Drunk Beaver took the 1978 Made in Japan DS-1 circuit, one of the most copied pedal layouts on the planet, and reworked it from the inside out. The result is a distortion pedal that sounds unmistakably DS-1 in character but gives you eight clipping modes, a three-position Mids fix, switchable Big Muff gain stage, and a choice between modern and vintage op-amp chips. It’s the kind of pedal that rewards tweaking.
Controls
The top row runs Level, Tone, and Dist left to right, covering the same ground as the original DS-1. Level sets your output volume, Tone shapes the high-end balance, and Dist dials in gain from light crunch to saturated wall of sound. In the demo above I’ve set up sweeps for both Tone and Dist so you can hear each knob’s full range.
Below that, the Clip rotary selector sits at the left. It steps through eight clipping voicings, running from a diode-free Boost setting (wide open, no clipping) through a range of LED, silicon, germanium, and MOSFET options. Each one changes the compression feel and the attack character noticeably. I’ve included sweeps for both Clipping and Muff Clipping so you can hear how the diode options behave with the Muff stage off and on.
The Mids toggle sits center and addresses the DS-1’s notorious mid scoop. Three positions: stock scooped DS-1 voicing, less scooped, and flat mids. The Mids sweep in the demo makes that shift very clear. The Op-Amp toggle (right column, upper) flips between a modern RC4580 chip and the vintage NOS MIJ chip Drunk Beaver sources for the original circuit flavor. The Op-Amp sweep isolates that difference with everything else held constant.
The Muff toggle (right column, lower) brings in a Big Muff-style gain stage ahead of the DS-1 circuit. Flip it on and the whole character thickens up. The Muff sweep shows you exactly what that stage adds.
How It Sounds
The four named presets cover a lot of ground. Vintage Crunch uses the vintage op-amp mode, mid-gain Dist, and a stock-scooped Mids setting for a fairly faithful DS-1 reference point. Monster Muff flips on the Muff stage, bumps Dist to 8, and opens the Mids to flat for a huge, saturated sound with real low-mid weight. Gated Bite cranks Dist to 10 with one of the tighter clipping modes for a compressed, aggressive bite where notes clamp hard. Modern Punch combines the modern op-amp, flat mids, and upper-range Tone for a bright, cutting voice that works well for single-coil clarity.
What holds all of it together is that the core DS-1 topology is recognizable throughout. The character stays present no matter which mode you’re in. The clipping selector changes texture rather than completely rewriting the sound, which makes dialing in the right voicing feel intuitive rather than overwhelming.
Distortion vs BOSS DS-1 Distortion
The BOSS DS-1 Distortion is the obvious reference. It’s been in continuous production since 1978, it’s everywhere, and it’s the circuit Drunk Beaver started from. The DS-1 is a one-setting-at-a-time pedal: you find your sound and stay there. The Drunk Beaver Distortion gives you that same core voice but lets you push the circuit in directions the original can’t go, flat mids instead of the stock scoop, Big Muff saturation layered on top, or a completely different clipping character. If the stock DS-1 already does what you need, there’s no reason to look further. If you’ve always wanted to fix the mid scoop, or you want a distortion that can cover a wider range of textures without a second pedal, the Drunk Beaver is the natural next step.
Who It’s For
This pedal suits players who love the DS-1 sound but have hit its limits. The Mids switch alone is worth it for anyone who found the original too scooped to cut through a full band. The clipping options make it genuinely useful across rock, grunge, shoegaze, and heavier punk territory. The Muff stage extends it toward fuzz textures without needing a separate board slot.
If you want the simplest possible distortion with zero extra decisions, the stock DS-1 is still that pedal. If you want to bend and shape the DS-1 circuit to fit what you’re actually playing, the Drunk Beaver Distortion gives you the tools to do it.
