It's been suggested that maybe I should describe what has been done to the effects in my system-somebody might be interested! OK, here we go.
As I'm sure you noticed (or not!), there are two Boss BD2's(Blues Driver's) next to each other. They are both altered differently and sound radically different. The first(the one on the left) has beed altered starting with the clipping diodes changed to LED's and has a cap across one of the LED's. This gives a smoother type of clipping and doesn't sounds so artificial, which is the problem with most distortion pedals.Then, all of the gain stages are ramped up a little and the tone circuits altered for more color in the tone. This involves mostly changing to higher quality caps and juggling the values a little to add bass and mids.
The second one has had similar modifications but in addition to caps across the LED's(a different type LED is used also), a higher voltage diode is put in series with one leg of the LED. This tends to smooth things out and well as giving it a MUCH more old tweed sound. Think boosted mids and bass and cranked like a tube amp on 10! Also, the tone control circit has had added capacitance changes to allow more tone sweep.
The Wah is a Dunlop 95 that has had the sweep resistor changed to allow for more tone sweep and also, the fabled FAZEL inductor was added to give it the more desirable tone like the early original Cry Baby. The factory buffer amp was left intact simply because it works great this way and I saw no need to fix it if it isn;t broke!
The volume pedal is bone stock. The only changes to it are an added rub strip to make sure the tension stays on it and it stays where I put it volume wise.
The Boss DS-1 has just entered service. Like all the rest of my toys, It's had some "work" done to it. I used "some" of the "K" mods from various ideas and incorporated some of my own, like the use of germanium diode instead of silicon to try to soften the sound. I'm also experimenting with ways to lower the "VOLUME" since the addition of the new input caps and the other mods make these scary loud. I'll report the volume mods later. As usual, the LED has been change so that I can tell they're mine!I put green in this one but I don't like it-back to the ultra bright blue ones.The Compressor is a Boss unit that has had a little done to it as well(I'm noticing a pattern here). The Tone circuit has had capacitance added to it and it makes it sound a little more lifelike.
The boss delay has had only one modification done to it- A cap across the delay pot. It supposedly changes the tone but honestly, I don't notice squat. Try it, YOU might like it.
Likewise, the chorus has had only one mod-also 1 cap added across the tone control. It also supposedly adds tone changes but unless you have them side by side, there isn't MUCH difference. It does seem to make it a little less sweepy sounding
This leaves only the power supply. It's hand built and will power up to 1.5 amps of effect which is a lot when you consider what they pull. It's based on a LM317 regulator with plenty of caps for filters and full wave bridge rectification. It's quiet and with one power supply running it all, there is none of the "wall wart" hum from having one out of phase with another.
Well, there you go. A simple but fairly accurate description of what's been done to my toys. Of course, it changes constantly since I do it myself. When I get the urge to hear a tone or sound, I start changing stuff. If you have any particular questions about my stuff, email me. I'll be glad to describe it or let you know some values.
If you are interested in modding your own pedals, you can email me and I will give you more details. My mods are gear around humbucking pickups so they are different than the normal stuff out there.There has been only ONE change lately to my pedal board, and I haven't even taken a new pic yet. I replaced the parametric EQ with a little Behringer graphic. It's easier for me to see what's happening and easier to bump one little section. Nice unit for the money and it doesn't suck any tone.
