I remember owning one of these back in the day, and even then I wondered what all the fuss was about. I bought another recently to see if my memory of it being a thin, buzzy, nasty sounding thing was false. My memory was being kind...
OK the one I have isn't an original from the early 80s, but it really is horrid sounding, IMHO. To me, it sounds like a fuzz pedal with the bias wrong - thin, characterless and lacking in any redeeming features.
Am I alone in this? And for those that actually like this pedal, how do you use it?
Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.
Comments
You aren't alone.
I bought one a few months ago after wondering what all the fuss was about.
It doesn't sound horrendous, but didn't even begin to meet my expectations. Luckily they are cheap to buy and easily sold on.
I actually like both...
The ds1 is a proper garage rock pedal when in a slightly overdriven amp, and my mate uses one (stock, new) into an ac15 for a Foo Fighters covers band. Sounds great!
The sd-1 is the overdrive pedal to boost a Marshall. Pinch harmonics scream. Listen to anything by black label society and that's pretty much an sd-1 into a jcm800, sometimes two of them with a stereo chorus. Sounds massive.
The ds-2 is my pick, though. Into a clean amp on turbo mode with a strat = John frusciante slane castle opening.
All three have tons of mods for more booteek and refined sounds, too, the keeley seeing eye mod is pretty fantastic.
I use one, same as I use a Bad Monkey, or SD-1, IE into the front of a dirty amp as a gain/volume boost. It does work pretty well in that context.
When I had my first one I did like you find it thin, brittle, noisey, and, frankly, a bit shit. That was into a cheap little transistor amp. In to th front of a dirty DSL, it's a pretty pokey snarly rock beast. Probably better for heavier styles than more classic-rock styles.
It's certainly got more gain than a SD-1, and can get quite nasty when pushed right up. I tend to put all the controls to roughly 2 oclock (anywhere from 12-3 really) and use it as a lead boost.
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
It's quite a scooped distortion tone so putting it in front of a Fender amp, which is also on the scooped side, probably won't work well. In front of a mid biased amp like a Marshall will likely yield better results IMO.
used as a "dirty amp channel" the DS-1 is crap, not what it is good for at all. For that situation I'd use a Marshall Guv'nor* or MXR D3.
*hmm, might try a DS-1 into a Mk1 (or 2) Guv'nor this weekend......
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
Worth a shot. Certainly I've tried a number of different drives and some sound better than others as an alternative to a dirty amp channel, some work better as lead boosts.
IMO the DS-1 and SD-1 fit into the latter catagory.
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
(Interesting aside: my phone autocorrected "good" to "fools". Quite apply in the context )
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I love mine its great
Think is a keeley modded one though if that makes a difference