Modding beginer

[Clerity]

Hey guys I was wondering if any of you could tell me what i would need to do to make up my own mods

[frequencycentral]

Start collecting unicorn's tears.

[Clerity]

since i can't find the portal to equestria that is gonna be a hard thing to do

[petey twofinger]

switching input caps changes the bass / treble

different diodes changes the distortion flavor

voltage sag or misbiasing

all pretty basic .

http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2011/Nov/4_Pedal_Mods_for_the_Masses.aspx

[Clerity]

when you say input capacitors what do you mean

and what will a lower or higher value do for each

[twabelljr]

Click on the Wiki link at the top of the page and scroll down to Simple Mods you can do to your own pedal

[chi_boy]

Are you an accomplished builder?  If not you should probably start building first.  They foudation you build by experience will let you answer your own question in due time.

[R.G.]

Blind Urge to Mod Syndrome strikes again?

Actually, what you need to do to make up your own mods is easy. There are two ways.

(1) Just change anything about a pedal. Then listen. Does it still work? Great! That's a first step to a mod. Then listen to it. Does it sound different? Hah! Step two accomplished. Then listen critically under a variety of situations. Does it sound better? Better... how?  Does it need more or less of whatever it was you did? Adjust the seasoning till it's just right, then publish it on the internet, and get rich and famous.

(2) Study electronics til you know how things work. Study pedals, audio electronics, acoustics, speakers, amplifiers, interconnections, guitars, guitar pickups, everything in the signal chain from fingers to ears. Then think about what would sound better, what purpose would be good to achieve. Then pick a likely circuit, think about what would get you to the goal you envisioned. Make judicious changes based on intent, calculation and insight. Test, refine, test refine... and finally have your mod. The rich and famous part is just like in option one, of course.

As Lewis Carroll noted, if you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there. That's really the difference between the two ways.

[Toney]

You're probably reading all this and thinking "that's great guys, you're messing with me but what can I actually do?"
Well Clerity, what they are saying is "first you gotta get a clue!"
This is a pathway to starting:
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?board=6.0
It will give you a great usable boost pedal and several clues! (And something to get going with) 

[Jdansti]

Hey guys I was wondering if any of you could tell me what i would need to do to make up my own mods

I assume you are asking about modding effects pedals. It would help to know what your electronics knowledge and skill levels are. Can you solder? Do you know the different components and what their purposes are?  Can you read schematics? Have you ever soldered components on a PCB?  Do you understand the relationship between voltage current and resistance, etc.

Assuming you can at least solder, I agree with Toney about building a simple effect first and then see how changing values of various components affects the sound. If you can do that, then you might want to try some simple mods to existing pedals as long as you understand that you might turn the pedal into a door stop.  Start with cheap pedals such as some of the $20 Danelectros or Joyos. Choose a pedal and then do a search on mods for it. Here's an exercise: do a web search on modding a Danelectro Fab Echo. You should be able to find at least three mods.  Read up on the mods to understand how each one works. See if the instructions for the mod are within your skill level. This should give you an idea of what you're up against.

[ghostsauce]

@Clerity - You should really pick one of your pedals and google for known mods, or search this forum. That will hopefully bring up a list of modifications you can do to it and explain what it changes. This will get your feet wet. So if the mod says something like "Change C5 from 1uF to 10uF", then that means you need to pull apart the pedal, look for the capacitor named C5 (which has a value of 1uF, should be written on it), unsolder it and remove it from the board, and replace it with another capacitor that has a value of 10uF. That's one example but generally you've got to replace several parts, not just one.

Pedal modding and building takes some foresight, because you'll need to purchase parts in advance, or you'll need at least a parts list for the mod you've selected. Post some of your pedals and we'll talk about what's available.

In the meantime, go on youtube and look up vids that teach you how to solder, and vids that talk about building guitar pedals. Try searching the forum here as well and read read read read and try to soak up as much info as you can.

[anchovie]

Hey guys I was wondering if any of you could tell me what i would need to do to make up my own mods

Get some Boss pedals and change the status LEDs to blue ones.

[Mark Hammer]

Several of Brian Wampler's books on the topic have been posted for individual use.  You can find the thread over in the Lounge OT section.  Having browsed through it, I won't claim that it explains ALL the rationale behind how/why the mods do what they do, or how they were arrived at, but it's an excellent start.

Virtually ALL mods tend to begin with a control turned fully clockwise or counterclockwise not doing as much of something as you wanted it to.  What that implies is first understanding how the controls do what they do.

[sgmezei]

Go Here:
http://www.diystompboxes.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

And look down the page under the Reference Material heading
Click on simple mods to do to your pedals.

Lots of awesome info on the Wiki.

Scott

[CurtisWCole]

Personally, reading the technology of the tube screamer by rg was one of the best ways for me to knock out a lot of the things all these gentlemen have been suggesting. Anything I didnt understand I would look up. It's also complete with mods and some info on how and why it works. Best of luck to you.

Curtis

[Electron Tornado]

Hey guys I was wondering if any of you could tell me what i would need to do to make up my own mods

The best answer to your question is one word - knowledge.

You need to spend some time learning how to read a schematic, learn about basic electronics and how things are applied in effects pedals. There are a lot of good resources on the web for learning. Reading some of the stickies and any threads related to a project you want to do is very helpful as well. Stop by this forum and ask questions. There are a lot of very helpful people here.

You can find some info on mods that allow you to "paint by numbers", but learning about, and understanding what is going on will really help you and make building and modding a lot more fun.

Not sure if this article has been mentioned, but it's helpful:  http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/richardo/distortion/index.html 

[pinkjimiphoton]

Blind Urge to Mod Syndrome strikes again?

Actually, what you need to do to make up your own mods is easy. There are two ways.

(1) Just change anything about a pedal. Then listen. Does it still work? Great! That's a first step to a mod. Then listen to it. Does it sound different? Hah! Step two accomplished. Then listen critically under a variety of situations. Does it sound better? Better... how?  Does it need more or less of whatever it was you did? Adjust the seasoning till it's just right, then publish it on the internet, and get rich and famous.

(2) Study electronics til you know how things work. Study pedals, audio electronics, acoustics, speakers, amplifiers, interconnections, guitars, guitar pickups, everything in the signal chain from fingers to ears. Then think about what would sound better, what purpose would be good to achieve. Then pick a likely circuit, think about what would get you to the goal you envisioned. Make judicious changes based on intent, calculation and insight. Test, refine, test refine... and finally have your mod. The rich and famous part is just like in option one, of course.

As Lewis Carroll noted, if you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there. That's really the difference between the two ways.

i will never, ever argue with the Resident Guru, but there's also something to be gained from both approaches he suggests above..

learn all you can, but there is NO better way to get into something than hands-on...

might i suggest a breadboard? you can get one reasonably cheap...run two wires from your pcb where whatever component you want to experiment with to the breadboard , then swap around to your heart''s content.

you MAY however, blow stuff up. i know i have. there's a cost to hacking stuff.

but it can lead to some great finds!

welcome to the wonderful world of diy,

and remember....if you REALLY wanna know what's what, listen to mr. keen...

and memorize geofex.com!!

[Mark Hammer]

As the person who actually coined the term "B.U.M. syndrome" (Blind Urge to Mod), I guess I have to add some things here.

Many beginning modders will inadvertently end up wrecking something that could otherwise have resale value, but in the state they left it in, doesn't even have "for spare parts" value.  So, until a person acquires the chops to carry out a mod with some grace and skill, I would recommend purchase of a breadboard, and exploration of some very standard and simple circuits where it will be:
a) relatively easy to identify components that have known consequences/roles,
b) relatively easy to draw useful inferences about what kind of changes do what,
c) possible to do all that experimentation without requiring heat, solder, or destroying anything.

Once a person has some clearer ideas, understanding, AND appropriate tools (like a soldering iron suitable for tasks a little more refined than plumbing), THEN have at it.  Mods should be useful improvements or musically valid changes to circuits.  They shouldn't be a cause for exasperation or regret.  I've seen far too many "I modded it but now it doesn't work at all any more" posts.

If a person wants to learn about modding, I can't think of anything more fuly documented and explored than the venerable MXR Distortion+ and DOD250.  There are many things in there to play with that will let you learn what does what.

In addition to geofex, I would also recommend former forum regular Jack Orman's AMZ site.  The lab-notes section has a lot of very good and well-illustrated/explained ideas for mods to the familiar.

[wavley]

I agree with Mark on the D+ thing, I learned a lot about what does what on a simple/easy to build circuit.

[Colonel Angus]

(1) Just change anything about a pedal. Then listen. Does it still work? Great!

I LOL'd... great thread, great advice!

Who else tried to click Knowledge? I really want link to the Knowledge build PDF!