tube screamer / DS-1

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 3:08 am

I have versions of both these pedals, and don't get why the DS-1 is derided while the TS is lauded, both sound shite unless you use a decent tube amp. Is it just snobbery or are my ears fucked.

I've had a night of digging through my pedal mountain having a jolly old old time to myself... this is what threw up this question.

timhulio · Post by **timhulio** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 10:21 am

I'm not really a fan of either, but in my experience TS pedals (the Boss SD-1 in particular) seem more tolerant of crap gear.

Concretebadger · Post by **Concretebadger** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 10:27 am

I wouldn't be surprised if it is just snobbery. Both TSs and DS-1s are inexpensive and as a result a lot of people - especially amateurs and beginners - use them. I was unimpressed with the TS when I tried one, but that was in my student days when I thought distortion was an all-or-nothing thing. A mild OD wasn't what I was looking for at the time. Maybe I should try one now!

Fakir Mustache · Post by **Fakir Mustache** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 10:28 am

Don't know, but many more people have actually owned DS-1s.

Common beginners' pedal, thus most people used to run it through crap amps. I used to run it through my stereo.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 2:25 pm

DS-1s don't sound good with a nice amp.

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 2:36 pm

paul_ wrote:DS-1s don't sound good with a nice amp.

Maybe your amps not nice "enough". Or maybe Joe Bonnamasssaanan is right and tone is all in my fingers... or snobbery.

Brandon W · Post by **Brandon W** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 3:14 pm

not joe again..

i like ds-1..i still have one and i use it now and again but i am not one to give a fuck about what people say..I like it, end of story.

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 3:44 pm

brandonwinmill wrote:not joe again..

i like ds-1..i still have one and i use it now and again but i am not one to give a fuck about what people say..I like it, end of story.

I've played through far more expensive pedals that don't sound any better. While this isn't a glowing report on the DS-1 I don't think it's a bad pedal.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 4:28 pm

dezb1 wrote:Maybe your amps not nice "enough". Or maybe Joe Bonnamasssaanan is right and tone is all in my fingers... or snobbery.

I've used it with every amp I've owned from Crate GX-15 to Peavey Transtube to vintage Marshalls to newer Marshalls to Fender modeling amps. I'd venture an estimate that "maybe the DS-1 isn't so bad after all" is a boozy ramble I have every 3 years or so. The high-mid fizz hurts my ears each and every time.

What you're mainly asking in this thread is why people like tubescreamers more than DS-1s. Whereas the tubescreamer's strength seems to lie in being anywhere from transparent to amp-like enough an OD to boost the front end of a tube amp with a bit more control and drive than a simple booster, the DS-1 just adds equal parts fizzy shit to anything you use it with.
I'm not a particularly big fan of TSs either but on the distortion side of things I do think the DS-1 is shown up massively by pedals like RATs (and even the DS-2 by a fairly wide margin) when using a decent amp, and it isn't really similar to a tubescreamer at all.

Steve Vai is a big fan and loads of snobs are into him, so there may be hope for whatever it is you're after yet.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 4:33 pm

I liked the DS1 I had after I'd done the Keeley mods to it. But still it needed to be through an already overdriven amp to sound any good. Sounded great through my AC30 when it was cranked though. I do miss that setup and some years down the line I may go back to that!

Tubescreamers can sound good through anything if set properly. I do have a bit of a love/hate relationship with them though. Some days I think they sound awesome and others I can't bring myself to even touch them, I don't know what changes though!

But I use a AC boost clone which is a little bit different, still sounds like a tubescreamer mind.

George · Post by **George** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 4:33 pm

ultimate blues dad/lawyer pedal vs ultimate kurdtz kid pedal. it's apples vs oranges.

so just kill them all

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Sat Dec 28, 2013 5:50 pm

George wrote:ultimate blues dad/lawyer pedal vs ultimate kurdtz kid pedal. it's apples vs oranges.

so just kill them all

Can I add this to my favorite posts of the year?

bluesngrunge · Post by **bluesngrunge** » Sun Dec 29, 2013 11:45 pm

I love my ds-2

Viljami · Post by **Viljami** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 6:01 pm

I like my TS, but I do prefer my RAT.

Progrockabuse · Post by **Progrockabuse** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 6:25 pm

Never tried a ds-1, but think the digital metalizer I had was a ds-1 with fx.

Been using TS based pedals for years and agree that a good tube amp is needed in the mix. Currently using the mooer green mile TS Clone, the only thing to knock the Saltbootst of the board.

Like so

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 7:47 pm

paul_ wrote:Whereas the tubescreamer's strength seems to lie in being anywhere from transparent to amp-like enough an OD to boost the front end of a tube amp with a bit more control and drive than a simple booster...

See, this is what confuses me about Tubescreamers (and forgive me if this is a n00b question), but: loads of people say they're only at their best with a tube amp. But surely there can't be anything specifically with that circuit which means it's particularly good at goosing tube amps? Outside of some amps being better with pedals than others, this just isn't possible is it? For a circuit to be particularly good with a valve amp specifically?

George · Post by **George** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 8:32 pm

yeah they are absolutely not transparent, but i think the magic happens because they add a huge mid-heavy volume/gain boost (or something) which helps cut through a mix and it reins in the highs and lows a bit as well as push the amp into breaking up further. in this situation it does help maintain the original tone of the guitar and amp. so in a roundabout way it is transparent.

i've owned a ts7 and proggies old ts9 and both were rubbish as standalones even through my tube amp because i wasn't able to bring the amp up (30W 6L6 class B single channel (i.e. LOTS OF HEADROOM), and no master volume) to a decent level of breakup. your amp already needs to be at some level of, or very near to, breakup to make it work. as a standalone it just muddies everything up and sounds shit. henceforth if you have a marshall or orange, or anything with a master volume, you're probably okay

however, interestingly the digitech bad monkey i just bought acts absolutely fine as a standalone drive, and is not dissimilar to a boss OD3, which is a pretty decent pedal. by all accounts the bad monkey is supposed to be a ts clone with different eq controls (separate bass and treble), so i don't know what's going on there.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 9:00 pm

yeah, the bad monkey is a TS jobbie. i found one on top of my wardrobe last week, forgot i even had it. think i took it off my board because it weighs a shitload and i had to carry my pedalboard to rehearsals on the bus.

i also think the 'tubescreamer works best through a tube amp' thing is nonsense, i used one with a JC120 for about a year and it sounded fine.

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 10:05 pm

stewart wrote:think i took it off my board because it weighs a shitload and i had to carry my pedalboard to rehearsals on the bus.

Wat?

► Show Spoiler

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Thu Jan 02, 2014 9:53 am

Simper!