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Mat Grant
Copper Member
United Kingdom
25 Posts |
 Posted - 05/02/2008 : 14:59:00
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Hi all,
In one of the bands i play in i use a pedal board with five boss pedals: TU2,PS2,DD3,DM2 and OD2
I use a tele with EMG pickups, an 89 humbucker in the bridge and an SA strat pickup in the neck. The amp I'm using is a Vox climax - looks just liek an AC30, but is 120 watts 4xEL34 output stage, 2x12 Celestion vintage 30 speakers.
The sound is already crunchy / distorted without the OD2 pedal, depending on which pickup I use, and how hard I play etc.
But with the OD2 in the sound is brilliant. Just the sort of sound I'm looking for for the music I'm doing, where the amp is doing most of the work but the pedal is adding a bit and 'putting it in the zone' - or as Nigel Tufnel would say - giving it that 'extra push over the cliff' 
I want to be able to switch this pedal in and out, but the problem I have is the pedal output level is too low - so the cleaner sound with the pedal out is at least as loud or louder than with the OD2 pedal on.
I tried dropping the level through the pedalboard with my LS2 line selector, this cures it but then the amp loses the sound a bit with the pedal off.
I'm sure i've seen this posted before about the OD2 - I did a search but couldn't find it.
So does anyone know a way of getting more output level out of the OD2? It's a made in Japan one, the one without the remote switch. Any suggestions appreciated. 
Cheers, Mat Grant. |
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2008 : 15:27:32
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Mat:
i'm guessing this is likely due to an impedance issue.
i've had problems with volume loss with a pedal on, but it was really only limited to made in taiwan SD-1's and DS-1's when i was playing les pauls with hot alnico V or ceramic pickups.
i just picked up an MIJ OD-2 last week and it was able to boost with my dimarzio super distortion.
i'm guessing there's some resistors you could swap to get a bigger boost (but i'm not the one to tell you which ones).
the other alternatives would probably be to lower the height of your bridge pickup or run an EQ/boost after the OD-2 in your chain. a third alternative would be to give an SD-2 a whirl. it has a bit more boost in lead mode although its voicing has a bit more midrange than the OD-2. |
Edited by - zentropa on 05/02/2008 15:28:31 |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2008 : 20:07:09
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It was probably me posting about the OD2 levels,i find it a great overdrive but very low volume wise,i think zentropa hit the nail on the head with the impedance thing and the fact your using EMG pickups......my problems started with my squier strat and it's active pickups(my yamaha SG 2000S with humbuckers also had probs) basically all my boss overdrives/dist/fuzz couldn't take the higher signal so i started hunting for an alternative..Analogman has a short article on the problem in his FAQ's on his website so it's not just boss pedals that suffer from it.......i went for the SD twin tube in the end and i like the sound of the valves in the pedal so much i'm looking at some of the blackstar distortions to give me a few more options tonally......but the twin tube will be staying on the pedalboard..i find it more of an overdrive than a distortion so i need a distortion for some of the songs the rest of the lads in the band want to cover..i tried using my DS-1 a couple of weeks back(i started a thread about it) but the difference in volume between the SD and the boss was too much... pity as i like my DS-1 and used it for years....but the sound off the twin tube is so fat with my set up i would find it hard to go back now ..i still keep the OD-2 in the guitar case for emergencies........ ie... some punter spilling a pint over the pedalboard...i would imagine............
1 pint of beer vs a couple of toasty hot valves = 
but having said that the twin tube is really well made and stuff has been spilt on it with no problems.... |
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2008 : 08:38:49
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i've found the OD-2 volume boost isn't great, but i haven't lost volume with it yet.
back when i was gigging my first les paul (it was a studio lite w/ 500T/496R setup) and a strat w/ barden pickups i found it nearly impossible to get a boost with the stock SD-1's and DS-1's i had. i found that a lot of the pedals had to be designed later (1996 or later?) to handle some of the higher output buckers.
i'm willing to wager there is a resistor swap you could do on the OD-2 to get more of a boost.
i finally did a SEM for myself (the others i'd done were for other people) and it's a pretty sick volume change vs. a stock. i've found MIJ DS-1's to have more boost than an MIT, but with the SEM modded MIT ... 11 o'clock on the SEM = maxed out on the MIJ. i found a local electronics shop that has 3mm LED's for $0.19 ea. and so the mod ran me about $1.80 in parts :D |
Edited by - zentropa on 05/03/2008 08:39:21 |
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Dr. Bob
Moderator
Australia
6593 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2008 : 19:41:50
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quote:
Originally posted by zentropa
i've found the OD-2 volume boost isn't great, but i haven't lost volume with it yet.
back when i was gigging my first les paul (it was a studio lite w/ 500T/496R setup) and a strat w/ barden pickups i found it nearly impossible to get a boost with the stock SD-1's and DS-1's i had. i found that a lot of the pedals had to be designed later (1996 or later?) to handle some of the higher output buckers.
i'm willing to wager there is a resistor swap you could do on the OD-2 to get more of a boost.
i finally did a SEM for myself (the others i'd done were for other people) and it's a pretty sick volume change vs. a stock. i've found MIJ DS-1's to have more boost than an MIT, but with the SEM modded MIT ... 11 o'clock on the SEM = maxed out on the MIJ. i found a local electronics shop that has 3mm LED's for $0.19 ea. and so the mod ran me about $1.80 in parts :D
Hi zentropa
So did you take some Pics, while you were doing the Mod?
You know how much we all like pics..
Regards Dr. Bob
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Edited by - Dr. Bob on 05/04/2008 04:33:51 |
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2008 : 21:28:22
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didn't take pics :)
all i can say is that the soldering skills of japanese employees vastly surpasses the soldering skills of taiwanese employees. |
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Mat Grant
Copper Member
United Kingdom
25 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2008 : 18:15:53
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Hi,
I found a schematic online, passed it to a firned of mine who is an electronics expert - he identified a resistor that I could drop the value of to increase the output level without changing the tone or distortion
I've printed the schematic, going to try it tonightsee where it gets me.... I'll update with the results...
Thanks for the replies!
Cheers, Mat. |
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2008 : 22:52:49
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Mat:
if he does the mod please post what resistor number it was as well as the value of the old/new resistors.
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ChristoMephisto
Platinum Member
Canada
1288 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2008 : 23:42:13
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Found this in my Indy book, for the OD2, not the OD2R
R39 1k8->470 ohm resistor and 4.7uf cap in parallel
Adds more volume, distortion to turbo channel.
To orientate the cap correctly, look at the picture below. Make sure
the negative side of the capacitor is put in the hole closest to the left side of the circuitboard,
R39 is located at the lower left corner,
And this too...
R48 10k->4.7k Allows pedal to clean up better
hope this helps |
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Mat Grant
Copper Member
United Kingdom
25 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2008 : 00:04:12
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Hi all,
The mod that was suggested to me was to change R62 down and even to zero ohms to get a higher output level. It did increase the output level, but not massively.
So I tried the mod that Christomephisto suggested:
R39 1k8->470 ohm resistor and 4.7uf cap in parallel
This worked well, whilst adding a slight bit more top end 'sizzle' to the sound, that mod combined with the R62 bypassing has given me enough level to match up with the output of my guitar even at full welly on the bridge humbucker. The tone knob can take out the slightly increased top end.
So thanks Christomephisto for posting that info...
Firs tme I've modded a pedal, if you don't count fitting an LED nito an old 1970s dynacomp(!) - it was all quite straightforward.
Cheers, Mat. |
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turbo overdrive OD2 output level
