rehousing boss pedals

[Bagge]

I was thinking about rehousing my boss pedals T-wah, Chorus and sd1. the in/out jacks are worn out and need replacing. I have seen the pictures of Cornish building a pedalboard, and got to think that it could be nice to house all three pedals in one case. I've searched for information on how Cornish shields his boards, but have not found any answers yet. Is it as simple as conductive paint? Also would I need to isolate/shield each pedal/pcb, or would it be sufficient to use shielded cable between them? Would I benefit from using True bypass and add AMZ super buffer or similar instead of using boss' original buffers and momentary switching system?

[no one ever]

find a suitable panel-mount switch for rehousing boss pedals and get back to me. 


the hardest part is the switch.

[Bagge]

I'm not really sure if the Boss switch is a momentary or a SPST. But either way Banzai effects do have switches to get that part of the job done.

[Peter Snowberg]

I'm not really sure if the Boss switch is a momentary or a SPST.

They are both momentary and SPST. You want a normally open contact, but you could use any of the following momentary switches: SPST N.O. (Normally Open), SPDT, DPST, DPDT, 3PDT, and so on. The only momentary you could not use would be a SPST N.C. (Normally Closed), but that will still work too, the action will just change to switching when you take your foot off rather than step on the switch.

I think conductive paint should do it, but I've never used it before. Copper foil is a fantastic shield material but a little harder to get. Copper tape with conductive adhesive is really wonderful stuff. aluminum foil with spray glue can work great, but making contact and grounding it takes a little more (I use a small screw with a washer to anchor the ground wire).

Once you are inside the box you won't need shielded cable or isolation between each board. you should however keep the wires as short as you can.

Bypass is mostly personal taste. Boss uses a very good buffer/switch circuit but if you want absolute purity, get some 3PDTs, freeze the switching flip-flops, and have at it.

The Boss circuit provides plenty of drive for most uses, but if you want more drive, I would use a NE5532 at unity gain on the output, and some kind of buffer on the input. Any high impedance input clean boost will be just fine. Mount the boost right at the input jack for the best result.

[Bagge]

I will go for True Bypass option, as it occurs to me, that I've previously had problems with these pedals and wants to be able to bypass at any time. How do I freeze the flip flop circuit? If it's momentary switches used in Boss, I can't simply jump the connections to the switch. Has anyone tried to freeze a Boss pedal?

[wampcat1]

I'm not really sure if the Boss switch is a momentary or a SPST.

The Boss circuit provides plenty of drive for most uses, but if you want more drive, I would use a NE5532 at unity gain on the output, and some kind of buffer on the input. Any high impedance input clean boost will be just fine. Mount the boost right at the input jack for the best result.

If you are rehousing, another cool thing to do is to insert a fetzer valve before the sd-1 and/or after it. Mucho smoothness!

[joelap]

is it possible to do that in a regular SD-1?  I'd like to try that out!

[wampcat1]

is it possible to do that in a regular SD-1?  I'd like to try that out!

Yes, if you are rehousing it. There *may* be enough room without the rehouse...depends on how neat you are!

[Bagge]

Thanks for the input on this topic. I will consider adding fetzer valve. I have previously done Sparkle Boost and Blue Magic in one enclosure and am very happy with that compination. 
However, my aim is to include my three Boss pedals in one enclosure. I have used sd1 and ch1 in a long time with a bunch of other stuff, but the pedals take up too much space and tend to make a mess. Furthermore the jack connections are in a bad shape, and would need replacement anyway. I intend to make a shielded wooden box, which include all three circuits, with true bypass and an upgrade on the LED's. (They never shine through on stage).
I also want to make a send/return between sd1 and T-wah, so I have the opportunity to put other pedals in between and preserve some flexibility. But I must admit that the flipflop thing bugs me more than I thought it would do. I can't seem to find that pdf file called alwayson.pdf, which was supposed to explain how to keep Boss pedals on.

[wampcat1]

Thanks for the input on this topic. I will consider adding fetzer valve. I have previously done Sparkle Boost and Blue Magic in one enclosure and am very happy with that compination. 
However, my aim is to include my three Boss pedals in one enclosure. I have used sd1 and ch1 in a long time with a bunch of other stuff, but the pedals take up too much space and tend to make a mess. Furthermore the jack connections are in a bad shape, and would need replacement anyway. I intend to make a shielded wooden box, which include all three circuits, with true bypass and an upgrade on the LED's. (They never shine through on stage).
I also want to make a send/return between sd1 and T-wah, so I have the opportunity to put other pedals in between and preserve some flexibility. But I must admit that the flipflop thing bugs me more than I thought it would do. I can't seem to find that pdf file called alwayson.pdf, which was supposed to explain how to keep Boss pedals on.

It is gone, unless someone has a copy of it (in which case, post it in the layout gallery!!). However, if you do a search for "boss bypass" or "boss true bypass" or "always on mod" or something like that, I'm sure you'll find a ton of info on how to.

Hope that helps!

Brian

[Bagge]

I remember R.G. wrote something about bypassing a resistor from base of one of the flipflop transistors, to freeze the pedal in ON-position. Has anyone tried that?

[Melanhead]

I'm not really sure if the Boss switch is a momentary or a SPST.

The Boss circuit provides plenty of drive for most uses, but if you want more drive, I would use a NE5532 at unity gain on the output, and some kind of buffer on the input. Any high impedance input clean boost will be just fine. Mount the boost right at the input jack for the best result.

If you are rehousing, another cool thing to do is to insert a fetzer valve before the sd-1 and/or after it. Mucho smoothness!

Hmmmm ... I've often thought about this . Kinda like adding that extra tube stage to your amp, seeing that the fetzer is a fet clone of a Fender preamp

Thanks for that Brian! ... Now It know it'll sound good too ... I'll try it out!