Tell me about the Keeley Boss ds-1 Ultra mod, and other ds-1 mods...

[anomaly]

I'm looking to pick up a distortion, and I'm thinking about picking up one of the Keeley modded ds-1's, or maybe one modded by Analog Man or something. Is this pedal good for heavy rock/metal stuff? How does it react with solid state amps? Could it be used as a boost as well?

[linusâ„¢]

meh, its okay.

[Klisk]

The DS-1 is awful in front of SS amps. Even if it's modded.

 

I have a modded one, and it has a nice rock sound to it. Nothing wrong with it, nothing special about it, unless perhaps you really enjoyed grunge music/Nirvana. It's a love/hate type of pedal, and in my opinion it has it's uses, so yeah. Mods improve the sound of the pedal, but at the end of the day it's still a ds-1.

[BIGD]

 

Originally posted by anomaly I'm looking to pick up a distortion, and I'm thinking about picking up one of the Keeley modded ds-1's, or maybe one modded by Analog Man or something. Is this pedal good for heavy rock/metal stuff? How does it react with solid state amps? Could it be used as a boost as well?

 

 

 

Yeah, DS-1 through solid state=bad, pretty much. The Ultra can be used as a boost, but it still adds a "DS-1" flavor to the tone.

[IAmAScientist]

I have a Keeley modded DS-1 and I think it sucks, at least if you actually want to hear the tone of your guitar or amp.

[mrbluetone]

I would not put a Ds-1 with a solid state amp...but a Keeley DS-1 SEM with a tube amp is just wonderful....huge wall of sound, real heavy rock sound and really works well live!

[Acid Test]

I use 3 dirt boxes; an overdrive, rock distortion and a metal distortion. These change on a weekly basis.

 

Today:

 

Jacques Tubeblower

Keeley ultra modded DS-1

Rocktron Metal Planet

 

 

Coming for evaluation:

 

Line 6 Ubermetal

Catalinbread Stallion

Boss Metal Zone

 

I do like the Keeley DS-1 into a SS amp and it makes a great rock pedal.

[joegrant413]

 

Originally posted by anomaly I'm looking to pick up a distortion, and I'm thinking about picking up one of the Keeley modded ds-1's, or maybe one modded by Analog Man or something. Is this pedal good for heavy rock/metal stuff? How does it react with solid state amps? Could it be used as a boost as well?

 

 

 

Keeley Ultra DS-1 is just great!

 

I haven't tried it with SS, but it does super well with my Nano and Pro Jr. The best sound is when the Nano is already a bit overdriven, and then I put the DS-1 on Ultra with distortion about halfway up.

 

The pedal also sounds good at lower distortion settings for a bluesy break-up sound, although you could do better I suppose with a BD-2 or overdrive pedal.

 

Another cool thing to do with the Keeley DS-1 is to try a boost either just before or after it. Just before it, and you can keep that red light of distortion on all the time!

 

-- Joe

 

P.S. Yes, you can use it for a slighty 'dirty' boost, and it sounds good. But you certainly can find better pedals for overall boosting duty.

[ninja of love]

The Keeley Rat sounds natural.

Any DS-1 sounds synthetic.

[EL KABONG]

it might sound synthetic but i think it sounds good. i have the best booteek od dirt pedals and my ultra just made it back on my board and i was diggin it tonight . robert is the man .