PastFX's OG-2 massively evolves and upgrades the Boss DS-1circuit with original NOS Toshiba TA7136AP IC, and 1S1588 Diodes onboard

Jul 24, 202612:00 by

Stefan Karlsson

DistortionPastFX

Fun fact! - The very first pedal I bought when I returned to guitar in 2016 - was the Boss DS-1 Distortion - which was the worst pedal I could have acquired for my Clean Pedal Platform Rig. The DS-1 was originally designed to bring further flavour to an already cooking amp - as ably demonstrated by Kurt Cobain.

So my first encounter with the DS-1 was shatteringly disappointing - while the DS-1 is the Distortion pedal I now have by far and away the most variations and takes on. All those subsequent - mostly modded editions solved the issues I had with the original - and in fact sounded great in my rig.

And now PastFX has delivered probably my favourite variety to-date with all the best modifications onboard - alongside those primo components, and the same superb 4-way clipping selection that can be found on the PastFX Mischief evolved Rat style Distortion.

CLIPPING MODES

WHITE - Original Symmetrically 1S1588 Silicon Diodes
BLUE - Asymmetrical Silicon Diodes
RED - Red LED
PINK - Hybrid Germanium - featuring Germanium Diodes and a supporting cast of further secret sauce diodes, possibly including LED too - with the result that you get no volume drop across all those Diode Clipping selections.

The Clipping selection sounds even better than on the Mischief - where I like every single one of those options - each delivers a distinct character. The Red LED is possibly my favourite by a hair’s width - but I really love the Hybrid Germanium clipping too - that delivers some very special harmonics. And both Symmetrical and Asymmetrical modes are killer too - they sound so good with this circuit!

Controls - Tone, Gain Range : Hi / Lo, Distortion, Level, Bass : More / Most / Least, Clip : White 1S1588 Symmetrical / Blue Asymmetrical / Red LED / Pink Hybrid Germanium+, Bite / Sharpness (LPF Bypass), Mids (Add Mids Punch!).

Taking the back off the pedal reveals the key killer components for this particular variant - the Toshiba TA7136AP IC, and 1S1588 Diodes that were found in the very original model. These are some seriously rarified parts. It's what PastFX have become known for - sourcing those original vintage components that no one else can get their hands on.

I have a few evolved DS-1 pedals (follow-up article coming up real soon!) - and this I think is my favourite to-date - it sounds every way superb. I really like it on both Lo and Hi Gain Modes - and it has a wonderfully warm and rich character by default. It has surprisingly great guitar volume gain cleanup too!

In fact the only thing I would change here is to have the Hi/Lo option on a second Footswitch - that way I could have incredible on-the-fly gain control - via said switch, and using the guitar volume. You could cover an immense gain range that way.

I tend to prefer Tone @ 3 o'c. Gain both Hi and Lo, Distortion @ 3 o'c, Level @ 3 o'c, Bass in the Middle (Most), Clip on either Red LED or Pink Hybrid Germanium, Bite switch on, and Mids switch on! That sounds absolutely killer.

This is what Fender doesn't understand - so much of the success of its guitars - has come through other people's / brands mods and tweaks. Much like the evolution of certain Boss pedal designs - some of which have ended up on its own Waza Craft editions!

This is a pedal that Boss would never make! But it's the very best version of their 1.5 million runaway all-time best-selling pedal! If you like DS-1's - then this is a must buy. And if you don't like the DS-1 - you will still probably love this one too!

Of course it matters how you use your DS-1 - as a lot of those DS-1 pedals don't work at all into a Clean Petal Platform Rig - while all the modified ones do, where for the longest time the Keeley Ultra / Seeing Eye Modded version was my favourite - but I have other preferred varieties now.

Interestingly Mooer took on Keeley's Mods for both its version of Blues Driver (Blues Mood), and DS-1 (Ultra Drive). Generally my starting point for Boss Mods is Robert Keeley. But PastFX has one-upped him here.

We now just need a souped-up PastFX take of the Boss BD-2 Blues Driver to complete the set. PastFX should take note of the Keeley Freak Fuzz Mod - which includes both Phat Mod, and 2 x Germanium Transistor Mod for a more fuzzy voicing!

In any case - the OG-2 is the best DS-1 variety you can buy! Available now from the PastFX Webstore for $299 AUD / $209 USD / £159 and equivalent. Note that you can also now get the OG-1 too (OD-1 + SD-1) for $399 AUD / $270 USD / £209 and equivalent - both of those are totally essential for me.

PastFX delivers the goods yet again!