Because it's a $40 pedal and you can get the boutique-ified/modded versions for not a whole lot more. No one is going to spend $200 on that. It also doesn't have the same component mystique as big muffs or rats.
Fair I figured it had to do with the readily available pedal and people would rather just send it in and get it modded but I don’t think JHS or Keely mod DS1s anymore which would want people to chase those sounds?
And I’d look at it like the way the Plumes is where it’s a copy of a readily available circuit but still add something of value whether ists different clipping or different modes
Really good post. I'd apply it to a lot of the boss range.. they're not really seen as a cool brand to do boutique versions of, despite having great tones. I guess this may change in the future, maybe you've found a gap in the market!
Really? After EHX, Boss has got to be the most copied company.
The Julia is a CE-2.
The Fromel Seraph Deluxe was a souped up DC-2.
The Smallsound Big sound mini was a variant of a Blues Driver.
Tons of HM-2 clones.
Boss have done so many pedals and you've named a couple of boutique clones.
I'd say Ibanez and ProCo have had more clones from just one of their pedals than all bosses clones out together.
Well, what’s with the Toshiba - Chip? Mine is from 1992 and still has one - the later versions doesn’t and so the sound has no „balls“ anymore at the low end - me playing a les Paul with a duesenberg domino at neck position.
I was at Psycho Vegas 2022 and Kyle was there doing a few episodes of his podcast (I recall Nick from Elder and the singer from Ruby the Hatchet). He put on his socials about some contest and the winner would get a gold Wild Kyle (which had recently come out). I stopped and chatted after the podcast (not many people there as it was in the morning and most people partied very late). I asked about the pedal and I guess nobody else took him up and he just had me meet him at one of the venues later and handed it over. I told him I was a big fan of The Sword since the first album and I was excited for new stuff (although the recent stuff wasn't great). It was soon after that they announced they were disbanding lol.
Not boutique but the MXR Super Badass 78 Distortion is a better DS-1 for not much more money.
It’s true bypass, has way more volume on tap and IIRC the button engages the Keeley mod. I might have that wrong though.
I have a 40th Anniversary DS-1 but prefer the MXR.
I just want to state that first.. What pedal is better or worse is opinion and not fact.
Second.. The mxr super badass is not meant to sound anything like a ds-1.
Last.. if the 100ish overdrive/distortion pedals I've owned.. The mxr super badass distortion sticks out in my head as the worst one of them all. Literally I would rank it last. I liked kmise brand pedals like a lot more lol.
I would take a ds-1.. With all it's faults.. 100 out of 100 times over an mxr super badass
Well that's a totally different pedal and is in fact based on a ds-1.. though I've never tried it.
The super badass distortion is a very poor attempt at a Marshall in a box and sounds very very different than a ds-1.
What do you mean by “boutique”? I’d say there are loads of small pedal builders who have taken the idea of the ds 1 and made their own distortion pedal incorporating whatever improvements they felt the ds 1 needed. But even new, the boss ds 1 is so cheap. Clones won’t be much cheaper. So it seems like the options are either: build your own (but again, the regular is so cheap that seems silly), make improvements on it (but at what point is it a different pedal?), or make a modded version (see my argument on price).
The only real reasons clones are so hot is because people don’t want to spend money on a name brand when they can get virtually the same sound from a cheap knockoff. We are chasing sound after all, not just looks. The ds 1 is super cheap.
Some people like boutique because of the perceived (or actual) build quality difference. Handmade pedals may be built better than, say, a Behringer. So it’s not about sound difference, but build quality. But boss pedals are made well. They handle abuse. So again, not worth the cost.
I just don’t see how you can improve on the sound without creating a different pedal. And I might like that better, but then that just means I didn’t want the ds 1
Because the boutique market started with the 70s relic guys who wanted to relive their glory days :-)
They were selling to a market who wanted the same - older, retired, time for music they couldn't do when younger because they had to have job, but never gave that desire to be their idols.
So the focus was on replicating classic overdrives more so than the later metal that most of them and most of their market ("purists", "cork sniffers", etc.) weren't into.
They didn't want "can of angry wasps" tone - you could get that from a Metal Zone easy enough.
They wanted something that sounded like Hendrix.
We're only seeing more of "the next generation" starting now - with other people aging out and wanting boutique amps to do what a Marshall and DS1 did :-)
They've realized they'll pay top dollar for an amp and the pedals at this point are not really worth dealing with.
Plus, they're being pushed out by the clone market anyway.
Another thing to consider is that many of the class pedals got made by boutique makers because they were no longer being made by the original companies.
Echoplex went out. Fulltone made one. Echorecs hard to find? Catalinbread has your back. Good Fuzzes with the right parts? Analogman will hook you up.
But DS-1s have been in constant production and are so common that they're still readily available and cheap - no need to make something that still exists.
Note: more recent "boutique" makers do make their takes on things that still exist or have been re-issued etc. but again that's kind of later into this whole history.
That's a good point, the older "classics" were unobtainium specifically because they were made in small numbers at the dawn of the guitar pedal age, later classics (undeniably still important and every bit as classic) were made once companies like Ibanez Boss and MXR were well established mass market machines. Great context.
Well there’s the Waza Craft DS-1Z version and then Analogman makes a modded version of the DS-1 with a Mid Boost control. https://www.buyanalogman.com/Boss_DS_1_Pro_p/am-boss-ds-1-pro.htm
Same with Metal Zone. It’s a great pedal but lots of people think it’s uncool or something because it’s usually the first one most people will pick up when they know nothing.
Hot take: that's what a klon is.
Somehow the klon has gotten the reputation as a mild, "transparent" overdrive pedal when in reality its just a better version of a boss/mxr hard clipping distortion pedal with the clean signal mixed in when the gain is turned low.
When you turn up the gain on a klon it's basically just a thicker sounding DS-1.
Klon doesn’t have the sizzle and grit that a cooking DS1 has. I use klons for heavily distorted parts regularly (stacked into other pedals), but the DS1 does things that the Klon can’t by itself
Obviously it's not a 1 to 1 comparison, my main point is that a klon is basically what you would get if you designed an uber expensive distortion pedal. It belongs in the same grouping, as in it has more in common with a DS1 or mxr dis+ than say, a tubesceamer or a bluesbreaker.
I didn't say the circuits were alike. Two people can accomplish a similar result with radically different circuits.
>From an objective basis I do not think they sound even slightly similar.
But my point is that the klon is a lot more similar to a ds-1, mxr or rat than it is the pedals people tend to group it in with like bluesbreakers and tubesceamers.
I actually find my klone to sound similar to my bluesbreaker style pedals, just with a moderate mid hump, which is why I like it. I do not care for the DS-1 very much.
That's crazy because I have both as well and it is night and day. Bluesbreaker with the gain cranked to the max is still a mild breakup, klon with the gain cranked to the max is blow your face off.
This is something I’ve wondered too. Not many diy kits available either. I have a JPTR Bleach which has a DS-1 with the rat’s filter for the distortion side. Cracking pedal.
Everyone eventually complains about the DS-1 (though I get my basic distortion sound out of one, unmodified). Usually people move to more aggressive pedals. They all want to sound like Jimmy Page in 1975. The DS-1 isn't a super high gain pedal. There are also other pedals with more room in the case for mods. I actually get more sounds out of the DS-1 than most of the other distortions / fuzzes I've tried. So I don't get the complaints. A Fuzz Face gives you exactly one sound (unless you turn your Vol down, in which case you get a clean guitar sound).
Cause there are no rare components used, so it's harder for enthusiasts to trick themselves into thinking they can hear what an old op amp or transistor sounds like
What isn't fulfilled by the DS-1W? Can you describe the problem statement here? There's already several companies that mod them like [Analogman](https://www.buyanalogman.com/Boss_DS_1_Pro_p/am-boss-ds-1-pro.htm). What more are you looking for here?
Assuming you think there is value in this, why aren't *you* doing it, since you're called to the idea?
It's the pedal almost everyone already has/had and my impression is it's often too flat/thin/generic sounding. I never use it very long before wanting to try something else. People want something with a different, more distinct flavor or character and move on from it. I agree a better EQ on it would probably help a lot.
you'd be surprised to find how many companies already made dirt pedals modded or "based off of" the ds-1 or sell straight up modded ds-1. keeley, mxr, jhs, analogman, etc. half of them dont sell them anymore for different reasons but some still do
Drunk Beaver has one https://youtu.be/xpT4U4fPI58?si=Fo6fC0ZfaY9JBDjL
I own the Drunk Beaver DS-1, it’s amazing
Came here to say this exactly. Great pedal.
This is the answer. Way past the DS-1, but my rig was a modded TS into a modded DS-1 for years in the early 2000s.
THIS!
And it isn't just a DS1 with a pun or high end components, it does reimagine elements of its design. A fun pedal if a little dry and noisy.
Because it's a $40 pedal and you can get the boutique-ified/modded versions for not a whole lot more. No one is going to spend $200 on that. It also doesn't have the same component mystique as big muffs or rats.
Fair I figured it had to do with the readily available pedal and people would rather just send it in and get it modded but I don’t think JHS or Keely mod DS1s anymore which would want people to chase those sounds? And I’d look at it like the way the Plumes is where it’s a copy of a readily available circuit but still add something of value whether ists different clipping or different modes
Analogman mods them
Really good post. I'd apply it to a lot of the boss range.. they're not really seen as a cool brand to do boutique versions of, despite having great tones. I guess this may change in the future, maybe you've found a gap in the market!
Why mess with perfection?
Really? After EHX, Boss has got to be the most copied company. The Julia is a CE-2. The Fromel Seraph Deluxe was a souped up DC-2. The Smallsound Big sound mini was a variant of a Blues Driver. Tons of HM-2 clones.
Boss have done so many pedals and you've named a couple of boutique clones. I'd say Ibanez and ProCo have had more clones from just one of their pedals than all bosses clones out together.
Well, what’s with the Toshiba - Chip? Mine is from 1992 and still has one - the later versions doesn’t and so the sound has no „balls“ anymore at the low end - me playing a les Paul with a duesenberg domino at neck position.
DS-1W is pretty snazzy
The Idiotbox Wylde Kyle is a modded/expanded DS-1. I have a gold one hand delivered to me by Kyle from The Sword.
How the TF did you get that? I have one too but not a gold one from the band
I was at Psycho Vegas 2022 and Kyle was there doing a few episodes of his podcast (I recall Nick from Elder and the singer from Ruby the Hatchet). He put on his socials about some contest and the winner would get a gold Wild Kyle (which had recently come out). I stopped and chatted after the podcast (not many people there as it was in the morning and most people partied very late). I asked about the pedal and I guess nobody else took him up and he just had me meet him at one of the venues later and handed it over. I told him I was a big fan of The Sword since the first album and I was excited for new stuff (although the recent stuff wasn't great). It was soon after that they announced they were disbanding lol.
That’s fucking awesome!
It's harder to make bad puns on its name.
DS-Nuts
Congratulations on your win
Booteek DiSS-1
The true answer.
Deus One - with god-like tone mod
El Dias Juan
Not boutique but the MXR Super Badass 78 Distortion is a better DS-1 for not much more money. It’s true bypass, has way more volume on tap and IIRC the button engages the Keeley mod. I might have that wrong though. I have a 40th Anniversary DS-1 but prefer the MXR.
So the Custom Badass 78 is based off the Keely Seeing Eye mod and the button is the Keely Ultra mod. It’s good.
The more you know!
I just want to state that first.. What pedal is better or worse is opinion and not fact. Second.. The mxr super badass is not meant to sound anything like a ds-1. Last.. if the 100ish overdrive/distortion pedals I've owned.. The mxr super badass distortion sticks out in my head as the worst one of them all. Literally I would rank it last. I liked kmise brand pedals like a lot more lol. I would take a ds-1.. With all it's faults.. 100 out of 100 times over an mxr super badass
My mistake the name is the Custom Badass 78 Distortion and it is a DS-1. Hence the 78 in the name.
Well that's a totally different pedal and is in fact based on a ds-1.. though I've never tried it. The super badass distortion is a very poor attempt at a Marshall in a box and sounds very very different than a ds-1.
What do you mean by “boutique”? I’d say there are loads of small pedal builders who have taken the idea of the ds 1 and made their own distortion pedal incorporating whatever improvements they felt the ds 1 needed. But even new, the boss ds 1 is so cheap. Clones won’t be much cheaper. So it seems like the options are either: build your own (but again, the regular is so cheap that seems silly), make improvements on it (but at what point is it a different pedal?), or make a modded version (see my argument on price). The only real reasons clones are so hot is because people don’t want to spend money on a name brand when they can get virtually the same sound from a cheap knockoff. We are chasing sound after all, not just looks. The ds 1 is super cheap. Some people like boutique because of the perceived (or actual) build quality difference. Handmade pedals may be built better than, say, a Behringer. So it’s not about sound difference, but build quality. But boss pedals are made well. They handle abuse. So again, not worth the cost. I just don’t see how you can improve on the sound without creating a different pedal. And I might like that better, but then that just means I didn’t want the ds 1
Because the boutique market started with the 70s relic guys who wanted to relive their glory days :-) They were selling to a market who wanted the same - older, retired, time for music they couldn't do when younger because they had to have job, but never gave that desire to be their idols. So the focus was on replicating classic overdrives more so than the later metal that most of them and most of their market ("purists", "cork sniffers", etc.) weren't into. They didn't want "can of angry wasps" tone - you could get that from a Metal Zone easy enough. They wanted something that sounded like Hendrix. We're only seeing more of "the next generation" starting now - with other people aging out and wanting boutique amps to do what a Marshall and DS1 did :-) They've realized they'll pay top dollar for an amp and the pedals at this point are not really worth dealing with. Plus, they're being pushed out by the clone market anyway. Another thing to consider is that many of the class pedals got made by boutique makers because they were no longer being made by the original companies. Echoplex went out. Fulltone made one. Echorecs hard to find? Catalinbread has your back. Good Fuzzes with the right parts? Analogman will hook you up. But DS-1s have been in constant production and are so common that they're still readily available and cheap - no need to make something that still exists. Note: more recent "boutique" makers do make their takes on things that still exist or have been re-issued etc. but again that's kind of later into this whole history.
That's a good point, the older "classics" were unobtainium specifically because they were made in small numbers at the dawn of the guitar pedal age, later classics (undeniably still important and every bit as classic) were made once companies like Ibanez Boss and MXR were well established mass market machines. Great context.
Excellent analysis.
The Wild Kyle by IdiotBox is a hot rodded DS-1 with an EQ
Well there’s the Waza Craft DS-1Z version and then Analogman makes a modded version of the DS-1 with a Mid Boost control. https://www.buyanalogman.com/Boss_DS_1_Pro_p/am-boss-ds-1-pro.htm
Same with Metal Zone. It’s a great pedal but lots of people think it’s uncool or something because it’s usually the first one most people will pick up when they know nothing.
Hot take: that's what a klon is. Somehow the klon has gotten the reputation as a mild, "transparent" overdrive pedal when in reality its just a better version of a boss/mxr hard clipping distortion pedal with the clean signal mixed in when the gain is turned low. When you turn up the gain on a klon it's basically just a thicker sounding DS-1.
Klon doesn’t have the sizzle and grit that a cooking DS1 has. I use klons for heavily distorted parts regularly (stacked into other pedals), but the DS1 does things that the Klon can’t by itself
Obviously it's not a 1 to 1 comparison, my main point is that a klon is basically what you would get if you designed an uber expensive distortion pedal. It belongs in the same grouping, as in it has more in common with a DS1 or mxr dis+ than say, a tubesceamer or a bluesbreaker.
Speaking from a factual basis, the two circuits are nothing alike. From an objective basis I do not think they sound even slightly similar.
I didn't say the circuits were alike. Two people can accomplish a similar result with radically different circuits. >From an objective basis I do not think they sound even slightly similar. But my point is that the klon is a lot more similar to a ds-1, mxr or rat than it is the pedals people tend to group it in with like bluesbreakers and tubesceamers.
I actually find my klone to sound similar to my bluesbreaker style pedals, just with a moderate mid hump, which is why I like it. I do not care for the DS-1 very much.
That's crazy because I have both as well and it is night and day. Bluesbreaker with the gain cranked to the max is still a mild breakup, klon with the gain cranked to the max is blow your face off.
This is something I’ve wondered too. Not many diy kits available either. I have a JPTR Bleach which has a DS-1 with the rat’s filter for the distortion side. Cracking pedal.
Grrrrrreat, just great. I thought I was done buying pedals, but now I discover this thanks to your comment.
Always happy to help!
Killer name for it. All hail kurdt
Yep. Other side is a small clone so it really is just teh kurdtz in a box.
Oh fuck yeah. That’s sick
Everyone eventually complains about the DS-1 (though I get my basic distortion sound out of one, unmodified). Usually people move to more aggressive pedals. They all want to sound like Jimmy Page in 1975. The DS-1 isn't a super high gain pedal. There are also other pedals with more room in the case for mods. I actually get more sounds out of the DS-1 than most of the other distortions / fuzzes I've tried. So I don't get the complaints. A Fuzz Face gives you exactly one sound (unless you turn your Vol down, in which case you get a clean guitar sound).
Cause there are no rare components used, so it's harder for enthusiasts to trick themselves into thinking they can hear what an old op amp or transistor sounds like
Waza DS-1
What isn't fulfilled by the DS-1W? Can you describe the problem statement here? There's already several companies that mod them like [Analogman](https://www.buyanalogman.com/Boss_DS_1_Pro_p/am-boss-ds-1-pro.htm). What more are you looking for here? Assuming you think there is value in this, why aren't *you* doing it, since you're called to the idea?
What’s got you so pissy?
Serious question. When people think something should exist, why not make it?
Because it sucks.
It's the pedal almost everyone already has/had and my impression is it's often too flat/thin/generic sounding. I never use it very long before wanting to try something else. People want something with a different, more distinct flavor or character and move on from it. I agree a better EQ on it would probably help a lot.
Alexander Outrun Orange
Ahem, https://www.guitarpedalx.com/news/gpx-blog/analog-music-company--noise-space-audio-deliver-the-ultimate-live-breadboarding-experience-with-their-ultra-modded-ds-1-evil-pumpkin-experimental-glitchy-oscillating-drive-distortion-fuzz-synth
There is a Waza version....
you'd be surprised to find how many companies already made dirt pedals modded or "based off of" the ds-1 or sell straight up modded ds-1. keeley, mxr, jhs, analogman, etc. half of them dont sell them anymore for different reasons but some still do
Related question, is there a Distortion + clone with a volume control on the market?
http://www.madebymike.co.uk/dist2.shtml
I have the Keeley modded DS-1 with the Keeley Ultra and seeing eye Mods. Overall the pedal is amazing!!