The Boss DS-1 is a classic distortion box used by many artists over the years. Known for it’s somewhat scooped tone and high amounts of gains, it’s really a pedal that lends itself only to the heavy metal/rock tones. Built to a price, cheap parts abound and a thin fizzy high end makes it unusable on too clean of an amp.
Enter Analogman Mike Pierra and his pedal modding wizardry. Refined over a couple variations, the Pro Mod replaces mod of the cheap parts allowing way more bass and mids to come through, and taming the top end fizz. This pedal can now be thrown in front of a clean amp (think Fender Silverface Twin) and gives are Marshall-esque tone that any player could find use of. With the gain all the way down you get a crunchy boost pedal that drives an amp from on the edge of breakup into full glorious gain. Maxed out the pedal invokes all kinds of beautiful harmonics and overtones while retaining a percussive clarity that drives rhythm tones without turning to mush.
When you want a high gain pedal, there are tons of modern alternatives that do a great job, but it’s definitely worth taking a look at this old favorite as it has some tonal qualities not found in many modern pedals. Plus who doesn’t love the classic orange box?
A definitive “Marshall-in-a-box” pedal from JHS that faithfully recreates the sounds of the JCM800, the Angry Charlie has been a staple in the high gain arena for a while now. In its latest incarnation JHS has added a full Marshall tone stack with Bass, Mid and Treble controls that both cut and boost. Turn down the mids and bask in the joy that is 80’s scooped metal, boost it up and enjoy more classic rock sounds full of mid driven sustain. All of the controls here are powerful enough to get a good variety of tones, as well as voiced in just the right sweet spots so that just about any setting sounds good.