Sd-1 mod difficulty

[lescalvdart]

Fuzz Central says that the sd-1 is a difficult pedal to work on, I was just wondering how true this was from everyone's experience.  I have experience working on circuit boards before but it's been 4 years or so.  Thanks for any help.

[MartyMart]

I would'nt say that the SD-1 is any more "difficult" than another "mod"
all I would say is that unless you are quite sure of your "soldering/de-soldering" skills, then dont attempt to poke around with a circuit board.
The Boss "pads" like others are very easy to lift off, thus destroying a perfectly good pedal !!
If you're confident enough then go for it !

Marty.

[G Kresge]

I don't know much more than how to solder/desolder and follow simple mod sheet instructions and have managed to mod about three or four SD-1s over the last few months. I have no electronics background whatsoever and have had many pleasant surprises in my modest modding efforts.

As mentioned, the pads in Boss pedals lift off quite easily and I've also had to bury a few pedals in the last few months due to this. I don't think it's any more difficult to perform an operation on the SD-1 than any other pedal I've done though.

[phillip]

The main reason that I posted the warning at the top of the SD-1 and DS-1 mods pages is because the pads are easy to lift if you try to desolder or solder on a pad too long, or use an iron that's too hot.  Some of the traces are also very close together, so the chances of solder bridges is greater on those tight circuit boards.

The warning is mainly disclaimer so that if someone ever does mess up a Boss pedal trying to follow the mods, they can't say that I didn't warn them

As long as you've worked on circuit boards before and know how to use a desolderer or a desoldering braid without exposing the pads to lots of heat (by using a lower watt iron or an iron with a temperature control) then you should be fine.

Phillip

[snorky]

As long as you've worked on circuit boards before and know how to use a desolderer or a desoldering braid without exposing the pads to lots of heat (by using a lower watt iron or an iron with a temperature control) then you should be fine.

Phillip

Hey Phillip,

What temperature do you recommend for desoldering?

TIA,

- Mark

[TheBigMan]

Think an SD-1 is bad?  Try desoldering the opamp from an Ibanez TS-5.   :shock:

What I do is allow my iron to heat right up and do one leg at a time with a desoldering braid.  Then allow the iron to heat up again for a few seconds.  This should keep the irons contact with the pads to a minimum and prevent any traces or pads lifting.

[vanhansen]

And most importantly, take your time.  I successfully modded mine with no problems during the process.  I even recorded small sound samples along the way.