How to use the Boss DS-1 - Stop using it wrong! - Amazing tones with iconic distortion
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ค. 2024
- The Boss DS-1 is undoubtedly one of the most famous distortions in history. Used by loads of guitar players, it has characterized the sound of rock music. From Steve Vai to the grunge, bands like Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Bush have made the sound of this pedal the sonic trademark of a generation. Yet the Boss DS-1 is also one of the most hated pedals out there. Many say that it sounds terrible, too fizzy and that it's impossible to dial in a good sound with it. Today we want to give you five tips to achieve excellent tones with your Boss DS-1.
#bosspedals #bossds1 #weasacompany
This video is inspired by this great tutorial bit.ly/35FuJd2 - We follow the same tips, but we focus a little bit more on played parts, and we try to chase the iconic '90-style sound.
Please use these timestamps to navigate through the video:
What we're doing today - 00:00
Tip #1, don't use a super clean tone - 01:10
Tip #2, don't use high output pickups - 01:31
Tip #3, the tone knob - 01:48
Tip #4, the distortion knob - 02:30
Riff #1 with arpeggio (bridge pickup) - 03:20
Riff #2 (bridge pickup) - 04:02
Riff #3 (neck pickup) - 05:01
Riff #4 (bridge pickup and medium gain) - 05:37
Riff #5 (neck pickup and low gain) - 06:20
Tip #5, use the volume knob of your guitar - 06:51
Riff #6 (bridge pickup in drop D) - 08:11
Here is where you can buy your Boss DS-1 - bit.ly/2xKnOCV
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Thx for watching!
Ok guys, this is one of the most popular distortion box ever. Do you have one? If yes, is it on your board?
I have one, DS1 Doctorsound mod.. It's on my board, great pedal!!
@@depotgear Don't know that mod. Is it similar to Keeley?
@@WeAsACompany Yes, it's similar to keleey but some difference on freq response. I love the DS-1 original too, the 40th anniversary more 😉
@@depotgear Is the 40th any different in sound?
@@WeAsACompany a little bit different
Nineties' rock style? You had my curiosity but now you have my attention
Thx for your comment.
Yes, i have one...i bought this on 2006year, i use DS1 for My Nirvana Songs...1st album BLEACH...greetings from indonesia
Most people had a bad experience with this pedal because they did not understand that the tone knob if cranked will make you sound like garbage and your notes will be lost in the mix. Only usable with the tone almost off. It sounds great on a pedal board right after your overdrive pedal.
appreciate hearing “i am one” from gish by smashing pumpkins in here :)
Just scored one of these on eBay today and after watching this I cannot wait until it arrives. Nice informative video guys.
Thx a lot for your comment. Let us know if you're happy with it.
This is indeed the best demo of the DS1 I've seen. Definitely considering getting one. Thank you for showing the great tones you can get out of it and dispelling the fizz fear.
Thx!
The magic is running it into a crunchy amp with low output pups. This pedal came out in the 70’s. Makes sense right? It sounds amazing into a cranked tube amp. Great pedal.
So good to see a pedal demoed in a style I like and might actually play. So much metal and bluesy stuff out there that I just don’t connect with. I bought this pedal in a pawn shop, beat up to hell. I’ve never been much of pedal or tone guy, so I’m still learning. I always had trouble dialing this in and you’ve given good ideas of how to make it work!
Oh, and that riff you played at the 4:00 mark was cool
I’m on my second Boss DS1 now and I’m pleased to see that you’re using your settings just as I do. I run a Blues Driver in front of mine. Cool video.
Found this from the one of the boss groups. Nice straight forward video with a solid demo.
thx a lot man!
Nicely done! An often scoffed at pedal, it's great. LOTS of bands, even shoegaze stuff back in the day, used this pedal. Sometimes I wonder if BOSS should just charge more to see if its appeal increases haha.
Love these classic riffs you're playing!
Thx a lot!
You had me at. "Do NOT use a very Clean tone." That's when I knew you knew this pedal, for starters. Hey! I just realized that maybe I can use this properly after the superb Blues Driver!
I played with that for a while but found it actually sounded better BEFORE the bluesdriver, using the bluesdriver at low gain
He had me at "Swallowed". ;)
Great run through of this pedal. Very helpful. Thank you
Excellent demo of a legendary pedal. I've owned DS-1s for decades. Have one now among my other pedals. I have a Marshall that gets more than enough gain for me right out of the box, but every now and then I like to turn the gain down and use one of my Boss pedals to give it a tweak just for variety. Yes, the magic trick is using just enough breakup from the amp and pushing it with the pedal. It's all about balance, about getting the amp, the pedal, and the pickups in your guitar to make the magic happen. This is how the greatest guitar tones were created, NOT with rare super boutique amps. That's a myth. While there may be some instances where this is true, any decent producer can get the ultimate sound with just a Marshall, a Fender and a good pedal. The great thing about a pedal like the DS-1 is it's a transparent pedal and it doesn't color the tone of your amp and guitar too much. As I said before, it's all a balance.
So true . So many combinations not only with the pedal but the guitar and amp controls too. Great job
Great job these riffs and sounds are everything I’m looking for in guitar. I keep trying different ods but it always comes back to this! Rip Kurt
…and long live 90s and early 00’s rock 🤘🏻
@@dustinalker972 amen brother
I got the Waza DS1 because I just wanted straight up distortion, I wanted the sound of my guitar but distorted and it gave me exactly that. Then I noticed I liked using my blues driver with all the knobs at noon as my crunchy or clean sound, and I loved cranking up the gain on it for distortion. When I got a Screamin Blues, which is a blues driver with low and high eq, I used that as my all around heavier distortion and my blues driver as my creamy overdrive. Now my DS1 is just my guitar solo button. It's thick, creamy, loud, mid rangey, and I can use it with just the one pedal alone and get all the distortion I need or add a blues driver or boost pedal to it. I love it.
Thank you for playing the KYUSS riff. But even without that a great demo! Keep up the good work!!
Awesome riffing! Very nice video overall! Thanks
one of the best ds-1 reviews on yt. well done
Thx very much!
Very Very Very important video! Tks for that! Great tone dude!
DS-1 is my go to for stoner rock type tones, once I realized it likes an amp with breakup instead of crystal clean it was a game changer, my only complaint is that the DS-1 always feels quiet. found a killer heavily modded DS-1 clone from a company called Drunk Beaver that fixes that problem and has switchable op amp and diode clipping.
Got mine a week ago but I'm still experimenting with new settings. I never knew it cleaned up so well, I'll have to try it. I've also been using some high output humbuckers so I'll give the single coils a try as well.
All in all, the video had some good tips. Learned something new, so that's a like from me
Great video. This is really THE TONE!
I got to know your channel thanks to this video. I also underestimated the DS-1, and preferred to buy Digitech Hot Head as one of the first distortion pedals, which, although it is a clone of the Boss pedal, allowed me to customize exactly the sound that I always wanted. I immediately noticed how you design the video and really like how you meticulously compare different pedals, do not focus on what is cheaper and what is expensive or rare like other bloggers. In my opinion, you really have one of the best channels on the subject along with Andy from Proguitarshop and Ryan Lutton. I hope you will have even more views and subscribers, you really do great reviews.
Thx very much for your words.
Great video got my pedal today and used this video to get that school rift and helpful tips thanks a lot
Well done Dude! And to answer your question...yes I have one. Your time is excellent. I drum and I'm going to rewind and jam with you in the blend :) I like the footage you mixed in right there in the middle...brings me back. Cheers!....you had my blood pumpin at the end
Of all the videos out there on Ds-1 this is the best. Thank you SO much! Buying tomorrow, rocking out to some Oasis by next week!
Oasis with the DS1 is pure magic. Thx a lot for your comment.
Did Noel use it with the jcm900?
The best video on TH-cam of this amazing pedal.
Great tone! Awesome pedal! Classic.
Thx!
Good video! Love this pedal, do have one in my fleet of pedals. Nice tips, thanks. Some of them are quite new to me, thanks! Regards!
You're welcome! Thx a lot for your comment.
Great video......One of the best, and easy-following one I have ever seen,,,,,, P.S. Love the foot grooving
You've just totally sold me on this
sounds awesome!!! need it on my pedal board!!
Amazing video thank you
Awesome video
Loved it ❤️❤️❤️
very helpful video.. well done
THX!
I've owned and used Boss DS-1's for about 20 years now, I think they're criminally misunderstood, but when used correctly (tone under 12 o'clock) (gain under 12 o'clock) to push an already distorted amp, they're pretty much one of the most iconic drive sounds ever produced, mine sits on a board next to an Ibanez TS9 another pedal totally misunderstood and misused very often.
Watched this a couple times and just realized that Swallowed by Bush is playing in the beginning. Love that song so much
this is how reviews of pedals have to be done
really good tone and sound in this video
Thx a lot!
I got it for a week now and I'm really fine with it! Using it w/ a Fender American Performer Strat and an Orange Micro Terror and Orange 108 box.
Cool Vid. Nice 1
I feel like this video more than adequately gave the DS-1 the love it deserves. Lately I've been stacking it on top of an EHX Soul Food (Klon Centaur clone with the Soul Food being my "clean" tone) and it sounds great.
I’m running the same combination, sounds killer!
That's a good idea. The clean on my fender champion is kinda lame. Never even thought of running a pedal for a clean tone. Do you think many bands do that?
Nice man👍👍👍😍
Thanks !
that last riff is killer!
Helmet, In The Meantime. ;)
I'm still getting good results even with unrecomended equipment. I have the fender champion 100 (which is super clean) and my guitar is the J. Mascis Jazzmaster. Honestly, the ds-1 completes my desired sound of very clear clean tones with raunchy distortion. I had issues at first turns out it was the battery dying but after a swap and some adjusting I can mimic Day Tripper from the Beatles all the way to Lithium from Nirvana. I highly recommend this pedal. For years I used a metalmaster but didn't play metal. I just liked the crunch of palm mutes. This brings more balance to my style with a tiny bit of crunch.
The Kyuss riff made me believe, well done! I wasn’t using it right
Music history wise, this pedal is far more iconic than the general musician population seem to want to admit. I don't know why that is, but just google it and see. Very nice demo, thank-you for posting.
Bro I love this video, it absolutely inspired me to use my ds1 the right way and love it for what it is . Could you please make a video of what you are playing cause it sounds awesome as fuck . Thanks again .
Good vid. Thanks. Im getting one. I need an extra pedal
Oh this is a good demo. I mean I don't feel like reading right now, but I love it.
I use this boosted by an ibanez tube ts9 tube screamer, and a noise gate. Reminds me of that trashy melancholy 90s hum guitar tone. So beautiful.
Yep, really '90, that means really good! ;)
Totally agree does your set up work for the song Stars distortion sound?
The "trick" to the DS-1 is in the amp settings, not so much the pedal itself. I'll differ a little from the advice from #1: Instead start from a good warm cleanish amp sound -- on a tube amp with some good warm bottom end -- and then nearly anything you do with the pedal will sound wonderful. I can nail almost any distortion sound from the 60's through early 90s on that amp setting with the DS-1. But the more gain you have on the amp itself, the harsher the overall sound when using the pedal. You'll then be turning the pedal down trying to find some elusive sweet spot, much like hunting unicorns. At the extreme, if you start from a heavily over-driven amp, you'll get nothing but fizz and unusable noise. The DS-1 isn't the best for modern death metal.... but it wasn't designed to do that either. Think Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy, and Sabbath through 80s Ozzy.
yes this pedal can give me some Sabbath /Zep tones very easily, and some Steve Vai too, obviously Nirvana is the easy target,
Didn't Kurt use a sansamp completely clean?
What about something not exactly a tube amp but valve tube celestion 12 inch vox Cambridge 40. Some of the high gain stuff too much jesus and especially the dial of dif tones I really don’t enjoy when mixed with ds 1 feel like have to walk on eggshells. If i go to a really high gain channel has litterly screeched so loudly unplugged immediately and same thing with irig hd 2 mixed with the effect tone dial on amp. Shit can get outta hand
@@lordviewer7305 i just want something that sounds good thru this celestion
:(
Kyuss 😎👍...I use it with the gain down on my 800, sounds great ! Then switch to the sd1 for some preist
Thanks for just getting to the point & demo - it is so nice not to listen to five minutes of talking first. This is pretty much how I used mine but made the mistake of often starting with a clean tone.
Melhor vídeo! Best Vídeo man \w/
oh my god.
school
thumb
in the meantime
god i love those riffs thanks for the demo
Thanks for the tips, great to hear some 90s riffs n tunes, seems most guitar demos are blues or shredding. I've got a guitar bit like a jazzmaster with p90 pickups in should work well, and maybe my strat clone. Im waiting for my pedal to arrive. With the filters you've used the pedal looks like an evil toy robot while I write this Haha.
Thx for the nice comment! ;)
nice use of I am One!!!
I have a shitty $50 no brand amp, it only has gain tone and volume . Ironically when I put the tone all the way down on the pedal and distortion at 12 0 clock it sounds amazing.
You have the balls in to tell people they’re wrong and your right and then you make them read. Damn
We don't pretend to be right, we just want to show how we use the DS-1. The title is kind of ironic.
Nice.
I have one,,,,store credit for a Super Shifter.
Also a Micro Cube 1st gen.
That i loved. DS1 just sits (Bad Monkey or BBII first). Tried a dial in during shut down.
Time for another go :)
Dig the video! What Boss distortion pedal would you recommend for high output pickups?
It really depend on what you're looking for. I'm a huge fan of the BD-2, it can go from transparent overdrive to proper distortion.
I used one for years. Plugged into a Fender tweed. One trick is to dime the gain and then back it off a hair. You can hear the change. It compresses the input a bit which smoothes the bite out. Now a Blues Driver, run fairly clean in front adds a boost and with that you can run it into a clean amp; tube is better. Super Overdrive works well. Lots of tones but you have to work it. Everything including your amp eq makes a difference. The DS-1 IS a great pedal. Oh the Keeley mod does wonders!
I agree. Recently bought one used, mint for £40. Had Boss ODs in the past but always seemed thin and harsh, not what I was looking for. Finally settled in an OCD V1.4, rich sound, but improved with a treble booster (kit built) in front especially if warm source (humbuckers/semi hollow guitar). Thought I'd try the DS-1, expected it gets close to the OCD + Treble booster in one go...it does, plus more high end distortion, for a quarter the price! Still use the OCD or/and Treble booster for classic OD.
I was just playing Bush through a DS 1 last night!!
Yesss!
Thanks for this explanation! Like plus subscribe done ✅
Thx a lot for your support.
BUSH at the beginning 👍 👍 👍
Love that album!
kyuss and helmet references? ok, i'm in
Yeah!
I had it when I was a kid. Sold it during my "vintage fuzz tone frenzy". Bought another (used) a few years after. I missed it. I use it in front of an old Ampeg, sometimes in couple with a compressor (dynacomp style) or a simple boutique OD that gives just a bite of gain. Everything's super sensitive to guitar knobs. No mods required. This Just to say, great video, great sound, I totally agree with you.
Thx a lot for your kind words. I don't understand why this pedal is such a sleeper. To my ears is way better than so many boutique stuff.
@@WeAsACompany I think it's because of the wrong use in the late 80s and 90s. The market of good low wattage single channel amps was little, everybody wanted high gain high wattage three channels amps even for small gigs and were used at excessively low volumes pushed on clean channels with pedals and coupled with old style digital stuff. At least that was the italian style in those years.
@@Tulkazar Think you're right.
yeah it does seem to favour alnico pick ups more..but if you have ceramic like everything its a matter of taste. it just depends on if you are trying to copy a sound or carve out a new one.
My usual settings for my ds is having my amps gain at 12 on then clean channel, the having the tone on the ds 1 set to about 10-11 ish, dist set to max and level on max
thanx for posting , great demo!.
i have bought, sold, re-bought this pedal since it came out.
is it on my board? back in the day when i actually had a board and a cranked marshall it was surplus really. already maxed out valve overdrive playing 80's british heavy metal..the boss ge7 and boss dd were all that were needed for the perkier moments, everything louder than everything else....
40 years on re bought one for a 3rd time. I think where it shines is on a fender style rig in my opinion.
its a wow moment with the strat plugged into my blackstar artist (fender syle amp). this set up makes it a five star pedal...numero uno on the boardo. gives you an extra amp really for maybe £40 on ebay? from diamonds to dirt with one stomp.....who wouldn't love that?
Another happy DS1 owner out there! Yeah!
I own a DS-1 and I set the Level knob at 10 o'clock for a crunchy old school metal tone.
A little tip I've learned from using this pedal if your one that uses heavier picks and plays kinda hard try using a lighter pick or be less aggressive with strumming I've found that with the tips on this video and that you can get a really good tone
Thx a lot, very good tip. I tend to use light picks all the time, I agree with you, I think with dirty tones work just better than hard picks, IMHO.
Great review! Which amp did you use? Sounds great
Thx man, it's a Selmer Treble'n'Bass
Have this right next to my mxr m69. Volume knob on the axe 🎸 really do make a difference.
100 agree!
sounds great! what amp are u using?
Haven't tried one of these at home yet, decided to give the DS-2 a shot first as that's what Kurt started using later in his career, and it is really something. If you guys love these grunge tones but want something more scooped and a bit fuzzier, it's worth a shot
Thx a lot for the tip. We're prepping a Ds-1 vs Ds-2 shootout for the next month.
Ds2s are less scooped. They almost sound like they have a cocked wah on them compared to DS1
On the first setting? I found that one pretty scooped. I guess we'll find out in the near future what waac thinks
@@metal571 yeah in the first setting it's more scooped than the turbo setting but still has about the same scoop as a ds1 imo. At least that's what I've found. The big difference for me is that it has less sustain and is a bit smoother than an actual ds1. Almost like an sd1 with more fizz. I actually prefer the ds2 turbo mode in clean amps but definitely prefer the sustain and clarity of the ds1 in a marshall.
@@LeviBulger that makes more sense. The lack of gain caught me a bit by surprise considering how much ds1 seems to have. Haven't tried it yet but I might try running my soul food into it as a clean boost
No Recess!
Wouldn't you believe it
It's just my luck
I bought one off Facebook marketplace and it's on its way now. I only bought it because it was real cheap and has a hilarious custom paintjob
I have the black sd1, I generally don't have it in my rig as I prefer high gain amps with a screamer or alternately blues breakers into a Marshall or Fender
The black(gold DS1 is super cool. We need to get one at some point.
I use this for my other kind of gritty distortion sound.
It play well with strymon Iridium and ibanez talman
Now THIS is a clean tone
Excellent video. Those boots on your clean rug giving me an anxiety attack though.
🤣
My fave pedal, hey Boss please waza craft this one.
I feel the price of waza pedals are too high..
Once I heard the KYUSS riffs I was sold!!!
;)
That not i use for kyuss tone but it could work
The sweet sound of DS1, if you put an overdrive before it, gives more punchier lead sound.
My ds-1 sat on a shelf for 10yrs then I started getting in to tone now I use it all the time mostly as a clean boost !!!!!!!!
I like your rug 🤙
Nice video without blah blah blah! Set list is awesome!
Thx for your comment.
When you said about high output guitar pickups, how high did you mean? I was thinking about getting a version of a jb brigde pickup. Would that be too high?
We don't know the JB. Generally speaking, we would try to avoid active pickups or very high output humbuckers. Single coils or PAF-style humbuckers are perfectly fine. This is just a suggestion based on our experience and taste, there are no rules, in the end.
death used this pedal with an X2N so i think in the end any pickup will work lol
Such a useful video! I own this pedal for about 6 years and also a Telecaster.. i tried so hard to get that grunge tone but failed smh. Your tips opened my eyes, and ears! Thanx 👍
The first chords remind me of "sitting on the dock by the bay" - Otis Redding
As with most pedals it also depends on the amp and speaker combination it is played with. What amp did you use?
Selmer Treble'n'bass custom.
Hi! Do you think this paired with a Marshall SC20 (Mini JCM 800) will give me a good Nirvana bleach tone? Thanks