DS-1 Modded (T-Von)

[LoudGreg]

Hi there,

After looking at Melanhead's mods & hearing great things about T-vons mod kit, (& needing to get some success after my BSIAB failure) I went with the T-von kit. I was very surprised to see all the parts actually labeled on the DS-1 Card. Made it go much smoother. But after overheating & destroying the switch, I replaced the switch, & did get it to work. The mods I made other then the T-von mods were:

Socket-ed R13 - right now has  1K in it.  might go to 2.2K ........but not yet.
Socket-ed both D4 & D5
On D4= now has an on-off-on switch that switches from: A) Stock Diode & Red LED in series, to B) Diode Lift, to C) T-vons 1N4002 Diode
On D5 = T-vons Tri-Mod - A)Two LEDs (One Red, One Green) to B) Diode Lift  to C) 1N4002 Diode.

I A/B-ed this with my stock MIJ DS-1, set my Marshall to a total clean sound and what a difference these mods make. I'm almost embarrassed to think that I even liked the DS-1 at one time. After hearing these side by side, the modded DS-1 makes the stock DS-1 sound like a toy. I'm not done with modding it yet. Going to check out what Melanhead did tonewise. The difference in clarity and volume are amazing. The LED sound on D5 is a winner. The volume drops but the sound is Very smooth and tube like. The Switch on D4 only seems to make a difference when D5 is set to the two LEDs. But what I'm still not getting is that Satriani total sustain I'm after. But it's so close I can feel it.

What I'm not hearing is a big difference between the Diode lift on D5 and the Diode being IN. Sounds almost the same or a very subtle difference in the sound. I wired the switches with the Neg of D4 & D5 (right side of the card) to the middle lug, and the Diodes banded side towards one of the outer Lugs. The LED's are working fine and have no problem. (sound great actually) But my main question is should there be a night and day difference when the diode is engaged? if so I'm not getting it.

Any opinions ?


 

[jschwalls]

Keeley's diode pattern as emailed to me is.. D4= 3mm red LED and D5 stock diode with 3mm red LED switched in series.
I originally had  D4  LEd and D5 1n4001, which sounded nice, but when i emailed Keeley they told me the way they did it and i thought it sounded better for my needs..
Keeley guys are quick to answer emails, they have quickly answered all my emails to them... great guys.

I personally think that Brian over at indyguitarist.com is an amazing dude and i have remodded some of my Keeley stuff over to his specs on some pedals cause i really like the work he does..
My SD-1 has switches all over it allowing me to switch from the Keeley diode mod to brians Fulldrive 2 mod... both of which sound very cool and different....