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Stengah2010
Silver Member
Australia
167 Posts |
 Posted - 03/06/2010 : 10:51:31
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Hello all,
Spent an hour or so this afternoon installing Laurie�s Stormchaser mod in one of MT-2s, the powers that be obviously approve because as I was completing the last step of soldering in the white LED a storm with golf ball sized hail stones and horizontal rain like I�ve never seen before hit Melbourne. It was a little freaky. 
If anyone is thinking of giving this mod a go I�d say go for it, Laurie�s instructions are very easy to follow and all the part numbers are clearly marked on the board so if you have basic soldering skills and a little patience you can�t really go wrong. My local electronics store had all the parts needed except the 220pF monolithic caps so I used ceramics instead which are listed as an acceptable substitute in the instructions. They were also out of stock of 0.047uF metallised polyester caps so I substituted a 0.056uF instead. I also ended up using a 22k resistor for the LED because it was way too bright with 2.2k, 6.8k or even 12k. The only metallised polyester caps they had were rated at 100V and I�m assuming they are larger than the 63V caps specified because it was a challenge fitting some of them in, I had to either lay them down or solder on short flexible leads so they could sit either side of the second little board that has all the controls mounted on it. It wasn�t a problem just more of a challenge.
The donor pedal was a June 1997 MT-2, here are internals after the mod:
So how does it sound? Very different from a stock MT-2. All testing was done with a stock March 1997 MT-2 vs the June 1997 Stormchaser with all dials set the same. Firstly I tried it through my Roland CUBE-15 on the clean channel which traditionally makes a stock MT-2 sound very harsh and boomy, the Stormchaser actually sounded good; it had that distinct for lack of a better word �klinking� sound of a high gain valve pre-amp, and the notes were far more defined. The next test, the real test was through my non-master volume 1959 model JCM800 head and 1960A cab, I swear I can pick fake digital distortion COSM or otherwise though this amp in about 3 seconds. Its less of a clear winner in this case, the stock MT-2 has always sounded great through this amp and so does the Stormchaser, its clearer with more bite but not quite as warm and has less low end but a quick tweak of the LOW control fixed that. Also found myself winding the MID FREQ a touch higher to find the tone I like. I�ll definitely continue to use both the stock and the Stormchaser, the more different tones available to you the better.
Here is the finished pedal:
Now some questions; the 0.047uF metallised polyester cap that I substituted with a 0.056uF and the 220pF monolithic caps I substituted with ceramics, would either of those make a major difference to the tone? If so I�ll get my hands on them and change them over.
Let me know if you have any questions/comments. 
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Laurie
Double Platinum Member
Canada
4854 Posts |
Posted - 03/06/2010 : 15:02:55
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quote:
Originally posted by Stengah2010
Now some questions; the 0.047uF metallised polyester cap that I substituted with a 0.056uF and the 220pF monolithic caps I substituted with ceramics, would either of those make a major difference to the tone? If so I�ll get my hands on them and change them over.
Thanks for the writeup!
The 0.056�F cap will be fine. The mono caps are slightly warmer than ceramics, but I think you'd be hard picked to tell. I'd leave the ceramics if it was my pedal.
Hope you get many years enjoyment out of the beast! I always seem to have one in my chain. |
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Just Installed Laurie�s MT-2 Stormchaser Mod
Nice job Stengah2010