Walk into almost any guitar shop and you will find a small orange box near the register. The Boss DS-1 Distortion has been on sale since 1978, and it has never left the catalog. It is cheap enough to be a first pedal, tough enough to live on a touring board for decades and simple enough that you can dial in a usable sound in under a minute.
Here is what the DS-1 is, why so many players still swear by it, which version to buy and where to find one.
Unknowndivide may earn a commission from purchases made through links in this post.
What it is
The DS-1 Distortion is a compact stompbox with three knobs: Tone, Level and Dist. You plug your guitar into the right side, run a cable from the left side to your amp and step on the big rubber pedal to switch the effect on. It runs on a single 9-volt battery or a Boss PSA series adapter, and Boss rates it for roughly 80 hours on an alkaline battery.
The housing is the same rugged metal shell Boss uses across its compact line, which is a big part of why these pedals survive years of being stomped on. Boss backs it with a five-year warranty.
Where it came from
Boss, the effects brand of the Japanese instrument maker Roland, launched its compact pedal series in 1977 with three models: the OD-1 Overdrive, the PH-1 Phaser and the SP-1 Spectrum. The orange DS-1 joined them a year later.
According to Boss, most distortion pedals of the 1970s were fuzz boxes that turned buzzy and muddy when you pushed the gain. For the DS-1, its engineers combined the two most common drive circuits of the era, a transistor stage and an operational amplifier (op-amp) stage, into one hard-clipping design. The result was tight, aggressive distortion that kept its clarity even at full gain. Boss says the DS-1 is the best-selling compact pedal it has ever made, with more than 1.5 million sold.
Players who have spoken to Boss about it include jazz guitarist Mike Stern, who told the company he has used the DS-1 on every one of his own records, and George Lynch, who told Boss it has been his default distortion since the 1980s.
Why it is still worth buying
- The tone knob is smarter than it looks. Most tone controls only cut treble. The DS-1 uses what Boss calls a tilt control: turn it one way and the highs go up while the lows go down, turn it the other way and the reverse happens. That lets you go from a cutting rhythm sound to a thick lead voice with one knob.
- It is two pedals in one. With the Dist knob low and the Level knob high, it works as a clean boost to push an amp that is already breaking up. With Dist high, it is a full distortion in its own right.
- It cleans up well. Boss notes that rolling back your guitar's volume knob cleans up the sound without turning it to mud, so you can play quieter parts without stepping on anything.
- It is a modder's favorite. Its simple circuit has made it a popular starting point for pedal builders who add their own tweaks, which is a good sign of how solid the original design is.
Which version to buy
- DS-1 Distortion. The original, unchanged design. Start here if you want the classic sound at the lowest cost.
- DS-1W Waza Craft. Released in 2022 as part of the premium Waza Craft line, with a revised discrete analog circuit. A mode switch gives you the original sound in Standard mode and a fatter, more midrange-heavy sound in Custom mode, with 6 decibels of extra output. It also has a high-quality buffer for a cleaner signal when the pedal is off. This is the one to buy if the DS-1 will be your main drive pedal.
- DS-2 Turbo Distortion. Introduced in 1987. Its Turbo I mode sits close to the DS-1, while Turbo II adds an extra gain stage and a midrange boost for solos.
- DS-1X Distortion. A 2014 digital take that uses Boss Multi-Dimensional Processing (MDP) to analyze your playing in real time. It is for players who want maximum clarity and low noise rather than the vintage character.
Collectors also hunt for the DS-1-4A, a black 40th anniversary edition sold through 2018, and the pearl white DS-1-WH limited run from 2024.
How to set it up
Start with all three knobs at noon, then bring Dist down to around nine o'clock if you are playing into an amp that is already a little crunchy. Boss points out that the DS-1 has a slight dip in the lower midrange, so it tends to sound fullest through amps with a strong midrange. If your amp sounds thin with it, try turning the Tone knob down a little.
Put it early in your chain, after a tuner and before modulation and delay. It pairs nicely with a tape-style echo like the one in our Roland RE-201 Space Echo story, and it stacks well with other drive pedals. If you want a fuzz alongside it, read our look at the Big Muff Pi, and for a gentler overdrive see the EarthQuaker Devices Plumes.
Where to buy
Boss lists authorized dealers through its dealer locator. Online, you can pick up the original Boss DS-1 Distortion, the upgraded Boss DS-1W Waza Craft Distortion or the dual-mode Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion. If you would rather skip batteries, add the Boss PSA-120S2 power adapter. Check current pricing before you order, since the Waza Craft version costs noticeably more than the original.
Building out the rest of your setup? Our home studio starter gear guide covers what to plug it into. More in our home studio hub.
