m-theory

I appreciate that, and I do have a lot of experience, BUT, I try not to dissuade or too heavily promote one specific item over another, because everybody uses their stuff differently, so what might work awesome for me, might sound terrible for others, and visa versa. I run my amps on the hot side, so that I can dial the guitar volume to go from "clean" to crunch dirty. I use 3 pedal dirt circuits, all of which I use for solo boosting...a powerful overdrive/boost, a distortion, and a dirty boost. That's what works for ME, but certainly not everybody. That's why I TRY to leave these types of discussions open. This particular pedal isn't very impressive in stock form. Modded, it's much better, but it's still not a great pedal, imo. HOWEVER, it DOES work for some (Steve Vai uses a Keeley modded DS1, as I recall), so, at $30 or whatever, it's certainly worth anyone who's interested, trying it out for themselves. The older ones used a different op amp, so they probably do sound different. Better or not remains a purely subjective opinion.

It can make noise, yes. None, if that doesn't matter to you. It's a purely subjective POV. I happen to think that the best distortion comes from an overdriven tube amp. Some prefer SS. I was just pointing out that the DS1 does NOT sound or feel like a tube amp. Actually, since feel is a considerable factor in inspiration, I'd say that it's very important from a musician's POV. Again, it's what moves the individual. I personally have never been moved by my DS1, either before or after I Keeley modded it. I've got numerous circuits that sound significantly better to my ears, and work far better with my amps than the DS1. Again, it's subjective. Believe it or not, some of those cork sniffer circuits actually sound pretty darn nice. I'd never pay $300 for something that I could build myself for $60-$80, but I will say that some of them are pretty awesome sounding circuits. I personally recommend everyone have a DS1, if for no other reason than to say that they've tried it. It's as common as dirt, and there's got to be some reason for that, other than price alone. It clearly seems to be working to inspire some! The Keeley mods are a huge improvement to the original, btw, but still not to my personal liking. It's still a pretty harsh, artificial sound to me, BUT, that's subjective!

How can a pedal that goes for $25-$35 be over-rated? Yes, they're harsh, and don't sound or feel anything like a tube amp, but they are cheap and they do make noise.

Hey Brian, thanks for posting this stuff. Lots of guys have been waiting impatiently for this amp for a LONG, LONG time, so it's good that you took the time to post clips and porn shots. Sounds to me as though it's got the trademark Vjr mush going at higher levels, but it shouldn't be hard at all to tweak that out. Knowing how they screwed up the bias on the Vjr, I'd guess that's a big part of it. Ruby Tubes makes some decent replacement reverb tanks, btw, although personally, I'd have no use for it anyway. Overall, it seems as though it's got potential. I have to admit, I'd pretty much written this amp off entirely, so it's good to see that it's finally become real. It looks nice sitting on the cabinet!

Never seen it before. This may not be the best forum to inquire about it. Personally, I'm not much a fan of SS or modeling amps for live use, but some seem to like them, and you could probably do a lot worse than COSM.