, BOSS’s first distortion pedal defined a bold new sound, delivering hard-edged attack and smooth sustain that’s been a staple of players for generations. The DS-1 is the top-selling BOSS compact pedal ever, and its original, unchanged design continues to inspire the creation of great music everywhere. The classic DS-1 tone is behind the signature sounds of numerous rock legends, and is ready to fuel your own signature sound today.
The DS-1 “is the top-selling Boss compact pedal ever,” wow that’s crazy. That orange box is popular but not a lot of people are singing its praises. I remember an interview with Steve Vai, if I recall he said it was the first or one of the first pedals he bought. I don’t really hear a lot DS-1 on Steve Vai records? Maybe he’s rocking the DS-1 through the practice amp at home?
Both the Rat and the DS-1 were introduced in 1978. Were they aware of each other?
What does it sound like?
This is the sound of classic hard clipping distortion.
There is a lot of talk about the op-amps. The Rat famously used the LM308. The DS-1 originally used a TA7136AP, a weird 7 pin inline device. ElectroSmash says “is not an op-amp”. Later the TA7136AP was replaced with a dual op-amp.
There is a lot written about the sound of the amplifier. The TA7136AP is described as “warmer” than the dual op-amps used in later versions. My ears are sub-par, I can’t hear much difference. I suspect that a lot of people would be hard pressed to tell the difference in a blind test.
What does “warmer” sound like anyway? Less bright maybe? A little adjustment of the tone control might sound a little “warmer”? We need words to describe things but, the words can have a wide interpretation.
Modding the DS-1
ElectroSmash did an in depth analysis of the DS-1 here: https://www.electrosmash.com/boss-ds1-analysis check this out for a break down of circuit and how it works.
The DS-1 PCB fits a 125B enclosure exactly! I rehoused some other effects into the Boss enclosures and then rehoused the orphaned DS-1 PCBs into a pair of 125B enclosures.
Here is a list of modding resources I found:
- https://mrfuriousrecords.com/audio/jack-of-all-boss-ds-1-mod/
- https://www.diystompboxes.com/DIYFiles/up/Build_Your_Own_DS-1_Distortion.pdf
https://www.premierguitar.com/gear/boss-ds-1-mods - http://www.pedalhaven.com/two-easy-boss-ds-1-distortion-pedal-modifications/
- https://www.instructables.com/Modify-Your-Boss-DS-1/
- https://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?t=512
The first article was my favorite. It was easy to follow and offered a range of mods with notes on each.
This document is also excellent. It shows how to build your own DS-1 from scratch. At about page 13 it shows all of the Keely mods with notes.
https://www.diystompboxes.com/DIYFiles/up/Build_Your_Own_DS-1_Distortion.pdf