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Scarymonsta
Bronze Member
United Kingdom
90 Posts |
 Posted - 07/04/2008 : 17:02:39
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Hi There
I am new to this forum but it looks great and I am hoping to get some ideas for great mods etc.
QUESTION?
I have a number of fuzz pedals on my pedal board, namely BD-2, MT-2, DN-2 and SD-1.
However, the output volume on the SD-1 is much lower than the output volume (even when cranked up full) on all the other fuzz pedals listed, thus I have to set the volumes on these much lower to compensate.
The volume has always been like this from new. I wondered if this was normal or not and if it is normal are there any mods that will bring the volume in line with my other fuzzes?
Cheers
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Edited by - Scarymonsta on 07/04/2008 17:03:41 |
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Dr. Bob
Moderator
Australia
6593 Posts |
Posted - 07/04/2008 : 17:14:31
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Hi Scarymonsta
Welcome to the forum from Australia.
Is your SD-1 a MIT or a MIJ
Some MIT's tend to have a lower maximum output.
If you read back through recent threads, Zentropa, Laurie & Christo
have been doing some mods to their SD-1's
With some great results.
You will also find all their mod info & any relevant links, back in those threads.
You can also find mod links & other info in "Modifications and Technical Issues"
I gather you can read Schematics & know how to solder, if the guys help you out?
Regards & Welcome again
Dr. Bob
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DeFrag
Moderator
USA
3409 Posts |
Posted - 07/04/2008 : 20:21:56
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Welcome to Bossarea Scarymonsta!  |
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 07/04/2008 : 20:49:26
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that is common for MIT SD-1's. i'm sure there's a resistor or two that could be swapped out to give a boost without changing the tone much, but i haven't really found it. most of the SD-1 mods out there don't have a huge boost added to it.
where in the chain is your SD-1 sitting? this has some affect on it.
it's less of a problem if you are playing single coil pickups. |
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Scarymonsta
Bronze Member
United Kingdom
90 Posts |
Posted - 07/04/2008 : 22:00:10
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Hi Everyone
Thanks for your warm welcome and advice, I'll check out the links suggested.
My professional background is electronic engineering so no probs with soldering or schematics. I hope to be able to contribute to some of the discussions in the future based on my background where I can.
I never realised that there were MIT and MIJ versions of the Boss range. My SD-1 is and MIT.
It is first in my chain of pedals (used also to boost signal before dunlop wah) and used with a les paul(busrtbuckers) and explorer 496 and 500 p'ups).
Cheers
Chris. |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 07/05/2008 : 00:12:08
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Welcome to the forum.... i found that that my OD2 which suffers with what i consider a low output for an overdrive is worst(as zentropa pointed out) with humbuckers like my yamaha SG2000s or an active strat i use....with my passive strat and tele etc it works fine.... i carry it as a spare these days,i use a Seymour Duncan twin tube for my overdrive now as it can handle the more powerful pickups much better... |
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zentropa
Gold Member
USA
837 Posts |
Posted - 07/05/2008 : 03:52:54
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Chris:
i had the same problem and it was especially bad with 4 guitars i owned. 3 of them had 500T/496R and 1 was a G&L Legacy special w/ barden dual blades in em. was like a 30-40% volume loss.
have you tried putting it later in the chain? SD-1's seem to be touchy when it comes to impedance changes.
MIJ ones don't really give much in the line of boost, but they definitely don't have any volume LOSS.
stuff you can try:
remove C6 - should give some virtual output gain at the expense of being slightly more harsh.
swap JRC4558DD to JRC4558D. less gain, but since you are only using this as a booster, 4558D's definitely have a little more testicle and less fuzz on em than 4558DD's when it comes to driving em. little more boost and bite sound with less dirt.
C7/C10 upgrade to metal film 1uf.
C2/C3 swap to 0.1uf. should open up some freq's and give some virtual increase in output.
most mods seem to swap R6 to something in the 2-2.5K range. not sure what this does really but it might work.
swap an LED in place of one of D6. this should boost big time with an edgy crunch but less dirt.
i'm guessing there's a simple resistor change somewhere that should help with this though. |
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ChristoMephisto
Platinum Member
Canada
1288 Posts |
Posted - 07/05/2008 : 15:39:15
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welcome to the forum!!
Looking at the schems of the BD2 and MT2, both have an impedance resistor of 1M, and the SD1 has a lowly 470k res. You could raise the impedance in the SD1 at R2 to 620k to see if that helps match your other od/dist pedals.
cheers |
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Laurie
Double Platinum Member
Canada
4854 Posts |
Posted - 07/05/2008 : 18:05:02
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Welcome Scarymonsta from a fellow Electrical Engineer! (even though I haven't used it professionally for 20 years )
I can highly recommend the lovepedal mod I did to my MIT SD-1 (one of the links Dr. Bob mentioned). Really smoothes it out and fixes the gain problem.
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Edited by - Laurie on 07/05/2008 18:07:47 |
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Scarymonsta
Bronze Member
United Kingdom
90 Posts |
Posted - 07/09/2008 : 21:33:02
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Thanks everyone
I'll give these a go and scope up the results and let you know how I get on and post some scope shots / mod photos in a few weeks.
Cheers
Chris. |
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Topic |
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SD-1 Low Output Volume
