Boss DS-1 Distortion Guitar Effect Pedal Mod

       So there is a lot of mods out there and I would be lying if I told you that I tried them all but I have done a few. Some turned out to be big improvements and others were even bigger disappointments. So how do you know which mod is right for you. Well, I can't really tell you. Maybe you want something completely different out of your pedal, I can't tell you that a mod makes a pedal better or worse. I can tell you which I've done and what I've liked.

       A few months ago I found my self owning a Boss DS-1. Picked it up in a gear trade. I've never been a fan of the pedal. It puts dirt on your signal like a box with the word "distortion" should, but there are complaints with the way it does this. I'm not technically gifted. I'm not going to tell you that it compressed my tone, or sucked it dry, or had some kind of mid-hump/scoop I didn't enjoy. It did seem like the mid frequencies were scooped and that no matter how I turned the "tune" knob I couldn't find a sound that I liked. I've tried the pedal in (bedroom)studio and life setting. I did not like what it did for me. So I then turned to mods to make it do something I did like.

      Research. (Google) so looking into what I should do with this big hunk of orange took some time. I had to find something that I found appealing and seemed like I was capable of. (also the first step could not include "throw pedal away and buy -enter boutique pedal here-") I dismissed anything that said "Metal", or "Crazy", or "Super". I did find a mod that seemed to fit the "make it not sound like crap" requirement. Described  plainly as "vintage mod"

The Mod:

Boss ds-1—Vintage 
Mod Location Mod value 
D5 Led 
C3 .033uf 
R16 1k resistor 
C11 .01uf 
C1, C5 .1uf

     Simple enough. 6 pieces. It took less than half an hour. It made all the difference. The Eq was evened out and the nasty, fizzy distortion was lightened into a more mellow, overdriven amp-type sound. Side by side test proved that the mod had turned a hunk of junk (in my opinion) into something that I'd actually use. The change of the diode really changes "type" of distortion and the resistor and capacitor change the "shape" if that makes any sense. (probably not) The tone knob seems to "work" better. The Drive actually controls the amount of gain the unit produces, unlike before were it just went from a little fizz to a lot of fizz. Level kinda works the same, but the sound sounds more transparent. I even had my non-music playing wife listen and she confirmed the mod made it sound "clear-er" 

    So, if you have a DS-1 That you hate and want something that you don't hate, then do what I did and make your own vintage-y overdrive boosty thing