BOSS DS-1 Distortion Review. An in-depth look at one of the most popular and recognisable guitar pedals in history.
The BOSS DS-1 is a legendary guitar distortion pedal and has been used by many famous guitarists over the years, including Gary Moore, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Kurt Cobain, John Frusciante, and many, many others. But it’s been praised and reviled in equal measure. Why?
The BOSS DS-1 Distortion – watch that tone control!
The most popular reason for people disregarding or selling this pedal is the general fizziness with controls at noon. In fact, the DS-1 breaks records for the number bought and sold. A lot of this is down to the DS-1’s scooped EQ curve, meaning running it into a scooped (e.g. a Silver-faced Fender) or flat-EQ’d amp isn’t going to give you the best results. However, whatever the amp, be mindful to start with the control at about 9’clock (to tame the highs) and go from there, you just might be surprised.
Check out this video on dialing in a BOSS DS-1:
Discovering the Power of the BOSS DS-1
Even with the tone control dialled in, you will still need to have a plan to compensate for the EQ scoop, either with a mid-heavy amp (say a Marshall) or with other EQ from another pedal. This is why it’s been so effective for Marshall players using a DS-1 to boost the front end. In this scenario, the Marshall fills in the mids. At the same time, the DS-1 provides the raucous sizzle, low-end rumble, and elastic compression to make for blistering rock solos with ultimate ease under the fingertips. It’s just-add-water unhinged hugeness with a single switch of the foot.
BOSS Reliability and Design
Something that is beyond criticism is the classic enclosure itself. The unimpeachable BOSS compact ruggedness that will last a lifetime, thoughtful design with the thumbwheel battery access and a check light that doesn’t fall under your foot and, of course, the iconic, unmistakable bright orange livery. It truly feels like a pleasure to have it on your board.
Volume issues
The trouble with the BOSS DS-1 is it’s lack of volume. Yes, it can boost the front end of a cooking Marshall to devastating effect, but that won’t be a a lead boost with a volume hike, so in effect, the BOSS DS-1 can’t function as a solo pedal, more of a gain and tone shaper.
The BOSS DS-1 never has enough mids
To add insult to injury, even if you’ve dialled back the tone and are using a mid-heavy amp, for me at least, the BOSS DS-1 still didn’t have enough mids to both punch through a band-mix or to coax harmonic feedback, which I love. As it doesn’t have enough volume to function as a solo boost, I tried it as my main overdrive and, in reality, it’s ineffective compared to mid-forward pedals like a BOSS SD-1 or my EHX Soul Food. For live playing, mids are all that count. As a failed experiment, I even upgraded my Telecaster with a setup of Fender Custom Shop Texas Specials, famed for their mid-focus. Sadly, these too were ineffective in filling in the mid-scoop.
What the BOSS DS-1 does well
Using a mid-heavy amp to fill in the gaps, the BOSS DS-1 is just different, and a thing of beauty. Its full-frequency range and low-mid growl are like a breath of fresh air to the usual crop of overdrives. In fact, to me, it was a pretty close call between this and the amp overdrive of my Marshall DSL-1 Valve combo amp (check out the video here), making it more of a Distortion/heavy overdrive crossover. I just wish it worked in a band context where mids are the only game. Check out the comparison video below to hear how open and uncompressed it sounds against an EHX Soul Food (Klon Centaur clone).
But the BOSS DS-1 has another trick up its sleeve and a complete surprise to me, which is its very effective guitar volume clean up, allowing you to go from full-shred at max guitar volume to almost clean again. Amazing!
BOSS DS-1 Distortion Video Review
Check out my full video review of the BOSS DS-1 Distortion below:
Conclusion
The BOSS DS-1 Distortion is such an easy pedal to fall in love with because of its looks, history, reputation, design and some fabulously over-the-top and most of all fun tones that are a welcome relief to the usual boosters and mid-heavy / transparent overdrives. I was really hoping that the BOSS DS-1 would live up to its legendary overdrive/distortion reputation, but when push came to shove, in a band context, not enough mids to poke through and no singing feedback.
In the recording environment, say for laying down guitar backing tracks that need to sound huge but not dominate, or even as a rhythm guitarist in a band, a BOSS DS-1 could absolutely work, just not for my use cases, unfortunately.
I loved my time with the BOSS-DS1, it taught me a lot about EQ and gain structure, volume and compression, and introduced me to some huge tones with a completely different tone and feel to what I’m used to. It’s a pedal that makes you smile, as it was a lot of fun while it lasted.
Oh, and it can be had for peanuts on the used market too!
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