Burlap and Blues, The Blues Blog

One of the best selling distortion pedals in the world is the Boss DS-1. This pedal is a good starting point for many guitarists looking for a distorted sound.

Follow up:

Although the Boss DS-1 is a good start, it is probably only that, a good start. There are very few situations that I have found that the stock Boss DS-1 can work well.

This pedal is pretty simple, volume, tone and distortion. Playing this through a solid state amp is a very unpleasing sound. It becomes very harsh quickly and sounds more like fingernails on a chalkboard than a distorted sound.

Playing a DS-1 through a tube amp is a little more forgiving. With the distortion turned most of the way down, it can be a very pleasing light rock sound, but it still sounds pretty harsh going up from 12:00 on the distorted sound. As with my experience, most analog pedals do sound better going through a tube amp vs. going through a solid state amp.

Although most players start with a DS-1, this pedal was actually the second distortion pedal that I have owned. I have actually owned 3 DS-1's, 2 I gave away and the last one I owned is a modded DS-1, which I will write about a little later.

Tomorrow the first distortion pedal that I have ever owned!