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What Are Clipping Diodes?
by Leigh Fuge January 28, 2025 5 min read
Over the decades, Boss have been a brand that have stood the test of time. Their pedals are renowned for their roadworthiness, ease of use and affordable price tags.
They've shown us many times how they can create iconic pedals that we hear on countless influential records.
The Boss pedal that stands out more than any other is that fantastic orange box of distorted fun, the Boss DS-1 Distortion.
A 1979 Boss DS-1. Credit: Analog Anonymous / Reverb
The Boss DS-1 story began in 1978. It was the first distortion pedal that Boss produced, and is easily the most recognisable pedal in the company's catalogue thanks to its eye-catching orange finish. It has been on the market for over 40 years and has become a staple on pedalboards around the world.
The original "made in Japan" units, which have become sought after pieces, were released with a silver thumb screw to access the battery compartment (this is now black), and housed a Toshiba TA7136AP pre-amp, which gave users a warmer, more amp-like tone with a slightly softer clipping characteristic. These parts had started to run out towards the end of their stock life and in 1994, Boss were forced to redesign the circuit.
They switched out the pre-amp for a Rohm BA782N dual op-amp. The switch to an op-amp design saw the DS-1's sound become harder edged, giving the hard-clipping Distortion tone we know and love today, but the Rohn op-amp also offered a much better noise floor, leaving users with a quieter pedal.
In 2000, the DS-1 saw another significant change when the Rohm was replaced by a Mitsubishi M5223AL op-amp, which remains the centrepiece of the Boss DS-1 circuit to this day.
The distortion section of the DS-1 is handled by a pair of 1N4148 silicon clipping diodes, which have been arranged on the circuit in a hard-clipping arrangement which gives the DS-1 its distinct hard-edged sound.
When paired with the original pre-amp circuit of the earliest units, the pedal produced a warmer, richer distortion, but upon the move to an op-amp design, the tone became more aggressive.
For anyone with a newer DS-1 who is seeking to refresh their sound, there is a simple, and very cheap, mod you can perform to the pedal: you can de-solder the clipping diodes (located in the D4 and D5 points of the circuit) and replace them for LED or germanium diodes, which will both alter the clipping characteristics.
Of course, there is also a vibrant economy of professional modders out there, and you can find examples of modded DS-1s from Analogman and JHS among others.
One of the biggest quirks with the DS-1 is the function of the tone control. On most pedals, a tone control will either add a frequency range to the signal, or roll off a frequency range.
The DS-1 tone control is a tilt-style control, based around the centre point which is a low-mid scoop (somewhere around 500Hz). In this central position you get boosted lows and highs, with a scoop in the mids.
At the extreme end of the scoop, the pedal can suffer a -12dB volume loss, which can lead to problems level matching the pedal against other effects in the signal chain.
As the tone control is turned clockwise, the highs are boosted and the lows begin to be cut. The opposite is true if you turn the control anti-clockwise: there's a boost in the lows and a cut to the highs.
As a standalone distortion unit, this EQ control can make it tricky to dial in a desirable tone, but where the DS-1 excels is when it's run into an already overdriven amp.
As well as adding gain, you can use the DS-1 to "tone sculpt" your amp. It can help to keep the lows and highs of a cranked valve amp under control and give you a tighter, smoother tone.
During the pedal's nearly 50-year history, Boss have released a few variations on the DS-1. Some are cosmetic changes to celebrate particular milestones, while others offer some additional functionality:
This was a cosmetic change released in 2016, exclusively via Guitar Center in the USA, and limited to just 3,000 units. There are no tonal changes with this, but the iconic orange paint job with black writing has been flipped to an all black finish with orange writing.
The DS-1-4A was created in 2017 to commemorate 40 years of the pedal's existence. This was, like the DS-1 BK, purely a cosmetic release, with the pedal being created with a gold font on a black body.
In 2023, Boss released the long awaited Waza Craft version of the DS-1. This version offered users the choice between standard DS-1 mode and "Custom" mode, which gives a fatter sound with more mid-range and a re-voiced tone control.
Also in 2023, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Boss, the DS-1-B50A was released in a limited batch of 7,000 units. This version of the pedal was finished in metallic orange paint.
Kurt Cobain with Nirvana in 1990 using a Boss DS-1 Distortion pedal. Credit: Eastwood Guitars
The DS-1 has become a firm favourite with many guitar players of all levels. The pedal itself is very affordable and many guitarists will often find themselves with a Boss DS-1 as their first pedal, or a very early addition to their pedalboard.
There are some very notable users of this pedal from a range of different genres, from Jazz to Grunge to Metal and everything in between:
Although the Boss DS-1 still maintains its place among the top pedals in the affordable category, there are some good alternatives out there for anyone looking for a different take on the classic DS-1 sound.
NUX DS-3 Classic Distortion
The DS-3 from NUX is a great entry point into the DS-1 market for anyone who wants to try that tone out without any significant financial commitment. This pedal sports the famous bright orange finish with black text and shares the same 3-control layout.
Donner Extreme Driver
This is another affordable entry to the DS-1 market, but this time with a mini-toggle switch that gives you three different gain modes to replicate various DS-1 mods that you can perform.
Drunk Beaver Distortion
This is the DS-1 for anyone who needs ALL the DS-1 pedals. Drunk Beaver has included both vintage and modern op-amp options, along with a range of mods ranging from the original 1978 sound to various clipping modes.
DRUNK BEAVER Distortion
"Not just one of the best Drunk Beaver Pedals ever - but a genuine timeless classic of its kind!" says Guitar Pedal X. Based on the 1978 Made in Japan version of the Boss DS-1, it incorporates some exciting improvements including a Mids switch and a switchable Muff gain stage, an 8-way diode selector and 2 op-amp modes.
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