old boss be5....any mod ideas?

[pinkjimiphoton]

got one of these in a hoss trade recently, and i got the service manual off electrotanya and looked at it last nite.

i googled for mod ideas as well as here and the forum who shall not be named and found zip.

looking at it, the distortion i think can be improved for my purposes by swapping out the diode clippers for different diodes.

i'd like to kill the dry signal of the chorus so it's more of a vibe, or give it some regeneration so i can make it flange or something.

i never use chorus normally, so it would be no loss.

looking at the comp, i'm thinking it could be improved on a little bit with a couple tweaks.

also thinking a master volume is in order, and saw some youtubes featuring "clean boosts" etc...that apparently have something to do with the comp circuit.
it sounds great on the youtubes with the "clean boost" on with the distortion...much more responsive and "tubey"....gives it some of that blizzard of nails edge.

i dunno. looks like a fun candidate to play with, i've got less than 5 bux into it, so i'm open to suggestions!!

here's the service manual link... if you use firefox, disable adblock and no script if enabled, or use ie to download:

http://elektrotanya.com/roland_boss_be-5.pdf/download.html

[pinkjimiphoton]

so, like, the manual says that when BOTH outputs are used,  and the chorus is on, output a is just chorus, and output b is straight guitar.

so...the big question seems to be whether i can do the trick at this link with this thing:

http://www.chewingoncrayons.com/2009/02/boss-ce-5-simple-vinrato-mod.html

since i never use chorus (just don't like it) i'm figuring i can remove the second output jack, and mount a small dpdt in the hole left behind so i can restore the thing if i want at a later date.

think it will fly? will this work on ANY chorus that's set up this way?

[codamedia]

I've got a BE5 and might be able to provide a little info - but not much.

The mods you see on the internet for this unit are intense. The Clean Boost mod is not part of the compressor, it is an add on to the unit, complete with a volume, footswitch and LED. I believe they clone an Xotic EP Booster and add it to the existing layout (add on board). The same applies to the Phase 90 phaser these same people add to the unit. Aside from that, you should be able to change a few components and make it a little more "your own".

As for the vibrato mod you link to, that would work fine on the BE5, but why? I just plug a dummy jack into my 2nd output, and it provides the same result. Should you ever want to restore to original - unplug the dummy jack!

Here is one thing I did to mine - as like you, I am not fond of chorus and wanted a VIBE or TREM instead.

1: Plugin a dummy jack as mentioned above, and now it behaves more like a Vibrato or Tremolo - but you may notice the Speed is too low, even when cranked.
2: To increase the speed, you need to alter resistor 104 (R104). Stock it is a 1M resitor, but you need to get it between 500K and 680K. To do this - you can replace the resistor completely, or you can simply add another resitor to the existing one. I did that from the back of the unit (which is clearly marked as well) so if I ever want to go back to stock, a one second solder job removes the added resistor. What I did was add another 1M resistor, and when coupled it becomes 500K (roughly). Now I have enough RATE as it sweeps from nothing (like stock) to at least twice as fast as stock.

This behaves more like a vibe than a tremolo as the modulation is pitch not volume, but I find it much more useful than a chorus!

[codamedia]

I just did another MOD to my BE5 this morning. This is a delay "high cut mod" which makes the delay sound more like an analog or tape delay.

This is what I did, but of course you can alter the cap values to get exactly what you want. The larger the cap value, the more high end that you cut.

1: On the EFFECT LEVEL control for the delay, I soldered in a 223 (22nF) cap between the wiper and ground. This gives the "initial repeat" a slight drop in high end so the 1st repeated note does not interfere with the original note. If you don't proceed with step two then the high end cut provided here will stay consistant with all additional repeats.
2: On the REPEAT control for the delay, I soldered in a 503 (50nF) cap between the wiper and ground. With this cap, every repeat that occurs will have less high end which is very much like the workings of a "tape echo".

(note: on my older Boss DD3 I used to put the caps between the two outside lugs of the pots, but on the BE5 that would not work - which is why I put them between the "wiper (center)" and ground)

If you want the option of going back to the stock digital delay sound, simply put the caps on mini switches so you can turn them on or off. Myself, I would always use the mod as is, so I just soldered the caps to the board. It  would only take me a moment to reverse if I needed/wanted to.

[pinkjimiphoton]

codamedia,
thanks!!
awesome info!!
i already figured out the chorus thing. i do exactly what you suggest.
i hate the chorus on this thing, but take the dry signal out and it's a VERY nice vibe.. i use this live now as an essential part of kit..
i only really use the vibe and delay, a touch of noise gate, so the delay mod you posted so kindly is an awesome idea.. i have a couple plex's, so i am pretty spoiled with delay, and don't care for the one on this pedal.. it works in a pinch, but i'm not real happy with it.
i will try your mods and see if that may improve it some, so thank you very much!!
i'll post back with my results..
thanks again, and i see you only have two posts, so please allow me to welcome you to the forum!
peace out!
jimi

[codamedia]

Yep - 2 posts because I signed up for this thread Thanks for the welcome!

The BE5 is an interesting beast. It's flimsy feel and cheap plastic give way to 1980's Japanese manufacturing under the hood. A lot of mods done today are to update pedals to this era of manufacturing.
The BE5 manufacturing began in 1984 but did not hit the markets until late 1988. Although the effects are based on other BOSS pedals, I'm not so certain they are direct copies.

Compressor: This is a CS3, but a really early MIJ CS3. It's really more of a CS2 with a tone control.
Overdrive/Dist: This is interesting. The controls indicate this is an OS2, but the OS2 did not exist until the BE5 was celebrating it's 2nd (2nd year of release) birthday. OS2's are all built in Taiwan, but this is MIJ.
Delay: Many think this is DD2 or DD3 however it has longer delay times, more modes and is not connected to the stereo jack.
Noise Supressor: Very simplified version of the NS2 with only the threshold control.
Chorus: This is a CE3, but rather than have a MODE switch, simply plugging into the 2nd output activates stereo mode.

Aside from the chorus (which I never liked anyway) I think the effects in this unit are top notch. I use one for my travel rig when I have to fly to gigs (just 2 lbs) and I am never dissappointed that I don't have my full pedal board with me. Now that I've had the courage to do the delay High Cut mod - I'll be even happier with it.

[Casey_Butt]

Sorry to dig up an old thread... I found it in a search and thought I'd add something...

I recently went through my BE-5 that I've had since whenever they first came out.  I didn't like the OD/Dist section, so I re-did the OD side as an SD-1 and the Dist side to mimic a DOD-250.  I also replaced all the electrolytics in the signal path with polyester caps and the carbon film resistors with metal films.  I increased some caps in the Compressor to let more bass through so I could use it with my basses.  I didn't like how the Noise Suppression circuit was after the OD/Dist but before the effects loop, so I re-positioned it so the noise suppression now is after the effects loop, not before.  This way the noise suppressor works on any pedals that you put in the effects loop just as an NS-2 would, not just on the Compressor and OD/Dist that's built into the BE-5 - you can now use it with other pedals or preamp as you would an NS-2.

IMO, the re-voicing of the OD/Dist dramatically improved it from being useless to me to being identical to an SD-1 (which I like) and the DOD-250 side is pretty close to the real thing as well (not quite identical, but fairly close).  Replacing the electrolytic caps and carbon film resistors really cleaned up the Compressor from hissy to practically silent, even at higher sustain settings... a dramatic reduction in hiss and noise level.

And I'm actually a bit shocked at how well the Noise Suppressor works (which is essentially an NS-2 with a resistor-fixed decay rate).  It easily trumps my Roctron Hush with my pedals and amps, so I'm using that instead of the Hush for those applications now and moved the Hush to vocal applications.  It cancels the noise without significantly affecting the tone or sustain and the threshold knob has a brilliant control range so that you can very gradually find precisely how much noise suppression you want.  I'm in love with it - the first noise "pedal" I've been truly impressed with in many years... what a surprise from a 25 year-old pedal.  I'll never do without it.

For now, I just left the chorus alone.  I'm not really thrilled with it though (nor the CE-3) but I have other choruses that I like so I didn't bother with modding it.  It's a little too bold and not lush or spacey enough for my taste in chorus.  I might re-visit it someday in the future.

I did a little write-up here: http://www.tdpri.com/forum/stomp-box/218016-80s-boss-5-pedal-board-boss-single-pedal-circuits-inside-2.html