taming the high end on ds-1?

CoolJohnny · April 26, 2007, 10:28:47 PM

ive checked out the many mods out there but even after several years of doing this am not ambitous enough to change like half the components on the board. anyway, i like the sound except for the harsh high end, even at the lower gain settings. any ideas on how to correct this? my idea would be to simply throw a .001uF or a .0047uF across the lugs on the output jack. that'll work, right?

Barcode80 · April 27, 2007, 01:28:55 AM

eh, sort of. what i did to correct the highs was to increase the input cap. it's only one part, not as daunting as half of them. i increased to .1 uF.

MikeH · April 27, 2007, 11:01:47 AM

The first thing I ever took a soldering iron to was a DS-1. I'd bump up c13 and c1 to 0.1 uf. I think one of those is the input cap as barcode suggested. If not, hit that one too. You may also try a 1uf - 4.7uf for c8.

Bucksears · April 27, 2007, 11:15:56 AM

For as inexpensive (and legendary) as it is, the only mod I would trouble myself with on a DS-1 is to replace the clipping diodes with red LED's. It give you a little more treble cut in the tone control as well as upping the output a little.

- Buck

MikeH · April 27, 2007, 11:22:43 AM

Yeah, the DS-1 takes to clipping mods nicely. I've swapped out the diodes in mine about 3 times, as well as most all of the caps. It's a total franken-pedal at this point. I wonder if it has any of the original values in it... Stock it's probably my least favorite dist ever. Which is probably why I've had no problem gutting it.

Barcode80 · April 27, 2007, 11:43:08 AM

the distortion was a little "soft" for me with two red LEDs in it, so i swapped one back to 4148, and it sounds real nice. I might even go to 4005 on one. the treble level with stock setup is just flat out unacceptable. i basically tell anyone i know looking at buying the pedal to factor in a couple of caps and some solder when pricing

also, from another thread i learned that to get a bit more crunch you can lower r13. stock is 4.7k, i went to 2.7k and noticed a DRASTIC improvement in the distortion quality.

CoolJohnny · April 27, 2007, 12:05:30 PM

ah, but which ones are the clipping diodes? there are quite a few on the board and (since i dont have it in front of me) i think there are more than one pair on the board. am i right? id like to try that LED switch and the input cap mod suggestion and see/hear what happens.

i understand the comment about having no trouble gutting the thing. i got it "used" at a guitar shop for $19...no shit. ive seen them online dropping to as little as $29 but this i couldn't just let sit there. perhaps they are trying to "clear a path" as it were for their new dyna-drive or whatever its called.

my pedalboard is basically all homebrew projects of varrying quality save the dc brick and boss tuner, but i plan on bringing this one along as a spare in case some wiring on one of my drives goes out...considering my soldering skills, im surprised it hasnt happened yet.

personally, i dont think the one i bought was used at all. not a single nick, scrape, scratch, or ding on it. still in the box with the useless owner's manual and it had that "new pedal" smell to it. they should bottle that stuff. it would be like methedone for gear geeks....thanks for the helpful suggesitons people...

MikeH · April 27, 2007, 12:17:32 PM

The clipping diodes are d4 and d5 (I believe), the ones right in the middle of the board.

That is the great thing about cheap pedals. You're not afraid to try really crazy things to them, and often they end up being the best sounding because of it. And sometimes your fry them and you're out 20 bucks...

MartyMart · April 27, 2007, 12:19:21 PM

Quote from: CoolJohnny on April 27, 2007, 12:05:30 PM
ah, but which ones are the clipping diodes? there are quite a few on the board and (since i dont have it in front of me) i think there are more than one pair on the board. am i right? id like to try that LED switch and the input cap mod suggestion and see/hear what happens.

D4/D5 are the clippers. almost centre of board, they are 1N4148's IIRC

MM

96ecss · April 27, 2007, 04:56:31 PM

D4 and D5 are the clippers and they are 1N4148 stock. I like 1N4002 the best in mine. You might have to file open the holes in the board for the 1N4002. I use a very small file. Just be careful to only open the holes up just large enough for the new diodes.

Dave

MikeH · April 27, 2007, 05:55:49 PM

Yeah, I currently have 1N4002s in mine as well. I used a circuit board drill bit to widen the holes.

Barcode80 · April 27, 2007, 06:46:48 PM

if you don't want to drill the board though, you can just cut out the 4148's and leave the leads there and solder the 4002's to the leads.

SysCrusher · April 27, 2007, 08:31:24 PM

Don't forget about D8 too. I changed all three to 1N4001.

Barcode80 · April 27, 2007, 09:05:19 PM

D8 isn't a clipper, as i read the schem. what purpose would that serve?

96ecss · April 27, 2007, 09:06:27 PM

I actually have 2 1N4002 on a SPDT On-Off-On toggle switch in D5. So that's 3 1N4002 total. The center position on the switch is Off, so in that position you only have 1 1N4002 in D4 in use. The other On side of the SPDT has 2 Yellow LED's. That gives me 3 clipping options. The LED's are smoother than the 1N4002, but I still prefer the 1N4002.

Dave

SysCrusher · April 27, 2007, 10:09:27 PM

Quote from: Barcode80 on April 27, 2007, 09:05:19 PM
D8 isn't a clipper, as i read the schem. what purpose would that serve?

It clips one half of the signal before reaching the first half of that op amp. Just a spin on asymmetrical clipping.

CoolJohnny · April 27, 2007, 11:01:08 PM

awesome guys. thanks for all of your input. can't wait to get at the board...of course i work all weekend so i'll have to wait until monday.

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taming the high end on ds-1?