Modded my first pedal today...twice! MXR Distortion+, and mod questions...

[eugewong]

Hi all,

First time DIYer, bought an MXR Distortion to mod for fun, actually liked the tone, so found another one. Eventuall ended up modding both of them.

Using information from Aron's simple mods page, I switched out the clipping diodes for a pair of Si diodes in series (can't find any Ge diodes...yet) and an LED.

It does sound better! Both of them!

Earlier tonight I socketed one of the Dist+'s and started switching out opamps, I think I've currently got a Philips 55-something in it.

Strangely, the newer pedal (2005) is much easier to mod, and seems to be less finicky than the older pedal ('95). For the record, the newpedal is working perfectly, while the older pedal is dead as of now and I've given up on it for tonight. All I did was switch the opamps.

Anyone have any other mods to suggest that I can do to the Dist + ? And also, are opamps polarised? Will I damage them/the pedal if I have the opamp in backwards?

Thanks for the help all!

Eugene

[Mark Hammer]

Some opamps are not especially happy if plugged in backwards, especially i you were using an external supply rather than a battery.  Some, are a little more robust, or perhaps the nature of the circuit allows them to survive such upsy-downies a little better.

[eugewong]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the reply. So in essence, even if I did have a finicky opamp plugged in backwards, the wrost that could happen is that the opamp would get fried right? Would it damage the rest of the components in the circuit?

Eugene

[Mark Hammer]

Yup.  All the passive stuff would be just fine.  Only the chip has stuff inside it that  is so tiny that heat buildup can do fatal damage.