Hatsubai « Analogman's take on the DS-1 »
Published on 01/13/12 at 12:18Keeley 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.
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.