If you want a basic, solid, well-built distortion pedal, this is it -

It's got an excellent distortion sound and has great pickup attack.

If you use this pedal with the tone control off or almost off, you will find an incredibly satisfying, warm distortion

The distortion is great, there isnt alot of noise in the background, and it just sounds good

The distortion isn't perfect, but for the price I was still really enjoying the sound it produced and couldn't ask for anything more as a beginner.

and it gives a very messy noise, but then roll down the tone and limit the distortion and it becomes a fantastic sounding stomp box that gives great depth and feel to even the cheapest, crappiest chinese plywood guitar

It has a very rich and musical sounding distortion

hard rock(distortion from half-way to all the way up depending on the song)

You can find MUCH BETTER distortions for $100 or less, even a few near or under the $40 mark the DS-1 is currently priced at

But you can easily boost the distortion achieved by the DS-1 by using it with your amp on an overdriven setting

cool pedal, good distortions

Instead of toneless, fuzzy distortion, the DS-1 faithfully reproduces all the subtle nuances of playing dynamics at any volume

so i'm not really a distortion and tone expert like some other reviewers.

This is not a boutique Distortion pedal like Hendrix would use

The distortion is flexible and you get more the louder your guitar is turned up, back your guitar down and the sound cleans up nicely

Its a rich, full distortion that at higher gains gets slightly fuzzy.

this is amazing distortion pedal, i love it, this is old time pedal, but still powerfull

great distortion pedal

Should I Go because the distortion sounds cool

Classic distortion,great for blues,grunge,classic rock,punk even

This will get you those classic distortion tones or in the general ball park

But there are times when I want a hard nose distortion, but not that deep crunchy driven sound

Way better sounding...almost as good as the distortion coming from my 5150 head...way better than any multi-effects process distortions

This is a great sounding distortion

classic distortion is good but it sucks volume and is really noisy, i guess you get what you pay for

Adequate classic distortion--but, beyond the twelve o'clock mark, the pedal is far more noisy than it ought to be

Great dirty distortion pedal.

This is an excellent distortion pedal for people who want a traditional rock sound

This distortion is the bomb

For the price this is one of the best distortion boxes available, it works quite well into a clean sounding amp like the little Quilter Micro Block

If you are starting out and want to experiment, or you just need a solid distortion pedal in your line-up, go for it!

If you play metal, you might want to get the HardWire TL-2 instead; that pedal delivers more distortion (an insane amount, if necessary) and more tone control, but it's also more expensive

classic distortion is good but it sucks volume and is really noisy, i guess you get what you pay for

That being done, I find the EQ really cleans up the mess of a mediocre distortion pedal.

It has started working again but the distortion sounds horrible now.

Great dirty distortion pedal.

Classic distortion,great for blues,grunge,classic rock,punk even

Great Distortion for a decent price!

It doesn't really make a solid-state amp sound like a tube amp, it's just a very honest distortion

If you love classic rock from the 70`s turn the distortion to half-way and you will love this pedal

If you love 80`s hard rock or hair metal turn up the distortion anywhere from 3 quarters of the way up to max and you will love this pedal

This is the classic distortion pedal

Definitely a fine distortion for a good price

Amazing pedal for a great price, would recommend to anyone looking for cheap distortion.

It's the same sound as the original orange DS-1; that classic solid-state distortion that's a little noisy, heavier than the SD-1 or those Tube Screamer type pedals

One of the finest distortion pedals ever created.

What you get with this pedal is simple, classic, basic distortion

Is this the best distortion pedal?

I've owned many, played many, etc and this is probably my favorite distortion pedal

+ is a great first distortion, and can usually be found pretty cheap.

It has a very rich and musical sounding distortion

If you're looking for an overdrive this may not be the best pedal but for good old distortion look no further

At the time I published this, the description for the BOSS DS-1 distortion pedal (http://www.amazon.com/BOSS-DS-1-Boss-Distortion-Pedal/dp/B0002CZV82)reads as follows:---Product DescriptionThe classic DS-1 Distortion pedal provides a harder distortion effect for guitar and keyboard sounds

If you have money for just one cheap distortion pedal, this is the one.

At the time I published this, the description for the BOSS DS-1 distortion pedal (http://www.amazon.com/BOSS-DS-1-Boss-Distortion-Pedal/dp/B0002CZV82)reads as follows:---Product DescriptionThe classic DS-1 Distortion pedal provides a harder distortion effect for guitar and keyboard sounds

You can certainly dial in a solid distortion sound for your guitar or other electric instruments, but I recommend you use it with a noise gate as well, in order to cut down on some of the unwanted frequencies and popping sounds.

This pedal has been around since the 80`sThe distortion isnt a repackaged reproduced boutique pedal its a straight forward clean distortion pedal with no BS.I have owned hundreds of distortion pedals and always came back to this one and said:WOW,I still like this sound after so many years of owning so much junk.

Even If you love 90`s alternative rock turn up the distortion all the way and you will love this pedal and guitarists are still using it in 2014

All of them are great general purpose distortions, easy enough to find new and used in most guitar shops, and can, at the time of this writing, be bought brand new for $75 or less here on good ol' Amazon.com, and are rugged enough to last for years

burn I like os1 better.

burn I like os1 better.

It can give a great Classic Rock & Rock n' Roll tone, or even a heavier, Pantera-like tone