DS-1 Distortion
The orange legend since 1978 - hard-clipping distortion used by Cobain, Vai, and countless others.
Released in 1978, the DS-1 went on to become Boss's all-time bestseller and arguably the most recognized distortion pedal in existence. That orange enclosure has lived on more pedalboards than any other dirt box.
The circuit pairs silicon 1N4148 clipping diodes in a hard-clipping configuration with a transistor boost stage up front. Early Japanese units used a Toshiba TA7136AP op-amp; later revisions switched to the Mitsubishi M5223AL and other chips, sparking endless debates about which era sounds best. A pre-distortion bass cut keeps the low end tight no matter how hard you push it.
Three knobs: Tone, Level, and Distortion. Roll back Distortion for gritty crunch, crank it for smooth, compressed sustain. The Tone control is surprisingly usable across its full range. At 4mA current draw, a single 9V battery lasts practically forever.
Kurt Cobain ran one into a Fender Twin for Bleach and early Nirvana gigs. Steve Vai and Joe Satriani both relied on it for years. Prince used it on Purple Rain. At around $60 new, it remains the cheapest ticket to a proven distortion tone.
Used By
Reverb
Amazon
