Added: 4 years ago
From: McKinoza
Views: 335,786
Sort by time | Sort by thread (beta)

Link to this comment:

Share to:
see all

All Comments (640)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • the mod sound a little bit better, less hars sound

  • do they ship in the philippines? how much is the charge?

  • Sounds 100% better with the mod, fuller and much ballsier sound.

  • Nice demo, I came across a Keely-modded DS-1 for $100. It's a big im provemrnt on the original but not quite what I'm after

  • It sounds fuller and lusher with the mod.

  • i own several DS-1 from Japan and Taiwan... The Japanese ones are louder with more gain and the Taiwan models are thinner and harsher...Whatever MOD this is has ruined that particular DS-!....Sounds crappier than the Taiwan models..IDK why anyone would want to MOD a DS-1...

  • You cant compare 2 pedals when your amp tone is utter shite.

  • Comparison is not fear:

    1- mod pedal is the second pedal, it is after the original, mean the signal goes in after passes two buffers inside the first pedal.

    2- mod pedal has more gain having more noise, more than accept in an electronic conception. How can compare the sound if one is much more louder than other? More gain does not mean better.

    3-modify circuit changing diodes by other diodes or leds is tranform one pedal in another pedal. you pay for one DS1 and pay Keely to make it a SD1. kkkkk

  • I caught a Snippet of No Remorse in there. \nn/,

  • cool review man!!!

  • what song are you playing at 0:34 its driving me crazy i cant think of it

  • @mmk8283 I know it's a Who song, but the exact name escapes me. I think it might be Baba O'Reily.

  • hey! how would it be if i connected a Boss HM-2 pedal with a Stock Boss DS-1? Im looking for an old school death metal sound.. similar to Death or Obituary.

    The HM-2 is great but it sort of needs something to control its output.. my amps distortion just sucks so i keep it on clean

  • they both sound like steel bins vomiting up chainsaws.

  • @dylanproctorable they both sound insanely better in real life, the modded ds1 in this sounds like a unmodded,

  • how do you do this mod?

  • they both sound like good, rockin pedals

  • This isn't a true side by side... this is two different recordings side by side, or maybe he really does have two right feet idk.

  • what is the mod ? how is it done

  • esta no es la diferencia como todos los guitarristas experimentados saben que cada pedalera tiene su sonido y hay que regularselo no es cuestion de meterle dos pedales en el mismo amplificador

  • Comment removed

  • Is this the mod that can also be found on instructables on how to make it?

  • The Keeley sounds better, but also because it's louder. If the level was turned down, a better comparison could be made. 

  • @bmesiasbmesias yeah,the only impression im getting is a louder sound.

  • @bmesiasbmesias im confused, aren't the levels on both units the same in the video? or does the mod actually make the pedal louder?

  • ohmm ... my MIJ DS-1 sounds better without any mod you know, when i tried the keeley mod gave me an mild overdrive but no the distortion who i want

  • i had the keeley modded one and it sucked so i went back to the stock one and never looked back

  • Thanks for the vid' :)

    It's helpful :)

  • you must buy the original ds-1 to modify keeley

    Boss DS-1 Has 60% Off NOW NOW!!!!!!

    with the Free Shipping!!

    at w w w . cheapbuy-online . c o m / boss-ds1

    quickly in this month!

  • Hi,

    I bought this pedal few days ago,

    when i connected it on my amp, clean tone work fine,

    but when i press the pedal nothing changes.

    Any help?

  • @DusanRadovanovic change the battery

  • why not just turn both of them on at the same time (GENIUS!!!)

  • My pedal is from Japan, you think I should do this modification or should I keep this original

  • @edcruz79 no do not mod a japan pedal. you call and talk to keeley himself and he will tell not to

  • @edcruz79 Well....all depends on what your plans are for it. If you're just looking to sell for a profit(and not a big one IF at all), then leave it alone. If you like what the Keeley mod does for it, then modify.

  • My pedal is from Japan, you think I should do this modification or should I keep this original

  • louder, and muchh more tone sounds much deeper

  • Sounds way clearer to me. Good volume boost too, thats what you get when you use better parts.

  • @dattoboy1 meh, parts are the same, just swapping out capacitors and installing the switch and LED's. Not a huge mode at all.

  • I dont if the people who watch this video or the uploader really can get down to component level electronics wise but I have a little bit of an issue with my Keeley DS1. The SEM and the ultramod works great but when operating the pedal, I noticed too much compression. I hear a volume decrease before the note. I have to turn the gain way down on my guitar to reduce the issue. Does anyone know any things I could try or change to reduce or eliminate the compression?

  • @MikeeFresh101

    Interesting... Do you hear it here? Of course YouTube alters the audio which does add to the compression issue. Or is it just yours?

  • No its not the video at all. Its definitely mine unit

  • @MikeeFresh101

    I have this same exact problem. It sounds as if the battery is dying even though I am using an adapter.

  • @MikeeFresh101 what song are you playing at 0:34? i cant think of it and its driving me crazy.

  • What size led a t-1?and what's the part list for this mod?

  • Just sounds louder.

  • Doesn't adjusting the level knob change the amount of color you're putting in so that would change the sound if you tried to match the volumes right?

  • only more volume

  • Hey guys, and to anyone who could answer it, I have a Peavey Vypyr 15W amp, and for the clean channel (also using a distortion pedal with it) I use the Plxi amp model, and a Behringer Ultra Metal UM300 for distortion, but I can't get the low end to sound good. Would a BOSS DS-1 sound better to cover low, mid, and high end? I tried it on the other clean sounding channels, and it sounds cold. I want some warmth with it. Any suggestions?

  • The DS-1 was the first pedal I owned, back in about 1980. I still have it, but I have a Keeley mod unit in my rack. 'Nuff said.

  • Sounds fuller with mod. Wish you would have compared diff settings also.

  • @journeyquest1

    Well I did it with the "Dist' knob at 50%, 75% and 100%.

  • It seems to me like if you want to make your ds-1 sound like keeley mod, you could buy eq pedal instead of actually modding it. Does it makes sense?

  • @Giantcaterpillar

    Well, years ago I used to be in the car audio business. We always said the best thing was to use the EQ to "shape" a good sound. Most people use EQ's as "bandaids" to fix bad sounds. To each their own but since I think the Keeley sounds better, I personally would go that route first, then apply whatever EQ to it.

    Cheers!

  • @McKinoza

    Thanks for this valuable advice. I also thought about EQ as a screen to hide something.

    Cheers! 

  • TARD

  • tbh, i dont like either

  • Cool, thanks for the clarification...my DS-1 arrived at Keeley Electronics today, can't wait to get it back modded!

  • Hey dude, great video! Thanks for posting.

    Please, what are the difference you could tell me between DS1 mod by Keeley and a mod by Monte Allums?

    Cheers

  • @heliobluesrock

    Don't know about the Monte Allums. I've heard that they are good. There is also a guy by the name of "Wampler". I had purchased one of his pedal mod books and he had a couple of mods for the DS-1. Never tried them out but they do sound good! There is a guy here by the name of "PLUMBdogg" who has a video on those.

    As for this mod, it makes the DS-1 sound fuller, richer and eliminates the thin, tinny sound the stock one has.

  • how can u get this pedal?

  • @Peruviandude96

    From Keeley or ebay would be good places to start. You could do it yourself but you need some minor electrical knowledge, some soldering skills and not to mention the right pieces.

  • @McKinoza one more question. if u were to pick between the ds-1 (stock) and the digitech grunge pedal, which would u pick?

  • @Peruviandude96

    Hmm... well I have never heard the Grunge pedal but Digitech makes good stuff. I have their older looping pedal which is killer.

    Since I can do the mod myself I would pick the DS-1 though, I would NEVER use it unmodded. If you can't do the mod or have no way of getting it modded, then maybe the grunge pedal would work out better. Again I have not heard the Grunge pedal but am basing it on the fact that anything has got to be better than a stock DS-1 pedal.

  • @McKinoza : dude there's nothing wrong with the unmodded version... You probably should have boosted the volume a bit for this demo. It's unfair not to. I think weezer pretty much used the DS-1 on everything.... so you can't say the unmodded version isn't worth getting.

  • @freezazoid

    I never said there was something wrong. I simply was stating the difference between the 2.

    And if weezer used it on everything...uh...well there you go.

    Cheers!

  • @Peruviandude96 Dude,the Digitech Grunge pedal sucks bad! If your looking for the best pedal for heavy metal,check out the Eagletone Metal End.I just bought one brand new one on ebay for 50 bucks total and it rivals my Radial Tonebone Plexitube and my Hardwire Metal Distortion except that the Metal End has more tonal possibilities.If you can't find one made by Eagletone,then check under Biyang Metal End,they are the exact same pedal except sold by two different companies.

  • @lute760 hey, wut would u say is the difference between overdrive and distortion. like, wut if i put my amp on medium distortion, and then turn on an overdrive pedal. wuts the difference between that sound and a distortion pedal turned on while the amps on a clean channel?

  • @Peruviandude96 Its mostly just the combination. If you have a medium gain on the amp, then you have that amount of the Amp's gain, mixed with that extra push from the pedal. To have just a dist pedal while on the clean of the amp, would be the sound of the dist. pedal mixed with the clean of the amp, rather then the dist. of the amp with a push. In my opinion, Amp distortion is always better then pedals, but thats if you play on a real amp.

  • @lute760 I just bought mine a few days ago, and its on its way in the mail. I'm really hoping this thing will be much better then my shitty metal muff pedal. lol

  • @MattiasOfTheMetal

    Hey let me know what combination you end up using. As a boost or through the clean channel.

  • @McKinoza Right now I have a Carvin x100b 80's issue, and I have to play through the clean channel because I have a shitty Metal Muff pedal. [Way too fizzy in my opinion] and someone tried to mod my amp but hardly changed anything and my amp's distortion is thin, but I've got a Biyand/Eagletone Metal End on its way in the mail, and when I get it I'll get back to you on how that pedal sounds.

  • Holy hell! The lick you play at 1:53 on the regular pedal sounds pretty thin and brittle to me, and then that same lick played at 1:58 with the Keeley one sounds ballsy as all hell. To me, it's not just a volume difference, it's a huge tonal and attack difference. So you didn't change anything on your guitar between those two examples, McKinoza?

  • @wlmmn

    Nothing was changed except turning one pedal off and turning on the other pedal. I have had people say that the order of pedal placement/one going through the other one, etc makes a difference but... I wouldn't think it that noticeable.

  • Thaaaanksss!!!  Helped a lot!

  • D4 and D5 diode 1n4148 to ... , Bridge four 1n4148 diode and one 1n4148 in middle .

    This is better mod as Kelley in DS1

  • I have a MIJ DS-1 that is modded exactly like this one haha. Was checking on youtube to see whats the diff and if its actually Keeley modded haha. Yup this video worked =D

  • Thanks man for da vid =D really needed to see it

  • @akmw77

    sure hope it works out.

  • the keeley has more gain only......i dont see diference in sound

  • @cobain2500

    Maybe because you can't "see" the difference but rather "hear" it. just kidding dude, sorry couldn't resist, thanks for commenting

  • @McKinoza yes,maybe because of that.......but do you really HEAR any difference?

  • The Keeley sounds much better.

  • I did this mod myself. It sounds amazing, especially into a tube amp to smooth out the grain of distortion.

  • Keeley mod is much better

  • The sound is definitely thicker and has more midrange with the mod. Does Boss make the DS-1 with the mod already added, or do they make another distortion pedal that simulates that sound?

  • Um... which one is modded?

  • @johanthepirate :  one on the left.

  • I don't believe the Stock one would be as full sounding even with more volume. I'm going to change my stock one for a modded one.

  • Wouldn't it be better to just get an MT-2. You can adjust the mids, highs and lows to suit the sound you need.

    Or is the Keeley mod giving a different sound altogether. Can't quite hear the sound properly on youtube. Guess I'd have to be there to hear it.

  • The modified one is louder. The controls could be adjusted to make them sound the same.

  • @Johngtr13

    Not really, yes you could match the output volume, say set them both to 100dB but the sound would be different.

    You know that sound effect some songs use where it starts out sounding like AM radio then it morph into FM sound, that's more like the difference. Kinda like Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here intro.

  • @McKinoza yeaah... the tone's kinda different too. i own a ds-1 and im really considering to apply the keely mod to it after watching this

  • needs moar cowbell

  • why the sound is different? if bouth are similar?

  • how much would the supplies cost ?

  • The mod seems to have more bottom...............but the stock has more dirt i like the stock better.

  • I like the one on the right.

  • thats it! i'm modding my ds-1

  • ok i get the point.... so they look exactly the same but the one on the left is clearly better. so whats the point? should we not by from ebay? are boss making 2 different types of pedals? do we need to look from pedals in certain country?.... what?

  • @luckyphilster

    You take a stock pedal, open it up, switch out some pieces, and it changes the sound. Yes you can find them on ebay. Some that have been modded by people themselves or some from Keeley.

  • @McKinoza aha! ok, now i see the difference. sorry i didnt see the swithch when i watched it 1st time. i probably shouldnt make comments when drunk. sounds great, do they have upgrades for the boss dd-7?

  • @luckyphilster your an idiot. google your shit man

  • is this a mod you can do yourself? or you have to buy it that way?

  • @sourcehacker

    You can do the mod yourself.

  • @sourcehacker You can buy the kit on ebay for around $30, send your pedal to Keeley Electronics and they'll mod it for $75, or you can buy the modded pedal from Musician's Friend or right from Keeley for $130.

  • Good demo. It's an awesome sounding mod!

  • I think left pedal is better

  • I think to accurately hear the mod effect done to these pedals is to play them on a TUBE amp in the clean channel. These pedals are solidstate and playing them through a solidstate amp, though the VT30 uses one 12x7a, it is still not considered a tube amp but a modeling amp, and amp that samples the tone of other amps by using DSP chips. Play it through a Fender Blues jr, Vox AC4TV or a Marshall Class 5 all tube amp.

  • Apart from the big diffeence in volume, I think that the one with the mod has a lot more headroom like you 're using a clean booster. By the way how could one get this mod to his ds-1?

  • I don't like any of them. In my opinion Marshall JH is far better.

  • I could care less about your shoes, I wanna hear the pedal!

  • r you turning up the volume when your using the modded one?

  • @mikeguitar630

    No its just part of the mod.

  • @McKinoza o ok. very nice

  • Mmmmh, there is a very big difference of output level and also more sharp tones... the original DS-1 tends to have 'muddy' middle and bass sounds, especially as overdrive/gain is increased.

    That's the reason why I stopped using my original DS-1. If I was good enough at soldering I would modify it, but so scared to cripple it.

  • it still sounds terrible..only louder

  • nice shoes killer

  • @freeboi1017 Wow now my shoes are being scrutinized, thanks I guess...

  • @McKinoza haha dude im just fucking with you. there so many people just ripping on all this unimportant shit. this vid was actually helpful tho. i didnt end up getting it but thanks anyways haha

  • Wow, one really is louder than the other. Comparison fail.

  • @jaycoover ...ah then you did hear a difference right? Sorry it wasn't what you were looking for.

  • @McKinoza Actually, it doesn't sound bad, it's just hard to tell what the true difference is because for one thing, it's louder. It could be just acting like a clean boost to the amp. A fairer comparison would be to try them at the same effective level.

  • @jaycoover Ahaha, dude.. You're a dumbshit

  • @FrothySpoons - wow FrothySpoons, I guess your a genius then. You certainly know your shit.

    What could be happening is that the gain on the mod drives the "golden", yes "golden" AD30VT (yes modelling amp) harder, resulting in the increase in tone. But we'll never know, will we?...since the only difference might be gain.

    The mod very well might be an improvement, but since the gain difference is so vast, it makes it impossible to tell.

  • @jaycoover thats the mod fucking retard.

  • Great comparison.

  • Sorry, but those pedal sound like crap playing through that Vox ad30VT. Those pedals sound much better on an all tube amp in the clean channel. Use it with a Vox AC4TV. It will sound much better.

  • @gmlasam This is to compare these 2 pedals to EACH other not a VOX30VT to an AC4TV. I'm sure it may sound better, of course then you would get people saying "it would sound better through a Marshal XXX, or a Fender XXX". Its probably more pilot error than anything but the comparison is the pedals not amps.

  • @McKinoza No pilot error at all. I'm just saying these solid state pedals sound very thin with no dynamics when played through a solid state amp making it difficult to really tell the difference aside from one being louder than the other. Its like double negatives. These pedals, the DS-1, were made during the time tube amps were heavily used so their voicing was tailored more for tube amps. The Vox AD30VT has so much gain already and it does not require an external distortion pedal.

  • Steve Vai swore by these. I wonder if this circuit found it's way into his Jemini pedal.

  • I'm trying to get the maximum bass from my DS-1. Do I change C3 to 1.0uf and R17 to 15K?

  • @PhuckHue2 Good question. While I know that the caps act as frequency filters, I wouldn't know which one would maximize bass. It would probably be more than one component and then again all personal preference.

  • How about doin the test with the same volume/level on both pedals. It dosnt show me anything otherwise. But otherwise a good test !!!

  • 1:07 METALLICA \M/

  • why do these things sound broken? i played a stock one on these settings and it sounds way more awesome. what are your amp settings? and what amp are you using?

  • @papakilatube

    Cause your awesome. Make a video for us to see.

  • @McKinoza sure thing! in advance, i'll tell you my equipment: fender mexican nashville deluxe telecaster and a vox night train hooked up to a mojo music celestion gold 12"

  • @kurdt47clon the only things that are different ARE the circuts and stuff like that. the japanese ones have different capacitors and such, and the keely mod has a tone switch

  • @papakilatube

    Tone switch? There is no "tone" switch that changes anything. The switch just adds an additional diode adding to the thicker sounds. The change in tone comes from other changes. To me, tone refers to frequencies and those changes are made by replacing capacitors.

  • @McKinoza true , the switch just brings in the other LED that lights up when clipping

  • @kurdt47clon and higher k pots

  • @papakilatube

    They are the same pots that came with the stock unit. Those don't change.

  • I feel that is you adjust the volume to match then you could also adjust the DIST setting to match. If one produced more distortion at the same setting then you reduce the higher one for a true comparison which at that point would negate the comparison. If one sounded deeper and fuller then you could adjust the TONE setting on the other one again voiding the comparison.

    While I understand I don't agree. There may not be a true way to compare these 2 then.

  • im getting one (stock), i already have a fuzz face, a big muff, superfuzz, octavio, but what the hey?

    if you are looking for distortion, go with this, and dont hate. kurt made it sound good, why cant you? it may sound like garbage, but as with every pedal, its just a matter of how you use it.

  • @papakilatube

    Are you asking me personally? Not everyone liked Kurt's sound. While I thought it was good for what they were playing, I wouldn't use it.

  • @McKinoza no i wasnt, but fine by me.

  • the keeley clearly kicks the stock ds-1's teeth in, but frankly I don't think it sounds that great anyway...just me?

  • reverb.....sigh

  • It's unfortunate the settings are so that the unmodded is quieter. Things that are louder always sound better (psychoacoustic something or other). Not saying the mod isn't an improvment: it's fat for sure. But a good comparison would make sure they have the same loudness...

  • that's the thing though. They are both set at 12 oclock, that proves how drastically this mod changes things.

  • Yeah - that's a true point: on the same settings they sound different.

    But to find out whether the mod actually made it sound _better_ or just _louder_ one would want to offset the volume change and compare the tones at the same volume.

    Cheers,

    GaJ

  • Good comparison. I like the way that the Keeley very much seems to retain the tone of the stock pedal, whilst sounding so much fuller. And I really had never noticed that the stock DS-1 sounded that thin before (I thought it did, but not that much...). Stark contrast indeed.

  • Can anyone send me a link/manual of how to mod the DS-1 à la Keeley?

    Thanks!!!

  • good day to you! i had a boss ds-1 and after watching your video i'am planning to modify it. but i have a question for what is the use of that little toggle switch on a modded ds-1?

  • you could probly buy a electro-harmonix lpb-1 and use it with the ds-1 and have the same effect. but still awesome mod

  • whats the difference between the orange ds-1 and this light colored orange ds-1???

    is the light one fake??

  • Maybe bad lighting here?

    I know they also make a DS-2 which is a different shade of orange but also a different pedal.

  • The mod makes the DS1 vastly superior which begs the question why doesn't Boss make it this way to begin with?

  • @urheadonastick it would be to expensive to mass produce these things. They make great pedals but keeping these things at a reasonable price is still a priority...which I can't blame them for. I think Keeley did an article on this subject.

  • @urheadonastick Good point. But, don't you think that modding the pedal yourself is kinda cool... Personalising it, making it your own, in a way ?

  • Actually I did- I bought a mod kit off Ebay ,it made my DS1 sound way better, the point is the part were about $15 so why wouldn't one of the largest makers of effect spend an extra few bucks to make pedal that are competitive with the higher end pedals? seems it would make financial since.

  • @urheadonastick

    Perhaps, many do not like they way the Keeley mod sounds? The Boss DS-1 has been around way before Keeley and others have, and a Stocked DS-1 maybe much more appealing to the masses which explains why Boss still makes it to this day after 30 years since its introduction in the late 70s.

  • @urheadonastick

    probably costs if i had to guess

  • Some components may cost Boss less than a penny, the same mod components may cost 50p. Not a big deal for someone wanting to perform a mod but when Boss churn out literally millions of pedals, well, you do the maths! The Boss corporation is run by businessmen not musicians!

    BTW, if it is to be a fair and objective comparison at least have the actual output levels sounding the same, the Keeley mod is clearly hotter when working on the position of the control knobs!

    Thanks for sharing

  • no, the one on the left is modified by some cat named keeley something, or something keeley

  • its like something Robert uh like Keely or whatever

  • @mezol1zee AAAW MAAN I thought the one on the left was the original.

  • @race1717 lol. naw. the original dont have the blu

    light.

  • Thanks for the video

    Sounds not like a mod, but like an other pedal, totally diferent.

    I don't know why Boss still building this shit for years and years.

  • Because, if you read the other posts, some people hear no difference, so why spend more than you have to to make a product they will buy regardless. It costs them pennies to make, then sell it and turn a decent profit... and heck if Nirvana used it then it must be magical.

  • if youre listening to this video through some good speakers or headphones, you can tell there are better tonality differences, the keeley mod sounding better, in my opinion. the standard boss sounds metallic, digitized and has a loss of low-end.

  • modd is louder warmer and doesnt break up as much it also has BALLS

  • hmm... I just think that the keeley modification one is just louder. No differance though... I'm sticking to my origional, because thats one like Nirvana used lol.

  • Do they sound different enough to have a modification done?

  • The Keely is certainly louder. It would be nice to hear them at the same relative volume so I could tell whether I actually like the tone better of the Keely or if the Keely is simply louder

  • @freezazoid I was thinkin the same, I think it's just louder