Boss DS-1

“Never really liked this pedal, myself, but it's not bad with tube amps. To me, it sounds like shit with transistor amps.”

“The Boss DS-1 is a hard-working pedal that, far from being obsolete, still has a place on your board in the 21st century. I strongly recommend you pick one up if you don’t already own one.”

“the early, original made in Japan versions were great... the later 90's & 00's versions weren't nearly as good... but the newer Waza Craft DS-1 sounds excellent.”

“DS-1 is a bit cheaper but is designed to push an already cooking amp wven further. On a clean amp these usually suck.”

“keep the tone control behind 12 o clock, and bear in mind kurt usually used high volume amps with multiple speakers when he could. into a single speaker tiny combo the DS-1s flaws are going to be multiplied”

“The BOSS DS-1 is an excellent analog distortion pedal for beginners and professionals. It delivers an iconic hard-edged attack with smooth sustain and is highly versatile.”

“I had one for 20+ years and didnt use much either. last year I wanted to try again and and I hated the tone knob response and fizzy distortion like you”

“Had one, hated it, tried everything people said and them went for a rat and immediately loved it.”

“I love the DS1 witht the distortion all the way down and tone around 10 o'clcok running into another overdrive”

“I've never understood the hype, always thought the gain tone was pretty scratchy and one-note.”

“Never have a problem with the DS-1 cutting, if anything, it can sound shrill if you aren't careful”

“The DS-1 (and OD-1) to me sound reedy run into a pure clean tone. They're at their best when working with amps that are at least at the edge of breakup”

“I think the DS-1 sounds great boosting an already gainy amp, or by boosting another OD/Distortion. On its own it's not my favorite sound though.”

“The Ds1 is great but you have to be clear on what you are looking for and the amp you are using.”

“It's ok to boost another pedal are an amp with a lot of gain, but on its own? No thanks.”

“The DS1 is a scooped hard clipping distortion circuit with not a lot of bass. Is that useful for a persons particular situation? Depends.”

“I run my ds1 into a voodoo labs sparkle mod (tubescreamer basically) and love the way it sounds”

“I advise against the DS1. It's great in the right context, but terrible outside of it.”

“I would never recommend someone start with a ds-1 the way I might have in like 2002”

“this is still the first pedal I recommend to anyone looking into distortion pedals.”

“I use mine only in a studio setting into a very slightly crunching amp as a layer behind the feature guitar part to make it sound bigger”

“The DS-1 along with any other guitar distortion is going to be really bad for bass”

“I run mine into a clean Supro at with the pedal at full noise, and it sounds great”

“The DS-1 is good but but isn't as versatile as other distortion pedals (imo). It is fizzy and thin, but if you're going into a crunchy amp tone (or if the amp is even on edge of breakup), then it can sound really good there.”