Easiest Boss DS-1 Mod [No Soldering] w/ Audio Examples 

your just removing the clipping diodes, so instead of the signal being hard clipped by the diodes and being amplified by transistors, its just a transistor boost, the only thing making the overdrive is the transistors clipping out due to lack of headroom, you just turned your distortion into an overdrive

I was looking for dark souls videos but this is cool too

Great mod and demo video. We can see the mod done, and hear a clear and definite change. Great work!

Just did this!!. Added the DS1 back into my pedal board. Sounds great stacked with the Ibenez tube screamer and Mojo Mojo Pedals. But freakin aye. What a simple awsome mod!!

I like the sound of the modded one a lot better! I was gifted one of these years ago and never really used it before, but I'm definitely going to try this mod out. Thanks!

Just did this, 10/10 would recommend, I snipped both ends of diodes D4 and D5 and removed them completely, ran it into my Hot Rod Deville 2x12 with each eq ran at 6 (straight up/unity), stayed on the the clean channel, popped the modded DS-1 on and FINALLY found the hard rock tone I’ve been looking for! Thanks so much!

Hi guys !..I just did this mod to mine earlier . Before the mod ?. Too much fizzy top end on the distortion , a little too compressed sounding , note definition on chords was not very pronounced and lastly , unity can only be achieved with the level set at 2 O'clock . After the mod - Unity gain is now at 10'o clock , Huge volume increase , Top end fizz has dropped and distortion is reduced by 25-30% on distortion , Note definition has improved even with the distortion maxed out. This mod made the DS-1 much more pleasant and more usable for leads and chords....much warmer and natural sounding ,I definitely recommend this mod..give it a try.

Awesome video, thanks for posting! This is quite motivating for me to get my mod on.

Thanks. Just did this last night and wow it's such a better tone

Definitely a little fuzzier, definitely breaking up a little more. The stock configuration is thinner but tighter. Interesting option. Honestly I'd probably want one of each...

Holy cow, I just did this a few weeks ago and it sounds incredible! Thank you for showing this mod off, even if it is super easy, the end result is wicked.

I did this after watching your video. This mod took my ds1 from unusable to one of my favorite pedals! Thank you!

You only have to desolder ONE side of the 2 diodes then you put a small isolating shrinkable or an electric tape. This way, you can easily replace them as it was... I like the resulting tone ! thanks !

Just did this to my pedal, and it sounds incredible. Wish I had done it sooner!

Such a simple mod to get an overall more controllable sound is worth the while kudos

Huge improvement (& listening w/ hi end studio monitors). Just a lot more clarity for one.Someone gave me one of these years ago & never use. Might be worth digging out and giving this a try. I use a Fulltone Fulldrive for my drive sound into single channel Mesa, but might be nice to have 2nd gain stage just for giggles (esp. if basically free)

I think this is a personal preference thing. They both sound good, they just sound different

Found a DS-1 for about $20 and picked it up more out of curiosity than anything. After one test drive I put it back in the box and never looked at it again. Then I gave this mod a shot and now it's a usable pedal. Turn the distortion all the way down and toggle the tone knob to your guitar. Really useful if you're looking for a situational dirty boost to gritty up an otherwise low gain rig or if you're looking for that Freddie King, "Quad about to explode with the treble dimed" sound. If you've got a set of clippers and 5 minutes, it's worth a look. Thanks!!

I did this mod after watching this vid a few months back. Night and day, thanks.

I just did this mod! Wow! I loved my DS1 but i could only use it on a overdriven amp. Now I can use it in a clean amp an go from clean to scream in a second! Top end fizz is gone. I can even use the tone knob at 12 oclock without sounding like a bee hive. Just wonderful. I liked this pedal before but now i can say is my favourite ever.

You turned a distortion into an overdrive. Sounds exactly like I expected.

Hey dude, definitely gonna try out this mod. Thanx!

Thanks!! I just modded my ds1 and I like way more than the stock one

Wow! I was skeptical about doing this mod so I simply unsoldered one side of the diodes with a cheap iron and some solder wick, and stood them up off the board. What a difference! I have a 2000 model DS-1 with the signature "fizzy" sound. Now it sounds clean and more like a quality overdrive with some breakup. Definitely great for a neck pickup blues sound with the gain turned down, but still rocks smooth Satch style leads with the gain up. And here I was thinking about getting rid of this pedal. It's back on the board now to stay! Can't wait to try it with my Strat!

Most people use the DS1 the wrong way in the first place, it’s meant to be put in front of a valve amp that’s starting to break up or already overdriving. It works best on British type amps and as an always on type of pedal. The DS1 is not meant to turn a Fender twin into a jcm 800.

Simple but noticeable mod; thanks for posting!

just did this. love it. highly recommend it.

Just did this mod for mine. I like it way better than the stock, especially the volume boost. It does lose some hair, but I’m willing to give that up to have a usable pedal. It does kinda make it into an SD-1 instead of a DS-1. Pretty sure the SD is more expensive so this saves money.

If Boss watch this I'd imagine they'd immediately start (proceedings. Lol !!) drawing up plans for a new pedal that emulates your mod ( which's really fab btw) thus making themselves a shed load of dosh. They'll have a patent on the mod faster than a Jimi Hendrix lick. Thoroughly enjoyed the vid - thanx v much !! Rxx

Great demo, thanks!

this video should have way more views! very well done and informative :)

This could sound good in front of a hot Marshall amp. Nice video.

Appreciate it man. Love the background music btw

Interesting... And I love the background music

That sound at 7:00 makes me think of J Mascis. Awesome video!

the mod is a tad muddy but sounds awesome, a really cool thing to do is try to add a pot to blend the two if that's even possible , or an even easier mod is add a switch to bypass the diodes while still being able to have the stock sound. i just bought 2 of these!!! hell yeah

Nice playing man!

Can someone mod your background music

Like your intro song. Great video.

Perfect mod, just did it with switches - on-off-on / so I now can change the clipping between 1n4001, original boss diode, and no-diode on both position i mean i did the same for d4 and for d5.

hey man thanks a lot I'm going to do that to my DS1 really helpful

Awesome mod!!! Turns these horrible pedal into a boutique sound machine

You neutered it man! It can't have kids now, it's got no diodes!!! Haha

Grear Mod w/comparison VIdeo....Perfect

You can add a switch so you go between the diodes and no diodes, and if you want to change how it gets fizzy and fuzzy change a the cap that controls the cutoff frequency.

ah yes ive done this mod but used a 3-way switch to select germanium/led or the geranium asymettric clipping as well. And i used a resistor change on the switch as it was double pole to change the amount of gain on the diode-less channel. The increase of gain caused a transistor or capacitor to clip aswell when the gain is totally maxed out created some strange octave-like effects

I did this and I actually installed sockets so I could try different diodes but I eventually settled on nothing because it functions more like an overdrive with a ton of boost.

I actually like the stock sound. I’m using a Marshall amp and Humbucker pups.

i did this mod with a pair of mini scissors and its much louder and cleaner almost like a clean warm crunch instead on the digital distortion type of sound it use to get it sounds much warmer and cleaner not as much distortion but nice

it feels like in playing the Sims with this background music.

love the background music

nice mod! The stock Ds-1 sounded like it was 'choked'. The modded ds-1 sounded open

I would have liked to see you move the tone knob around and see what other sounds you can get out of the modded one.

The DS1 was meant to sound great with a warmer, slightly overdriven amp, i.e. Marshalls. Which it does. Esp with humbuckers. Bottom line, it's all about using the right pedal for the right set up. Btw, same with the output. I like keeping unity gain so the DS1 is perfect for me. Peace!

This is actually transforming distortion pedal into overdrive pedal with a lot of boost options

This makes the DS-1 sound more like BD-2, slightly fuzzier. I'd say, if you're looking for this modded sound in the first place maybe it would be better to look at other pedals first.

did it tonight :) it's way better like this !!! kudos !

I did this and instantly hear a difference. I like the overall tone more of mod but I am hearing more of a crackly uneven break up more then a nice even break up like an overdrive. I don't know if id recommend this mod quite yet or not.

Pretty much turns it into a tube screamer. If you want to have a lot of fun add a six way rotary switch (like the shack used to sell) with 6 different diode combos, asymmetrical, led, germanium and you pretty much get 6 pedals in one. The hardest part is figuring out where the switch should go. I used to do that to every solid state amp I had.

i came here bc i heard Whirr uses a modded DS-1 and well yeah lol sounds cool

You can also try and add 2 red LED's instead of the silicon diodes. Silicon diodes are known for reducing the output volume of a distorsion's clipping circuit. That´s why many boutique pedals and vintage pedals preferred the red LED's as clipping diodes.

JUST did this mod 5 mins ago and HOLY SHIT what a wake up

thanks again man

The modded version took on sort of a Neil Young/Crazy Horse type feel.

Sounds like ds1 into a sd1.

Great video. The modded pedal sounds like it would be perfect for a Green Day - Brain Stew sound.

Great vid. Thx

the volume jump is because the diodes clip the voltage which reduces the volume. if you want good clipping, try using LED's in place of those, you'll be shocked.

that is incredible

please do the video for the TONE MOD ..

Did this to my pedal a few months ago and it certainly beefs up the sound, apparently the stock ds1 has a weak output? Because my clean sounds are louder which is annoying even with the pedal boosted full, it sounds much better taking the diodes out but it weirdly takes away feedback which I happen to love

did cut d5 at my 93´ (latest japan version) ds-1 and it turned louder but sounded a little bit like a dry fart. i put d5 back again.

Awesome, thanks!

How about just replacing the stock 4148s with a vf of 0.7V with LEDs with vfs of 1V and higher. More output volume, still clippers.

Have you ever tried running this pedal thru the effects loop before doing the mod, and if so have you used it in the effects loop after the mod?

I had a ds and my friend accidentally use a wrong voltage then one of the components burn is there any hope to revive

Louder warmer still fizzy. Analogman or Keeley mod best

very nice, do you know if the arion sd1 has the same circuitry board? ive been wanting to raise my dist. volume to balance out when pedal is off, was thinking of a compressor but hate to have a clutter of pedals at my feet, this would be a great solution

Ah, so this is the curious Snip-Snip or D4-D5 mod! How does it compare with more expensive mods such as Keeley one? Do we need to remove both? If not, which one, D4 or D5 first? What happens only one diode is removed? I am curious about Rat2. How do they compare after DS-1 gets modified like this? My stock DS-1 is not that satisfying so I have been wondering if I need to buy a Rat2 - but I already have too many pedals :( Looking forward to hearing anything!

did you ever throw the mossfets in there ? oh i see that video up there ... duh i will check it out cool video . i got a ds1 recently as a gift and i really like the feel of the boos switching system but the dirt could be "better" maybe ?

2023/08/29 14:15 Istanbul Time. I have detach with iron one ends of the both diodes. My experience so far is very very positive. I want to thank you for the tip. I test it with HH configured guitar and my Peavey Studio Pro 110 Amp connected to 2X12 Laney Cab. A fizzy pedal that I didn't use maybe for 25 years become almost a preamp and a good one.What's left is again a proper mod to to Tone knob but even in this configuration it becomes more usable, but that's an option for now.. I have also a Boss OD-3 and I believe I can use it as a booster or solo channel. I also insert directly to my sound card and I use Cubase and with Voxengo Boogex IR plugin and Spectre 2023 V30 Cab Simulation it's nice amp sound. I may go directly record with it With low gain settings it's a very touch sensitive Blues Combo. It becomes an inspiring tool. I am not a guy try to chasing guitar heroes of 80's and more into blues, hard rock and modern country (guitars sound good and meaningful) and that's the mod like I have another amp in my tiny collection (A Randall 50 W, Blackstar HT5, Boss Katana MK2 Head). Thanks again for that and greetings from Çanakkale, Turkey.

Sounds good. My question was does this make my DS 1 sound like a Blues Driver pedal ? Mostly some drive with some dirt, but not so much as stock?

What's the background noise like on the modded one? One thing I've noticed with my stock DS-1 is that it can be a little noisy when the gain is cranked. Also, it sounds better with the mod. I've been considering modding mine, but wasn't sure what to do or how to do it. So I might consider this one

hey. Nice. scored a CHEEEP ds1 in tonbridge, uk. Lovely town. do see it. was looking at the very same mod. Is that your electrictronic composition at the beginning? great sound recording of the mod

Modded one sounds like an overdrive, not distortion anymore

What if you threw some germanium transistors in there instead of mosfet? I think if it worked out well there would definitely be a market for a "Germanium DS-1"

Ok I have a question before doing this to my own. Will it ruin the combo sound of running the DS1 into a high gain amp to get that sunlight studios guitar tone? IE Swedish Death Metal (Entombed, Dismember, Bloodbath, Grave)

can I do that with SD-1 super overdrive? I did it with DS-1 and save my pedal to can be used.

Nice job. Just might try this. Being that they SUCK ASS stock you can find these pretty cheap. But you forgot the most important mod of all; the LED indicator light. How is anyone at your gigs going to know you modded this into a tone beast unless you put a super bright blue or purple on in there...plus it improves tone too.

Good and interesting! I have same issue weak output volume on my Boss Turbo Overdrive. If it is not too much disturb would You please suggest me how increase volume on it? Thanks in advance!

Thanks!

Just did this mod. Super easy and great guide. What kind of capacitors would you suggest to change the tone?

Did you remove or replace the Capacitor and if replaced ,what with?..Thanks

After removing the diodes, does the IC provide 100% of the clipping?

Would it be possible to add tube(s) in substitution to some transistor in the DS1?

Hello Thank you for the tutorial ! Actually my DS-1's circuit doesn't look like yours... Mod is still possible on my model ? Thanks

Could you demo the EQ differences a little more?

I was wondering if you can just break them off

I dunno but the modded sounds like nasal, i like the sharpness of stock pushed with preamp

Nice !