Boss DS-1 Mods

[Seven64]

i did a tweaked version of the keeley mod to mine.  in addition to the keeley mod, i changed c10 to a .015uf film cap, d4 to a germanium diode, left d5 stock, did not add the cap to the back of the diodes, switched the ic to a inline 4558, changed r6 to a 150k, and r9 to a 1k.

i like it tons better than the keeley mod.  gonna go pretty in depth into the clipping section with my next one.

[soupbone]

i did a tweaked version of the keeley mod to mine.  in addition to the keeley mod, i changed c10 to a .015uf film cap, d4 to a germanium diode, left d5 stock, did not add the cap to the back of the diodes, switched the ic to a inline 4558, changed r6 to a 150k, and r9 to a 1k.

i like it tons better than the keeley mod.  gonna go pretty in depth into the clipping section with my next one.

Right on!I'm in the land of keeley(oklahoma).I was tinkering one day,and figured out how to take out r16,and use a 5k pot.Kind of a mid booster thing of sorts.I haven't used a 10k pot yet,but anxious to see how that works.

[soupbone]

TLC2262 opamp, LED clippers, tweak tonestack to amp. 

Nice!Why would the TLC work better than the stock JRC?Is the TLC 14 pin?

[WGTP]

http://www.ti.com/product/tlc2262

It is just another of the many possibilities for the op amp.  Some folks don't hear any difference, some think the op amp makes all the difference.  With LED's, a larger percentage of the distortion will come from the op amp, and the output will be higher and less compressed.  The Sansamp uses the tlc2262.  To me the clipping diodes make much more noticeable changes than the op amp does and there are many possible combinations.  The EQ section is also very important and dependant upon the amp your using.  My Valve Jr. has no tone controls, so it needs some mid scoop. 

[HOTTUBES]

I have always been pretty conservative on the value of C3 cap !!
Keeley calls for a .1 in this location , but for me its just to much low end , that tends to muddy the sound imo .



The DS1 responds so well to mods .....so here's a mod list that will drastically improve the tone of this pedal .
I did a blind play test of this mod v/s the Keeley SEM , and many in the room that day said they preferred this
over the SEM........


C1 -.1 uf
C2 - 1 uf
C3 - .033 uf
C5 - 2.2K  resistor ( YES ! remove cap , install resistor of this value )
C8 - 1 uf
C9 - 1.5K resistor ( Yes ! remove cap , install resistor of this value )
C10 - .01 uf
C11 - .022 uf
C13 - .1 uf
C14 - 1 uf


R13 - 1.5 K
R14 - 1.5 K
R16 - Install switch - 2.2K  &  1.5 K values ( works great as a mid boost / cut )
R17 - 15 K
R39 - 20 K


D4 - 1N34a Germ. + LED in series
D5 - 1N34a Germ.  + LED in series

[Seven64]

put my boss against a stock one tonight and was not impressed at all.  the jrc chip has nowhere near the gain of the stock mitsubishi chip.   i know this is the case because i swapped the chip in the distortion section of my hm2 with the jrc inline 4558 as well, and it sounded horrible. 

would the ne5532 have more or less gain than the mitsu chip?  tl072?  opa2134?

[Seven64]

would swapping out the c2240 transistors with 5088/5089's do anything?

[HOTTUBES]

I have never swapped out the chip in a DS1 ....
Does it make a big difference

[rousejeremy]

I have never swapped out the chip in a DS1 ....
Does it make a big difference

Good question. I've never gotten around to it because of the inline IC they use. Somewhere there has to be a PCB to replace the inline IC with a dual socket.

[askwho69]

would swapping out the c2240 transistors with 5088/5089's do anything?

yes it will , my ds1 before was modded to JCM800 by wampler.. its one of the best... then i i swap the IC to
opa2134, transistor to 5088...its more clarity and pronounce tone

[Seven64]

http://cimarrontechnology.com/so8dip8tosiladapterpn060301.aspx

[soupbone]

I have always been pretty conservative on the value of C3 cap !!
Keeley calls for a .1 in this location , but for me its just to much low end , that tends to muddy the sound imo .



The DS1 responds so well to mods .....so here's a mod list that will drastically improve the tone of this pedal .
I did a blind play test of this mod v/s the Keeley SEM , and many in the room that day said they preferred this
over the SEM........


C1 -.1 uf
C2 - 1 uf
C3 - .033 uf
C5 - 2.2K  resistor ( YES ! remove cap , install resistor of this value )
C8 - 1 uf
C9 - 1.5K resistor ( Yes ! remove cap , install resistor of this value )
C10 - .01 uf
C11 - .022 uf
C13 - .1 uf
C14 - 1 uf


R13 - 1.5 K
R14 - 1.5 K
R16 - Install switch - 2.2K  &  1.5 K values ( works great as a mid boost / cut )
R17 - 15 K
R39 - 20 K


D4 - 1N34a Germ. + LED in series
D5 - 1N34a Germ.  + LED in series

I'm going to post some audio clips of my DS-1 Bone Mod mk soon.Do you have any clips of this mod?

[rousejeremy]

http://cimarrontechnology.com/so8dip8tosiladapterpn060301.aspx

There it is! Has anyone made a toner transfer version of this? If it's possible that is.

[HOTTUBES]

I have always been pretty conservative on the value of C3 cap !!
Keeley calls for a .1 in this location , but for me its just to much low end , that tends to muddy the sound imo .



The DS1 responds so well to mods .....so here's a mod list that will drastically improve the tone of this pedal .
I did a blind play test of this mod v/s the Keeley SEM , and many in the room that day said they preferred this
over the SEM........


C1 -.1 uf
C2 - 1 uf
C3 - .033 uf
C5 - 2.2K  resistor ( YES ! remove cap , install resistor of this value )
C8 - 1 uf
C9 - 1.5K resistor ( Yes ! remove cap , install resistor of this value )
C10 - .01 uf
C11 - .022 uf
C13 - .1 uf
C14 - 1 uf


R13 - 1.5 K
R14 - 1.5 K
R16 - Install switch - 2.2K  &  1.5 K values ( works great as a mid boost / cut )
R17 - 15 K
R39 - 20 K


D4 - 1N34a Germ. + LED in series
D5 - 1N34a Germ.  + LED in series

I'm going to post some audio clips of my DS-1 Bone Mod mk soon.Do you have any clips of this mod?

NO , Sorry ...not at this time anyway .....

[soupbone]

I have always been pretty conservative on the value of C3 cap !!
Keeley calls for a .1 in this location , but for me its just to much low end , that tends to muddy the sound imo .



The DS1 responds so well to mods .....so here's a mod list that will drastically improve the tone of this pedal .
I did a blind play test of this mod v/s the Keeley SEM , and many in the room that day said they preferred this
over the SEM........


C1 -.1 uf
C2 - 1 uf
C3 - .033 uf
C5 - 2.2K  resistor ( YES ! remove cap , install resistor of this value )
C8 - 1 uf
C9 - 1.5K resistor ( Yes ! remove cap , install resistor of this value )
C10 - .01 uf
C11 - .022 uf
C13 - .1 uf
C14 - 1 uf


R13 - 1.5 K
R14 - 1.5 K
R16 - Install switch - 2.2K  &  1.5 K values ( works great as a mid boost / cut )
R17 - 15 K
R39 - 20 K


D4 - 1N34a Germ. + LED in series
D5 - 1N34a Germ.  + LED in series

I'm going to post some audio clips of my DS-1 Bone Mod mk soon.Do you have any clips of this mod?

NO , Sorry ...not at this time anyway .....

Right on.I have a DS-1 with all of the caps and resistors taken out,and soldered wires from the blank holes,so i can try differn't combinations out.I guess it would be easier just breadboarding it,but I'm not that great at it yet.I'll definately check out your mod.Sounds cool!

[runmikeyrun]

here's a video demo I did of my DS-1.  While it's modified for bass (and demo'd on bass) you can get the gist of what it sounds like lifting one side of the clipping diodes (D4) and what the high-gain mod sounds like (changing R13 from 4.7k to 1k)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYQF7U-3hTs&list=UU9KIVV0TMsHVOcIv1xA8rVQ&index=2&feature=plcp

[rousejeremy]

Nice work. ^

[Groovenut]

Here are video demos of the LPD Sonoran Dog Mod as well as the mod docs.

http://db.tt/uLQhtYqN

http://youtu.be/AF8u5dAw3k0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNM-0KTY-3w

[soupbone]

Here are video demos of the LPD Sonoran Dog Mod as well as the mod docs.

http://db.tt/uLQhtYqN

http://youtu.be/AF8u5dAw3k0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNM-0KTY-3w

Hey Lawernce.I was checking out your "Sonaran Dog Mod" out on youtube.Very nice!Almost sounds more like an overdrive now!Here's on of my mods i came up with with an in-depth analysis by Pete Moore.(all the parts he talks about are my changed values) Check it out and lemme know what ya think!-soup                                                                                                                             R6-150k...base bias resistor, part of the resistive divider/base bias resistors, should lift the base voltage a touch.
R9-10 ohm...Emitter resistor, bumps the gain up...brings the E closer to Gnd.
R13-1k ...has to do with the opamp gain/frequency 'string' there...apply the R/C formula or try it and see.
R14-10k...another R/C position, smaller R in the signal path = reduced losses
R16-5k pot (midrange knob]...perhaps 5k + 3k3 [?] stop resistor so the range = 3k3 - 8k3 adjustable resistance there [this would cover the original fixed value of 6k8.
R17-15k...messes with the tone control, try the 15k there, and use a jumper resistor across it to try the sound of smaller values
C2-.022...was .o47uf, series in signal path...smaller values cut more bass
C5-1uf...another signal path capacitor
C8-1uf...again a SP Capacitor, personal voicing preferences apply to these.
D4-D5-Taken out...these are the clipping diodes, another great place to 'mess with', by raising the threshold of the diodes [taken out makes it more of a DB-1 [dirty boost I guess] because no hard clipping without them. Try different values here for sure for big differences in output level/how hard the signal is clipped/distorted.

[Groovenut]

Hey Soup thanks for checking out my videos and the kind comments.

I found that reducing the bass content through Q2 also eliminated alot of the fuzz in this circuit without having to change the bias of Q2. The fuzzy buzzy quality of the DS-1 was always what annoyed me about the pedal, that and the fact that it had too much unusable distortion and low output. So those were my change goals at the outset. I changed C3 and C5 which eliminated the fuzz/buzz issue. I chose not to change C2 because I did not want to alter the bypass tone. Next was to change the output level and clipping character. For this I changed the diode forward voltage allowing for a higher clipping threshold. This also meant having to increase the gain of the opamp to get some of the clipping back. I changed C10 to round off more of the clipping buzzies. Next to help the output I changed R17. This was a two-fer for me as I wanted to get rid of the mid scoop as well as gain output. Ofter the mod, this pedal has unity gain with the distortion control at zero and the volume control at noon. As such it can be used as a semi clean boost as well. That's my personal rundown anyway.

Do you have any clips of your mod? I would really like to hear them.