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Possibly the best known & most widely used distortion pedal of all time...the epic Boss DS-1. This is a 1982 model made in Japan.
Modern DS-1's have a reputation for sounding thin & harsh. Not so with these MIJ vintage models...the low end is huge! They have hard-clipping diodes which give them their distinctive raspy tone and very scoopy mids.
As is the case with lots of vintage overdrive/distortion pedals though, bear in mind that many of the 'classic' tones associated with the DS-1 would have been achieved by running it into cranked amps that were compressing, and thus stacking the gain. Here, we're just running it into a clean amp so that we can hear the pedal's true colours.
Also, the DS-1 is one of the most modified pedals in history - so many of those tones might have actually been from modded pedals! This DS-1 is totally stock.
Guitar is a 1991 Gibson Les Paul Standard through a Hughes & Kettner Puretone, recorded with a simple SM57 and an sE Electronics RNR1 Ribbon.
jp@joeperkins.co.uk
