Boss DS-1 "Oddball"

[Old_Iron]

Some pics to illustrate, sorry for the low quality, relic cellphone :

[Old_Iron]

An interesting detail about the SD-1 oddball, the color shade is different from my others SD-1, it is more greenish, and it isn't light burn or light bleach, the difference is all over it, including inside the battery compartment.

It's difficult to see in the pictures but in person it is easily notable.

It's the one in the middle.

[Pepe]

That's really, really interesting! Can it be that a few of the sought-after long-dash treadles have been collecting dust on a shelf in Japan when they were outsourced in the early '80s in favor of the short-dash treadles?

Not only the long dash treadles, but the old back plate labels too.

And when the production moved to Taiwan some staff members found those old treadles that were too good to be thrown away? Could that explain the two oddballs?

Those oddballs are from 1982/83, years before the move to Taiwan.

The end of the long dash happened around the beginning of 1982, by batch number 14XXXX, at least for those models that later became oddballs.

Looking to the components in those made in Taiwan pcb, one can see the early 80's style in those capacitors and chips, very different from the components that would be used when production actually moved to Taiwan by the end of that decade.

Don't forget that we had some oddities with the serial numbers as well! When they started producing pedals in Taiwan they used the same serial numbers as at the beginning of the six-digit serial number. We have had some people in this forum and in the previous forums who wondered why the serial number decoder gave out a date of 1980 of their Taiwanese CH-1 Super Chorus. But those pedals have the "odd" serial number on a sticker. Strange, strange, strange.

The only verifiable fact is that these pedals ... are odd.

[Old_Iron]

Don't forget that we had some oddities with the serial numbers as well! When they started producing pedals in Taiwan they used the same serial numbers as at the beginning of the six-digit serial number. We have had some people in this forum and in the previous forums who wondered why the serial number decoder gave out a date of 1980 of their Taiwanese CH-1 Super Chorus. But those pedals have the "odd" serial number on a sticker. Strange, strange, strange.

The only verifiable fact is that these pedals ... are odd.

That's true, but in that case the whole pedal "screams" Taiwan, it's just a confusing batch number.

The oddballs are fully consistent with the early 80s, the only confusing part is the Taiwanese pcb.

And, as you can see in the pictures I posted, the components in those pcbs looks like the ones used in the late 70s, early 80s, very different from the ones that will be used when production moved to Taiwan in the late 80s.

My theory about the 6 digits stamped batch number is that Boss wanted to differentiate them from the 6 digits paper sticker regular production batch number, but still use the regular production date identification.

In the end the truth is: these are just theories, maybe we never know the whole story.

[kinetic]

Very cool info!

I think the theory that the PCB's were made in Taiwan but the rest of the pedal assembled in Japan is a sound theory. It could either mean the whole PCB (assembled with components) or just the PCB itself was outsourced.

Perhaps what we have here is an artefact of the beginnings of Roland/Boss's business relationship with Taiwan. By testing a part of the imported product on a small subset of their worldwide market (Japan, where all of these pedals seem to originate from retail wise), they were able to validate their process and quality. It's also interesting that recently more are surfacing.

I think it's also possible that the entire pedal was Made in Taiwan. The back label doesn't explicitly say "Made in Japan" but refers to just Roland Japan.

I know a lot of people would say calling it MIT would be less desirable but I think in this case it makes the pedal far more interesting.

[Old_Iron]

I think the theory that the PCB's were made in Taiwan but the rest of the pedal assembled in Japan is a sound theory. It could either mean the whole PCB (assembled with components) or just the PCB itself was outsourced.

It was probably a complete pcb, with components already soldered because the capacitors brands are different from the ones Boss used at that time.

Perhaps what we have here is an artefact of the beginnings of Roland/Boss's business relationship with Taiwan. By testing a part of the imported product on a small subset of their worldwide market (Japan, where all of these pedals seem to originate from retail wise), they were able to validate their process and quality. It's also interesting that recently more are surfacing.

This makes sense.

I think it's also possible that the entire pedal was Made in Taiwan. The back label doesn't explicitly say "Made in Japan" but refers to just Roland Japan.

Since Boss had a production line in Japan, I don't think the entire pedal was made in Taiwan, but maybe they were assembled in Taiwan, with Boss sending those part surplus to Taiwan where they made the pcb and assembled the pedal, sending them back to Japan to be put in the market. It's possible.

That black label was used in other regular models with a sticker saying Made in Japan covering the text Roland Japan.

I know a lot of people would say calling it MIT would be less desirable but I think in this case it makes the pedal far more interesting.

Well, since what makes the "sound" are the components in the pcb, you may say it is, "sound wise", a made in Taiwan pedal. And yes, makes it interesting because they are unique, a very early "made in Taiwan" pedal.

[kinetic]

I thought this circuit was the same as the MIJ circuit? Some components changed, but it's not yet the modern revision..?

[Old_Iron]

I thought this circuit was the same as the MIJ circuit? Some components changed, but it's not yet the modern revision..?

I never compared the regular production pcb with those in the oddballs, but those pcb versions in them are consistent with the 1982/83 period.

The SD-1 only had two pcb versions, "A" and "B", so it's not very useful here, but the OD-1 (version "E") and DS-1 (version "F") are indeed versions from early 80s !

One more clue that points to 1982/83 production period, as the batch numbers states.

[kinetic]

Just spitballing... If I were to propose an all Taiwan theory, it's possible that they sent equipment to build enclosures that was previously used in Japan, and managed to send equipment to produce long-dash units. This would be a silk screen right? So it's not beyond comprehension that an old silk screen made its way back into use.

So many possibilities here.

[fuzzbuzzfuzz]

A very interesting thread this one!

My gut tells me it's most likely a simple outsourcing of PCBs, and possibly components prefilled, by BOSS in Taiwan for a period of time, possibly to meet demand and also to test the waters for the eventual transfer of production. The Japanese, in my experience here, are very conservative and careful with their decision making in general and thus I would not think it was an ad-hoc arrangement but more of a planned venture. They also take their time with such things. Of course this is supposition not fact. 

It may have simply been a means to combat the massive popularity of the pedals and to keep up with manufacturing during that period in the 80s when BOSS pedals really became No.1. 

Keep sharing the innard pics, a lot can be gleaned from those timeline wise!

Sidenote; the shading of my "normal" SD-1s also appear different. I should check the insides of my latest "pale" yellow. (Pic in the BOSS Pedals tread)