Should I Build a DS-1?

Is having a DS-1 worth it?

  • Total voters
    18
BuddytheReow

BuddytheReow

Breadboard Baker
Hey Guys,

I'm just trying to gauge general interest in this one. I'm a bit of a metalhead and also enjoy classic rock and blues. The Ds-1, to me, is almost a right of passage in someone's guitar career (bedroom player or otherwise). Is it really worth building one or even getting a secondhand one? I'm sure most of you have one or have played one at least once. The only time I played one was at a Guitar Center back in 2002 or something like that on the Boss pedalboard and thought it was ok, not great. IMO the Dist+ is better than the DS-1, but I'm starting to get the itch to start that project up more or less to check it off the box. Should I?
 
I’ve never really connected with it. I’d say breadboard first it and see if you’re digging it or pick up a used one for cheap and repurpose the enclosure if you don’t like it.
 
I say build it, and make sure you have the stock circuit, plus any knobs. The DS1 shines as a boost…gain around noon, tone around 10 o’clock, level wherever you need it…run it into a slightly overdriven amp and boom. I use it mostly with the above settings, but into a BMP…
 
I like the DS-1 and have built several (Link). Definitely recommend the silver screw specs with a TA7136P, if you can get one.

I think for builders, the right of passage would be to mod one. For a lot of people, myself included, this was their first pedal project.
 
I have one that I used to use, but now that I have built so many other pedals it's collecting dust. I always liked it though, or at least find it works pretty well in my rig, so to me it doesn't deserve the bad rap it gets.
 
I heard it is a great circuit ruined by wrong values and cheap parts...So I built Aion's Comet and modded a real one from before the smd conversion.

I did some of the suggested mods in Aion instructions. It's interesting and educational.


The most interesting part was to try various op-amp, you can really feel the different colors and flavours. TL72 (more precision) and NE5532 (more warmth) are my favorites so far.

On the real one, I did the complex mondo-mij mod described in this document below, p.18 :


And it's really something...You modify the usual clipping diodes by "a network of diodes that are blended together to create a mixed distortion sound". You will need a small 9mm pot. No space to fit a 16mm pot in there...

It's really interesting, surely even more than the led clipping mod I did on the Comet. I strongly recommend it, even if it's a big mod with many changes, it's worth the trouble.

The DS1 standard version is supposed to be used with an amp on the edge of being overdriven. So it's not supposed to sound really good in front of a clean amp (probably why so many people are skeptical, unconfident about it, to say the least).
Both my modded DS1 sound good to me with a clean amp, though.

That said, I would also recommend to get an MD-2 instead, specially for metalheads. They are still cheap on the used market. You can easily get the DS1 sound, and easily get something even better, without mods. That's right : go with MD-2 !
 
Last edited:
Coda said:
I say build it, and make sure you have the stock circuit, plus any knobs. The DS1 shines as a boost…gain around noon, tone around 10 o’clock, level wherever you need it…run it into a slightly overdriven amp and boom. I use it mostly with the above settings, but into a BMP…
Click to expand...
Cut the clipping diodes out and it makes a great dirty little boost, I keep one on my pedal board, but in full disclosure it's been modified to get a Texas blues tone with my Strat
 
I wondered it, sometime. But I never built it in eight years since I build pedals.
I never had the original, but I'm curious to try it. I built some pedals I say sound and work better, but some mod in the DS-1 are fine and cool. It's easy enough to build it, but it's not a problem build some distortion a bit more complex. In the DS-1 circuit you can change almost every part, but that is.

As someone else already did it, I suggest you a thing I'll do, too (who knows when!). Try it on breadboard and mod it. There's, in the web, a document with tons of mod, you could search it, I'm sure you can find it.

If I'll never build it, probably it will not the stock version, thing I usually I don't do, bit it will have some toggle switch, thing I use to do.
 
I build pedals to get away from Boss and Ibanez pedals, rites of passage or not! I have respect for what they have done, but I don't need to duplicate it. If a DS-1 is close to being something you might use, build one and see if you can tweak it to suit yourself even more. Aion has some good ideas it seems.

FWIW I try any dirt pedal which gets reasonably clean as a potential boost in front of an already dirty sound. Lately I've discovered that a slightly ugly breakup sound can work well as a boost. If you use something too smooth as a boost it can get a bit mushy.
 
I did a PCB using the original DS-1 layout (including the TA7136AP IC and 1S2473 diodes), minus the bypass switching so it can be wired for true-bypass.
My life has been extremely busy over the last year, so I'm hopefully going to be etching the boards this weekend.
 
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