Is My Boss DS-1 Modified?

gubble

Hello - I purchased a Boss DS-1 from ebay for the bargain price of £15.

I've owned a couple of them before and sold them on as never really liked them, but when this one appeared on my radar at a cheap price i decided to have it on the basis that we should all really own a DS-1.

Anyway a few months after buying it I finally got round to plugging it and trying it out. It doesn't sound much like a DS-1 at all. In fact it sounds really good. It feels like it has more midrange and isn't as harsh sounding as the others i've owned. It also works really well as a boost. I've tried it through a variety of amps and sounds great with each of them.

So the questions - how can I tell if it's modded? It's a Taiwan model and has a few chips here and there on the paintwork but looks 100% stock as far as I can tell.

stickyfiddle

open it up, take a pic of the component side of the circuit board and we'll be able to tell you

It might've had the clipping diodes changed and/or a new chip installed. Those are the obvious mods. My DS1 has both and sounds awesome

ICBM

When was it made, any idea? I have wondered if the Taiwanese ones have changed at some point.

ROOG

Hi Stickyfiddle, I have an 'unloved ebay' SD-1 which sees little use, I'd be interested in modding it, can you tell us what mods you recommend please?

stickyfiddle

@ROOG ;

Mine has a diode switch, which swaps between some combination of regular diodes and LEDs for clipping. One side is diodes, one side LEDs and the middle setting is both I think. It also has a new chip - an OPA2134PA according to the markings on it. It needs an adaptor to swap in a regular square-shaped chip in place of the stock linear one.

That stuff combine to make it less fizzy, more amp-like and generally fatter and more useful, so I'm told. That said it's been years since I used a stock DS1, so I can't say exactly how big an effect the mods have!

EDIT: That's assuming your post is a typo and you mean DS1. I hae no idea about SD1 mods!

ROOG

@stickyfiddle

When I have a moment I'll take a look inside.

I can see that the diode swap would have an effect, and also how capacitor changes could, I'm not so sure about the amp though, I recall a recent vid made for or by Visual sound I think which seemed to dispel the value of op amp "upgrade".

Open to ideas though, provided it doesn't cost too much!      

stickyfiddle

ROOG said:

@stickyfiddle

When I have a moment I'll take a look inside.

I can see that the diode swap would have an effect, and also how capacitor changes could, I'm not so sure about the amp though, I recall a recent vid made for or by Visual sound I think which seemed to dispel the value of op amp "upgrade".

Open to ideas though, provided it doesn't cost too much!      

Yeh, I've seen that same vid. It may well be that it makes little difference. I bought the pedal already modded so no idea how much each mod affects it in real-terms. I have a Rat kit knocking around somewhere that includes the "proper" chip. I'll be interested to compare that to my regular Rat2 when I get it built.

ICBM

ROOG said:

I can see that the diode swap would have an effect, and also how capacitor changes could, I'm not so sure about the amp though, I recall a recent vid made for or by Visual sound I think which seemed to dispel the value of op amp "upgrade".

That's because it's a *downgrade* that you want .

Something like a JRC4558D is actually a really crap op-amp, from a proper audio performance point of view. That's why they sound good - in particular (if I remember correctly) their frequency response is very gain-dependent due to having a poor slew rate, so as you turn up the gain the top-end is progressively smoothed off compared to the mids, a little bit like a valve amp... hence they sound warmer and more natural.

Sporky

I went through a whole load of op-amos while pedal building, and they do indeed sound different. I got as far as a list of "OK" and "not OK" and that was about it.

ROOG

ICBM said:

ROOG said:

I can see that the diode swap would have an effect, and also how capacitor changes could, I'm not so sure about the amp though, I recall a recent vid made for or by Visual sound I think which seemed to dispel the value of op amp "upgrade".

That's because it's a *downgrade* that you want .

Something like a JRC4558D is actually a really crap op-amp, from a proper audio performance point of view. That's why they sound good - in particular (if I remember correctly) their frequency response is very gain-dependent due to having a poor slew rate, so as you turn up the gain the top-end is progressively smoothed off compared to the mids, a little bit like a valve amp... hence they sound warmer and more natural.

@ICBM,

I should have realised that, coming from a 'hifi' back ground I quickly realised that most things in the analogue guitar world are not quite 'conformist'!

How does the old 741 fare in this system of downgrade-ness?

  

ICBM

ROOG said:

How does the old 741 fare in this system of downgrade-ness?

It's even worse... ie sounds great too . It's one of the most primitive op-amps.

Used in the original MXR Distortion+ if I remember... which sound better than the reissues, so it's likely that the 741 has been upgraded at some point, if they're still using it.

ROOG

Oh good, I'm sure I've got some old ones kicking around.

ICBM

I have been known to salvage old JRC4558s from 80s Japanese hi-fi equipment etc - I use them to upgrade Tube Screamers. They really do sound slightly better than the modern 4558s - although ironically the difference is only really noticeable with the pedal distortion setting up high, which is the opposite from how most people who want to upgrade their Tube Screamer want to use them!

ROOG

@ICBM

As a kid I used to salvage parts from old computer pcbs, probably scrapped mainframes, germanium transistors, diodes, capacitors, etc until I realised that their spec was rubbish compared to the new silicon stuff which cost very little anyway.

Threw all that stuff out, only recently wished I kept the trannies, in those days, (60's I assume), they even left a reasonable length of leg on the device so that you could reuse them!  

There was a street in Bristol which had at least three good shops brimming with salvaged electronics stuff, including boxes and boxes of valves, bet that all got skipped too.   

gubble

Hi

I've attached a couple of pics of the board - not sure if you can tell but i didn't want to prise it out too far.

Looks 100% stock to me - which doesn't really explain why it sounds so good - might have to a/b it with another DS-1

steamabacus

This might answer some questions ....http://www.stompboxzone.com/wiki/index.php?title=DS-1_Distortion

Stompboxzone is the successor to the BossArea forum after it died (sound familiar?). If you post some pics there with a serial number, you'll likely get much learned advice from the resident Boss geeks.

gubble

Aha thank you for the links. Managed to date it using the label and some other bits and pieces to 1996.

Not a clue why it sounds so good then, maybe my ears have learned to appreciate it and use it well?

ROOG

Thanks Gubble, I shall be having a look in side mine this week end, I have no idea of its age having bought it used. Useful site, steamabacus. Cheers both.

ICBM

gubble said:

I've attached a couple of pics of the board - not sure if you can tell but i didn't want to prise it out too far.

Looks 100% stock to me - which doesn't really explain why it sounds so good - might have to a/b it with another DS-1

Yes, that looks totally stock to me.

It sounds so good because it's a DS-1 . One of the most unfairly maligned pedals ever. It is true that they seem to vary a bit, and they don't play nice with some amps, but by and large all the versions sound good.

There was an interesting demo video someone posted a while back of a MIJ vs MIT, and they sounded close to identical. My old MIJ one really sounded noticeably different from a MIT one I compared it to though, hence why I wonder if they changed the circuit at some point(s) in the production. There are definite differences in some of the published schematics (apart from just the ACA/PSA adaptor change), but I don't know if they're either accurate or may be date-dependent.

mike_l

Funnily, and I don't want an argument with ICBM, but the DS-1 I had sounded really fizzy, and not at all nice. But then I've found that with pretty much all Boss Distortion pedals.

 

I'm liking the SD-1 and SD-2 overdrive pedals though

stickyfiddle

Yeh, defintely stock. Don't sweat it- if it sounds good it *is* good.