Best mod for Boss DS-1 for quiet it down

[LonePhantom]

Hey all, some questions for those who have modded their Boss DS-1s.

I'm using my DS-1 as an overdrive for my Blackstar HT-5 head. I'm quiet liking the tone, but the unwanted noise is a little annoying.

What have people done to their DS-1s to at least make it a quieter pedal, and maybe even make it true bypass?

Any recommendations for cheap mod kits that aren't too hard to install are welcome too, but just options and instructions on replacing some capacitor, etc are welcome too.

[MarkE]

You're always going to get unwanted noise from distortion pedals. Could you not stick a noise gate in the signal path? Boss NS-2 is recommended - stick your noisy pedals in its loop and it tames them very nicely.

[Algiman]

i was in the same boat - I liked the DS-1 as a boost for my amp but it was far too noisy. I changed to a Keeley one, works better as a boost and is quieter.

[LonePhantom]

Which Keeley mod did you end up going with? I've seen plans for both his Ultra and All Seeing Eye mods (I think that's them).

[Algiman]

I bought the Ultra.

[LonePhantom]

Hmm maybe I'll mod that circuit then. The instructions are freely available, just have to see if my local electronics store has the bits and pieces.

[aenis]

Check out the Monte Allums mods. I did it myself and it is unbelievably better pedal with all the mods done. Much smoother and quieter too.
http://www.monteallums.com/pedal_mods.html#roxx

[LonePhantom]

Yeah I had checked out that site. Which mod did you end up doing to your DS-1, and was it a fairly simple mod to do?
Thanks

[smooth55]

Very interested to see what you end up with and I'm sorry I can't contribute. I've got a DS-1 that's just collecting dust because I have a Satchurator for that kind of distortion. I'm hoping some of these ideas will give me something to make the DS-1 a little different so that I would start to use both depending on the situations.

[axemanrio]

Monte DS-1 Rectifier or Keeley SEM mods.

[racerevlon]

I did the Monte "Rectifier" mod on mine--the beauty of Monte's instructions is that he encourages you to test the pedal after the replacement of each component. You get two major benefits to this: First, if you make a mistake, you know exactly where. Second, and more importantly, if you find that a specific component does something you like, you leave it in--if it does something you don't like, you back it out. Thus, if you get to a point where you are liking the tone, then you put in a component that doesn't really change any values, but is just of higher quality and you get the noise reduction you're looking for, you can stop and seal it back up with your exact desired effect.

BTW--my Monte-Mod DS-1 KILLS stock DS-1's--so much more clarity, bass response, and power.

Cheers,

Bob

Originally Posted by aenis

Check out the Monte Allums mods. I did it myself and it is unbelievably better pedal with all the mods done. Much smoother and quieter too.
http://www.monteallums.com/pedal_mods.html#roxx

[LonePhantom]

Cool, I'll have to look in to it.

A question though with regards to different variations on the stock DS-1. I've got one of the early DS-1 that were made in Taiwan. I'd read about a DS-1 clean and treble boost mod, where essentially all you had to do was clip 2 diodes and 1 capacitors.

I went to try this on mine, found the 2 diodes, but the capacitor didn't seem to be on my DS-1. I looked at a picture from the web, and it definitely looked quite different to mine in terms of electronic components. I ended up soldering the two diodes back on.

So I guess my question is, does Monte Mods offer packages based on the different variations of DS-1s?

Cheers and thanks for your help.

[LonePhantom]

Well I finally got around to modifying my DS-1. Thanks to cubisteffects (http://www.cubisteffects.com) I have completed two stages of modifications.

Stage 1 was a noise reduction mod, using high quality replacement capacitors. Stage 2 was modifying the tone of the DS-1 to give it a Marshall JCM feel.

I've got sound samples of each stage on my blog if you would like to check them out.

part 1
http://www.lonephantom.com/?p=847

part 2
http://www.lonephantom.com/?p=863