DS-1 Mod....LED not bright anymore????

[bluetubes]

Hi all,

I've just found this forum (although I've been to to Aron's before, I never visited the forum) and I can't believe the ton of information here.  I hope eventually (when I learn more) I can contribute.  

I just modded my DS-1 with the SEM and Ultra mods.  Since I have done this, the power LED is VERY dim...to the point that at a glance you can't tell it's on.  I put a 3mm yellow LED in there and I have since changed it out for a 3mm red.  Both were really dim.  I have used both batteries and a 9v adapter with no change in brightness.

Anybody else had this happen to them?

[bluetubes]

Also, I am noticing a very slight swell on the beginning of chords when the pedal is on.  Sounds a little blown out.  It's also VERY trebley when turned up past 12 o'clock on the tone knob.

Here is what I changed:

C1, C5, C12, C3, C13     = 0.1µf

C2, C8, C9, C14             = 1.0µf

C11 = 0.047µf

D5 = 3mm red LED

Any suggestions on what could be wrong?

TIA!
Bluetubes

[SnooP_Wiggles]

theres a resister in series with that LED, replace it with a lower value.

[Melanhead]

Hmmmm ... have done these mods myslelf and didn't experience any issues .... used a standard green led ... Check all the traces and makes sure you didn't desolder any or solder any together ...

I'm not totally sure but I thought the resistor in series with the led (r35) only needed to be changed when using a Super Bright LED.

[bluetubes]

My first mistake......not checking the sound after each component!  <sigh>

I'm thinking that It's a bad component maybe.  I really don't want to have to haul this thing completely apart again.....but I'm not sure what else I can do.

[Hal]

odds are very low that you have a bad component. It is more likely that you have

a.  A lifted pad
b.  A solder bridge
c.  A bad ("cold") joint
d.  A _wrong_ componet.

I would work backwards, becuase thats the order that its easiet to check for :-D.

[bluetubes]

Thanks for the help guys!  

I replaced the red LED with a standard green one.......it looks a little brighter but not as bright as it should be.

I went over the connections and they all seem to be ok.  I re-did some solder joints that looked dull and tomorrow I will work back through the changes I made to make sure the components I put in are the right values and in their right places.

Just in case it all looks right....Is there any way to test the caps while they are in the circuit or do I have remove them?

[bluetubes]

Well,  it's getting a little better.  The LED is now pretty bright and the clipping LED is blinking faintly when distorting.  All I did was check the connections and everything, physically, now seems ok.

On the sound side....how do I explain this.......have you guys ever ran a distortion pedal into a distorted amp and get that almost too much distortion sound.  THat's kinda what the pedal sounds like now.  There also seems to be some compression on a chord pick attack as the sound drops just a tiny bit on the pick attack.

Could it be that there is a bias problem?  Too much bass maybe?  SOunds overloaded or like it's going out of phase for that fraction of sec.

Thanks

[KORGULL]

I had a similar problem (too much bass) after modding my DS-1. I didn't check the sound after each change either :oops: .
You might try lowering C3 down to .068 micro farad, or just put the stock value back. If that isn't enough, try lowering C1 too.
If you changed R14 put it back to stock value.
There have been some recent discussions about this same problem - so you can find more on this by searching the forum, if you haven't done so already.
Good luck.

[bluetubes]

Changing C3 back to .047 (I didn't have a 0.068 to try) fixed the overloaded sound and now the pedal sounds SWEET!!!!!  I still need to get a 47pf cap for the diodes to smooth it a little, but even without it the pedal sounds good.

I never would have thought that too much bass in the signal would have had such a negative effect.  Thanks for the help guys and thanks for the suggestion Korgull.

Now, what else can I pull apart?  

[Melanhead]

Fun Huh! ... I bought 2 DS1 pedals just to do the mods ... did the SEM on one and Ultra on the other. Liked the SEM mod better as It didn't add as much bottom. I'm modding the Ultra now on my own, tweaking it here and there to come up with my own sound ... just an experiment. The keeley mods are a great base to start from and if you understand what the components in the signal path do then you can tweak forever and not really hurt anything as long as you're careful while soldering.

[bluetubes]

It is alot of fun.......but I think alot of it is also the self satisfaction you get when you complete a mod and not only does it work, but it sounds great as well.  

I am constantly looking for ways to change/improve my sound and this fits perfectly.  I can see this being VERY addicting.

Ok GCB-95.........your gettin it!!

[Melanhead]

Did my crybaby a few years ago ... can't even remember what I did to it

I started modding amps about 7 years ago ... I owned tube amps and wanted to understand how they worked so I bought every book I could find ( and amp for that matter!! ... ) and learned the signal path so that I would know what to mod and what to leave alone ... left it for a few year and started to get into pedals ... Hooked again!

I guess my main motivation is that I'm very picky and wanna make things sound the way I like 'em plus, like you said, it's a high when it works and sounds great.

I'll be playing around with my DS-1 for a while ....

off to build a booster ...

[bluetubes]

I'm going through the same thing!  

I am building an 18watt clone (75% done) and I have TUT 1 (Kevin O'Connor) and Inside Tube Amps (Torres).  Alot of it is still above me but I am learning.

I have a 5150 Combo amp that I want to mod, but I am afaid to go at it.  We'll see how that one goes.

[muchavo]

can you guys give a link o good instructions to mod your ds1s?

[bluetubes]

have a search of the forum......you'll find all the info you need.

Start here

http://www.diystompboxes.com/sboxforum/viewtopic.php?t=31424&highlight=ds1

Good luck!