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man0mule
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First pedal I ever bought, great all-around pedal that can suit many different styles.
Ivan Milenkovic
First pedal here too smile.gif Still own it, i guess it is one of the earlier models. This pedal is legendary and a reference one. Everyone knows that sound.

I must write that it is not just for metal. (at least not modern metal). It has a hursh distortion suited best for old school hard rock and classic rock. I agree that it sounds little too metallic on solidstate amps (everything sound like that on a solid state - half-joke-half-true smile.gif ). The dynamics of this pedal is the best. It really helps the good player to sound great because it amplifies all the subtle nuances of his playing.The best use i`ve seen with it is to use it with something like a JCM800 as a booster. But that is limited to hardrock and similar only. But hey, for that you cannot beat the sound smile.gif. Little advice - if you have this pedal, don`t sell it EVER, it is cheap and gives well beyond of what is worth.
Juan M. Valero
It wasn't my first pedal but I get it for a long time and I really love it, it's a very good pedal with a good distortion.
mattacuk
It is a very good pedal, I have the Keeley DS-1 ultra and it rocks!! Im sure the stock pedal is also great value for money smile.gif
VinceG
Ive tried this on my solid state amps (crate and kustom) and did not like the over all tone that it gave me. Maybe its just me. But it does sound pretty good when you run it through a tube but definitely not for solid state amps.
mattacuk
I think your right Vince, I had an MD-2 on a solid state and it sounded awful. On my Vox tube amp they sound totally different. I think the Digitech is a great buy for solid state amp owners smile.gif
Ivan Milenkovic
I also used DS1 on my solid state Marshall and it sounded really awfull and sintetic. Now i`m using it sometimes with my hybrid AVT50x and it sounds really nice and rich-sounding. With the tube amp, like i wrote DS1+JCM800 - you can`t beat the sound no matter how you try smile.gif
WTN
QUOTE (man0mule @ Nov 24 2007, 03:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
What? Distortion
Who? Boss
Model? DS-1
Playing style? Any style but best suited for metal.
How much? $40 US + $15 for AC Adapter
Time Owned? About a year

Click to view attachment

I've long owned an Ibanez TubeScreamer, and my amp does have a dirty channel, but I was never able to get that crunchy sound. not untill i bought this little pedal. It's the most basic little distortion pedal. Only has 3 dials for Tone, Level, and Distortion.

Pros: Very simplistic. Amazing tones. Can get some warm slightly distorted stuff as well as some thick and heavy crunch. Durable. low price.

Cons: There have been some reports that this pedal sounds shrill through a solid state amp. I only have a tube amp now so i can't comment on this. Like all pedals it eats 9v batteries so an AC adapter is a must.

If your going after a warm bluesey overdriven sound than this is not the pedal for you. This will get you more of a metal crunch but you can also turn the distortion knob all the way down for some more subtle distortion. After playing with this pedal i'm starting to dislike my tube screamer. The quality of sound seems so much better through this. Alot less noise, and doesn't seem to change the overall EQ of the guitar as much as my tubescreamer does. If the Boss overdrive pedal sounds as good as this one then I might replace my tubescreamer with a Boss Overdrive pedal.



There have already been some replys about the Keeley mod. The DS1 out of the box is quite shrill (as you mentioned) . With the Keeley mod - which is mostly replacing inferior capacitors with superior capacitors, this box takes on a completely different sound - much much smoother - no nasty high frequency artifacts.
I know Andrew has one of the modded DS-1's. I bought a stock one and did the mods myself. Well worth the effort.
Andrew Cockburn
QUOTE (WTN @ Dec 1 2007, 09:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I know Andrew has one of the modded DS-1's. I bought a stock one and did the mods myself. Well worth the effort.


Amen to that - where did you get the mod specs from? Does Keeley publish them, or is there another website?

By the way, Keeley are a super nice company to deal with - I have ordered from them twice, and each time, after the sale, Robert Keeley emailed me personally to make sure that all was well!
WTN
QUOTE (Andrew Cockburn @ Dec 1 2007, 08:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Amen to that - where did you get the mod specs from? Does Keeley publish them, or is there another website?

By the way, Keeley are a super nice company to deal with - I have ordered from them twice, and each time, after the sale, Robert Keeley emailed me personally to make sure that all was well!


Oh boy - this was a while back but I did find the mod instructions on the internet - let me check.
WTN
QUOTE (WTN @ Dec 1 2007, 09:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Oh boy - this was a while back but I did find the mod instructions on the internet - let me check.



Here is a link:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-con...ll-seeing-eye-/

I beleive Robert has made some improvements to his "seeing-eye" mod. Like I said, I made these mods a few years ago. The article above mentions "Small Bear" for the parts. I used Mouser. This is not a mod for a novice, so if you have never used a soldering iron (on small components) just order the box from Robert Keely. I knew what I was doing and thought this was difficult. But well worth the effort.
Andrew Cockburn
Thanks Tracy - I got my DS-1 from Keeley, but now I have moved to a bigger house with an associated bigger mortgage, next time I want one of these I may mod it myself! (have had plenty of experience with a soldering iron in my younger days!)
WTN
QUOTE (Andrew Cockburn @ Dec 1 2007, 09:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Thanks Tracy - I got my DS-1 from Keeley, but now I have moved to a bigger house with an associated bigger mortgage, next time I want one of these I may mod it myself! (have had plenty of experience with a soldering iron in my younger days!)


Yes, it's always rewarding to do your own mods - if you have the time and patience. The modded DS-1 through a Marshall 100W 4X12 cab is incredible. One just needs a little bit of gain on the DS-1 to drive the 1974 amp (which is by today's standards fairly clean) into the high gain 2007 arena.

That said, when I scored my 1994 Mesa Tremoverb (on Ebay) - I don't need any pedals. This amp is perfect.
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