Boss Distortions

No rocket science in the features of the Boss DS-1, just straight ahead fizz when you need it. Three easy to use controls for tone level and distortion. That's as straight forward as it gets. Well made and instruction manual is more than sufficient. UTILIZATION The tone control takes the DS-1 into bright to bassy territory depending on the setting. Level sets your level of the pedal tone in comparision to your amp tone. FInally the Distortion dial gives you more or less distortion depending on your preference. As I said, very straight forward and easy to use configuration with few bells and whistles. Typical Boss battery configuration for easy changing of the 9 volt. Can take a power adapter as well. SOUND QUALITY This is a tough one for me because before I recently became a tone snob, I used the DS-1 through a Fender Twin Reverb for many years and loved it. It served its purpose which was to make a clean toned amp sound dirty and hairy. I have to say back then I loved it and it was all I needed to gig with. To my more picky ears these days, it can be a little harsh and fizzy but that is what it's supposed to do so I don't mean that in a negative way. We all have preferences for what we'd like to hear and to my ears these days, I prefer a warmer distortion less abrasive and more compressed. This is not it if that is the goal. It creates an open, fizzy gain that works for most hard rock songs and in a mix who can really tell anyway. OVERALL OPINION I like the simplicity of this unit and when I gigged with it years ago I really like it a lot. While I have one now as a back up, I don't actively use it anymore but I think it is perfect for what it is and it is truly an old standby. Hard to find anyone in my group that hasn't used this at one point or another. Yes there are better units out there but for simplicity and price this one is tried and true and works well.

I've been playing guitar for over 30 years--both with & without effects. Currently you'd most likely find me playing a 12 string at church. (no distortion though.) I got this in the mid-80's. I already had a DS-1 & the distortion is the same as the S-1, but they added in the feedbacker part--and it's great! I tried it in the store, and as they had a 50% sale that day--I bought it. I forget how much it was--but it wasn't a lot. It's a great distortion sound--from fuzzy to edgy to sharp. The feedbacker part is great to have fun with--as long as you keep your foot pushed down on the pedal the note sustains! So you can play licks over the feedbacking note--or do some other tricks with it--it's a lot of fun! There's no volume control for the feedbacker part, so you can't have it in the background while you play a lead line or riff or chords over it. it will be the same volume as the rest of it. (Although sometimes I get around that by going through my echo which has a stereo output--I put the DF-2 in one channnel where the amp is set on a lower volume. You could also put a volume pedal after the signal is split.) Sturdy case--like Boss pedals tend to be--it's been knocked around and still works. An excellent tool & toy, although in some ways it is more toy--but it is a lot of fun to play and use the feedback--You can use it which other effects too. It works great with echo. If you have a DS-1 and like it, maybe try one of these if you see one available--just for that something extra. if you use a different distortion pedal or use the amp to overdrive your sound, then maybe try this for the feedbacker part. Anyway--it's a lot of fun. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Dont remember....I think about $150 I have owned the Metal Zone for about 6 years now. I play thru a Boogie 50 Calibur head with Boogie 4x12 Cabinet. I have Pros and Cons with this pedal: Pros: Ungodly rightous metal sound. And Justice For All'ish sound. By clipping the mids and turning the high and low up a bit with the distortion set to 100% of course, its a great metal petal with killer bass. Chunk Chunk palm mutes bring a smile to everyones face everytime. Love adding some subtle delay to the tone to round it out a bit and also for lead. Cons: Cannot be used for gigs or even band practice. The tone is just way too "thin" when cranked up. Now, maybe on a very powerful amp it would sound different. But on my setup you have to crank the amp to like 7 7 on the volumes to be heard and by that point the crispness of the tone is totally gone. Solid. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this pedal like 5 or 6 years ago for a rip-off price of alittle over $90. It is still around the same price, but is a piece of crap! Total waste of money! It's perfect for all you "cool" kids in "punk" or grunge bands, cause you all suck and have no clue what tone is! So a perfect match for you if you fit under that description. If you are reading this, looking to buy the DS-2, that description is probably accurate for you. Or if you are a serious guitarist looking to see if this pedal truly is worth buying, DO NOT BUY IT! Nothing at all... First off, this pedal is nowhere near as good as the DS-1, it can't even come close to how good the DS-1 is! The DS-1 is the best Boss distortion pedal ever made, you just need a quality guitar and amp to have it go to use to its full potential. Most reviewers say it is bad because the reviewers usually are the idiot musicians of today, I don't even want to call them musicians. They buy a cheap little Ibanez, BC Rich, or ESP guitar, play it through a little crappy 10 watt Crate amp, and expect to get a good sound. The DS-2 sounds terrible with a crap guitar and amp, even when using a quality guitar and amp this pedal still sounds like garbage. The distortion is really bad, Mode I is just a muddy, low tones distortion, not good for anything, and Mode II is a trebly, buzzing distortion. It literally sounds like Zzzzzz when trying to use it with the distortion anywhere after 12 o'clock. It's kind of like a very crappy fuzz pedal when the dist. is past 12 o'clock. Don't believe me, waste your time trying one out. This pedal is no good for soloing at all, it only works for baby power chords. Try to play a solo when using this pedal, it just doesn't work at all, sounds terrible when playing single notes, arpegios, solos, etc... It is a Boss pedal, they are one of the best made pedals around. Last for years. Everyone thinks since Kurt Cobain used this pedal, I will get his sound. I say, yes you can. He sucked on guitar, and his tone sucked. Luckily he had decent lyrics to back him up, but he was a pathetic guitar player. If you are looking to be in a punk band or grunge band, I do think this pedal will work out fine for you. But, if you are a serious musician who cares about your tone, go with something else. The DS-1 is a better choice than this pedal, no lie, get a DS-1 and get it modified by Keeley, you will have one of the best distortion pedals around. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought it at Guitar Center for about $80. Cheap for a pedal that will probably live longer than I will and still sound good. It's a very strong pedal. It has nice deep lows and soaring highs that ring forever. You can squeeze many different distortions out of it if you're willing to play with it a little. I've done a strong Overdrive to a Metallica/Megadeth distortion to a Nu-Metal distortion from this box and there's plenty more than that. There's not a lot I dislike about this pedal. Solid construction, great sound, versatility, what else can I say? I could probably run it over with a tractor and still use it, but I'm not going to try because my tractor is in the shop right now. If you want distortion, and dont mind messing around a little bit for your sound, the MD-2 is for you. Keep in mind that although you can get overdrive sounds out of it, this thing was made for metal so if you want overdrive, go elsewhere. For all you metal-heads out there, this one's for you. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

i purchased this bad boy at the rock shop in takapuna, auckland, New Zealand for $250 new after trying out the marshall jackhammer(wich i would also reckomend because it is good but about $100 cheaper), and the boss ds-1. i like what everybody else says they like in the other reviews, built like a tank, u could run it over with a truck and it would still work, u can reach a great range of sounds etc. obviously not one pedal can do every thing but it is a good thing to have to do everything from light overdrive 2 heavy distortion(the boss os-1 overdrive is obviously better for overdrive, but the metal zone still works fine). if u r into metallica and what not then u might want to look into getting the boss mega distortion. over the boss metal zone is a good sturdy powerfull unit. blah blah blah feedback like everyone elses reviews say. but there isnt much 2 complain about with this pedal. ...yup this is a good pedal :) This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

My Uncle had a ton of pedals and he gave me this one for nothign it was brand new but he just started playing with a Rock band that didn't need all the distortion. I don't like to play with a lot of Tone, as a mater of fact I keep my Tone controls off so I get a more muted sound, The pedal has a nice distortion however it sounds better with my tone turned up. I play on a Crate GFX-65 and to be honest I can get better Distortion off of that than I can with the Boss. Can't complain about it. Its Decent if your playing off a AMP without a lot of effects, but seriously if you want really good distortion or nice Overdrive get the Medal Zone and Super Overdrive. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I got this pedal from a friend while searching for the right combination of equipment to get a really heavy, distorted sound. I paid only $30 for the pedal & power supply in perfect condition. Besides being very well built and simple to operate(4 knobs including volume, high, low & distortion levels)it allows a wide range of tones from fuzzy to completely ripped. I love the growling low end it gives while allowing my high end leads to really scream clearly. I haven't really found anything about I dislike. Typical BOSS quality construction and reliability. Very heavy case, very resistant to the inevitable knocks & dings equipment experiences in transit. I recommend this pedal to anyone looking for a heavily distorted metal sound, well worth the effort of finding one. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

From fat crunch to ultra high-gain distortion, the ST-2 Power Stack delivers famous BOSS distortion with a stunning amount of power that’s akin to coveted tube amps and professional amp stacks. The SOUND knob simultaneously blends gain amount and sound character, so you can quickly dial up anything from vintage crunch and punchy drive to full-assault distortion. To add further detail to your tone, simply tweak the onboard two-band EQ to taste. The ST-2 is one very unique distortion pedal, calling on BOSS’ years of amp modeling research to bring you real stack sounds in a compact stompbox. Original distortion sound reminiscent of tube-based stack amplifiers Provides a wide range of tones, from vintage crunch to ultra high-gain modern distortion Faithful and accurate response to picking nuances and volume changes SOUND knob controls both gain level and sound character Two-band EQ with dedicated BASS and TREBLE knobs Road-tough BOSS construction A newish boss pedal by Boss. Geared towards...anybody who wants a 'big' sounding distortion, which is...EVERY guitar player out there really.. UTILIZATION Again, simple boss design with just a few knobs and the single sized compact pedal. SOUND QUALITY The sound...it's hit or miss with this one as it seems. A few of my guitar player buddies love it and some of them hate it. Be being one of the latter. I don't find anything particularly amazing with this pedal. To me it sounds like a well EQ-ed metal zone with slightly more mids. Oh and there's no mid knob on this either, how inconvenient considering the guitar is a midrange instrument. No it doesn't sound like a stack to me, but it does sound like a well EQ-ed distortion pedal. By that I mean it's usable for certain purposes but I could definitely see myself using other pedals if given the choice. It's a very tight distortion and it's not bee-hive sounding like the older generation boss distortion pedals so that's nice. However, it's still definitely got that boss distortion sound, but just rounded off a bit so it's not shrill. But it doesn't sag like a tube amp, whatsoever. Also if you fiddle with the knobs you don't really get completely different sounds, more like you get the same sound, just with less gain or less treble and bass. It's not so versatile in my opinion. OVERALL OPINION Don't believe the hype with this one. I know I saw the same Marty Friedman demo you did. But I'm definitely not convinced with this pedal. It sounds nothing like what it's supposed to be, a 'stack' although that in itself is so vague to the point where it sounds pretty much like nothing. What kind of stack? a vintage marshall? a boogie? a vox? There's just so many colors that calling it a 'stack' just doesn't help narrow it down to anything. Overall in my opinion it's just another distortion pedal that sounds slightly better than the older boss distortion pedals but nothing revolutionary. Which means, solidstate distortion pedal. NOT tube.

Mods: *With the diode Toggle Switch you have the DS-ULTRA! Huge tube like tone, switch back and you have the classic Seeing Eye Mod (SEM) version of the pedal for high gain, tube like distortion! *Extra mods to increase the distortion range at maximum settings. *Mods to correct the bass response and give you a fuller, more powerful tone. *Perfect for Strats now with this mod! *Comes with Cool Knobs! *Toggle Switch Up - Our Standard Seeing Eye Mod. *Toggle Down - Adds another LED to the clipping circuit for a Large Fat Tone. UTILIZATION This is a great pedal! Keeley takes the homely little DS-1 and turns it into a sexy fire-breathing beast. The modifications increase bass response, distortion range, sustain, and attack with this pedal. It's like plugging into a dimed Marshall JCM900, only at a low volume! Honestly! The build quality from Boss is fantastic - this could be thrown off of a building and still be just fine. The additional mods from Keeley look to be incredibly stable as well from a durability standpoint - I've had no issues with mine. SOUND QUALITY This thing sounds awesome! The two ways I've enjoyed using this pedal are as a boost for solos into an already distorted amp signal, and for a gnarly dry distorted tone when used in conjunction with the amp's clean channel. As a boost, it screams - the notes just sing out with abandon, sustaining as long as I want them to. As a dry dirt box, it gets some great rhythm tones from AC/DC to 90s alt-grunge. OVERALL OPINION I'm thoroughly impressed, because this modification has taken a humble $40 Boss pedal and elevated it to the status of a superdirt! Robert Keeley is a genius of modern guitar electronics, and that he could make this pedal sound good is a testament to his skill and ingenuity. A+, Highly recommended.

Keeley has been a long time modder of Boss pedals, but so has Analogman. Mike has created some wonderful pedal mods, and his tend to sound a bit more towards the vintage side of things. This mod he does turns the DS1 into an almost boost like pedal. He backs off the gain, makes it a lot more full sounding and helps give this pedal some life that it didn't have before. On the outside, it looks the same. You still have your gain, level and tone knobs, but it's the inside that's different. UTILIZATION The pedal itself looks just like any other Boss pedal out there. Aside from the Analogman sticker, you'd never really be able to tell unless you opened up the pedal. This is a good thing as Mike knows there is no real improvement on the actual Boss design. It's a super sturdy design that has withstood decades of touring abuse without any issues at all. It's pretty normal to find super beat up Boss pedals that are over 40 years old and still going strong without any issues. The manual no longer applies to this manual, but it's so simple to use that you don't need a manual for the thing. Just turn the knobs until you get your desired tone. SOUND QUALITY The sound is a lot more like a boost pedal now. However, it's more modern. Most tubescreamers have this midrange hump, but the DS1 actually has a scooped midrange going on. The gain has been backed off a bit, so you can use this thing as a boost pedal and help give the amp a nice kick in the nuts for super tight riffing. It's more meant for amps that already have a little bit of gain on tap; this isn't a mod for those who want to go from clean to brutal distortion. It's just not going to happen. However, if you want some modded Marshall levels of gain, this can easily get you there, and it'll even sound pretty solid. OVERALL OPINION The pedal is similar to Keeley's in some ways, but it's also different. This is a bit more like a boost pedal than a distortion pedal, and I find this to be a bit more useful for guys like me who already have high gain amps. Still, I can't say I'd keep this on my pedalboard because I tend to use as few boost pedals as possible for my amps. If you're looking for a more versatile DS1, definitely check this out.

Monte Allums has been a long time provider of DIY kits for your pedals. He's been one of the leaders when it comes to making easy to understand kits for those do-it-yourself kind of person, and that's one of my favorite things about his stuff. I honestly can't remember if he offers a mod service himself, but for anybody who's looking to get into soldering or building pedals, this is where you should start, in my opinion. The pedal is a slightly modified version of the DS-1, and it offers a bit more distortion than the last one. Outside, however, it looks exactly the same. You still have the same three knobs that you always had, so there are no extra confusing switches that you might get hung up on. UTILIZATION The pedal is still housed in the same, strong casing that Boss has always utilized. You're not moving this thing out into another case...unless you want to. I don't really recommend it, but some people like to rehouse these. The worst thing about these is the FET bypass, but that can be cured with either a true bypass looper, a special buffer installed or drilling the pedal for a true bypass switch ala Keeley. I don't recommend the last one as it involves a lot of work, though. The manual is now kinda useless since you're revoicing the pedal, so that's out the window. However, not much on this outside has changed, so getting to know the controls from what they used to be isn't that hard at all. SOUND QUALITY This is a pretty over the top mod. It takes the normal DS-1 and adds even more gain and aggression to it. On top of that, it's a little thicker sounding, too. If you have a super clean amp, this can bring it into brutal distortion but without that nasty MT-2 kind of sound. That said, it still sounds like that DS-1 style pedal, and I really never liked the DS-1 to begin with. Some people can get a decent sound by using it, but I've never heard anybody get a great sound with a DS-1 before. It always has that sort of "pedal" sound that is really annoying and gets on my nerves. OVERALL OPINION The mods are very easy to perform, and anybody who can solder pickups should be able to do these mods. It sounds decent, and I find that it's an improvement from the standard DS-1, but I can't help but think the era of distortion pedals is pretty much over. Today, amps can do so much by themselves that distortion pedals aren't needed like they once were back in the 80s. Just a little rant...