Boss DS1 "Hair metal" mod

[Xavier]

I just bought a cheap DS1 with the only purpose to see what i could do with it.....and for the first time -after having possibly bought & sold 6 or 7 of them along the years_ I think I found something usable.

- The purpose of this mod is to improve the DS1 for its use as a stand alone distortion pedal. Not an overdrive, not a booster. It is meant to be used on a clean channel.

- EQ wise it's meant to be "flat". Tried lower resistor values for R16 but it increased mids too much

- First goal was to get rid of the "fuzzy sag" compression effect inherent to the DS1 (specially noticeable with high output pickups, where notes choke and drop in volume the harder you pick them).

- 2nd goal was to get rid of the excess fizziness while maintaining the original clipping diodes . In my experience with other mods, LED clippers boost volume but they have some side effects ...they sound good for crunchy tones but they lack sustain and "liquidness" for leads

- This is a quiet mod, since the clipping section remains unchanged, some might find this mod "not loud enough". I personally like the volume knob at 50%. Maybe a simple LPB1 at the output ? (R23/C14 joint) ?

These are the mods:
R7 180K
R13 2K
C10 0,047mF
10nF cap across the tone pot legs (the outer legs)
R35 2k2 (more brightness for the 5 mm LED)

- Credit goes to MisterTrimpot at Diystompboxes.com for the R7/R13 suggestion.

Here's a video to illustrate how it sounds...hopefully it will be useful for some people.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czmLQ9zDbwg

[deadastronaut]

nice, sounds like you breathed a bit of life into the old ds1...cool

[tranceracer]

Wow sounds really good!  great mod!