The Comet Vintage Distortion is a clone of the classic orange BOSS DS-1 Distortion pedal. The DS-1 has been in continuous production since 1978 and has undergone several revisions over the years. The initial transistor gain stage is similar to the Big Muff, while the tone section with its bass/treble balance control is also reminiscent of the Big Muff. The IC gain stage followed by diode-to-ground hard clipping is similar to early op-amp distortion circuits like the MXR Distortion+ or Pro Co RAT.

In the early ’90s, the original IC used in the DS-1 was discontinued, leading to a redesign of the op-amp gain stage using a standard dual op-amp. This change also resulted in a re-voicing of the circuit, reducing the bass and lowering the clipping threshold slightly. This post-1994 version of the DS-1 has gained a reputation as a poor-quality beginner’s pedal, while the pre-1994 version is highly regarded.

The Comet Vintage Distortion is based on the post-1994 dual op-amp version of the DS-1 circuit. However, the default build of the Comet makes a few parts substitutions to make it nearly identical to the pre-1994 circuit. If you want an exact replica of the pre-1994 DS-1, the legacy version of the Comet is still available and supports either configuration. The updated version of the Comet drops support for the old IC because it’s difficult to find today and streamlines the build process.

Summary created by AI from the original source.