Hi, About the boss ds pedals!

weeping_moon · Post by **weeping_moon** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 7:33 pm

I got them both, ds-1 and ds-2 (turbo distortion). I play a Peavy 4x12 valve king, tube amp.
And i play on fender mustang (with dimarzio mics) and a stratocaster corgan model.. But the dist sounds like shit!! Anyone got the same problem.. It sounds like the dist a beginner guitar player begins with.. Or is it a trix so you can get the sound better?

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 7:38 pm

DS-1 sound terrible to my ears, even when the Kurdt himself used them. You can mod the pedal to sound BETTER but i still don't think they sound great even with mods. The valve king has plenty of good drive sounds on its own, and there are cheap alternative drive pedals aswell.
Is there a particular sound that you would like to get from your guitar-dirt pedal-amp?

Thom · Post by **Thom** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 7:42 pm

Really you need to sell those pedals and buy a better distortion pedal. I've never used a DS-2, but the DS-1 was pretty awful to my ears.
What sort of music do you play?

weeping_moon · Post by **weeping_moon** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 7:48 pm

Thom wrote:Really you need to sell those pedals and buy a better distortion pedal. I've never used a DS-2, but the DS-1 was pretty awful to my ears.
What sort of music do you play?

i like to play joe satriani if you know him. i want the dist to be fat, warm, and a lovley sounding.. because im not a player that only plays power-acords.. i play more solo, and chords!

weeping_moon · Post by **weeping_moon** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 7:50 pm

Haze wrote:DS-1 sound terrible to my ears, even when the Kurdt himself used them. You can mod the pedal to sound BETTER but i still don't think they sound great even with mods. The valve king has plenty of good drive sounds on its own, and there are cheap alternative drive pedals aswell.
Is there a particular sound that you would like to get from your guitar-dirt pedal-amp?

i would love to get the same sound as, joe satriani, john pretucci, steve vai, eric johnson..

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:00 pm

G3 in a box?

A lot of their sounds come from their amps.

Satch uses the Satchuratur pedal but that sounds a lot like a Keeley'd DS-1 to my ears
Petrucci uses Mesas
Vai uses who the fuck cares [sorry
and Johnson uses JTM 45s [among various amps] and a Tube Driver, which i feel is the biggest part of his sound

if you want a nice lead sound i think you should really get the most out of your amp and see if you can find a tone that you like using just the amp. But if that isn't at all possible there are several Mesa emulating pedals that sound very authentic for lead type work

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:06 pm

Wampler's Triple Wrek

► Show Spoiler

Dr Boogey, which is a homebrew circuit. Here is one with an OCD in the same box.

► Show Spoiler

weeping_moon · Post by **weeping_moon** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:07 pm

Haze wrote:G3 in a box?

A lot of their sounds come from their amps.

Satch uses the Satchuratur pedal but that sounds a lot like a Keeley'd DS-1 to my ears
Petrucci uses Mesas
Vai uses who the fuck cares [sorry
and Johnson uses JTM 45s [among various amps] and a Tube Driver, which i feel is the biggest part of his sound

if you want a nice lead sound i think you should really get the most out of your amp and see if you can find a tone that you like using just the amp. But if that isn't at all possible there are several Mesa emulating pedals that sound very authentic for lead type work

so youre saying i should get mesa pedals?
so i cant get an awsome sound with the boss ds-1 and 2 pedals?

do you use a peavy valve king 4x12 tube amp to?

Peter Bond · Post by **Peter Bond** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:13 pm

Here's the Guitar Geek rig diagrams if that helps

Joe Satriani

Steve Vai

Eric Johnson

Im not sure how much you can rely on these like but it seems like lots of amps, split signals and expensive processing voodoo.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:16 pm

I'm not exactly saying you should buy mesa type distortion pedals but there are several out there that i think you should at least give a listen to. Some people can get a manageable sound out of a DS-1/2 pedals but i'm just not a fan of them so i guess i'm a bit biased. Really all i can tell you to try is to keep tweaking those knobs and see what you can come up with.

Try and tweak the knobs on the pedals AND the amp. between the two EQs and gain settings you can get a surprising amount of different tones. If you're just playing the amp clean and relying on the pedals alone for a ripping solo sound you won't get far. The amp is a bigger part of it than the pedal in my opinion.

the isaac eaton · Post by **the isaac eaton** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:16 pm

you have a corgan strat? I think those things are so cool, how do you like it? ive been trying to find one for a long time.

Oh and about the actual topic, yeah just get a better distortion pedal, boss pedals don't really sound the best. Personally I hate the DS-1, but some people like it I guess.

weeping_moon · Post by **weeping_moon** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:22 pm

Peter Bond wrote:Here's the Guitar Geek rig diagrams if that helps

Joe Satriani

Steve Vai

Eric Johnson

Im not sure how much you can rely on these like but it seems like lots of amps, split signals and expensive processing voodoo.

haha. thats to much information at the same time.. i cant understand a shit... and to get all those things would be expensive!
and they all use different amps, not peavy.. it would be nice if someone could tell how to do this with the things i have.. and to get the best sound with it, like these players have!

weeping_moon · Post by **weeping_moon** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:25 pm

the isaac eaton wrote:you have a corgan strat? I think those things are so cool, how do you like it? ive been trying to find one for a long time.

Oh and about the actual topic, yeah just get a better distortion pedal, boss pedals don't really sound the best. Personally I hate the DS-1, but some people like it I guess.

yes i have that, and i completley love it... it is the best guitar i have... the mics are absolutley amazing.. try with thomann.de they have them!

ok.. so it is not possible to get some kind of ok distortion with it?

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:27 pm

another thing might be the instrument itself. Mustang's aren't exactly chock-full of stustain and single coils might not provide enough oomph if ya know what i mean. The corgan strat might be better suited but try and dial it in with whichever you prefer.

try using the amp's eq and gain controls along with the pedals'.
Seriously, quit reading this and go. NOW DEW AN RIFFS!

mickie08 · Post by **mickie08** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:29 pm

trying to emulate differnet people with differnet tones using gear that none of them would play through is probably a hard cause to fight. Just tweak the pedals and amp to find a sound that you like, not that sounds like your idols or whatever. If it doesn't work then try using your pedals through some friends amp/guitars or try using your guitar and pedals through a friends amp, etc to start narrowing down what you want. Each pedal and amp type tends to have certain things it does well. just buying a rig and then assuming you can nail any particular tone does not usually work. That does not mean that some good tomes can not be found in it.

weeping_moon · Post by **weeping_moon** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:33 pm

Haze wrote:another thing might be the instrument itself. Mustang's aren't exactly chock-full of stustain and single coils might not provide enough oomph if ya know what i mean. The corgan strat might be better suited but try and dial it in with whichever you prefer.

try using the amp's eq and gain controls along with the pedals'.
Seriously, quit reading this and go. NOW DEW AN RIFFS!

yeah, i know about the single coin mics in the mustang.. they are completley crap... thats why i got them removed and installed dimarzio mics (full with sustain sound) because i love that when i play solos!! so its nothing wrong with the mics there, i even put in 500 pots instead of 250...

haha, i cant play at this time.. its almost night here.. and the neighbors wouldnt like it.

weeping_moon · Post by **weeping_moon** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:36 pm

mickie08 wrote:trying to emulate differnet people with differnet tones using gear that none of them would play through is probably a hard cause to fight. Just tweak the pedals and amp to find a sound that you like, not that sounds like your idols or whatever. If it doesn't work then try using your pedals through some friends amp/guitars or try using your guitar and pedals through a friends amp, etc to start narrowing down what you want. Each pedal and amp type tends to have certain things it does well. just buying a rig and then assuming you can nail any particular tone does not usually work. That does not mean that some good tomes can not be found in it.

i tryed so hard to get the tone i want.. but its not possible with boss ds-1 and ds-2 pedal...
i can get the sound with a multi effect-korg pedal.. but i want to do the same with the boss pedals... because all they write about there site is about quality, but i cant hear the quality..

mickie08 · Post by **mickie08** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:42 pm

first lesson, ignore what guitar companies tell you about their product.

Second, you can get a good useable tone out of almost any amp/guitar but that does not mean it wil be a certain tone you are looking for.

The people you are trying to emulate spend as much on cables as your whole rig costs, so nailing that tone witha mustang and boss pedasl will be tough. Personally, boss OD/distortion pedals are pretty weak and there are much better pedals out there The DS series are harsh sounding to me and just do nto sound good. I am also not very big on the multi effects pedasl but alot of people are.

I would say get yourself like a straight boost pedal, and then lie and OCD ad start tweaking knobs on the pedals and the amp to drive the amp where you want to go. Also, I highly recommend the fulltone distortion pro for a very flexible distortion sound that can cover alot of ground. Either way, just try as much stuff as you can at some shops and see what strikes your fancy, but the DS pedals are probably not going to get you where you want to be.

weeping_moon · Post by **weeping_moon** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:48 pm

mickie08 wrote:first lesson, ignore what guitar companies tell you about their product.

Second, you can get a good useable tone out of almost any amp/guitar but that does not mean it wil be a certain tone you are looking for.

The people you are trying to emulate spend as much on cables as your whole rig costs, so nailing that tone witha mustang and boss pedasl will be tough. Personally, boss OD/distortion pedals are pretty weak and there are much better pedals out there The DS series are harsh sounding to me and just do nto sound good. I am also not very big on the multi effects pedasl but alot of people are.

I would say get yourself like a straight boost pedal, and then lie and OCD ad start tweaking knobs on the pedals and the amp to drive the amp where you want to go. Also, I highly recommend the fulltone distortion pro for a very flexible distortion sound that can cover alot of ground. Either way, just try as much stuff as you can at some shops and see what strikes your fancy, but the DS pedals are probably not going to get you where you want to be.

okay, thanks.. thats the answer i wanted to hear.. im going to try my pedals a few more times and see how it works out.. played for about 7 years now, and i know what i want!

JSutter · Post by **JSutter** » Wed Jan 13, 2010 3:07 am

Have you tried using the VK's dirty channel? That should sound good enough, at least far better than a DS1. There are a few quick tricks with that amp to changes its tone. Check the peavey bar and grille for the info.

Hey is the DS2 any louder than the DS1? Is there any tonal difference between them when not in turbo mode?