Boss DS-1 mods: anyone done this?

M

metalman22105

Guest
Does anyone know of any mods for the Boss DS-1 to make it more of a tubescreamer-type overdrive unit instead of a distortion unit? I'd like to mod my old one and get it like a tubescreamer-type overdrive to use as a boost. Anyone done this or know where I can find info about it? thanks!
 
Keeley have a set of mods, as do Analogman, but I'm not sure off the top of my head, what they acheive.  Might be worth a look  :dontknow:
 
Normally the mod is a couple of caps and two red LEDs.  It will not be a tube screamer though, the circuits are a bit different.  But if you want to get closer, a buddy has modded his and likes the asymmetric red LED mod.  Two LEDs on one side and one on the other instead of the silicon diodes that are stock.
Patrick

 
I've got the modded Analogman DS-1 with the mid-range knob, which allows you to either boost or cut the mid specifically.  And to be honest with you, even at full clockwise with the mids all the way up, that thing sounds nothing like the huge mid hump of a tubescreamer.

That being said, if you're simply looking to use the DS-1 as a boost pedal, like Vai and others do, the AM midrange mod does get you a little more mids which can be lacking in the overly mid scooped DS-1.

http://www.buyanalogman.com/Boss_DS_1_Pro_p/am-boss-ds-1-pro.htm&Click=6577

I don't think the Keeley mod does anything to change the amount of the mid hump, just simply changes the clipping.

http://www.robertkeeley.com/product.php?id=10
 
http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2008/Feb/Boss_DS_1_Mods.aspx

I did the vintage one. It sounds amazing, great Marshall-in-a-box and it rivals the distortion on my Traynor YCV-50, basically a 50-watt EL34 amp somewhere between a plexi and JCM800. So it's got a great sound. All the knobs work differently but it sounds like a cranked (or lightly pushed, if you want) amp. If you turn it down it would be more like adding an extra gain stage to your amp than that specific screamer sound but it's a great tone. You can get more or less gain than the stock pedal and it still keeps definition and keeps the tone of your rig nicely. If you do it, view the level and distortion controls as somewhat interchangable and keep the tone all the way down (it sounds better... the tone knob turns into a bass cut and at least with my rig I've never needed any bass cut). The mod took me about $2 and five minutes so you should try it.

Btw, I was too lazy to swap the diodes to LEDs (they're really small and I didn't have an extra set of hands) so you may want to try it with the stock diodes as well because it sounds really good just like that. Here's a video someone else made showing the way it sounds, though you can bring the gain up and down, etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmARgeZPTN4

I highly reccomend the mod because it basically makes the pedal worth owning. It's more of a distortion sound but it's a good one and if you need a cheap screamer sound, grab a bad monkey. That's what I use for my screamer and it's great right out of the box. Basically a screamer with more gain and clarity. (MF will probably have a sale on it in the new future if you wanna wait for that)
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/DigiTech-Bad-Monkey-Tube-Overdrive-Pedal?sku=150831
 
Thanks Justinginn, that is really helpful, I really like the tone of the vintage mod in that video you posted, was it hard to do?
 
which mod would have more gain? (I'm NOT talking about nasty, scooped, death metal gain) I'm trying to figure out if I shuold do the classic or vintage mod....
 
Justinginn, is this what you did minus the LED?

Vintage distortion tones
LOCATION CHANGE TO:
D5----> LED
C3----> .033µF
R16---> 1k
C11---> .001µF
 
Justinginn, is this what your vintage modded DS-1 is like? This is the kind of tone I'm looking for:
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSSEgRCSDdk&feature=channel[/youtube]
 
Yeah it sounds a lot like that. Idk what adding the LED would do but it can get you there, depending on the rest of your rig. That's really the tone I've got now, little different based on guitar, amp, all those other little details...  :laughing7: Those were the changes I did and they're so cheap that I'd just do those rather than paying for Keely's or Analogman's, not to contradict DBU but I'm really happy with my tone. If you soldered at all, they were really easy. I had my 12 year old sister help me hold the pedal still for the five minutes I worked on it but if you can solder and patience in case it's harder than you expected, it's really easy. As far as which mod would have the highest gain, I'd guess Modern though I haven't tried it. I know that Vintage has enough gain (or at least enough balls) to be my main solo tone. I just slap it over clean and I'm good to go. Plenty loud, great gain, clarity and definition. Sometimes I'll slap a screamer on top for over the top stuff but I don't really find myself needing it. I run the drive at 12:00 btw. You could probably get all the parts you need for all three mods for under $5 from http://www.pedalpartsplus.com/ these guys anyway. Hope you have fun and end up with your holy grail tone.
 
Awesome! thanks man, I'll keep you guys posted when I get it modded...
 
Sounds great. If you end up trying the modern or classic, update me about how they sound. And there are a lot of other mods you can do. I think I read somewhere how to do the Keely mod so just searching around will give you other stuff. I just appreciated these mods because they sound great and are pretty simple. Hope it works out great for you. :guitaristgif:
 
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