INTRODUCED IN 1978, the Boss DS-1 Distortion was the first such pedal released by Boss, arriving just two years after the release of the company's debut pedal, the CE-1 Chorus Ensemble. For this reason, it was many players' first distortion pedal. Like the ProCo Rat that arrived the same year, the DS-1 used two hard-clipping diodes for an aggressive edge. This became known as distortion, rather than the smoother overdrive of soft-clipping stompboxes. The DS-1 was not op-amp based. Instead, it used the Toshiba TA7136AP preamplifier, for a gritty and warm overdrive tone.
This story is from the February 2023 edition of Guitar Player.
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This story is from the February 2023 edition of Guitar Player.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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