Anything interesting / mod-able here?

[ntblade]

Hi all,
Firstly, sorry if this is posted in the wrong section.
I just got given 5 old, unwanted pedals and I was wondering if there was anything intersting or mod-able among them:



All work except the Rocktek ADR-02.  The Chorus pedal (missing battery cover) sounds quite nice as do two of the distortion pedals.  I think (from memory) that the Rocktek ODR-01 and the Crock DS-2 sound similar and are quite subtle but the TC2 is a bit rougher.  This probably isn't helped by the fact that the pots are dodgy.
The Crock enclosures are not too bad and they might just be clones of something anyway but the Rockteks are pretty poor and might just be good for salvage or a rehouse.

So, any ideas?

NTB
8o)

[GibsonGM]

I'd use them, re-sell them to buy parts(!!), or tweak them as a learning experience.   Best way, IMHO, is to un-house them or get at the PCB's, and use an audio probe to follow the signal path, find places to add/remove parts.  You could probably find their schematics online, which would help.
But, overall, I find it more satisfying to start from scratch, rather than mod a circuit built into a tiny board!!  Plus, the enclosures are very tight and are very hard to re-use (again, just my 2c...).  PITA trying to mount a 3pdt stomp switch in that type, and electronic switching ain't for me...

[wavley]

You might give that Yamaha chorus a go in it's stock form, it's been a while since I've played one, but I remember them sounding quite nice.

[Mark Hammer]

The Yamaha Chorus is certainly ripe for mods, even though it is a good unit on its own.  The middle pedal in the upper row is a delay, not a chorus, and seems ripe for mods and rehousing into something that will accommodate mods.  It also bears noting that less expensive pedals "bypass" simply by lifting the delay signal.  Everything else remains in the signal path.  So, while I'm not partial to blindly converting anything and everything to true bypass, this may be one of those exceptions.

What to mod?  There are three fairly standard mods I do to chorus pedals.  One is a range switch.  There will be a Matsushita clock chip in there, either an MN3101 or 3102.  Beside it will be a small-value capacitor, probably somewhere less than 470pf.  Make that cap smaller and the delay range shifts downward towards shorter delays.  Shorter delays move you towards flanger range and swirly sounds that are vaguely Leslie-like.  Larger values move you towards thicker chorus and doubling.  If you add a larger value cap in series with the existing one, and use a 3-position toggle to either shunt/bypass the one cap or the other, or neither, you get three delay ranges.  For example, is the original was 220pf, and you placed a 330pf in series with it, the two in series get you 132pf.  Shorting out the 220 gets you 330 and shorting out the 330 gets you the stock 220.  So, 3 discriminably different delay ranges.  Note: leads to that switch should be as short as is possible since the clock signal can leak into other parts of the circuit.

The second mod involves identifying whatever is the last cap in series with the wet signal and making it smaller such that the chorusis applied only to the mids and treble.  This is very helpful in making a chorus bass-friendly, by reducing the "pitch wobble", or at least how prominent it is.

The third mod involves insertng a toggle to break the connection for the dry path, leaving only the modulated delay signal.  This will give you vibrato.  Note that you would lose ALL signal should you set it to vibrato and then hit bypass, since this is yet another one of those pedals that "bypasses" by simply cancelling the wet signal.

[SISKO]

http://www.lynx.bc.ca/~jc/pedals.html
Search for the Yamaha mods

[ntblade]

Wow! great responses, thanks!

Yep the chorus pedal sounds nice as it is so I'll pobably keep it and either clean it up or try the suggested mods and rehouse it.  Unless the Crock stuff has any rarity value I'm thinking of refinishing the enclosure and installing a TS clone or maybe a clean boost or something simple in the TC-2 box.

Thanks again and if anyone's got more info thow it this way.

Norrie

[Mark Hammer]

For all you know, one of those two Crock pedals may already BE a TS-clone.  I would encourage you to at least post a picture of the board so that educated eyes could tell you what you do or do not have there.  It might be a pig's ear, but it might just be 3 or 4 stitches away from a silk purse.

[slacker]

If you can get it working the ADR-02 is quite a nice analogue delay pedal. It's worth opening it up just to see if it's something simple like a broken wire that's stopping it working.

[superferrite]

Yeah, try and get that delay working.  I've had mine on my pedalboard since I bought it (used) in 1995.   Still works and still sounds great.