DEMO Hobie- Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion

[Guardians of the analog]

Build Rating

5.00 star(s)

@Robert wins today

This one caught me off guard. @dan.schumaker had mentioned to me before he was working on a DS-2 but it wasn't quite right. Then he emailed me and said I had one headed my way to test. I was ecstatic to say the least! It came in the mail and that day I built it up and tested it. I've been waiting for this day for a LONG time

If you've seen or built one of Dan's boards you know he's a mad scientist. He can make any size circuit fit into any enclosure. This is a Big circuit with some pretty complex switching involving lots of fets for the two modes. Dan used CMOS switching via a SPDT and the results are flawless. The fact that he got all this into a 125b with onboard relay bypass is pretty remarkable. I'm used to 1/8watt resistors so the build itself was a breeze.

So how does it sound? I put it side by side to my production DS-2 and it sounds the same. Only difference is, I used a logarithmic pot for distortion instead of the D taper the stock uses. Close enough for rock n roll. Other than that I used all common parts and smd j201s for the jfets.

For the enclosure I used a matte orange tayda box and UV print. This pedal will always be synonymous with Kurt Cobain and my love of In Utero. As a tribute to the man who imo is one of the greatest stage destroyers I went with Hobie Brown aka spider punk who embodies the sound and spirit of this build. What a fantastic build and sound it makes. The video clip is from my testing rig before I boxed it, as I just got back from vacation and the day before I left my hot water heater died and leaked, so my music room is filled with stuff from the storage side still and no filming right now.

 

[cwsquared]

Hell yeah. Excellent work as usual and props to @dan.schumaker.

 

[steviejr92]

Absolutely killer! Damn, perfection all the way down to the board work!

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

This build fornicates! Robert still better do a board tho bc I wanna build one!

 

[jimilee]

Oh man, that gets downright filthy. I love it.

 

[Bio77]

Killer is as killer does?? You know what I mean......awesome build, dude

 

[Guardians of the analog]

Hell yeah. Excellent work as usual and props to @dan.schumaker.

Yep, @dan.schumaker is the man!

Absolutely killer! Damn, perfection all the way down to the board work!

Thanks Stevie, proof that I still rock it before I box it

View attachment 54203

Hell yeah, I even got my favorite Kardashian sister

This build fornicates! Robert still better do a board tho bc I wanna build one!

I hope he does too because mode 2 has some cocked wah tones I know you'll love

Oh man, that gets downright filthy. I love it.

Thanks Jimi, filthy in all the best ways

Killer is as killer does?? You know what I mean......awesome build, dude

Thanks John, but stop telling all my secrets....now I gotta move the bodies

 

[Route14]

Love it. Although, I am a little disappointed not to hear any Bryan Adams licks in the demo. I'm not sure who this Kur(d)t Cobain guy is but he doesn't sound very Canadian to me.

 

[Paradox916]

I love the punk spider man smashing the guitar

 

[Guardians of the analog]

I love the punk spider man smashing the guitar
View attachment 54362

 

[mzy12]

Out of curiosity, what diodes are you using instead of the 1ss 188 diodes found in the original? Some genius who previously owned my DS-2 decided to replace those with 3mm red leds haha

 

[Guardians of the analog]

Out of curiosity, what diodes are you using instead of the 1ss 188 diodes found in the original? Some genius who previously owned my DS-2 decided to replace those with 3mm red leds haha

I ended used 4148s. If you wanted to be more accurate you could do bat46 and 1n914/4148 in series. The LEDs probably sound good though

 

[mzy12]

I ended used 4148s. If you wanted to be more accurate you could do bat46 and 1n914/4148 in series. The LEDs probably sound good though

Yeah that probably gets me close to the ~1v VF of the 133 188. I *think* the 1n60 germanium diode is pretty bang on too, and it's available to me from musikding. I think I might go with that, unless I'm missing something obvious and it's just a bad idea.

 

[mzy12]

Yeah that probably gets me close to the ~1v VF of the 133 188. I *think* the 1n60 germanium diode is pretty bang on too, and it's available to me from musikding. I think I might go with that, unless I'm missing something obvious and it's just a bad idea.

You know what, I'm currently very confused as to what the 1SS 188FM diode even is. I did some double checking and now I haven't a clue whether it's a germanium or silicon, 1VF or 0.3VF part. Does anyone have on good authority what this part even is

 

[Guardians of the analog]

You know what, I'm currently very confused as to what the 1SS 188FM diode even is. I did some double checking and now I haven't a clue whether it's a germanium or silicon, 1VF or 0.3VF part. Does anyone have on good authority what this part even is

The original diodes in the DS-2 are 1SS133. The max fv is 1.2v but it's hard to say what the actual average fv is at. I used 1n4148 because they are a good general purpose silicon diode like the 1SS133. I didn't hear any discernable difference between my original DS-2 unit and my build.

 

[mzy12]

The original diodes in the DS-2 are 1SS133. The max fv is 1.2v but it's hard to say what the actual average fv is at. I used 1n4148 because they are a good general purpose silicon diode like the 1SS133. I didn't hear any discernable difference between my original DS-2 unit and my build.

Fair enough. I think newer DS-2 pedals replace 1SS-133 diodes with 1N4148's because that's all that's in mine. Solder joints look factory on them. I am definitely worrying too much about the hard clipping diodes in D14 and D15 on the original, where the 1SS-188fm's go. In fact, I think the schematic got them wrong, because it doesn't look like there is such thing as a 1SS-188, but instead a 1S-188. I've seen some places say it's equivalent to the NTE109. So that's another option. Doesn't look like I'm gonna get any VF vs current curves on these old-ass diodes

I am definitely being overkill in being this precise for a clipping diode that probably doesn't see much action given how much clipping is already in this circuit haha.

 

[Guardians of the analog]

Fair enough. I think newer DS-2 pedals replace 1SS-133 diodes with 1N4148's because that's all that's in mine. Solder joints look factory on them. I am definitely worrying too much about the hard clipping diodes in D14 and D15 on the original, where the 1SS-188fm's go. In fact, I think the schematic got them wrong, because it doesn't look like there is such thing as a 1SS-188, but instead a 1S-188. I've seen some places say it's equivalent to the NTE109. So that's another option. Doesn't look like I'm gonna get any VF vs current curves on these old-ass diodes

I am definitely being overkill in being this precise for a clipping diode that probably doesn't see much action given how much clipping is already in this circuit haha.

Yeah, no need to stress that much over a silicon diode