DS-1 vs. Tubescreamer

MIJ mod for a MIT would be pretty pointless though... ive been thru 2 MIT ds-1s and one MIJ--- then i got my last MIT one modded by randolph. the modded one sounded Wayyy better then stock. more mids and overall punchiness. But even so i sold it in the end... fell in love with my barber od ( thanks malcom ) ...

bottom line is you should use a stock ds-1. use it till you know what improvements you need then get it modded. The stock design has quite a few upgradable aspects ranging from making it louder to reducing the fizzy highs. But if you dont like the Ds-1 as it is... you wont like it no matter what.

dont play your ds-1 thru a solidstate 15watt amp and moan it sucks... cus if you try it through a nice cranked tube amp, you will LOVE it.
 
theblueark said:
You can get a 2nd hand stock DS1 for about $50. You can perform the simplest of mods, which is to get rid of the sillycon diodes and put in a 3mm red LED, then change out one capacitor. This basically gets rid of the thinness, makes it fat and chunky and lots more clean headroom.
Click to expand...

does the swap in led improve tone? anyway capacitor, is to swap in a same higher end capacitor, or totally swap in a different value capacitor? Swapping in a better capacitor but with same value will it improve the sound? Or there is no "better" capacitor with same value? I can do solder pretty well, i wanna try buaahaha :lol: hope i wun screw up
 
I think he meant the value of the cap. A 'better' cap would be one which has better tolerances or more suited for a particular frequency, like using ceramic or electrolytic ones. Yeah but I think blueark has quite a lot of detail on this on his webby, and makes quite a lot of comparisons with the different types of mods, do check it out.

Haha, yes, he doesnt pay me for the promotion. I will only recommend it if it was actually good. :D
 
www.analogman.com

Analogmike did up a short writeup on the problems with the MIT to MIJ mod...

I prefer the stock MIJ DS1 to everything else so far. Keeley, Randolf, Analogman, MIT silver/black (right?), etc.... I think the MIJ is the best for me ears. But everyone's take on the DS1 is different.
 
IMO, if you don't have a tube amp or tube amp modeler, there's no point in using the DS-1 or the TS-9. The sounds you hear from artistes like slash has tube amps in the equation. Artistes use the DS-1, TS-9 or other pedals for that matter just to boost the tube amp for even more saturation, and to provide a little colouring to their tone. I would strongly suggest a GT-2 for your case, then an overdrive pedal in the future to boost the clean mod if you dislike the sounds of hi-gain and hot-wired.

Or, you can get a crunch box. Heh.
 
The stock DS1 probably can't boost a tube amp much. The diodes clip the signal off way too early.

Shredded, there are many mods which can be performed on the DS1. Keely and analogman like to swap out many of the components for more expensive ones but the bulk of the change in tone comes from swapping the clipping diodes and the capacitor in parallel with them. Changing that capacitor to a higher value will retain more lows. 0.047uF to replace the 0.01uF is the usual mod. Any higher and it will sound rather muddy.

The change in diode to the 3mm red will result in a later clipping, meaning more clean headroom. The LED clipper also has a tendency to clip of rather quickly, giving you a nice crunch. You can experiment with LEDs of different sizes and colours too. They have different clipping values and will alter the tone differently. There is no 'best' becuase everyone likes different things so the only way to know which is the 'best' for you is to try try try try try.

If you wanna do a really really bare to the bones simple mod, change one of the clipping diodes to the 3mm red and the cap in parallel with it to a 0.047uF one. Or just the diode if you are really really really scared. The diode changes the tone the most. The capacitor is rather subtle but it does help.

There are some mods you can do to reduce or increase the distortion if I recall, but I think the range as it is is rather satisfactory.
 
Hey blueark, is there any way to install a pre boost bass control, like on the blackstar, on any pedal? Maybe the DS-1, as an example.
 
It probably isn't too hard to add one in. However tweaking it to sound nice and have a good sweep along the whole pot will take some experimenting.
 
eh finally someone heard my call for ah beng lights la. haha, come'on man, let's all rip that lousy blue led and replace it with multicoloured ones all over the case la. :lol:

Neon lights anyone? Zhng my ds1. 8)
 
The multicoloured LEDs can affect your sound when its on and flashing... i dunno the correct terms but some guy insisted on having multicoloured LEDs done by Randolf, and there was this thumping everytime the LED changed colour.

Needless to say, the dude wanted to play more than techno music in at 1 tempo for the rest of his life.

So he because a cliche LED light user like us.
 
ShredCow said:
The multicoloured LEDs can affect your sound when its on and flashing... i dunno the correct terms but some guy insisted on having multicoloured LEDs done by Randolf, and there was this thumping everytime the LED changed colour.

Needless to say, the dude wanted to play more than techno music in at 1 tempo for the rest of his life.

So he because a cliche LED light user like us.
Click to expand...

the thumping is due to the voltage/current changes when the LED changes color. there should be a work around for this but so far the D.I.S.C.O. LEDs that I've used have been relatively Eurotrash Techno free.

I need to find one that does DnB. Then I'll call it the HardStepJunglemeister DS-1 mod!
 
superkicky said:
EH can add the neon lights under or not?? I guess there's a reason why there's a "turbo" DS-2 ;)
Click to expand...

of course!!!!! I can fix some EL lights along it like those computer case modders...

This one I'll call the FengTauLisko DS2 mod!
 
Can install cooling system? My tube DS1 gets pretty hot :lol:

Neon glo cooling system with transparent casing. Throw in the disco LEDs also.
 
i tink ah seng is no longer the dodgiest. ark here is much more dodgy i seen him first hand in his DODGINESS!
 
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