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Laurie
Double Platinum Member
Canada
4854 Posts |
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MervsMods
Bronze Member
USA
133 Posts |
 Posted - 11/25/2009 : 20:16:53
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Hi Laurie,
The stormchaser mods sounds like an interesting project! Question though: Why did you use the 2N7000 mosfet, instead of a regular diode? I realize that by shorting the gate and drain together in a sense you get a diode, but I'm just curious. I'll try this mod this weekend and tell you what I think. I'll do a side by side with a Monte Allums MT-2 sustaina mods, and a straight out of the box comparison...
Thanks for the post and info! |
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Goran
Double Platinum Member
Sweden
2203 Posts |
Posted - 11/25/2009 : 20:22:37
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Good idea Laurie  |
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Laurie
Double Platinum Member
Canada
4854 Posts |
Posted - 11/25/2009 : 20:31:29
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quote:
Originally posted by MervsMods
Hi Laurie,
The stormchaser mods sounds like an interesting project! Question though: Why did you use the 2N7000 mosfet, instead of a regular diode? I realize that by shorting the gate and drain together in a sense you get a diode, but I'm just curious. I'll try this mod this weekend and tell you what I think. I'll do a side by side with a Monte Allums MT-2 sustaina mods, and a straight out of the box comparison...
Thanks for the post and info!
Hi MervsMods!
The MOSFET has a built-in capacitor which rounds off the HF peaks. Togehter with the MOSFET gate diode, I found it made it a bit smoother, more "graceful".
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bossarea
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
3652 Posts |
Posted - 11/25/2009 : 21:55:02
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| Good idea. It's now sticky. |
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Dr. Bob
Moderator
Australia
6593 Posts |
Posted - 02/14/2010 : 10:05:58
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CS-3 Bright Mod
This CS-3 Bright Mod
Was created by member Rich_S
I made some suggestions about replacing the inter-stage coupling caps.
You can find the full story here on this link:
http://www.bossarea.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8903
=== Here is the extract from his mod ===
I finally got around to messing with my CS-2 last night.
First thing I did (on Dr. Bob's suggestion) was replace C22 with a same-value poly film cap. New poly > old electrolytic FTW. Since I had extra 1uF poly's around, I went ahead and replaced C13 as well. So, that got a nasty old electrolytic out of the signal path, and TWO of them out of the bypass path.
But I didn't hear much difference. So, I made up a toggle switch on pigtails and tried some bright caps across the level pot. First thing I discovered was the schematic on my CS-2 service notes is WRONG. It shows the high side of VR3 as terminal 7 and the "ground" side as 6 - but the pedal has them the other way around!
Once I figured out the right place to solder my bright cap (terminals 6 and 8), I started experimenting. I looked at a few amplifier designs with bright caps to figure out the approximate RC to go for. The Fender Super Reverb uses a 1M volume pot and 120pF cap. Keeping that approximate RC constant and adjusting for the CS-2's 50K volume pot, meant 0.002uF should put me in the ball park.
Then after a few late-night decimal-place-moving errors, I tried some caps that were WAY too big. They made the pedal brighter and boosted the gain a lot. Then I tried some that were way too small (470pF) they didn't do much of anything (as you'd expect). Finally, I abandoned my pedal-modding parts box and looked in my amp-building parts box. Bingo! 222K Orange Drops, so what if they're a bit over-qualified on voltage rating. I solder a 222K into my toggle switch setup, and it sounded pretty good through my Vox Amp Plug. Sadly, it was 1 AM and a test through the baby Marshall clone was out of the question...
Morning, and time to give it a good wringing-out. With the bright cap off, the CS-2 still sounds a bit dull to me, even with its new poly coupling caps. I run it with the squash control at 2-3 o'clock and the volume a smidge below half, for some 80's Brit-pop jangle ala Summers, Honeyman Scott, McIntosh, and Marr. With the 222K in there, it's bright. Sounds great on the bridge/middle notch setting on my Nashville Tele, playing Jamie West-Oram riffs like "One Thing Leads to Another" and "Better Be Good to Me". But on the bridge pickup, it's a little TOO bright. Hmmm... if I was going to use a .002 bright cap, I'd want a toggle switch to turn it off, and I'm reluctant to drill a vintage CS-2.
So, let's try a .001uF... replaced my 222K with a 102K (also a 100V Orange Drop, lol). THERE it is - a good compromise. Yes, it would be nice to have the option of the really bright .002uF or stock, but I prefer 3-knob simplicity to a more-fiddly pedal with a switch on it.
The great thing about a bright cap is, it goes away when you turn up the volume. If I want to use this pedal for sustain and lead boost, it would fatten up the sound as the "bright" function decreases at higher volume settings. For my purposes, with the volume below 50%, it adds just the right about of sparkle to my jangly chords.
So, the .001uF orange drop is soldered onto the pot-mounting board. Fortunately, there is plenty of room in that corner of the pedal. Pics later, when my daughter comes home from school and tells me what she did with my camera's one-of-a-kind USB cable.
=== End extract ===
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cctsim
Silver Member
United Kingdom
418 Posts |
Posted - 02/26/2010 : 01:39:46
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My DS-1 mod that changes Q2 with a MOSFET type of booster similar the SHO by Zvex.
The mod gives nice crunchy tone and good note definition if you play power chords.
Steps:
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Replace R6 with a 1M resistor
Replace R7 with a 1M resistor
Replace R8 with a 5.6k or 4.7k resistor
Replace R9 with a short
Remove C4
Replace C3 with a 0.1uF metal film capacitor
Replace C5 with a 1uF metal film capacitor
Replace Q2 with BS170 MOSFET (careful here, C-B-E doesn't map 1-to-1 to D-G-S). This is a diagram on how to install the MOSFET (BS170)
The mapping of the electrodes is as follows:
C -> D
B -> G
E -> S
You need to swap the order of G and D and insulate one of them to avoid shorting.
This was also discussed here:
http://www.bossarea.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8379
In the original mod I suggested to switch R9 between two different resistors. I have now concluded that the best results are obtained if you replace R9 with a short.
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Edited by - cctsim on 02/26/2010 01:43:18 |
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bassinyourface
Bronze Member
France
76 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2010 : 19:37:46
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I tried cctsim's mod and am a little confused...
I don't know how the Zvex sounds,but I found this mod takes the DS-1
more into fuzz territory.
The sound is similar to a good 70's fuzz,note definition is average.
I'm not a big fan of fuzzed sounds,but someone who's more into that style would find a good use for it.
This sticky is - lots of mods to experiment - Thanks for sharing !
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cctsim
Silver Member
United Kingdom
418 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2010 : 20:00:24
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I did the this mod a few times and it never sounded fuzzy to me. At least no fuzzier than the stock DS-1.
Make sure you installed the MOSFET correctly, it can make a big difference.
Sound is subjective anyway, and what is fuzzy for some people is overdrive for others.
Maybe Laurie can share his experience with this mod and comment on
the fuzzyness and note definition.
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bassinyourface
Bronze Member
France
76 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2010 : 22:02:54
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I double checked everything and I am positive I followed your advice all the way.
You are absolutely right about taste - and that's the point I was trying to make :this mod is interesting but not the kind of sound Iam looking for.
I am sorry if I hurt your feelings.
I know now this mod is not for me but I was glad to give it a try !
Again,thanks for sharing this info |
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cctsim
Silver Member
United Kingdom
418 Posts |
Posted - 03/09/2010 : 22:57:42
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No hard feelings here, I am not offended. I personally liked the mod and made it available so that others perhaps can enjoy it.
I just wanted to make sure the mod was installed properly; since you mentioned that the note definition is average, which I felt was a significant improvement over stock and a key feature of the mod.
Maybe you could post a picture of the board for me to double check.
Also, sometimes MOSFETs from different manufacturers have different pin layout. In such a case the pin layout I provided is useless.
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bassinyourface
Bronze Member
France
76 Posts |
Posted - 03/10/2010 : 23:55:17
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| I'll take some pictures this weekend and get back to you. |
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Laurie
Double Platinum Member
Canada
4854 Posts |
Posted - 03/11/2010 : 00:35:29
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I have a bunch of learnings and speculations about this mod. It's all good, but there is more than meets the eye...
Will write more when time permits. |
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Laurie
Double Platinum Member
Canada
4854 Posts |
Posted - 03/11/2010 : 04:09:32
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OK... this mod "puts a SHO front end into a DS-1".
cctsim, I've given this a lot of thought and here are some of my thoughts.
The SHO's main claim to fame is that it has a tremendously high input impedance - about 5M plus the Xc of the gate capacitance. VERY high in other words. This high impedance unloads the pickups and gives back the "chime". The other thing the FET does is give some FET clipping distortion when you drive it hard.
Putting the FET into the DS-1 gives the FET clipping sound (good/bad - that's in the ear of the beholder). What it doesn't do is give the high input impedance - because it is on the other side of the input buffer, plus the bias resistors are only 1M not 10M (and it's on the other side of the input buffer anyway).
So... my take on it is that it isn't really putting a SHO input into a DS-1. What it is doing is swapping BJT distortion for FET distortion. Does this sound about right? Or have I missed the point...?
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Edited by - Laurie on 03/11/2010 04:38:14 |
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cctsim
Silver Member
United Kingdom
418 Posts |
Posted - 03/12/2010 : 02:34:57
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Hi Laurie,
All valid points.
The high impedance doesn't come to play because of the preceding buffer. "SHO" only acknowledges the similarity of the booster type
and is more of word play.
I described the resulting sound "crunchy" with good note definition.
Did you find the mod more fuzzy rather than crunchy?
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Laurie
Double Platinum Member
Canada
4854 Posts |
Posted - 03/12/2010 : 02:40:20
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| Mine was nicely crunchy too. Not my cup of tea, but not fizzy and certainly not bad. |
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Pedal mods pages - mods created by members
